There is no person who does not want to reach his desired goal by doing IELTS. Now I’m going to discuss how to start preparing for IELTS. It is important to note that if you don’t prepare for the IELTS test you will lose a good score. While you read this article you will get an appropriate idea about what you should do while you start the preparation which helps to catch your target and get the score that you want.
Table of Contents
It is really important to note that you need to start preparing for IELTS before you sit the test. There are various tests like IELTS, TOEFL, and PTE to acquire this skill in the English language. Among them, IELTS is the most popular. Because most countries around the world accept IELTS scores. The IELTS course was started in 1989. Those who take the IELTS course are internationally recognized for their proficiency in the English language, which enables them to improve their English language proficiency as well as apply for higher education abroad.
Before taking the IELTS test preparation, one more thing we need to think about is why we want to take the IELTS preparation. Those reasons are-
- Settling abroad alone or with family
- Studying abroad example (Honours, Masters, Ph.D. degree)
- Working abroad
Before starting the IELTS test preparation, the first thing you must keep in mind is the type of IELTS test you want to take.
There are two versions of the IELTS test:
Two Types of IELTS Test
- IELTS Academic Module
- IELTS General Training Module
IELTS Academic Module
Students who wish to pursue a higher degree from abroad such as a Hons, Masters, or Ph.D. in the subject of their choice can prepare for the IELTS Academic Module test.
IELTS General Training Module
If a student is proficient in technical subjects or wants to enrol in a university abroad for technical job training, he/she needs to prepare to take the IELTS General Training Module test. Apart from this, those who want to apply for immigration, also have to take the exam in the General Training Module.
The two versions of IELTS differ in purpose and test style. Before you go abroad, you must know which version you should prepare for and take the exam. Another thing is that there is no specific shortcut or method to do well in the IELTS exam, you need to be patient and prepare little by little every day.
IELTS Preparation in Bangladesh
To prepare for the IELTS exam, you need to check at the beginning which level of English proficiency you are! Through the English proficiency verification test, you can know your position on the scale of IELTS according to your correct marking. It is not just a skill test, but you will also get some basic ideas about the IELTS exam. You should aim and achieve your score according to the IELTS score required for the country you want to study or work in.
If you have weak basic knowledge of English subjects then you should take a six months IELTS preparation course. Many people have very good basic knowledge of English, I think the three-month course of IELTS will be enough.
After self-assessment, you have to try to find your weaknesses. After taking the preparation, you have to determine which issues are difficult to understand and practice more on them.
A little survey showed that many students do not want to read books after completing graduation. But to acquire English skills you must read more and more English books. There are also English newspapers, English audio, videos, and many more but reading books is the best. As a result, speaking, reading, writing, and listening are improved.
The two versions of the IELTS test consist of four types of tests such as listening, speaking, and reading. and writing.
Listening ability is an important factor in the listening test. The better the listening ability, the higher the score on the listening test. This stage of IELTS has four parts and consists of 40 items. To do well in the listening test here, the more English monologue dialogues can be heard and understood with meaning, the better. In addition, English videos, English newspaper audio, radio, and English movie subtitles should be listened to and understood with meaning. Subtitles of online/website videos and YouTube videos, movies, and sports can be helpful.
The words that are difficult to understand should be practiced by listening again and again. In this way, if you practice repeatedly, all the problems of listening power will be solved quickly and even a good score can be achieved in the listening test.
It is very important to know the type of accent to get a good score on the listening test – such as Australian, Canadian, American, and British.
Speaking test is an important part of the IELTS exam. When you go for the speaking test, there will be a 10 to 14-minute speaking test where you have to speak very clearly about the topic you are asked to speak about and explain clearly why you think that topic is correct.
Many students are very hesitant or shy to speak English in public. So the best way to do well in the speaking test is to practice speaking English more and more. Even join different English groups, join English conversation clubs, take different English courses, speak English with friends or people you have a good relationship with. Practice speaking over time. The more you become proficient in speaking English, the more likely you are to improve your speaking test score.
The things that are given more importance in the speaking test are whether the pronunciation of the words is done correctly, how is the speed of speaking, how is the body language, whether the grammar is used correctly, etc. So before preparing for the speaking test, we have to make sure that there should be no mistakes in grammar usage and pronunciation of words.
In reading test, the ability of students to read English is verified. It is verified by answering some questions by reading the text. Many students do well in the listening test and speaking test but fail in the reading test. Can’t read smoothly which makes it impossible to score well on reading tests. To get a good score on reading tests, you must increase your English vocabulary as well as read various magazines, articles, journals, news, essays, and English books for a long time.
Many times it is seen that without paying attention to the question, we pay attention to the text without understanding the question, as a result of which we do not know the answer to the question. Instead of wasting time reading the text, we should understand the questions well and find the correct answer from the text accordingly.
In the writing test, two questions are to be written and the second question carries more marks than the first question.
- Two types of tasks are given in the writing test. The first thing you are asked to do is to explain the drawings, graphs, charts, and diagrams clearly in your language.
- Task Two calls for Analytical Skills and Critical Appraisal. In this case, it is helpful to write various types of newspaper articles and reports if read in detail.
In this case, a specific format is followed in the first and second paragraph before the introduction is to be written. Then you have to write the main point or idea or correct analysis of the topic you are asked to write about and give examples. If you write by following this format, the chances of increasing the marks in the writing test will increase. Also, to do well in the writing test, read newspapers like BBC and Economist daily and practice. Online podcasts like Ted Talks or TedX discuss various contemporary topics. Videos can improve listening and reading skills in addition to watching.
That’s why you need to practice a lot of English vocabulary and grammar and even practice handwriting otherwise you won’t be able to score well in the writing part.
Best Books for IELTS Preparation
Many students are not willing to go for IELTS coaching, they can prepare for IELTS at home if they want. If someone wants to prepare for IELTS at home, Cambridge IELTS preparation books are best and more useful. This book plays a special role in preparing for IELTS. These books contain various practice tasks on the types of questions that may appear in the IELTS test. As a result, students can get an idea about the IELTS test questions by solving and practising it.
In conclusion, whether you take IELTS test preparation from home or take admission in coaching, if your preparation is not good then you will not be able to reach your desired goal, so you need to make sure that your preparation is very good before your test.
