IELTS CLB10 Tips

[Shishir Chandra Kumar]

Hey everyone,

I'm no expert to give tips and tricks to crack the IELTS. But with my education and experience i have gained a pretty good hold of the language, and i take pride in this fact.
I believe that you don't need to be the best speaker or writer in English to crack IELTS. A decent vocabulary is enough for this task.
I gave IELTS and got CLB10 in my 1st attempt. Now, maybe i got lucky; or maybe i was skilled enough to secure that score. I just want to share few tips i noticed in my IELTS test, which might help you get a good score.

Focus is the key.

Listening: 30mins complete dedication to the audio and questions. Even a second of deviation could be catastrophic.

Reading: skimming through the paragraphs is very very important.

Writing: No. Of words in a line * number of lines. Fix this at the start and forget about number of words. Give examples, real life examples for each point you write. Maintain paragraph for each point. Too many points are not required. But clear understanding of each point and an example is important.
No need to fill the sheet with sophisticated jargon. Make your point crisp and clear.

Speaking: Being spontaneous is the key. Giving expressions and hand gestures to explain a point is also important. It's like you have to be in the moment, like you are conversing, and not giving an exam. But at the back of your mind you should remember that you are giving an exam, and say things related to the question. Speaking for longer duration is recommended. Refrain from using short answers. If the question is yes or no type, say yes or no and then give reasons why you said yes or no.

Most important thing which helped me during the LRW test:
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L- answers copied to answer sheet in 2 mins. Revised the answers thrice. Still left with 2 mins out of 10 mins allotted. I was very happy with my answers, although I knew 1 answer was wrong.
Centered my mind to focus for reading.
R- complete in 45-47 mins. Except for 3 questions ,I was confident and happy. Again I centered my mind for writing.
W- complete in 40-45mins. Rechecked everything.

Finally I let go of my emotions in the last 10 mins, and I felt really relieved and extremely happy.
Point being- always allow buffer time 5-10 mins to recheck answers and to center focus for the next task. Do not allow yourself to get happy or sad because of your performance in that section, as it will affect the next section. Focus is very important.

 

[Shishir Chandra Kumar]

Writing:
Letter Writing:
I wrote my content in 3 paragraphs. I had the lines counted and marked where i needed to stop.

My Topic: Write a letter to manager asking permission to celebrate a colleagues birthday in the office premise.

Hi Anand,

Para 1: Reason for writing this letter.
Para 2: Detailed description.
Para 3: Requesting to consider the request i made in Para 1, due to Para 2 description.

Thanks & Regards,
Shishir

Essay Writing:
For essay i wrote 5 paragraphs.

My Topic: In some countries, the amount of garbage has become an increasing problem. What are the
causes of this problem. what can be done to solve this problem.

Para 1: problem statement
Para 2: Cause 1; an example; a solution
Para 3: Cause 2; an example; a solution
Para 4: Cause 3; an example; a solution
Para 5: Closing statement

Again the lines were counted and marked, where i had to stop. I had more than 3 causes in my mind, but as i saw that i was approaching my last line, and mentioning Cause 4 would extend the essay by 4-5 lines, i did not write it.

Tips:
1. Write 1st line count the no. of words * no. of lines you need to reach the target. Now add 2 more lines to it. This will be your last line.
2. After the reading test, sharpen all your pencils, i recommend having 3 pencils, although i managed in 2 pencils only. The reason is sharpening the pencil in the mid of task will distract your mind, and you don't need that.