Hi guys, I'm IELTS with Fiona and in today's episode I've had a massive rush of people asking me for help because they've got their IELTS test in 10 days.
Now, if this is you, I would love to know why because I'm really intrigued.
Why is this happening?
Why suddenly so many people have to take the IELTS test and they don't have any time to prepare for it.
People are saying next week or 10 or 12 days.
I don't know why this is happening.
It's never happened to me like this before.
So, if you're panicking, I'm going to talk you through 10 steps to that.
You can do over 10 days or 7 days or 14 days, or however much time you've got left.
And hopefully it will really focus you and just get you ready for test day.
So, you know, the good thing about IELTS is that you can't fail it.
You know, if it was like the first certificate test or the advanced Cambridge test, you might be panicking because it's a lot of money for a certificate that you can't use because you failed.
But IELTS is not like that.
It's fantastic.
So you can take that worry off your shoulders.
It will just give you like a snapshot, a photograph of what your level is now.
Realistically, in 10 days, you're not going to change your level of English.
So, consider the test as a practice run.
Oh, and by the way, this is all on my blog.
So if you want to go and read it it's a brand new blog from last week and I'm kind of talking you through it.
If you don't like reading and you prefer listening because it's easier when you're driving or whatever
So, yeah, consider this test in 10 days as a practice run.
It's really useful to get test day practice because all of the things that affect your performance like nerves tiredness, different examiner different questions, somebody sitting next to you making a noise or you know it helps you decide whether you'd rather do a computer test or a paper-based test.
All of those things, they're really positive things.
You might be nervous in your speaking the first time, but after you've done it you won't be nervous the second time.
So if you have to take the test again, you'll be much more prepared.
So think of it as a really really positive thing, a practice run, especially if somebody else is paying for you.
Because that's what I don't understand.
Is that why you have to take the test and you didn't know about it?
That's what I'm confused about.
So anyway, if somebody like your boss, your employer, your parents told you You're taking this test,
I'll pay for you.
Then here's what you can do.
And I've put it to 10 days because people have been asking seven days, 12 days.
And I thought 10 was a nice round number.
But you can change it if you want to.
So the first one, day one, let's say that's today or tomorrow.
Just get to know the test if you've never done it before.
It's a strange test.
But in some ways, it's good.
There's no grammar element to it.
It's just the four skills.
So listening, reading, writing and speaking.
Do double check.
And I get a lot of questions about this.
Should I take academic or general training?
Again, this isn't your decision in a way.
It's the institution that you're applying for.
If you're going to university, for example, you have to do academics.
If you're working, they'll probably ask you for general training, but double check which one you've applied for.
Because there are differences, especially in the writing task one and the reading test is different.
But the listening and speaking are exactly the same.
So no need to worry about that.
I would go to a really reliable test site like IELTSorg, for example, and I've put that link on my blog and it will take you straight to the practice materials, so you don't need to have to, you don't have to look around that link.
It says use this page for your practice tests, and that piece of advice I think is really important because there's so much rubbish online.
Use a reliable website and just stick on that website.
That's the one I use throughout my blog.
I say do this reading test on this website, do this listening test.
So try not to get stressed and confused about By all the conflicting advice.
Stay focused on the test itself.
You can worry about tips and tricks later, but today your aim is to find out what exactly you have to do.
How many parts are there?
How much time do you have to do it?
Just focus on getting through it on day one.
Find your way around.
Find this site.
Find a book if you want to, but you don't need it now.
Just go to this site.
Okay, so now you know what to do.
Then day two, focus on one skill.
And I've chosen the listening test.
I think it's a good place to start.
It's less scary than the reading and the writing.
And it's something that'll start getting your ear used to hearing.
You know the different accents that you'll get and the type of questions that you'll get.
So in the listening, there are four sections and they get gradually more difficult.
So again, that's another reason why I would start with the listening, especially part one and part two.
They are designed to be very everyday conversations, And you shouldn't find them too difficult.
But it's a good chance for you to learn things like, remember, you only hear each part once.
Now, in other exams, the Cambridge exams, you always get a second listening.
So this is really important for the way you approach the listening.
You can't afford to get stuck on an answer.
If you miss something, You've got to learn to recognize that.
You've got to know, oh, God, I missed that.
And then listen for the signals that will take you to the next question.
And again, the little tips like listening for signals.
I've got a lot more detailed blogs and courses about that.
In fact, I've got the links there for you.
I've got tips for part one, all about destructors.
Part two, things about map.
Listening part three is all about accents and signals.
And then part four, how to listen to a long lecture.
Because this is another thing.
You know, you'll get tired.
If you're not used to it and you're not surrounded by English, or you don't listen to English very often, then it will be a tiring test and you have to, you know, stay focused and And get through those four parts.
Because remember, you've then got the reading and the writing and the speaking to come next.
So it's all about pacing yourself.
And I promise this will get easier.
I've got some do's and don'ts on the page.
So do learn what the answer sheet looks like.
Actually, I forgot to add a link.
There is a very specific answer sheet if you're doing the paper-based test.
And everybody recognises it.
You could Google it.
It's online.
And you have to fill out your details.
And that can really stress some people.
You have to fill out your details in capital letters and line under your family name.
And when I used to monitor...
IELTS tests.
This would really upset people if they weren't used to it.
What should I write here?
I've got to put the date.
I've got to put my candidate number, things like that.
So do download that answer sheet.
Have a look at it.
Remember, you can only use a pencil.
Let me know if this has changed, by the way, because I haven't done this since before COVID.
If anything has changed, let me know.
So get used to writing with a pencil.
You know, that's something we don't do anymore.
We don't use, we don't handwrite.
So you'll have to use a pencil and you can't take highlighting pens in with you either.
So there are some very strict rules like that and you might not be aware of them.
So it's good to get that practice out of the way now.
And then...
When you're completing the answer sheet, don't leave any gaps.
So it's important to know that you don't lose points for wrong answers.
So, you know, if you've got a multiple choice, A, B or C, and you think, ah, was it A, was it B?
Then you've got a 50-50 chance of getting it right.
So just write something.
And also, write, don't worry about about capital letters, it's fine.
If you want to make your handwriting clear, write in capital letters.
In fact, here's another tip I've just realised.
Give your answer sheet to somebody else to mark, somebody in your family.
See if they can read your writing.
And you will lose points if the examiner can't read your writing.
So if you can't tell the difference between maybe, an E or an I because of your handwriting, you will lose that point.
You lose points for spelling.
So there's another tip.
I'm just writing that down.
I'm going to add it to the blog.
And a really quick fix.
I've got a booklet of 100 most common listening gap fill answers.
I've scanned all of the listening tests back until book eight because they start.
The most recent one is 17.
I don't think you need to buy a book, to be honest, because they are all online and I know that's not good, but again, you've got 10 days.
Buying a book isn't a priority for you.
You could buy a book later.
There's enough online to help you, you know, with this British Council website.
So a quick fix here is yeah, if you go to my website, there's a shop and there's a booklet there with the 10 most common gap fill answers.
And I show you how they appear and what kind of answers you can expect in the gap fill.
There are other question forms like multiple choice, but mostly They are gap fill answers.
If you're in the Members Academy and you've just got 10 days, I would do all of the walk through lessons in the listening course.
So that would be lessons at the start of each week.
So 1, 8, 15 and 22.
And do more if you can.
But that's enough to get you ready for the listening.
So day three is the reading test.
Now, I think that exam strategy can affect your score in 10 days.
So what you're doing now getting to know the test, familiarising yourself with question types, knowing the common mistakes or where people lose points like spelling, things like that can make sure that that you get the best score.
That really demonstrates your ability on the day.
Now the reading test.
I don't mean to be negative, but I don't think you can actually improve your reading score in 10 days.
The reading test is difficult and 10 days, it won't get any easier no matter how much you practice.
I really think it takes three to six months to see a change in your reading score.
So what can you do?
Well, you've got to get ready to read fast.
So if you've got kind of old habits where you read every word, check every word in the dictionary, that's OK if you're learning and training, but it's not OK on exam day because you've got three quite long texts in 60 minutes, one hour.
So it's impossible to read and understand everything and answer the 40 questions in that time.
It's impossible if you've never done it before.
So don't get stressed.
You're not aiming to get 40 out of 40.
You're aiming to just do your best with the time you've got available.
So what we'll do on day three is just do the test, see how long it takes you.
Maybe don't give yourself a time limit.
Maybe just do the test and take as long as you want.
But then realize okay, that took me two hours in the exam.
I'll just have 60 minutes and in that 60 minutes you have to write all of your answers on the answer sheet.
You don't have any extra time to transfer those answers.
So it's a lot to do.
And it's just going to take time.
And there are lots of different question types.
And you can't master all of those in 10 days.
Things like, matching headings to paragraphs, true, false, not given.
They really are a very specific type of question and they need practice and tips and things like that, which will come later.
I mean, they are on my website, but again, do you have time?
I don't know.
So as you read your test, don't Read every word.
Don't get stuck on words or questions that you don't know.
Just keep moving forward to find answers that you can answer.
And there will be plenty of answers you can answer.
So don't get stuck and time will tick away.
So keep moving.
I recommend, if you're doing the paper test, that you use your pencil actively to underline, highlight keywords in the question.
Use capital letters to skim quickly to find information, even if you can't answer all of the questions.
OK, day four is the speaking test.
So, like the listening and the reading test, the speaking test starts with easy questions about things that are very familiar to you.
The first two questions are either about where you live or about your job and studies.
So make sure you prepare those two questions.
If you do nothing else, that's one thing you can definitely prepare.
Talk about your house, your surroundings, your city, about where you live, and talk about what you do.
Those two questions are guaranteed.
I would probably watch a speaking test video.
I think they're a bit, you know, boring to watch, but do get a reliable one like Keith Speakers Success.
He's not boring to watch, but some I've seen on YouTube are.
But it'll give you the idea.
You know, there are three parts.
It starts with very everyday knowledge, everyday topics that you know about.
Then you've got to do the two minute turn called the long turn.
And if you speak for two minutes and record yourself on a topic, then you'll feel more confident about what exactly that two minutes is.
Some people, you know, stop after one minute and they think, oh, that's enough now.
But it's not enough.
You have to speak for two minutes.
So if you practice one thing, get a timer and record yourself.
If you do record yourself, if you're in the Members Academy, we record all our videos on a flip.
It's called Microsoft Flip.
It's a way of just uploading a video really quickly on your phone in order to get my feedback.
That's one thing you could do.
Record a video of yourself.
You don't have to share it, but it's good to see how you come across in that two minutes.
A quick fix for you.
Again, I do have a range of speaking question types in my shop and with tips for each one.
So if you just print that off, then practice with a partner.
Get the partner to ask you those questions and then practice doing the two minute topics.
Also free on my website.
I've got lots of speaking topics that you can use to practice.
All right.
Day five.
Now we're going to look at the writing task one.
So, as we said, it's different for academic and general, so it's really important that you familiarise yourself with the types of question you'll get.
If you're doing academic, you have to describe some visual data, like a graph or a process, and if you're doing General, you'll have to write a letter, but that could be informal, formal or semi-formal, letter of complaint and so on.
Lots of examples on my website.
Just use the search bar.
You've only got 20 minutes to do this because the other 40 minutes will be on task two.
And you must be strict with yourself.
Again, practice these time limits.
What can you do?
What can you produce in 20 minutes?
One thing you could do is to look at a model answer and try to reproduce it in 20 minutes.
So that might give you a kind of feeling of, OK, I've got to write an introduction.
Describe the data, whatever, and go.
All of that has to be done and checked in 20 minutes and then compare your answer with the original model.
I was taught to do this as an academic writing teacher, that I should always write my own model as a teacher and then ask students to look for differences between what maybe I would write and how they approached it.
And this often shows you, highlights things.
It's really interesting.
That's why I use so many models in the Members Academy.
Can be little things, you know, why did you start with hi instead of dear?
Why did you write best wishes instead of best regards?
Things like that.
Just comparing your version with a good, reliable model.
And again, if you're in the Members Academy, I've got eight quick fix lessons on the coaching page.
So, whether you're general or academic, that will give you four task ones which are very representative of the different tasks you get.
And then four task twos.
So, moving on to task two, we're on day six now, and what I've said on my blog is that in such a short time, there's no easy way to prepare for a good task two, except to keep it simple.
And don't try to memorise phrases or memorise complex languages or language or templates or anything.
Just try to Get your message across clearly in four paragraphs.
Keep it simple.
You've got 40 minutes and 270 words.
Look at some model essay structures.
Again, I've got the link there on the blog to what I would consider good model essays.
And just choose one.
Choose one that you think, oh, that makes sense to me.
And write what I call a skeleton outline.
So a skeleton outline is like taking the bare bones of the essay and see what the writer has done.
So that could be, you know introduction, main body paragraph, two points examples, conclusion and so on.
If you have the time and the inclination, do what we said with the task one and try to write your own version in 40 minutes.
This will give you a good idea of word count.
What does 270 words look like?
By the way, the minimum is 250, but I always recommend that you try to write around 270 when you're starting.
So with your handwriting, try to count the words definitely and see what that looks like.
So you don't need to count the word in the exams.
And, by the way, I forgot to mention, for writing task one, it's 150 words.
Again, I recommend you write 170, just in case.
So the do's and don'ts.
Do choose simple structures over complex ones, unless you're already a confident high level writer, which you could be.
So do what you think is good.
And don't try to use fancy words just to impress the examiner because it just doesn't work.
Use the language that you know.
It's much more important to argue your point clearly than to borrow words that you don't really use in real life.
It probably won't work.
If you can, get feedback on your writing at this stage.
So, You've done day five, day six.
You've done two writings.
If you can just ask somebody to look over it.
Somebody who knows what they're doing, by the way, not just anybody, not your next door neighbor.
Get a teacher to just say, look, am I on the right track?
OK, so we've we've covered the main skills.
So if you've got two or three days left, I would now, day seven, do a mock listening test so it's kind of reviewing what you did on day two and see how much you can remember and get the practice test again.
I've put the link there from a reliable site.
Print off an answer sheet, use the pencil, check your answers and against the answers that they give you.
See what might be different.
It could be things like, I've got a list here of how you might lose points.
So five things people lose points is spelling.
Too many words.
It says maybe use only one word and you wrote two words.
Singular and plurals for nouns, things which are uncountable. things which are countable.
And you could see the list of those in my booklet.
Distractors, well, what can you do about distractors?
If you missed it, it doesn't matter.
You've tried your best.
And then the last thing is losing your place.
And again, with practice, you'll get used to the structure of the listening test.
So look at the tape script, look at why you chose your answers and why they're different from maybe the correct answer.
Check your score.
Go to my ielts band score calculator on my website ieltsetccom, and just see how you're doing.
Just as a as a you know a practice run, see how you're doing.
Um, I've just put here a quick fix is that my IELTS Made Easier podcast talks you through real listening and reading tests.
So if again you've got time and you're just driving or walking or doing exercise, then if you listen to a few of my podcasts, that will have the double benefit of getting your ear used to, you know, listening and thinking about the IELTS test.
The same goes for day eight.
I've said do a mock reading test.
So print off, and I do recommend you print off if you can, if you've got a printer or if somebody can print it for you.
Print off a test and close yourself into a quiet room for 60 minutes to do it.
Force yourself to do 20 minutes for each passage and write your answers on the answer sheet as you go through the test or maybe at the end of each passage.
Don't wait until the end when you're rushing to transfer your answers.
You don't have extra time, remember.
So write your answers at the end of each section.
If you've decided you're doing the computer-based test, There are websites available where you can practice the reading on the computer.
And I've got a link to one in that day eight block on my website, on the blog.
OK, let's look at days nine and ten now.
So if this is your day nine and ten, or if you've just got one day free before the test, get your notes or go back through your notes and double check anything that you're not sure about.
Any questions you've had about timing or question types or is this allowed?
Can I write T, F, N instead of true, false, not given?
Things like that.
Yes, you can, by the way.
You can Google them.
They're on my website.
There's FAQs.
I would recommend IELTS Liz.
She covers all of those kinds of questions.
People comment a lot on her posts and ask those questions.
And I think she gives very sensible answers to them.
So any questions you might be having now, spend today, day nine and ten.
Just being sure that you you're doing the right thing.
Day 10, I said just to get I've said get relaxed.
Sorry, that's my mistake to relax and get organized.
So when I say relax, I mean, try to ensure you get a good night's sleep.
I know it sounds obvious, but it'll be better if you've got everything prepared.
If you've checked the route to your test centre, you've checked the times, the start times, what time you have to be there.
Pack your bag with your ID documents and anything you might need, you know, snacks, water.
Also drink lots of water to hydrate your brain the day before.
Set your alarm clock and have an early night.
I've said do try to enjoy the experience of the test.
You've paid for it.
You've paid a lot of money for it.
So do see it as something that is going to help you in the long term.
So stay focused on your ultimate goal and the reason why you're taking the test.
Consider yourself.
Think of it as, oh, aren't I lucky I get this opportunity to test.
Take a test that will help me in my career and think of it positively.
Try to be positive.
Don't stress about little things that don't matter.
So don't worry about what to wear in the interview or how should you greet the examiner.
All of those kind of questions really don't matter.
Remember, it's just a snapshot of your level and it's a practice run interview.
Hopefully you won't have to do it again if you get it right the first time.
So also to conclude, in the conclusion, I normally recommend a three to six month study program, depending on your starting point and your goal.
So it can take two years to get the IELTS score you want.
So don't take it too lightly if You know you're aiming for the high scores.
Ignore those awful how I got 7.5 in just one week posts and YouTube things.
I've seen them.
You don't magically get that score in one week.
You get that score because that is your level.
And the test just confirmed it.
So, yes, all of these techniques can help you maximise your score on the day.
But there's not much you can really do to change the level of your English in seven days.
So I hope you get the score you need the first time you take the test.
But if you don't, remember, it's not the end of the world.
The next time you take it, you'll be much better prepared.
So that's it for me today.
If you've got any questions or any other suggestions that you think people can do.
If they haven't got much time, then do let me know.
Comment on my website.
That would be great.
There's a space there for comments.
And if there's anything that has changed in your experience about the IELTS test that you think I haven't mentioned or that would be useful for other people to know, especially the computer test, because I have to say I haven't done it.
I haven't done the IELTS computer test.
So there may be things there that you have information about that could be useful to others.
So thanks very much for listening.
If you go to the blog, I've also put there my study planner.
Now, it's There are two types.
There's one that is completely blank.
And I know this is a difficult mindset.
Why would I pay for a blank study planner?
Well, it's to help you get organised.
And if you have a look at it, you could see that it's like buying a diary with lots of things that help you make sure that you do something every day that you review weekly.
And you track your habits.
And if you get that, it's seven dollars.
You'll also get my academic 28 day planner, which has all the links that you need to prepare for IELTS in 28 days.
So again, if you've got any questions about that, just drop me a line on social media or on LinkedIn.
If you're on LinkedIn, please do come and find me, because I deleted my LinkedIn account that I've had for 10 years and I've started a brand new one.
And I've only got about three connections now.
So if you'd like to connect on LinkedIn, I'll look forward to meeting you.
OK, have a lovely week.
Thanks for listening again.
Chat soon.
Bye bye.
