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Preparation Tips for IELTS Listening (Part 1)

• The voice on the cassette tape reads the instructions on the front of the question booklet. Read the instructions

as you listen to the tape to become accustomed to the speed and accent of the speech.

• Ask the administrator of the IELTS examination to adjust the volume in a suitable level, if necessary.

• You should not open your booklet until you are told to do so.

• You must answer the questions provided while you are listening. The questions mostly follow the same

sequence as the information contained in the Listening cassette.

• Write your answers directly into the question booklet. Do not write at answer sheet at this time. You are

allocated 10 minutes to transfer your answers at the end of the exam.

Read the question and guess about the upcoming question. That will give you a advantage to answer correctly.

Use Pencils to write down the answers as you might need to change the answer or correct a spelling.

Pay special attention to the date, time, spelling of a person's name.

• Become familiar with the instructions before you do the test.

• Practice listening as much as possible before you do the test.

• Listen carefully to the introduction to the test.

• Listen carefully to any instructions on the cassette.

• Write as much as you want in the question booklet.

• Write notes and answers directly into the question booklet as you.

» Your answers need to be legible, i.e., they must be clear and readable. This applies to all the types of answers

you give: letters, numbers and phrases.

» You write your answers on the question paper as you do the Listening sub-test, and when it is completed, you

have 10 minutes to transfer them carefully onto the Answer Sheet. Make sure that each answer is transferred

accurately and is legible.

In general The Listening Test is probably the one people get most scared of. To help yourself overcome that fear, start

watching TV programs in English. It is better than radio or audio books, because you also see images that help

you understand the words you hear.

Listening – a skill, not a gift! From my experience, in many cases Listening is the least developed skill. So if you feel especially weak in that

area - pay attention to the following tips, that will help you improve your Listening ability. Remember – nobody

is born with it, it‟s just a skill and you learn it. If you think your Listening needs no improvements – skip the

“Teach yourself the words” part, move forward to the next tips.

Teach yourself the words The only way to improve your Listening ability is to train your “ears” to separate and understand the words you

hear in the flow of sentence. Often what you hear is a Bla bla bla bla bla”, which you can't to break into words,

and for that reason it makes no sense to you. When training, take a recording of the news, lecture, television

program movie or an actual IELTS Listening test and work with it. I suggest using MP3 player. You can easily

record English from the radio or any other source to it. It is also easy to repeat (re-play) sentences you didn't

understand. MP3 player is small and light, so you can use it in any spare moment that you have – riding the bus

or tram, walking the dog, taking a walk yourself, etc.

First, listen, remember what you heard and stop the recording after each phrase. Even if you didn‟t understand

the phrase, play it in your head a couple of times, like a broken record – “Tonight we have a special guest”,

“Tonight we have a special guest”, “Tonight we have a special guest”.

Then say it out loud. If you understood that phrase at first, this exercise will improve your pronunciation. If you

didn‟t understand the phrase for the first time, this repetition will give you more time to hear it better, break it

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into words and make sense out of them. And if it is still difficult, you can always rewind and hear the phrase

again.

There is a big difference between seeing a word printed on paper while reading and hearing it. If you saw a

word, it doesn‟t mean you will recognize it when you hear it. So every word you have seen, you must hear at

list once.

Instructions will keep you safe Every task in IELTS Listening test has its instructions. It may sound stupid, but you really need to read them

carefully. Why? Because they will tell you exactly what to do with the information: how many words you can

use to answer, is there a table you must fill, is there a list to chose words from, how many items you must name,

etc. And if the answer must be in 3 words – write EXACTLY 3 WORDS, because writing four or two words

will get you 0 score.

To make my point crystal clear, let‟s take the following scenario for example: The speaker on a tape says:

“Well, if you are dieting, try to avoid fruits with lots of fructose like watermelon, mango, peaches or grapes.”

The question in the booklet is:

“Name 2 fruits a person on a diet should not eat”.

The answer may be “watermelon, mango” or “mango, peaches” or any combination of two items, but never

three or four!!! Anyone who writes “just in case” – watermelon, mango, peaches, grapes – receives 0 score for

that question.

Note: when counting words – “a” or “the” counts as a word.

Preparation Tips for IELTS Listening (Part 2)

Divide and concur! The recording divides questions into groups, so every time you are instructed to answer a group of 4-5

questions. There are 20-30 seconds of silence before each group.

First thing you should do when the tape starts playing, is understand which group of questions you need to

answer.

For example the tape says: “Look at questions one to four”. It means that you have about 20 seconds to look at

those questions. Go over questions, read them and underline keywords. Keywords are words that contain the

main idea of the question. They will help you guess what you will hear – numbers, opening hours, names,

locations, etc.

Draw a line under question four, so you won‟t look further before it‟s time. Then you will hear a piece of

passage and answer the questions one to four as you listen. It means that you should be able to write one answer

and listen to another.

After that, the tape will say the numbers of questions in the next group. Repeat the same process, including

drawing the line. This dividing technique is very efficient because every time you concentrate on limited

number of questions, so it makes you more focused and in control.

Distractions Don't get confused by all the different voices you are going to hear. The recording uses several different voices

– of younger and older people, men and women. You may also hear different accents - Australian, British,

American, Japanese, etc. The background noise is also varies. It can be of airport, cafe-shop, street, University

lecture hall, you name it. Be ready for it and don't let it distract you – because that is exactly what they want.

Ignore the noises and listen for the answers.

Listen for specifics When you are listening, look for descriptions and details, such as dates, places, telephone numbers, opening

hours, years (1995), transportation (car, bike, train) If you hear them, but don‟t know where to place them yet –

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write them on margins of the Listening booklet. Later you will have some time to check your answers. Going

over the questions that you couldn‟t answer during the Listening passage, you might see that what you‟ve

written on the margins fits.

Answer as you listen The reason you have to “answer as you listen” is that you immediately forget the sentences after you have heard

them – because of stress, foreign language, constant flow of information, etc. After hearing the third sentence

you won‟t be able to repeat the first. It means that when any part of Listening is over – you won„t be able to

remember any of the answers. So write them as you hear them, leave nothing for later.

Keep moving forward A worst case scenario is you “loosing the sequence of answers” – so you miss one answer and then you miss

another one and so on. To prevent that from happening, always look one or two questions ahead. It sounds

confusing, but after a little practice becomes very natural and helps a lot. Even if you have missed the answer to

a question – admit it and move to the next one, otherwise you will loose it too.

Know your clues The answer is usually pronounced louder and clearer, it is easier to hear and understand. If you can‟t hear

something clear (because the speaker swallows words or whispers), then probably the answer is not there. With

some practice you will be able to tell the difference. A good clue to answer is when you hear a repetition of a

word, a word being spelled out (G A R F U N K E L) or a number dictated.

Eliminate When you deal with multiple-choice questions, elimination is a good strategy. Usually only one answer is

correct, unless instructions say something else. This task is similar to True/False/Not Given. You should decide

for every choice of answer - is it True, False or Not Given in the passage. After you have decided, choose the

one that is True – this is the correct answer. Any other choice, False or Not Given, is incorrect.

Keep in mind that there are cases when all the choices are correct or none of them is correct. Read the

instruction carefully and you will know what to do in such cases.

Gap-fill strategy Look at the words around the gap to understand what‟s missing, a noun (like boy, toy, truck), an adjective

(little, pretty, shiny) or a verb (stands, looks, moves).

For instance, if you see Noun before the blank (“The boy is___”), it means that it‟s Adjective (“The boy is

small”) or it‟s Verb (“The boy is smiling”) is missing. Once you have picked a word, write it above the gap

and then read the whole sentence to be sure that it makes sense.

"Chameleon" questions They might use different words with the same meaning to confuse you. It could be expressions or synonyms.

For example, the tape says “All the candidates have to fill an application form” and the question says “The

candidates must fill an application” – is it True, False or Not Given? The correct answer is True because "have

to" means "must".

Watch out for traps Trap Number One – unexpected turn

You might hear speaker starting to say one thing and then, suddenly, continuing to something completely

different. This is a trap, so make sure you don‟t fall for it. The rule here is “Last word counts”. For example, if

the speaker says “I want to visit that gallery on Monday. No, wait, I‟ve just remembered that it is closed on

Monday, so I will go on Wednesday.”, and the question is “when” – the correct answer here is Wednesday, and

Monday is a trap.

Trap Number Two – generalizations

You might hear speaker first gives a list of things and then says them all in one word. For example: “Well, I like

to swim, hike, and camp – to be involved in outdoor activities.” If the question is “What kind of activities…”

the correct answer is “outdoor” and not “swimming”, “hiking” or “camping”.

Trap Number Three – explicit answer choices

Explicit answers choices can be (and mostly will be) traps.

The following example demonstrates what I mean:

The tape says: “This course is a must for all first year students, excluding foreign students”.

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The Question is “All the first year students have to take this course”,

The Answer should be F(alse), because there is an exception – foreign students.

All the explicit answers that mean “no exceptions” are suspicious to us and call for more attention.

Check the grammar If the answer you give is grammatically incorrect – it cannot be the right one. Checking the grammar of your

answers will give you an idea whether your answer correct or not, especially in tasks like:

• Gap-fill

• Sentence completion

Use your time wisely During the test, you have a little time between passages. Use it to check and complete your answers.

Copy answers smartly After 20 minutes of Listening test, there are 10 additional minutes. During the test you have written all of the

answers in the Listening test booklet. These 10 minutes are given you to copy your answers to the Answering

sheet, and you should use them smartly.

The Answer Sheet has 2 sides, one for Reading test and one for Listening test, so make sure you are writing on

the Listening side. I include here an example of Answering Sheet so you could get familiar with it and use it for

practicing.

First, copy all the answers from the booklet to the Answering Sheet, and pay attention to the following

guidelines (as simple as they sound – they are BIG time savers):

• For multiple-choice questions and picking pictures - just copy the letter of correct answer, don't circle it.

• For sentence completion – just copy your answer, not the whole sentence.

• For True/False/Not given question – just copy T, F or NG, whatever your choice is.

• For gap-fills – just copy the word you have chosen for the gap.

• For answers written in short (like prof. advise) – write the full version (professional advise).

• Check that all the answers are clear and understandable.

Now, if you missed some questions – it is a good time to guess.

Practice, practice, practice! Play the Listening samples and start using the tips while searching for answers. This is the only way to really

understand how these tips work. You may have to play the same Listening file more than once, to practice in

different techniques.

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Preparation Tips for IELTS Academic Writing (Part 1)

IELTS tests your ability to produce two quite different pieces of writing in a fairly short period of time. The test

is divided into two parts and you are allowed one hour to complete both parts.

Writing Task 1 : In the first part, you are given a task based on some graphic or pictorial information. You are expected to write

a descriptive report of at least 150 words on the information provided.

Writing Task 2 : The second task is more demanding. You are expected to produce a written argument on a given topic and to

organize your answer clearly, giving some examples to support your points. You will have to write at least 250

words and, as Task 2 is longer than Task 1, you are advised to spend approximately 40 minutes on this task and

20 minutes on the first task.

Preparation for the IELTS Academic Writing task 1:

Being able to understand and describe graphic information or data is an important academic skill. IELTS

Academic Writing Task 1 tests your ability to describe factual information, presented in graphic and

diagrammatic form, clearly and accurately.

Describing Facts and Figures: A fact is different from an opinion because it is objective and often involves measurement. For example, the

graph on the left shows what a group of students think about a film they have just seen.

Having looked at this graph, you could say that half the students did not like the film. Or you could say that 50

per cent of the students did not like the film. You could be even more specific and state that 15 out of 30

students did not like the film. These are all facts.

Describing Trends: Line graphs are used to show a trend or pattern which usually takes place over a period of time. It is

important to look at the overall pattern on a line graph as well as the significant features within it.

You must show the examiner that you have considered all the presentation and every important data given there

and you have chosen the right facts to write down in your presentation. Don't write every detail presented in the

graph. This will cause to reduce your score.

Summarizing: In the IELTS test there maу be a lot of information to describe, in a limited number of words. If is essential that

you select the appropriate details and organize the material in a relevant way in order to fulfil the task

requirements satisfactorily.

Compare : When you interpret graphs, tables and charts, you will find that you have to compare and contrast some of the

details. Your examiner will be checking that you can structure your answer well and connect your ideas

appropriately. The following table may help you do this.

-- If you employ too many linking words or structures or if you use these transitional words or structure

incorrectly then you will lose marks.

Grouping Information : When organizing your answer it may also help to 'group' some of the information. This is particularly the case

when there is a lot of data, as in the graph on the right.

-- Don't interpret the important facts and information inaccurately and check that your sentences are

grammatically correct.

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Describing A Process : In Writing Task 1 you may occasionally be asked to describe a process or other pictorial information such as a

cycle or map. In order to produce a report describing a process you should take a similar approach to the one

you used in describing data. You should examine the information carefully - which will be in pictorial form -

and make sure you understand it. Look specifically at the beginning and the end of the process. Then, following

the same principles as outlined in previous units, you should provide an opening sentence that summarizes the

overall function of the process.

-- Never copy the text that appear in the question. Copying the sentences from the question will decrease your

IELTS score.If you need to use the sentences or words appeared in the question, try to use a different sentence

structure or synonyms for the words.

You will also be given an answer booklet. You have to write your essays in the answer booklet. Notes are not

acceptable and essays under the word limit will be penalized.

You are given graphic or pictorial information and you have to write a description of this information. Bar

charts, line graphs, pie charts and tables are most frequently given for this task. However, you could also be

given an object or series of pictures or diagrams or a flow chart to describe.

If graphs are used there may be just one – usually a line graph or a bar chart. However, there could also be more

than one of the same type of graph or a combination of graphs and charts. For example, you could get a bar

chart and a pie chart together or a line graph and a table.

Your performance in Task 1 will be assessed on the criteria below:

Task Achievement Being able to follow the instructions properly. Being able to write a clear, accurate and relevant description of

the information. Being able to focus on the important trends presented as graphic information.

Coherence and Cohesion Being able to organize your writing using a suitable structure. Using connective words to link sentences and

paragraphs logically.

Lexical Resources Being able to use a wide range of vocabulary naturally. Being able to spell accurately and using the appropriate

word formation.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy Using the appropriate grammatical structures accurately Using a variety of sentence structures.

Preparation for the IELTS Academic Writing task 2 :

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Preparation Tips for IELTS Academic Reading (part 1)

To prepare for IELTS Reading module, read articles in English Newspapers, Magazines, travel

brochures, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia etc. You should read English story books too. Try to read a variety

of topics-- History, Science, culture, social and natural sciences.

Tips 1: Make the habit of reading faster by reading words in groups/chunks rather than word by word. Try to

read minimum 2 hours per day. Read whatever interest you but obviously written in English. The three reading

passages are on topics of general interest and usually these passages are taken from books, newspapers, journals

or magazines. So try to read recent news, Newspapers, Magazines, travel brochures etc. whenever possible.

Tips 2: Remember that you are reading for a purpose not for pleasure. While practicing make a habit of looking

at the title and headings when you survey the text, as well as ant special print like: CAPITAL, Bold, italic ,

"quotation", underlined words. Try to understand exactly what the question wants and falways followed the

instructions carefully provided with the reading passages.

Tips 3: Practice scanning by applying the scanning techniques whenever you read a passage.

Tips 4: There is usually a logical place to begin looking for the answer to a reading question. This requires an

understanding of the main idea or topic of each paragraph. You can save yourself a great amount of time if you

work out the main idea or topic of each paragraph in the early stages of your assessment of the passage.

Tips 5: There are generally 10 types of questions available in the reading section. The types are:

1. Multiple Choice

2. Short-answer questions

3. Sentence completion

4. Notes/table/summary flow-chart/diagram completion

5. Yes, no, not given or True, false, not given

6. Classification

7. Matching lists/phrases

8. Choosing headings for paragraphs/sections of a text

9. Scanning and identifying location of information

10.Labeling a diagram

1. Multiple choice questions can test both your global understanding of the text or ask you for specific

information. This means you will have to make the decision yourself whether to skim or scan the text.

To prepare for the Multiple choice questions:

• Read the instructions carefully and check how many letters you need to circle.

• Skim all the questions and the answer choices quickly. As you do this :

» Underline the key words (the words that give you the most information).

» Try to get an idea of the topic you will be reading about from the vocabulary of the questions.

» Look at any illustrations or diagrams that go with the text.

• Go back to the first question. Decide if you are looking for specific information or whether the question

requires you to understand the whole text. Then either scan or skim the text, as appropriate, to find the answer.

• Read the relevant part of the text very carefully.

• Don‟t leave any questions unanswered.

2. Short Answer questions will usually tell you to write your answers in NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.

So you can answer with one word, two words or three words but no more. However, this is not always the case.

So you should always check what the questions ask you to do.

To prepare for the Short Answer questions:

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• You have to apply both skimming and scanning techniques to be able to answer the questions in time.

• Skim all the questions quickly. As you do this:

» underline the key words.

» decide what information you need to find in the text.

» look out for question words like „where‟ and „who‟ which indicate

» you should find out for specific things like places and people.

• Go back to the first question and decide what part of the text you need to read.

• Read the part carefully to find the answer.

• You may use your own words. You don‟t have to write a complete sentence but it does have to be

grammatically correct.

• if you don‟t know the meaning of any of the words in the questions, find it using a dictionary, write it down at

your note book and try to reuse it over and over again.

• the answer could be one word, two words or three words but not four or more. if you think you need more

than three words your answer is probably incorrect.

3. Sentence completion require you to complete the end of a sentence. The questions generally appear in the

same order as the information in the text. Type 2 questions are similar to the short answer questions in that they

will always tell you to write your answers in NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS. So you can answer with one

word, two words or three words but not more. They will also tell you to use words from the reading passage.

To prepare for the sentence completion questions:

• Skim all the questions quickly. As you do this:

» underline the key words.

» try to work out what information you need.

» think about the grammatical form as well as the vocabulary that should follow immediately from the stem.

• Go back to the first sentence and decide what information you need to complete it.

• Find the place where the information should be in the text and read it carefully.

• Look out for synonyms and parallel expressions because the questions are not likely to use the same words as

those in the text.

• Make sure your sentences make sense both logically and grammatically.

• for type two, the answer could be one word, two words or three words but not four or more.

• if you think you need more than three words your answer is probably incorrect.

4. Notes/table/summary flow-chart/diagram completions ask for specific information. There are two types of

these completion questions in the IELTS reading

exam.

Type 1. With a selection of possible answers.

Type 2. Without a choice of possible answers.

These questions require you to:

-- insert a word or phrase in the middle of a sentence

-- insert a word in the middle and another word at the end of a sentence

For Type 1 questions the words or phrases provided will be different from the words in the text. There will be

more words than gaps.

Type 2 questions are similar to the short answer questions in that they will tell you to write your answers in NO

MORE THAN THREE WORDS. So you can answer with one word, two words or three words but no more.

To prepare for the sentence completion questions:

• Look at the table or form etc carefully:

» examine any headings or subheadings.

» try to get an idea of the topic.

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» decide what section of the passage the exercise covers.

» anticipate grammatical form as well as vocabulary.

• if a box of answers is given, see if you can guess any of the matches & eliminate unlikely answers.

• if the question is in the form of a table, work out which way it is best to read it – horizontally or vertically.

• If the question is in the form of a summary, read through it first and see if you can guess any of the missing

words.

• Take each gap one by one and search the text for the best word(s) to fill the gap.

• if there is a box of answers, there will be at least two you don‟t need.

• if there is no box, the answer could be one word, two words or three words but not four or more.

• if you think you need more than three words your answer is probably incorrect.

• there may be alternative rubrics for these completion questions e.g. „complete the notice‟ or „complete the

explanation‟ or „complete the news report‟.

5. Yes, no, not given or True, false, not given questions tasks either ask you to identify the writer‟s views or

claims in the text or identify information in the text. You will be given a list of statements which are either

opinions or facts and you have to decide for: If they are opinions, whether they are the opinions of the writer or

not or not given in the text. If they are facts, whether they are true, false or not given in the text.

To prepare for these type of questions :

• Read the instructions carefully.

• Quickly read through all the statements to get an idea about the topic.

• Read the first statement more carefully. Underline the key words so you understand the main point.

• Search for the section of the text which deals with the idea or fact.

• Once you have found the relevant section, read it carefully.

6. Classification questions ask you to classify information given in the reading text. Classifications are often

according to the writer‟s opinion or according to a period of time or place. You will be asked to identify a letter

which represents one of the classifications for each item in a list of statements.

To prepare for the classification question questions:

• Read the instructions carefully.

• Make sure you know how many classifications there are and what letters you have to use. (E.g. US, J, G & UK

in the exercise above.)

• Read the classifications carefully and make sure you don‟t confuse the letters which represent each one.

• Read the statements/phrases or words beside the question numbers and underline key words.

• Start with the first statement and work your way through them

one by one, searching the text to find where the information is mentioned.

• The questions will not necessarily be in the same order as the

text and the wording will probably be different in the text so look out for synonyms and parallel expressions.

• When you‟ve located the reference in the text, read it carefully and select your answer.

• Don‟t leave any statements without a letter.

7. Matching questions require you to match a list of opinions to sources mentioned in the text. These questions

are used with texts which present a number of different people‟s opinions. The sources are usually numbered

and the opinions are given a letter each. In the answer booklet you write the letter(s) beside the numbers. There

could be more opinions than sources. If so, you will need to write more than one letter beside the question in the

answer booklet. If there are more sources than opinions, then one of more or the opinions will be used more

than once.

• Read the instructions carefully.

• Take the names of the sources one by one and find them in the text and underline them.

• When you have located a name, read carefully to see what is said about his/her opinions.

• Look at the list of opinions and see if you can make a match.

• Remember that the text is not likely to use the same words as the questions, so look for synonyms and parallel

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expressions.

• Also, be aware that the sources may be referred to in more than one place in the text.

8. Choosing headings questions require you to sum up the meaning of a paragraph in order to match it to a

bank of possible headings. You may be asked to match every paragraph or section of the text or just a selection

of paragraphs or require you to sum up the whole text.

• Read the instructions carefully.

• Make sure you know which paragraphs or sections you have to sum up.

• Read the first paragraph or section and try to sum up, in your own words, what it is about.

• Then search through the bank of headings for the best answer.

• Make sure the heading you have chosen sums up the entire paragraph and not just one idea within it.

• If you have to sum up the entire text. Read the whole text before looking at the bank of headings. Try to think

of your own heading and then look at the options.

9. Scanning and identifying location of information questions require you to scan the text to find the location

of information. You will be given a set of statements and you need to find the paragraph each one comes from.

To prepare for these type of questions:

• Read the instructions carefully.

• Quickly read the statements to get an idea of what the text is about.

• Take the statements one by one. Underline the key words.

• Next search the text to find where the information is mentioned.

• Remember to look for synonyms and parallel expressions because it is likely that the statements express the

ideas differently to the way they are expressed in the text.

10. Labeling a diagram which has numbered parts questions: You will be given a diagram and asked to

label it with words from the text or labels given.

To prepare for these type of questions:

• The information will be given in the same order as the numbers on the diagram.

• Scan the text to find the information. If labels are not provided, make sure you use words from the text.

Preparation Tips for IELTS Reading (part 4)

Other important aspects you should follow to prepare yourself for the IELTS reading preparation:

» Read as much as possible.

» Make sure you are familiar with the instructions for the different question types so you can quickly glance at

the questions and know what to do.

» Work on your reading skills such as „guessing the meanings of unknown words‟, „understanding reference

words in texts‟ and reading quickly.

» Read newspaper articles and practice the following:

-- dividing the content into facts and opinions

-- finding the topic sentences of paragraphs

-- writing summaries

-- interpreting any diagrams or tables

-- thinking of headings you could give to paragraphs

-- underlining the pronouns and working out what they refer to

-- underlining unknown words and seeing if you can work out what they mean

-- reading the first paragraph and seeing if you can predict what will come next

» Do as many practice tests as you can to get used to the rubric and the task types.