IELTS Exam in Nepal : Score 7.5 in all bands
IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System. The IELTS test assesses your abilities in listening, reading, writing and speaking – in less than three hours. According to your job and purpose, various score is needed for Appling VISAs, jobs, scholarships etc. You can find the details and format of the exam in IELTS Test Format.
Here are few tips from a Student who has recently obtained 7.5 in IELTS, all bands. These are purely my tips and sharing of my experience and ideas.
I Joined IELTS preparation center: Centers like British Council, RTC, Alfa-beta institutes are where commonly people join lesson classes for IELTS. Usual duration is 3-4 weeks. In classes, tips to score high in each bands are provided, practice classes, speaking practice, mock tests, classes for listen, writing and reading are taken. Joining classes are important to know the pattern, strategies and to learn from experienced and skilled tutors, who are sometimes IELTS examiners themselves. But majority of effort needs to be done be ownself than just relying on the classes. I took 4 weeks class in one of the reputed Centers that built my basics for this exam.
The resources I chose -study materials:
Books: One of the best resource is Cambridge IELTS Academic book 1 to 13 for Listening reading and writing. Makkar IELTS for speaking.
Youtube videos : Channels like E2 IELTS for speaking, reading, listening and writing. IELTS-up online lessons for Writing tests practice. IELTS Liz for all domains.
Websites: IELTS speaking topics are revised every 3 months. IELTS liz www.ieltsliz.com predicts topics for exam for speaking. Liz provides topics and practice tips and is the most influential person on internet.
How I prepared?
I prepared for 2 months. I started with reading novels and english newspapers to increase my vocabulary. I watched English movies with focus on intonation and expressions. I used youtube videos to learn the speaking style. I used pronunciation sites to revise difficult words. I talked infront of the mirror and recorded by own voice. This boosted my confidence and helped me review my speaking by listening to it in my cellphone. This way I focused on improving my fluency, lexical resource, grammar range, accuracy and pronunciation. For Writing, I went through format and structure of writing for both part 1 and 2. Listening was not much a problem for me, as I was already good in it. Writing- handwriting was a bit of my problem, but I tried my best to make it my best. Reading tips , I learnt form E2 IELTS, IELTS class was very crucial for Reading exam.
For speaking, I chose predicted topics from IELTS liz and wrote all the topics down in full and tried to make short hands so I would not be stuck during speaking.
Choosing a Center for Exam
In Nepal, IELTS exam can be taken from British Council and IDP. I chose British Council based on experience of my friends who found it a bit comfortable.
Tips for exam:
Confidence is the Key. Expression is the secret.
Do not get stuck during reading test. It is time constraint portion.
Try to finish Writing exam 5 minutes faster, then try to replace common words with vocab rich words.
Started from Task 1, as task 2 is lengthy.
Try to speak full 2 minutes. Use idioms, phrases and proverbs as much as you can.
Try to speak in your own accent and not try to sound like someone else, copying can lead you into disaster.
In summary, a systematic preparation, practice and bit of luck all was needed for a 7.5 in all Band.
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