IELTS Reading: Improving Reading Score | Part 2

In this article, we are going to discuss more on how to improve reading score in IELTS. Besides applying skimming and scanning as the strategies, you can do some actions such as:

IELTS Speaking Test - Introduction (part 1 and part 2)

There are 3 parts in speaking test, each part has some characteristic questions. The examiner (interviewer) will record the interview and score you based on what have you answered. This time we will explain you about part one and part two in the speaking test.

More about Timing Strategy in IELTS

Simple but important thing to do during IELTS test is wearing a watch. Yes, by wearing a watch, you can check the time regularly. This checking is important to make sure that you are “on schedule”. You can try to check the time after completing each passage.

IELTS Reading: Improving Reading Score | Part 1

When we talk about IELTS, it will be also about reading section. This section gives you a big opportunity to increase your overall band score as long as you can manage everything properly. One form of managements itself can be translated as using skimming and scanning techniques. If you have got the basic ideas of these two techniques pretty well, you can ask whether you have got the idea to improve your skimming and scanning ability or not.

Important Things in Listening IELTS Part 2

In the previous article, we discussed some important things that should be paid attention on listening IELTS such as main ideas, voice changes, and specific information. Now, we will discuss more about other important things such as interpretation toward the recording, hidden meaning of the sentences and memory enhancers.

Having a Smarter Practice of IELTS

Being closer to the test day, you might feel more worried on your test. Some of you might also take the chance to postpone the test itself. Well, IELTS does not only test on your academic skills in English but also your mentality towards the test. You might feel some series of fears starting from fear of the questions, the time, and also the strategy. This test stresses on test taker’s ability to cope these fears. A successful test taker will be able to manage his or her mentality in order to perform his or her best on the day of the test.

Important Things in Listening IELTS Part 1

In listening section, you will face 40 questions which are divided into four sections. The first and second section is about social needs. In the first section, you will listen to conversation between two speakers while in the second section you will hear speech by a speaker. The next two sessions will be about educational or training. It covers conversation between up to four speakers and speech by a speaker.

In order to answer forty questions in IELTS well, there are some things that you need to highlight. The first is main idea. Frequently, important words and main idea are ones that are come up again and again in the recording. You need to listen carefully then try to catch the main idea to get the big picture on the topic that is discussed in the recording. For example in a conversation about drama musical performance, the term of ‘drama musical performance’ will be mentioned several times.

The second thing is about voice changes. In this test, you should be able to recognize and interpret nuances of speech. Understanding the nuances means that you get a supportive idea on the thing which is mainly discussed in the listening. There will be some clues that you will get when you are able to analyze the intonation and pitch used in the recording. For example, when you hear someone who speaks in a normal monotone voice suddenly raises her voice in a high pitch, it means that there is something critical which is being stated. For example,

• Man: Let’s go to Riska house to see her condition.
• Woman: Is something bad happened to her?

The third thing that you should pay attention on is specific pieces of information. In IELTS, adjective is commonly asked. So, you can try to memorize main adjective mentioned in the recording. The adjective can be in form of number, color, or size. For example,

• Man: I am starving. Let’s buy some cakes in supermarket.
• Woman: I don’t have any money.
• Man: Don’t worry I am going to let you pick five cakes that you like and pay for it.

The question that follows this recording might ask about the number of cakes that the man gives to the woman.

Reference: IELTS Secrets, copyright 2002 by MO Media

A Good IELTS Essay

How test taker knows that he or she has written a good IELTS essay is a common come up-question after test taker finishes his or her essay. In order to anticipate this, test taker has to master the points that are used to score the essay.

The first point is “task response”. What is meant by task response here is the ability of test taker’s essay to show his or her understanding about the topic. It covers all aspects of the topic. The example is “Homework: helping students to study regularly or merely giving more burdens for students?” In this topic for example, test taker who explains about homework’s role in helping students to study regularly looses his or her score. Another test taker who explains only the point of view of homework in giving students’ additional burden losses his or her score as well. On the contrary, test taker who explains both sides, gains a score.

The next point is “coherence and cohesion”. In order to make a coherence and cohesive essay, test taker has to be able to relate paragraphs and sentences in the paragraphs itself. Whenever test taker needs to explain a discussion essay that requires two points of view about a topic, he or she should put the right connective to avoid the effect of jumping paragraph. The choice of some words such as “on the other hand, on the contrary, in spite of, and some other contradictory connectives” is a must item to use to begin a new paragraph. The same case must be applied in the sentences in the paragraph. Every sentence in a paragraph should lead to the next sentence so that all sentences are logic.

The third point is “lexical resource”. Lexical resource is vocabulary and different types of sentences, simple and complex. It is expected that test taker is able to use words and know their synonyms.

The last point is “grammatical range and accuracy”. This point covers spelling and grammar of sentences. Test taker has to keep constant in using the right spelling, punctuation, articles, part of speech, and other things related to grammar.

It should be remembered as well that these four points have the same weigh in the essay score. Therefore, none of these points is less important compared to others.

References: http://www.ielts-blog.com/ielts-preparation-tips/writing-tips/ielts-writing-2-task-explained/, http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/ielts-writing-task-2/.

Easy to Apply Strategies for Getting Higher Writing Score in IELTS!

The key point of getting high score in writing IELTS is having more practices. Test taker may not forget to use time limitation for creating a test-like situation. It is okay if test taker gives more practices on one of the tasks which is more difficult for the test taker. However, it is important for the test taker to have both kinds of writing before taking the real test. Remember that practice makes perfect!

Reading IELTS: Is it True, False, or Not Given?

Another form of True/ False/ Not Given is Yes/ No/ Not Given. The difference is on the basic of these options. True/ False/ Not Given is based on fact. Meanwhile, Yes/ No/ Not Given is based on opinion.

In this kind of question, test taker has to pay attention on how to interpret the passage and the question. Usually, test taker finds it difficult to differentiate the use of ‘not given’ and ‘false’.