IELTS 9 or 10? How did you study? What materials have you used?

[Thay]

Hello Everyone,

Many users here are looking for a way to improve their IELTS scores or to get best marks on their first attempt. My question is directed to those who have achieved success on their exam and scored CLB 9's or 10's in L/R/W/S.

Dear successful people! What materials have you used? What was your way to achieve the magic scores? How long did it take and how much time per day you spent on it?

I took CELPIP before and scored CLB L12/R10/W8/S8 and have heard that speaking will be easier for me on IELTS than on CELPIP (on CELPIP you talk to a computer screen, on IELTS you talk to a person).

I am mostly concerned about speaking and writing part.

If you can provide links, books, tutorials, youtube channels, websites that helped you, that would by much much appreciated!

Thanks
M

 

[bobbyanimo]

I don't know much about CELPIP.

My IELTS is 8.5,7.5,7,7
CLB 9
Tried only one time.

Prepation time 25 days

Methods

Watched lots of Hollywood movies,YouTube videos and the materials available online.

Practiced 5 IELTS Cambridge PDFs .

Practiced the official text sent by IELTS on last two days.

Spoke only in English with my spouse during these days.

Tips
Before the day of exam make sure to get good night sleep.
Understand our weaknesses and concentrate more on that.
Create a surrounding with the language. Like music, sticky notes.
Practice till you get the desired score.
Never cheat yourself in your Target or score.
Read every article or newspapers we come across.

 

[vmsanthosh]

okay, now that it is easy to advise, here you go. Think, drink and breath in English. Watch Netflix movies very often. For the exam, don't try to understand every single words, just make sure you are aligned in the flow of discussion. Do not lose concentration even if you miss one question, that's okay, don't leave the thread. Underline the keywords in your question booklet before the recording begins for each section and sharpen your ears to hear those words.

A week before the exam, if you have reading habit, grab some good English novel of some good author and read that book and get yourself immersed in that. Go and write the exam while you are still in that hang over. Usually when I read books, I get caught away with its characters, and sometimes I even dreams in English.

For writing, read English news papers, preferably the editors corner. Understand how they are starting an essay, how the ideas are getting organized, how is he jumping from one paragraph to another etc. For Task 1, practice yourself with the available topics in internet. Take print of sample answer booklet and count the number of words one line can fit in with your handwriting. Multiply it with number of lines, instead of spending time on counting words in the exam hall. Most common problem is usually the just the starting trouble. Once you have started, and get yourself into the flow of topic, everything will come naturally. However, please spend 2 minutes in planning and orchestrating your paragraphs, before starting. You may also want to start your own blog in your field, if that helps.

ref: http://ielts.liz

Having said all these - I am not a qualified person to answer this question by any means - I could only get CLB 7 - L7, W6, R7.5, S 7.5, but I am just sharing with what I have been doing these days.

 

[Michael26]

Okay, I think I can help

My Scores - L9, R9, S8, W8

For listening, I practiced using Youtube materials. Practiced one listening test everyday for 2 weeks. I have lived in the UK for a while and now live in the US. So I listen to native speakers everyday. So that is an advantage. If you live elsewhere your best bet is to watch ABC news Australia, BBC England and watch British, Canadian and Australian movies/documentaries. Actually US English is a deterrent as this is not extensively used in IELTS listening. And every time you watch, pay utmost attention. If you do not understand anything, re-watch it and pay attention and try to make sense of every sentence they speak sequentially

In the exam you will have to listen and answer, remember. Predict answers in advance. Follow the conversation. Do not just look for answers. And more than anything, relax. Pay attention. Do not cloud your mind with negativity. Practice meditation for two weeks before the test

For reading, once again practice. Read a book and understand every sentence. Take practice tests twice a week. In the exam, do the last exercise first and first last. Come from behind. Last exercise is the hardest. So get that done quickly and move backward

For writing once again practice. If you are not good at grammar, learn basic grammar in tenses, parts of speech from Wren & Martin English book. This is how I learnt when I was a kid. It is not too late for you to go back to the basics. Learn to know your length to match the required word count in advance. You won't have time to count the words in the exam. Always re-visit your answer for errors and correct. You will get .5 extra if you do this. We always make mistakes while writing.

For speaking, go in front of the mirror, pick a current affairs topic and speak. Pretend you are a native speaker. Soon that will become your original state. Have no shame when you take the real exam. That is the key. They often ask general questions first. So prepare for this in advance. They will ask your name, your work type, your work. So prepare an answer. Like, I am Michael. I live in Chicago, IL. I work for Google as a full time software developer. I optimize the google search engine for faster and relevant results. The best part is that I am myself a consumer of the application I develop. Isn't that fun? Ha Ha ... Then they ask about your family. So you can say, I am married to this wonderful woman whom I met 6 years ago at a tech fair. It has been 8 years together now and seems like a wink of the eye. We also have a 2 year old golden retriever puppy who is fun to be with. Something like this to your relevance. Your best bet is to impress here. Be smart and on top of your game. You can cook stories just like I did now. They do not care. All they care is about how well you can frame sentences and your coherence.

 

[Artur_Jeronimo]

Do you guys have the links for IELTS preparation tests?

Another question, what part was the most difficult for you guys.

 

[Thay]

Do you guys have the links for IELTS preparation tests?

Another question, what part was the most difficult for you guys.

Hi Artur, at this moment I consider following materials for test preparation.

1. http://ielts.liz

2. E2 IELTS with Jay

3. https://writetotop.com/

So far as I am concerned, writing part seems most challenging.

Thank you Everyone for your input on this. All hints from you are very helpful and encouraging. Other successful exam takers please do not hesitate and add your two cents here as well!

 

[MiteshDodia]

Hi all -

My friend has given IELTS 7 times with BC and IDP and all the time his score has fluctuated between Reading and Writing.

Last attempt - L-8.5/S-8/W-6.5/R-7 -IDP
before that - L-8/S-8/W-7.5/R-6.5 - BC... and so on..

I need some advice on how to improve the score to achieve 8/7/7/7 - L/S/R/W as he is very demotivated and loosing hopes.

Any advice or help is greatly appreciated.

Regards-
MD.

 

[WoundedTiger]

Hello Everyone,

Many users here are looking for a way to improve their IELTS scores or to get best marks on their first attempt. My question is directed to those who have achieved success on their exam and scored CLB 9's or 10's in L/R/W/S.

Dear successful people! What materials have you used? What was your way to achieve the magic scores? How long did it take and how much time per day you spent on it?

I took CELPIP before and scored CLB L12/R10/W8/S8 and have heard that speaking will be easier for me on IELTS than on CELPIP (on CELPIP you talk to a computer screen, on IELTS you talk to a person).

I am mostly concerned about speaking and writing part.

If you can provide links, books, tutorials, youtube channels, websites that helped you, that would by much much appreciated!

Thanks
M

For Speaking- practice in front of mirror for complete exercise or three levels..or do it with a friend...and seek feedback and work on it...Its important to have pleasant body language...frankly didn't prepare much for this.
For Writing: if you want to be in 7.5-9 band...look at structure of your essay/letter, show your vocab.. and make complex sentences..
For Listening: you may do exercise on ielts-exam.net and see where you stand and decide how much time you want to spend on that..

www.ielts-exam.net and lizblog are ideal...pls don't overload yourself with too many resources..you will be fine.
Own preparation: 30-40 days assuming you can spend an 1-2 hours would be okay and i think you don't any thing else..

good luck!
let me know how it went

 

[WoundedTiger]

Hi all -

My friend has given IELTS 7 times with BC and IDP and all the time his score has fluctuated between Reading and Writing.

Last attempt - L-8.5/S-8/W-6.5/R-7 -IDP
before that - L-8/S-8/W-7.5/R-6.5 - BC... and so on..

I need some advice on how to improve the score to achieve 8/7/7/7 - L/S/R/W as he is very demotivated and loosing hopes.

Any advice or help is greatly appreciated.

Regards-
MD.

To be honest, getting away from the test might help..tell him to don't look at books for next 2 weeks and then jump again..and see if understood the sections he is sturggling with..may be you help him..

Writing: Word count, vocab, essay structure, making complex sentence, paraphrasing the question asked would be the key...don't see why he cannot score a 7 here..
Reading: Take 2-3 mocks and see what type of questions is he missing out on..Focus on first 2 sections and avoid any errors there.Also try and finish those sections well in time..about 25 minutes or less and then jump to section 3...
Time management, question type that he is struggling with are important. 7 should not be a problem for him...

Good luck..let me know if it helped...

 

[Thay]

Great answers! Thank you Everyone.

 

[MiteshDodia]

To be honest, getting away from the test might help..tell him to don't look at books for next 2 weeks and then jump again..and see if understood the sections he is sturggling with..may be you help him..

Writing: Word count, vocab, essay structure, making complex sentence, paraphrasing the question asked would be the key...don't see why he cannot score a 7 here..
Reading: Take 2-3 mocks and see what type of questions is he missing out on..Focus on first 2 sections and avoid any errors there.Also try and finish those sections well in time..about 25 minutes or less and then jump to section 3...
Time management, question type that he is struggling with are important. 7 should not be a problem for him...

Good luck..let me know if it helped...

Thanks man !
Hope that should help !

 

[Gagan4790]

Hi friends...i gave exam on 24 march, my second attempt due to 6.5 in writing previously. This time I got
L 9
R 8.5
S 7.5
W 7.5
I ll be honest in confessing that my full focus was on writing.. now that i hv achieved it, i realise that whole future of so many people is struck in a 7 in writing!!
I hv shared my preparation strategy on youtube in channel named IELTS with gagan.. right now there are two videos..will upload more as I get time...
Hope it helps somebody!!!
You can discuss ur queries in comments or e mail me.. happy to help!!