IELTS Test Sections

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    Today we continue to acquaint you with the features of the IELTS test - an exam required to test your English proficiency. Recall that in a previous publication we gave general information about testing, schematically outlining its structure, and also talked about how the IELTS exam is evaluated.

    Today we want to touch on the topic of the 4 sections of IELTS - Reading, Speaking, Writing and Listening. Each part has its own characteristics, which we will pay attention to.

    As always, if you have questions, comments or suggestions, leave them in the comments!




    IELTS Listening

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    Within the IELTS Listening SectionThe ability to perceive and understand English speech by ear is tested. This is a very important and quite difficult part of the exam.

    Structure of the IELTS Listening

    Section The section consists of listening to 4 texts and answers to 40 questions on these topics. About 40 minutes are allotted to work with this part, of which 30 minutes are listening to audio texts and 10 minutes of independent work for filling out answers in the questionnaire.

    IMPORTANT! Audio texts are given the opportunity to listen only once.

    Texts 1 and 2 are devoted to general topics (the first is a dialogue, the second is a monologue). Texts 3 and 4, in turn, are devoted to the topic “Education” (the third is dialogue, the fourth text is a monologue). It is believed that the complexity of the texts increases, that is, the simplest text is the first.

    At the beginning of the exam, you will receive an Answer sheet.

    IMPORTANT! Check out the questions in advance. During listening, you should quickly catch the answer to the question and make a note / write the answer in the draft. In brief breaks between texts, review the next block of questions.

    There are 40 questions in the test, each correct answer gives 1 point. Then the test results are converted into a score on a 9-point scale.

    How to prepare for IELTS Listening

    To successfully pass this section, good preliminary preparation is required. You must listen to various audio recordings in English. This can be a radio, television programs, videos on Youtube, audio books. You must get used to the intonation, the speed of speech. Use trial tasks, learn to record answers while listening. All this will help you feel more confident during the exam and maximize your focus on the tasks, as you will know the requirements and structure of the exam in advance. Moreover, preparation for this section is very useful for subsequent studies, for example, a master's degree in Germany or any university in North America, because even there a waterfall of information in English will fall upon you, which will need to be heard.

    IELTS Reading

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    In the Reading section of the IELTS academic version, exam participants need to read three texts and answer 40 questions (13-14 questions for each text). In the version of the IELTS General exam, the texts are much simpler and shorter than in the academic, therefore, their number may be not 3, but 5. For the tasks of the Reading part, 60 minutes are given.

    Excerpts from books, short stories, newspaper articles and other original texts are used as texts. There are a huge number of types of tasks in which the ability of the reader to understand the read text is tested. Here are just the most common types of questions in IELTS Reading:

    - Which paragraphs of the text contain the following information?
    - Do the following statements correspond to the point of view of the author of the text?
    - Select the correct subheadings for the following paragraphs of text.
    - Fill in the blanks in the table summarizing the text data.
    - Make the correct captions to the figure explaining the text of the article.
    - etc.

    IELTS Reading Preparation Tips

    1. Read a lot. You can read books about your hobby and English newspapers.
    2. Learn to read diagonally, master the technique of speed reading.
    3. To hone your skills, pass as many test tests as possible.

    Pay attention to the difference between the tasks of the general and academic module. The academic version of the exam includes more complex texts with special vocabulary. This option is taken by people planning further studies abroad. A foreign educational program implies an understanding by students of lectures and the content of teaching aids. In other words, reading alone with an understanding of the general meaning is not enough. In the texts you need to be well oriented and quickly select the necessary information from them. However, the text assignments of the academic module do not require specialized knowledge in a particular field.

    General IELTS contains significantly simpler (in lexical and grammatical terms) and short texts, which, however, may be more than three. As for the subject matter of such texts, it is very far from scientific. For example, in the task of the general module there may be a description of the work schedule of a sports club, an advertising article of a travel company, a description of certain products, or a list of duties of staff in the office. Thus, such a task may take the form of a table, list, or advertisement.

    IELTS Writing

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    Section IELTS Writing , both in general and in the academic embodiment, consists of two tasks; 60 minutes are given for their implementation.

    First task

    In the IELTS academic module, the first task is a concise, but not less than 150 words, description and analysis of diagrams, tables, diagrams, graphs or a schematic representation of processes. You will also need to additionally answer the question. It tests the ability to describe and compare information data, analyze and systematize schematic information.

    In the general module in the first task you need to write a letter on a given topic. This can be either an official appeal or a letter to a friend. For example, they may ask you to make an appeal to the airline about the loss of your luggage, or to the head of the city administration about the problems of garbage removal on your street, or write a letter to your neighbor who loves to cut grass late at night, thereby constantly preventing you from quietly laying your little children . The volume of text should also be at least 150 words. This part of the exam tests the ability to correspond, submit and correctly present information.

    It is recommended that you take no more than 20 minutes to complete the first part of the exam. Many candidates do not cope with the task and receive low marks only because they do not fully understand the requirements presented to them.

    The second task

    The second task of the Writing part - writing a detailed answer (essay) - is the same for both modules. Only specific topics or statements for the academic and general options are different. Also in this part, it is often proposed to express their own opinion on this topic. The volume of the completed task must be at least 250 words.

    The differences between the modules are in the direction of topics in the scientific or everyday life. For example, applicants to universities may be offered to discuss global warming or garbage disposal issues, and in the general module they will need to express their thoughts on the benefits and harms of mobile phones or microwave ovens.

    IELTS Writing Preparation Tips

    - Practice writing texts every day.
    - Do this in order to work on your handwriting: it should be, if not the most beautiful, then at least understandable and legible.
    - Do not leave the test before its completion, spend the remaining time editing the answers.

    IELTS Speaking

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    The Speaking section of the IELTS exam is aimed at identifying the subject's conversational skills. The examiner will ask general questions about the personality of a person (his biography and hobbies), waiting for complete, detailed answers. Next, you need a little thoughtful story on a given topic, after which you need to be prepared for clarifying questions of the examiner.

    They will provide one minute to prepare the story of the second part of the exam; you can make short notes for yourself. The performance takes a couple of minutes. Themes are quite different, for example: your education, family, home town, traveling, music, hobby, job, environment, nature protection, climate and weather, home town, science, learning English, medicine and health, TV and mass media. For example, they may ask you to tell about your hometown (where you live, what you can visit there, who neighbors and friends work for). All interviews last 10-15 minutes.
    During the speech analyze:

    - lexical skills, that is, the vocabulary of the subject;
    - grammar - the correct use of grammatical constructions;
    - pronunciation;
    - The adequacy and consistency of speech (how detailed the answer is and whether it corresponds to the stated topic).

    How to achieve good results in the exam:

    First of all, you need to clearly understand what to say. Statements should not be vague, it is necessary to fully disclose the topic and essence of the issue. It is not necessary to say a lot and not in essence, this greatly reduces the quality of the answer.

    Brevity is always welcomed, but monosyllabic sentences lose out to detailed reasoned opinions with examples and evidence. Simple phrases and answers like “yes-no” will entail additional questions, because the examiner's goal is to check whether a person is able to build independent statements and whether he has sufficient vocabulary.

    To hone your speech and get rid of mistakes, it is strongly recommended that you record your responses to the recorder. Continuous training will help to minimize emphasis and analyze your weaknesses. At the same time, one cannot memorize a typical performance by heart: it is always visible when one speaks in advance with prepared phrases.

    If the question was not clear, do not panic. It is necessary to ask (of course, in a foreign language) to repeat what was said.

    Don't talk too fast or very slow. The pace and fluency of statements should be natural, too frequent pauses and stops are not welcome. When a person speaks very quickly, the impression of unconnected speech is created.

    Unlike written answers, speaking in English means using abbreviated forms of verbs: I`d instead of I would, can`t instead of cannot and so on.

    Finally, it should be remembered that this exam tests language proficiency and not the identity of the candidate. Therefore, it is quite possible to fantasize, to report that you have your own room with blue walls or 2 dogs, although in reality you live with a brother and 1 cat. It is better to talk about a few pets and a couple of additional hobbies if this helps to use more words and phrases on the topic. No one will wonder if the story is true.

    If you want to impress and show that already now, before the start of training, you are thinking about what you really have to face during its passage, you can speculate a bit on topics related to future studies .

    Here's what we wanted to talk about the IELTS sections. The next publication will focus on preparing for IELTS - we will share with you our vision of this process.

    The author of the article is Vyacheslav Davidenko, founder of MBA Consult

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