Any native English speakers who have taken the IELTS?

[julie_van]

I'm in this situation as well. I've taken a couple practice listening/reading exams and done miserably. Some of the questions are so weird it takes me a long time to figure out what the heck they're asking and one of them was a driving diagram but I screwed it up because the cars were driving on the opposite side of the road....

 

[USNick]

Hi Julie --

I just took my exam a couple of weeks ago. As you imply, for native English speakers the challenge is not so much studying the language (which we already know), but studying the test itself (which is foreign to us). I found that the best preparation I could do was simply to take as many practice tests as I could take, which you already seem to be doing. That way I got used to the way the tests feel and the kinds of questions that they usually ask, which I'm sure did a lot to calm me down during my actual exam. So I didn't spend time thinking, "This is all so weird!" Instead, the format already seemed familiar.

I also read as much as I could about the exam's expectations. There are a number of websites geared toward helping non-native speakers take the exam, and while sometimes I found the advice they gave to seem basic or obvious...it really wasn't. It's good to know, for example, that it's probably best to write the essay in really simple 4 or 5 paragraph structure: intro paragraph, a couple of supporting paragraphs with topic sentences, conclusion. Maybe I would've done this anyway (probably I would've), but it's good to know that that's what is expected of you. Do some practice essays and letters and time yourself. Get used to what 150 and 250 words feels like and looks like to write. That'll help you to budget your time so you don't panic and find you've left yourself too little time for a topic. And remember (I often had to remind myself of this, because the writing topics often seem so vague or general): make sure you actually answer the question that is asked! I would be so eager to fill up my essay with enough words that I would find that I had gotten slightly off-topic and had to steer myself back on track.

Overall, remember that you don't have to be perfect. There's lattitude to be able to miss a few questions and still score high enough for CIC. While it was kind of a blow to my pride, because I thought that as an English speaker completely educated in the language I should be able to absolutely ace the test, you can still get below the highest scores and qualify.

 

[nmj]

USNick, I agree with you and am feeling your pain. I think it is ridiculous that native speakers have to waste time and money taking this test. It is not only a waste of our time but also the time of the people administering the test. I think they could have found a better way to ensure people are not fraudulently getting around the language requirements. Unlike you however I am not going to waste more of my time studying for the exam, I'm going to take my chances because if I can't pass that is just sad (and ironic I guess).

 

[julie_van]

nmj, I actually would study for this exam. I wasn't going to because I thought being a native speaker studying would be a waste of my time and I had similar feelings as you. However, I decided a few nights before my exam to look through a practice test and found it was much more difficult than I anticipated. The timing issue was hard and some of the questions were worded in a way that I was not used to thinking about the english language. The first few test I scored VERY VERY poorly. However, I just got my results today and am very happy to report I did really really well!! One less thing for me to worry about (yay!).

 

[TheHal]

Sooo,

My buddy, who's english, and applying under FSW spoke to the call center at CIC, and they told him that his O/A levels were enough, and that he did not have to submit an IELTS, which he accepts. What do we think, will he be dissapointed and have to do it?

Cheers
H.

 

[PMM]

Hi

Sooo,

My buddy, who's english, and applying under FSW spoke to the call center at CIC, and they told him that his O/A levels were enough, and that he did not have to submit an IELTS, which he accepts. What do we think, will he be dissapointed and have to do it?

Cheers
H.

Wrong, Wrong, everyone who applies after 26/06/10 for FSW1/2 MUST include a copy of their IELTs results with their application. Your friend should read #9 on the checklist http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5612E.PDF

 

[winnycanada]

Yes, Leon, I do understand CIC's desire to standardize somehow the way proficiency in English can be proven, especially if the "letter of proficiency" option was being abused by applicants who did not in fact have either English or French as their first language, as native speakers were the only group CIC "strongly suggested" should avail themselves of that method of proving their language proficiency. I imagine CIC was having a hard time trying to judge fairly those letters and avoid even the appearance of being prejudiced against any language groups or ethnicity.

However, you can also understand my frustration, being now required to spend hundreds of dollars and somehow find time to take off work and go to a different city to sit for a test to prove my proficiency in a language that is basically (since I have also studied French) the only one I've used in my life. And since the application also still requires me to submit my transcripts from university and graduate school, my documentation of all the addresses in English-speaking countries at which I've lived my entire life, and my letters of reference from my employers which attest to my language skills, you can understand my frustration in being quite certain that even without submitting a separate letter of proficiency that CIC would have little doubt as to my ability to communicate in English.

More importantly you can also understand my concern that, rather than "evening out the playing field," as it were, in terms of applicants' ability to prove their language proficiency, I wonder if CIC hasn't now effectively put native English and French speakers at a distinct disadvantage. We are now being required to sit for a test that is not constructed to assess our language skills; it is designed to evaluate the language skills of non-native speakers. I imagine it would be like asking a university mathematics student who is studying differential calculus to sit for a test in arithmetic. Since that student would have been using a calculator or a computer for the past few years in their mathematical work, chances are great that they would make some simple mistakes if suddenly asked to add a series of numbers in an exam situation. Should they be able to excel at that exam? Absolutely. But would careless or "exam stress"-related errors on an arithmetic test be an accurate evaluation of their ability to do calculus? Absolutely not. I just hope that CIC will monitor this issue for the next few months, to make sure that native English speakers aren't being placed at a disadvantage. NOT that I'm arguing that applicants for PR from English-speaking countries should be given preferential treatment, or valued more as immigrants; I believe that people from all over the world should be valued as potential new citizens of Canada. But if indeed proficiency in one of Canada's two national languages is a requirement for application for PR, it would just be ironic if the new rules were found to make it more difficult for the very people who most fulfill that basic requirement.

Anyway. As I say: I would just really like to know if anyone knows of experiences native English speakers have had taking the IELTS exam. Perhaps I really am making a mountain out of a molehill.

A good practice of the written test # 2 ! lol

 

[marylatt]

I am a native English speaker, and will be taking the IELTS on Dec. 4th. I'll let you guys know how it goes!!

I did a few practice tests, and, overall, they'd be quite easy for native English speakers. The only part where I was dumbfounded was a part in the Reading section which contained an incredibly badly drawn diagram; that worried me, though I doubt it'd really affect much of my final grade. The Listening part is quite simple, EXCEPT for the fact that you do have to hang on to what you hear while listening to new information; luckily, the questions are in order of what you hear. Like others have said, you CANNOT get distracted, because you'll only hear it once.

I also don't like the format of "do not write more than three words"....don't really see the point in that, other than testing to see that people can follow instructions.

Now the French test I'm not as confident about... ;D

 

[OhCanadiana]

I am a native English speaker, and will be taking the IELTS on Dec. 4th. I'll let you guys know how it goes!!

I did a few practice tests, and, overall, they'd be quite easy for native English speakers. The only part where I was dumbfounded was a part in the Reading section which contained an incredibly badly drawn diagram; that worried me, though I doubt it'd really affect much of my final grade. The Listening part is quite simple, EXCEPT for the fact that you do have to hang on to what you hear while listening to new information; luckily, the questions are in order of what you hear. Like others have said, you CANNOT get distracted, because you'll only hear it once.

I also don't like the format of "do not write more than three words"....don't really see the point in that, other than testing to see that people can follow instructions.

Now the French test I'm not as confident about... ;D

Good luck, Mary. The good news is that practice tests published by the British Council are for the most part exams that did not make it through the quality control process to become actual IELTS exams (e.g., scores during practice tests given to native English speakers are not consistent). Therefore, the actual exams are better quality and you shouldn't have issues like the one with the diagram that you faced.

For listening, really pay attention to the questions they have you pre-read and pre-read those - and only those - so that you can quickly skip over a question if you realize your mind wandered and you missed one (problem when you are a native speaker is that you can get bored much more easily with these language tests)

And, bonne chance when you get to the French exam

 

[TheHal]

Hi

Wrong, Wrong, everyone who applies after 26/06/10 for FSW1/2 MUST include a copy of their IELTs results with their application. Your friend should read #9 on the checklist http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5612E.PDF

OK so my buddy actually GOT his PR WITHOUT doing the IELTS... I don't know how, but he did.

Cheers
TheHal

 

[Fancypants]

Native speakers run the risk of getting a lower score than they should through over confidence. Just because it's your first language doesn't mean you can sit back and get 9s straight across. The S/W examiner doesn't care if you are from Bristol, Sydney, or Timbuktu...they just go by what you present to them.

I am a native speaker and the first time I took the test I only scored a 7 on the reading section. After having honed my scanning/skimming skills, as well as adjusting my strategy (first quickly skimming text, underlining relevant bits, then going back to those bits and skimming/scanning to get the answers t), I got a 9 the second time.

Like with any other standardized test, the test-taker needs to become fully familiarized with the format of the test, and how grades are allocated.
The Cambridge practice tests volumes 2-8 are actual tests that have been retired, and you should use them to practice a couple of times before the real thing. Each volume has 4 complete tests. Make sure you study the model answers in the back and go through your errors in the L/R very, very thoroughly to understand why you made them.

For the long turn in the speaking section, try to speak for the whole two minutes and try to be as communicative and natural as you can.

If you must speak on a topic that you don't care for in the long turn, that's tough, but you don't have a choice. If that happens (it shouldn't because the questions are supposed to be answerable by just about anyone), just go with it and either fabricate something (stay on topic, though!), or talk about why it's a bad topic for you. For example, I would be at a complete loss if I were asked to talk about a sport that I played as a child, so in that case, I would just talk for two minutes about how I didn't like sports in my formative years, and perhaps some experience that happened to me when I reluctantly had to play a sport. Remember, the examiner is assessing your communication ability, not your knowledge on a topic, and it's only 120 seconds that you have to talk for.

 

[theshivster]

My partner is the principal applicant and we both are english speakers. He had to do the IELTS test and went from Northern Ireland to England to do the test at considerable costs. He hadn't done a formal exam since 1990! He went over and did the exam (there were only 2 native english speakers there) and passed with an impressive (to me anyway) 8.5 band score. He did very little preparation.
To anyone who is worried about understanding British accents during the listening - listen to BBC Radio over the internet
If anyone has a smart phone there are various apps that you can download
best piece of advice that I can give you - Relax, don't worry about it and good luck

 

[wlee62]

I can understand why USNick is venting because as a CEC applicant under the graduate stream, you have to have completed an IELTS or TOEFL test PRIOR to entering university, and then completed a minimum of 2-3 years (I did 4) worth of school work during that time!

I understand it is easier for CIC to have a standardized testing for English proficiency as there are many people in Canada do not seem to be able to speak the language, but I thought (as did ALL my co-workers) it was ridiculous that I had to spend $300 to write the test (after writing my SATs & TOEFL, and completing a Canadian post-secondary education) to prove my language abilities.

As for native speakers writing the test, I probably went through one practice test and also counted roughly how many sentences per paragraph I'd have to write to meet the word count criteria for each essay. Also, the time limit was another thing to be aware of, if it's been a few years - or more - since you've last written an exam!!

 

[anilpande]

please check again if you need to take IELTS because if you need 7 or less bands, I remember having read somewhere that you don't need to appear in IELTS, being a native english speakers. but it boils down to your requirements of total points out of 67 to qualify.

 

[Leon]

For FSW and CEC, everybody must take IELTS. That has been a requirement for a few years now. They just got tired of people who wrote (or got somebody to write) glowing reviews about how good their English was and then turned up not speaking any.