Episode one, how to use this podcast and what is the IELTS.
G'day.
My name is Glenn Spearing and I've been teaching English as a second language and English as a foreign language for nearly 10 years, both in Australia and overseas.
I've prepared exam students throughout that time and have taught communication skills at university level to students who have entered through the IELTS and English as a second language pathway.
Some of my students have scored extremely highly in their IELTS exams and, as a result, have been able to work for internationally renowned organizations such as the United Nations.
This podcast is a combination of the strategies, tips and tricks that I've learned over that time to make sure that you have the best chance possible to achieve your maximum score.
Are you ready?
Let's go.
My name is Glenn and I'm the host of this podcast, IELTS in the Sun and also the Australians Teach English podcast.
I've been teaching English in various forms for nearly 10 years now.
In that time I've taught to every level and almost every age, from four-year-olds up to 90-year-olds.
My personal specialty is helping with professional writing skills, and I have a number of publications both in the academic field and also in the non-academic field as well.
This podcast is designed for people who want to take the IELTS exam, but it will also be useful for people wanting to take any of the other international exams as well.
Episodes on tips and tricks will also be useful for learners wanting to improve specific skills even if they are not taking any of the international English exams.
The podcast is targeted at people who have a current equivalent band score of between 5 and 7.
People may be familiar with other methods of ranking their levels, such as B1 and B2.
And this is the level that is equivalent of between five and seven in the IELTS exam.
I'll have more to say about that and what that means in a future episode.
But the majority of learners and exam candidates will score at this level and will test at this level even before taking the exam.
So my goal is to give you the skills that you need to score above this level.
If you are regularly scoring above a 7 in the IELTS exam or testing above 7 in all of the skills, it may be worth doing an advanced exam instead of the IELTS.
But I'll have more to say about that in a future episode as well.
There is so much material out there for the IELTS exam that it can become overwhelming.
My goal with this podcast is that it is simple, chronological and logical information so that you can listen to this podcast from start to finish and get the information that you need.
The most important information will be in the earlier episodes.
As the podcast develops, the episodes will become more specific to different elements in the exam.
But over time there will be a repository that you can refer back to, depending on what specific skills and tips that you need.
Because it is a podcast.
It's obviously most beneficial for improving listening skills, but that doesn't mean that I'll be neglecting the other components of the test.
As I said earlier, my specialty is writing and I have online courses for that, which also combines reading skills at the same time as learning some Australian literature.
I also have group classes which have a focus on speaking.
So if you are especially interested in improving your speaking, reading and or writing skills, get in contact with me.
On the theme of listening skills, each episode will have a listening task.
On Spotify, the possible answers will be in poll format.
And on social media.
You can respond to the listening task and the listening question in the relevant post and I will give you feedback.
This episode's listing task is this.
What does the acronym IELTS mean?
What is the IELTS?
And what does the IELTS stand for?
It stands for International English Language Testing System.
There are two types of IELTS exams, the academic and general training modules.
This podcast will mainly deal with the academic module.
The IELTS was established in 1989 as a way to standardise testing for immigration and academic purposes.
Prior to the IELTS, each country and even each individual educational institution had its own entrance requirements.
This was costly and inefficient.
This is still the case in the United States, with colleges and universities having monolithic bureaucracies to control entrance.
Over time, modifications to the exam, the IELTS exam, have taken place, but the overall format of speaking listening, reading and writing remain the same.
For this reason its stability and consistency it is the most popular English language test for immigration and educational purposes, with over 4 million tests conducted in 2023 alone in at least 140 countries.
Rather than a pass or a grade such as an A B, C or D or an allocation of points, IELTS students will get a band score allocation from one to nine, although I don't think I've heard of anyone, or certainly not had a student that has scored lower than a band four in the exam.
There are four parts to the test, listening, reading, writing and speaking.
Listening, reading and writing are conducted on the same day, while speaking may be on the same day or up to a week before or week after the other elements of the exam.
The total test time is 2 hours and 45 minutes, with 30 minutes allocated for listening, 60 for reading, 60 for writing and 10 to 15 for speaking.
For a computer-based test, results will be delivered 1 to 5 days after the exam.
For paper-based tests, it can take up to 13 days.
Increasingly, all tests are being done on computer and the results can be delivered within 24 hours after taking the test.
The time it takes to receive your results is continually getting shorter.
So I hope that's given you a good introduction to what is going to be included in this podcast, given you a bit of an overview of the IELTS and how to use this podcast for your own benefit.
Remember that the listening task for this episode was what does the IELTS stand for?
What does the acronym IELTS mean?
And so don't forget to take the time to answer in the poll, in the show notes or comment on any of the social media posts regarding this episode.
And I will give you some feedback on that.
In the next episode I'll be covering why someone might choose the IELTS, especially as opposed to some of the other international exams, and maybe even talking a little bit about some of the other options as well.
But for now, it's me signing off, saying hooroo, and have a good one, and I will see you later.
Bye, guys.
If you like this podcast, don't forget to rate, review and share it with anyone who might benefit from listening.
If you'd like to improve your general listening skills, get tips on language learning and get exposure to topics that regularly appear on the IELTS exam, check out the Australians Teach English podcast.
Want more?
Think about becoming a patron at patreoncom slash australiansteachinglish, where you can find transcripts, express releases, bonus content and have a say on the creative process and what topics get discussed.
Interested in an online course for improving your writing or maybe a group class to prepare for IELTS?
Then send an email to australiansteachinglish at gmail.com.
You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at Australians Teach English.
