How to prepare for the IELTS exam | Study plans for 7 days/1 month/3 months
How to Prepare for Your IELTS Exam
In this video, Asiye discusses how to prepare for your IELTS exam in seven days, one month, or three months. She provides essential tips and strategies that can help you perform better during the exam.
Emergency Situation: Preparing for IELTS Exam in Seven Days
- Learn about the exam format and main strategies that can help you perform better.
- Check if you're required to take IELTS Academic or General Training and decide what format suits you better.
- Take a full official practice test to learn more about the IELTS exam.
One Month Plan
- Start doing things from the one-month plan if you have some time left before your exam.
Three Months Plan
- Move on to the three-month plan if you still have some time left.
- Take a few official practice tests in timed conditions and learn how quickly you need to go through the questions.
Listening and Reading Preparation
- Learn about the tests' organization, answer sheet, time limit, and specific requirements.
- Learn strategies that can help you be more efficient and answer as many questions as possible with your level of English.
- Download the answer sheet if taking a paper-based exam and practice writing essays using a pencil.
Writing Preparation
- Learn about IELTS writing requirements listed in band descriptors document.
- Learn different types of tasks in task 1 and task 2 and practice writing essays every day.
- Learn what structure you should use in each task and how to finish both tasks in 60 minutes.
Speaking Preparation
- Watch one mock speaking exam to prepare for the pressure, stress, and intensity of the actual exam.
Time Management and Exam Preparation
In this section, the speaker provides tips on time management during the exam and how to prepare for it.
Time Management
- During the exam, time yourself as your examiner will be controlling the time.
- The examiner may interrupt you if you need to move on.
- Ensure that your answers are not too short so that you can show your English skills.
- Avoid talking for too long as it can be distracting. Learn how long your answers should be.
- For parts 1 and 3, ensure that your answers last between 5 and 6 minutes. For part 2, talk for the full 2 minutes.
Exam Preparation
- Download the IELTS band descriptors to learn about the requirements but don't think about them during the test.
- Concentrate on being talkative and answering questions during the test.
- Better preparation improves chances of passing.
- Learn strategies for difficult tasks such as multiple choice questions, maps, true/false/not given questions, yes/no/not given questions, matching headings etc.
- Analyze test results to understand mistakes made in order to improve listening skills.
- Listen to recordings from practice tests several times until everything is understood then close book and listen again without following text in book. This helps develop listening skills.
- Start reading in English by reading newspapers or articles to get used to reading in English.
[#](0:11:08 t:668s ) Improving Writing Skills
In this section, the speaker provides tips on how to improve writing skills for IELTS.
Writing Skills
- To get a band 7 score, write good essays. Learn what to write in each part of your answers and how to organize your introduction, conclusion and body paragraphs.
- Examiners check if ideas are connected so learn about different ways to connect them using linking words such as despite, however, furthermore etc.
- For academic task 1, learn vocabulary for describing charts, maps or diagrams.
- For general training task 1, use correct tone in form of semi-formal or formal and learn phrases for letters.
- Practice writing task 1 and task 2 answers using recent topics.
[#](0:13:09 t:789s ) Improving Speaking Skills
In this section, the speaker provides tips on how to improve speaking skills for IELTS.
Speaking Skills
- If you don't speak English outside of the classroom or there is no opportunity to do so because there are many pupils in class then it's time to start working on your speaking skills.
Tips for Preparing for the IELTS Exam
In this section, the speaker provides tips on how to prepare for the IELTS exam.
Practice Speaking
- The more you talk, the better you get.
- Practice answering difficult IELTS speaking questions.
- Download a guide with recent topics and practice answering those that you find particularly challenging.
Improve English Skills
- Take online courses to learn how to meet each band 7 requirement.
- Prepare your answers step by step.
- Prepare for your exam in less time and achieve the highest score possible with your current level of English.
Listening Skills
- Listen to books, podcasts, news in English.
- Get familiar with British and American accents, with a particular emphasis on the British accent.
Reading Skills
- Read fast and know a lot of words.
- Read IELTS-related articles and learn new words.
- For academic reading, read scientific-style articles such as those found in Science Magazine or on the BBC website.
- For general training reading, read things in English like news, job descriptions, instructions etc.
Writing Skills
- Research topics commonly used in IELTS exams.
- Choose one topic and find articles on it from good sources like newspapers or large websites.
- Analyze these articles to see what ideas they use and which words they use.
- Learn how they organize ideas into different paragraphs and connect them together.
Speaking Skills
- Learn more about English pronunciation since 25% of your speaking score depends on it.
- Pronounce each sound in English correctly; merge words into groups; use rhythm and intonation effectively when speaking.
Additional Resources
In this section, the speaker provides additional resources that can help with IELTS exam preparation.
Speaking Practice
- Talk to yourself or find a speaking partner on their Telegram channel.
- Take speaking lessons with a native-speaking teacher if interested.
Study Plan
- Download the IELTS study plan for free, which includes all the things you should do and links to all the resources you could use.