Welcome to the course. I’m really happy to be able to help you prepare for the IELTS
test. There is loads of information and materials on this course to help you and I thought I’d
start by giving you my eight essential steps for preparing for the IELTS test.
Now, when IELTS candidates ask how they should prepare for the test, they often get the answer
"practise, practise, practise!" This is bad advice! Doing lots of practice tests is not
enough. So what should you do?
The first thing you should do, in order to do well in the IELTS test, is to improve your
general level of English. To do well, you need to be at an intermediate level of English,
that's at least B1 in the CEFR (the Common European Framework of Reference). So if your
English is not yet at an intermediate level, you should first try to improve your current
level of English.
So first, improve your general English, your everyday reading and writing, your everyday
speaking and listening.
Good exam strategies and lots of learning tips are not enough. You need to have good
English too.
And one of the common mistakes made by IELTS students is to focus only on IELTS. You know,
they do IELTS practice tests and they write IELTS essays, but they forget to improve their
general English.
So find an English tutor online, join an English class or study at home. Get some English language
apps, grow your vocabulary.
Once your English is at an intermediate level, start to read lots of IELTS-style texts, and
listen to lots of IELTS-style audio recordings. Read and listen for pleasure and for interest,
not simply for IELTS.
And this will help you to improve your English even more and you will also learn about the
kinds of topics that come up in the IELTS test.
Focus especially on topics related to education, health and the environment as these are topics
that frequently come up in the IELTS test.
One excellent website for IELTS-style reading material is the BBC News Magazine. In the
section of the course on reading, I will show you lots more websites like this.
And for listening, listen to some TED Talks on ted.com. In the section of the course on
listening, I will explain more about TED Talks, and I will show you some more great websites
for IELTS-style listening materials.
Next, find out everything you can about the IELTS test and get familiar with the exam
format itself.
This Udemy course is, of course, a great way of doing this. It will help you understand
everything you need to know about the IELTS test, including the exam format and you will
find out about the different types of question, and you will also see how IELTS examiners
assess the speaking and writing parts of the test, and much, much more!
You should also look at some sample IELTS papers. You can find these online and in bookshops,
and in this course you will see lots of example questions for the different parts of the test.
Next, you should download some IELTS practice tests. You can download some practice tests
from this course, and you can find more online. Then start to practise these tests, but do
it slowly. Don’t worry about finishing the test 'on time’. Don't worry about doing
the test in 60 minutes or 40 minutes. Don’t worry exam conditions. Instead, just relax
and do the test slowly.
And think carefully about the questions. Think carefully about the answers, and then check
your answers. And if you get the answer wrong, find out
why. Analyze your mistakes. Learn from your mistakes.
In other words, don't do lots of practice tests. Instead, develop the skills and strategies
you need to answer the questions. Train yourself, don't test yourself.
Next, Identify your weak areas and try to improve them.
If your weak area is writing, practise writing IELTS-style essays and try to get feedback
on them. You can often get feedback on your writing from IELTS groups on Facebook or on
IELTS forums and I’ll tell you more about that in step 7 and later in the course.
If you are weak at speaking, find a speaking partner or an IELTS tutor.
To succeed in the IELTS exam, you need to have a wide vocabulary. This means having
a good level of general English, but you also need to develop an understanding of the kinds
of vocabulary that comes up in the IELTS test, so you need next to build your IELTS vocabulary.
But it also helps to know lots of words and phrases connected to common IELTS topics,
such as education, health and the environment.
One great way of doing this is to use the texts from sample IELTS reading tests and
transcripts of IELTS listening tests to help you learn new vocabulary. Look for words you
don’t know, and try to learn them.
And you can also make a notebook of these new words and phrases, and how they are used.
You could record new vocabulary like this. You can download a blank copy of this vocabulary
record from the resources for this lecture.
You should also join an IELTS Facebook study group. Students and teachers in these groups
share lots of ideas and help each other. And as I mentioned before, you can often get your
IELTS writing checked by someone in one of these groups.
IELTS Tips and Tricks is one of the best Facebook groups around. It’s a very supportive group,
people help each other all the time and there are lots of links to practice materials. I’ve
included links to this group and others, in the resources for this lecture.
So, you’ve improved your English, you’ve read some IELTS style material, you have a
good understanding of the IELTS test, you’ve practised some tests slowly, you’ve improved
your weak areas, built your IELTS vocabulary and you've joined a Facebook group.
Now, you can start to practise tests quickly. Start to time yourself. Start to practise
tests under exam conditions.
Good time management is essential on the IELTS test. The reason many candidates fail to get
the score they need is because they don't finish the tests in the time given. So practise
doing timed tests.
But, of course, only do it when you have done the other 7 steps as well!
So those are my 8 steps to success on the IELTS. As you can see, there is a lot more
to IELTS preparation than just "practice, practice, practice!"
And it's a lot more fun too! So check out the resources for this lecture, for some links
and a blank vocabulary record so you can start your own IELTS vocabulary booklet.
And then, go to the next section of the course. In the next section, you will get all the
key information about the IELTS, you will learn about the band scores, and you can also
download your free eBook. So I will see you in the next lecture.