Tiptoeing through IELTS

Planning to pursue your undergraduate or post-graduate course in the US? Then IELTS is one among the two compulsory tests to be taken to get an admission into topnotch American universities. But while many may tell you that the exam is a breeze and does not require preparation, take a mock test and you will know that might not entirely be true after all!

IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is a compulsory test to be taken by students who wish to pursue their education in countries like UK, Australia, US, New Zealand and Canada among others. This test is to assess the language skills of candidates whose primary mode of instruction is not English. The test is graded on a band (score) of nine and is valid for two years and a minimum of six bands will get you an admission.

A band above seven will play a crucial role in deciding your candidature in premier colleges. The IELTS is conducted by the Cambridge University, the British Council and IDP: IELTS Australia and is regarded as the highest international standards of language assessment. “IELTS test can be taken in IDP and British Council in the Hyderabad”, says Ramakrishna an IELTS faculty with TIME.

The assessment consists of four sub tests including – Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking and it’s compulsory to attend all the four tests to qualify. The former two are common for everyone but latter two may change depending on the student’s choice, whether students opt for Academic Module or the General Training Module.

All the four sections of the test have to be taken on the same day and in the following order.

Listening:

The listening test has to be completed in thirty minutes flat. It consists of four sections, all of which contain a dialogue or a monologue. How well you answer these questions will depend on your alacrity. Answer them while listening to the tape so you have additional time to verify them.

Reading:

The fact that this test is for sixty minutes tells you how important this section is. Brace yourself for some hard core academic reading or a general essay. The section gets tougher as you go down the order.

Writing:

You will be spending sixty minutes in this section as well but you can pick either the academic or the general training module. Each write up should be 260 words at most and should display your versatility. You will be given two writing tasks in this section.

Speaking:

The speaking test will last fifteen minutes, during which you will have to interact with a well-trained examiner in an interview. You will have to give a casual introduction, an interview and a two-minute long talk on a chosen topic. The session will end after a discussion with the interviewer. “Preparing for the exam is not tough but you need a lot of concentration as the listening section is very tricky. Students should take a lot of practice tests, which will help them in performing well in the section”, says Hari M, an IELTS faculty from Manhattan Review.

“The scores of the first three sections are important, but the total score depends on the fourth i.e. speaking section as it gives a clear picture of student’s understanding and vocabulary skills. Candidates have to make sure that they speak slowly and clearly when asked to respond to the interviewers questions”, suggests N. Pramodha, faculty of IELTS.

Tips & Tricks

• Time management is crucial as all the four sections of IELTs are time bound. Make sure you completely utilise the time given to you. Most of the students fail to complete the tasks within time and their inefficiency adversely affects the band.
• The quality of your writing and the speed with which you write matter a lot. Practice well in advance and repeatedly till the exam date so you will be able to complete the section within the allotted time limit.
• While speaking to the interviewer DO NOT fake an accent. Go with what you are naturally gifted or there is good chance you will lose marks.
• Since this exam is meant to just test your language, you can relax! The test contains no graphs to decipher and equations to solve.
• Ofcourse, you have to complete writing on time but do not rush through the task and make mistakes you would regret later. Read the question, plan, ideate and then write accordingly
• Make a checklist of the mistakes you are prone to make and go through your responses to make sure you haven’t made any of those. Also check for grammatical errors. Those are bad
• Do not write long and convoluted sentences. Do not resort to purple prose or esoteric words to impress the evaluator. Instead concentrate on structuring your response well and in crisp paragraphs
• The examiner is a little smarter than you might give him credit for, so don’t copy the entire question into your answer in a bid to add to the word count. They will not be considered and you will ultimately lose a good band.
  

By:Vaishnavi Girish