What is IELTS like for an already native English speaker/reader/writer/listener?
- Thread starter donutbox
- Start date
Hi Donutbox
I did the exam last week and found it on the whole to be pretty straightforward. In terms of the listening test, the main issue is concentration as you only hear the recording once, so if you drift off a bit you'll miss answers! I found the reading more difficult than I expected, and I've got a masters degree, so am fairly fluent really! There was one section in which we had to read a paper that was divided into sections and allocate the appropriate heading to each section. I found this difficult as I didn't think the headings matched particularly well. The writing was fairly straightforward I think, as was the speaking. I'll let you know when I get my marks though!
I did the exam last week and found it on the whole to be pretty straightforward. In terms of the listening test, the main issue is concentration as you only hear the recording once, so if you drift off a bit you'll miss answers! I found the reading more difficult than I expected, and I've got a masters degree, so am fairly fluent really! There was one section in which we had to read a paper that was divided into sections and allocate the appropriate heading to each section. I found this difficult as I didn't think the headings matched particularly well. The writing was fairly straightforward I think, as was the speaking. I'll let you know when I get my marks though!
Re: What is IELTS like for an already native English speaker/reader/writer/liste
Agreed. I did it in January and drifted a bit during the listening. Also, reading I was tight for time, despite being native, and I'm a law graduate so used to dealing with complex issues under time. The main thing is to concentrate and work fast as you would do if you weren't a native English speaker, then the benefit of your superiour English will come through! If you allow your concentration to take a back seat then the non-natives who are using 110% brain power in the exam will catch up with you despite their worse English!
Good luck!!
gizmo59 said:
Agreed. I did it in January and drifted a bit during the listening. Also, reading I was tight for time, despite being native, and I'm a law graduate so used to dealing with complex issues under time. The main thing is to concentrate and work fast as you would do if you weren't a native English speaker, then the benefit of your superiour English will come through! If you allow your concentration to take a back seat then the non-natives who are using 110% brain power in the exam will catch up with you despite their worse English!
Good luck!!
As an exam preparation tutor and a native speaker I would suggest that you do a couple of practice writings, both part 1 and 2. Make sure to do them under exam conditions in terms of time etc. eg. only 20 min for part 1. Time constraints are real on the exam so i would urge some practice even for the other sections especially reading
sir/madams, i thought i had 7 on the writing part. but got 6. i thought i composed good sentences. how to get at least 8 in the writing module?.. 