IELTS—English Test To Go Abroad

The IELTS is an English proficiency test taken by various English speaking countries such as the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand for non-native speakers of the English language looking to migrate to these countries for studies or work. The IELTS is a global test, accepted by all English speaking countries and is not subject specific.

The countries you are seeking to go to, want to make sure that you can understand the language of work and instruction in that country. The country wants to make sure that if you are enrolled in a University, you can understand the medium of instruction and if you are working, you can communicate with others and follow the rules of the organization.

In India, for most people, English is a foreign language. The medium of instruction right up to graduation or high school in a majority of areas in India is in the vernacular or the mother tongue of the region where you study. Therefore, it is important to know that if you are not very proficient in English, but have dreams of traveling abroad, brush up your English skills and prepare for these tests.

Before enrolling for any of the tests, please make sure which country/university you are applying to and how much is the score expectation.

The IELTS has four parts to the test—Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.

LISTENING:

The listening test is important because the test takers want to understand if you can follow a conversation or a lecture .These conversations are usually in foreign accents—British, Scottish, Canadian (IELTS). If you want to practice, listen to a lot of radio programs in English and watch TV programs/films from English channels, to understand various expressions. Although English is an international language, it is spoken differently in various countries .Familiarize yourself with the way it is spoken in these countries. Also,  if you have never been exposed to foreign accents, start watching English movies—if not in the theatre, at least on TV. The movies you watch on TV will mostly be with American accent---but you will get used to it, by and by and your ears will be able to accept other accents as well.

READING:

All the tests give at least 2-3 reading passages; about 500-700 words in length and you have to find answers to the questions from the passage. Reading comprehension is an important part of these tests and the key questions will be based on your understanding of the vocabulary and your expertise in gleaning out information from the passages. The reading test will carry on for an hour or more, so it might get a bit tiring and difficult for you, even if your English is good.

Practice by reading English newspapers and magazines and books. You can start with simple English reading like small fiction stories and then gradually start reading non-fiction. The passages are taken from scientific; historical therefore the reading is pretty heavy and is not very interesting.

Since the reading test is long and you have to finish reading more than one passage, practice by reading quickly and skimming through information and taking down notes. See if the notes you have taken gives a good summary of the passage you have read. A good summary is about one-thirds the length of the passage.

Improve your vocabulary by going through the meanings of words you do not know, using a dictionary.

WRITING:

The writing tests come in the form of composing a letter (IELTS—general) or an essay (IELTS-- academic) or compiling data (IELTS).

This is a tough test since this tests your vocabulary, grammar and spellings. Even a good English speaker may not write well.

Since the writing tasks are timed –about half an hour to one hour, the key here is to structure and write down your thoughts in a limited time. You also have to finish early to edit your response so that your mistakes are minimized.

Brush up your grammar; practice writing simple essay topics and write letters pertaining to your work or subject—place an order, complaint letter, introductory letter etc.

SPEAKING:

This is a test most candidates are nervous about as you are expected to speak impromptu on a given topic and answer questions posed by the examiner (IELTS). The questions may be asked by a live examiner. All your answers are taped and analyzed by test examiners later.

You are marked for your coherence and understanding of the topic and not really for your accent or pronunciation. As long as you display that you can speak fluently, and understand the task, you will not fail the test. Many candidates do not do well on the test just because they get nervous or tongue-tied and lose time thinking.

Practice speaking with a friend or a person who knows good English. Speak on different topics for five minutes and ask your friend to converse with you on different topics.

Start practice months before the test

A mistake most candidates make is to register for the test close to the admission or visa deadline. The downside of this is that if you fail the test, your admission gets cancelled and you lose your registration money. It will be a good idea to take a test date three to six months in advance---that way you will have enough time to prepare and take care of your other course work or studies or office work. 

If you are not good in English, take at least three months to coach yourself. Get yourself a good English teacher to coach you or enroll in a coaching institute.