How to prepare for IELTS?

IELTS or the International English Language Testing System is an English language testing examination taken by students who wish to pursue their studies abroad especially in English speaking countries. It basically tests your English proficiency and so is a necessary criterion while applying for any university abroad particularly in countries like Australia, UK, New Zealand, USA, and Canada.

So now let’s see all the different parts of the IELTS exam and how you can prepare in order to ace them!

Parts of the IELTS exam

This examination comprises four parts i.e. Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Now let’s see more about these parts and how you can prepare for them.

Round 1: Listening
Listening tests whether the student is able to cope up with the English accent. The ability to understand English is tested. This test is for 40 minutes consisting of four sessions. Conversations in each session will be played once without any repetition and questions will be followed. This goes on for 30 minutes. The final 10 minutes is given to transfer the contents.

Round 2: Reading
The reading phase holds more difficulty as the study of passages may encounter difficult words so having a stronghold on the English vocabulary comes handy. This test is for 60 minutes. About 3 to 4 passages are given. Students have to analyze them clearly and answer the 40 questions dealing with the topic.

Round 3: Writing
Writing is the test of creativity. The interpretation of a figure and deriving solution is how the write up should be based on. Two writeups need to be provided, one with a word count of 150 words and the other with 250 words. Both should be completed within the stipulated time of 60 minutes.

Round 4: Speaking
This session lasts for around 11 to 14 minutes. This may consist of different parts like:

Part 1
Part 1 is more of a self-introduction where you have to introduce yourself, speak about your hobbies, your family and all that concerns with your life.

Part 2
Part 2 is where you will be provided with a topic and the important points to be covered relating to that topic will also be mentioned. You will be given a preparation time of 1 minute. Then you are supposed to speak about the topic for 2-4 minutes.

Part 3
Part 3 is an elaborative session of Part 2 where the examiner will question you about the topic you have spoken.

Based on your answers to the above sections, you will be evaluated and the results will be announced within a few weeks. So work hard because constant practice and strength in vocabulary is the key to crack IELTS!