For IELTS candidates

A blog for IELTS candidatesBy Dayne CollinsThe IELTS exam structure is quite simple, it consists of four key components; listening, reading, writing, and speaking.The entire test can take about 2 hours and 45 minutes to complete all four components.For more information, you can view the structure here :http://www.ielts-exam.net/The IELTS exam is scored using a 9 band scale, and each band represents a specific level of English competency.Band 9 is the highest score, and band 0 is the lowest, to receive a zero score, the applicant would need to avoid showing up for the exam all together. For most learners, a score of 6 (competent English user) or 6.5 is a good goal, anything above that is fantastic!Most English language students fear the spoken component of this exam the most, but don't stress, prepare!The spoken component has three parts, the first part is an interview, the examiner is likely to ask you questions about you, your home, hobbies& interests, and other general topics of discussion. The second part, the examiner will hand you a topic card, you will be given a minute to prepare, then you must speak about the topic for between 1 to 2 minutes, this is easy if you use you 1 minute preparation time to decide what direction to take the topic, if you can relate the topic to you personally (experiences and opinions) you will find it quite easy to speak freely about your given topic. The third part usually relates to the topic in part 2, however in this section, the examiner will ask you questions on the topic, and it will be a discussion between the two of you, due to the nature of part 3, and the fact that there is no time to think and prepare you answers, candidates can find this to be the hardest part, however, if you treat this section like any natural conversation, and allow the examiners questions to prompt your answers, you should do great!It is never too early to begin your preparation, why not start with English Club; http://www.englishclub.com/esl-exams/index.htm (Also handy for candidates of the TOEFL exam, and other proficiency tests)Alternatively you can visit my favorite IELTS resource, that I mentioned earlier in the blog; http://www.ielts-exam.net/Good luck!

You need to be a member of MyEnglishClub to add comments!

Join MyEnglishClub

Comments

nida May 14, 2013 2:54

Hello Dayne,

I've shared some IELTS stuff here:

http://my.englishclub.com/group/nidasenglishpage
Dayne May 1, 2013 2:42

Thanks Super Duper Yupa!
Dayne April 27, 2013 15:02

http://www.ielts-exam.net/

http://australianetwork.com/studyenglish/

Are there any other good links that you can all share?
Dayne April 27, 2013 6:47

Asmaa - I have no doubt that you will!

Sewar- I agree, the timed structure can make it difficult, but after knowing what to expect, and with preperation, it may make it just a bit easier for those taking the test.

Thanks for commenting!
sewar April 27, 2013 5:37

Hi my friend Dayen, actually ones I did the IELTS, my score was 5.5.Do you know what is the exam's problem is? You have to do a long exam in a short time, in another words, quick writing must be one of your skills, and I admit I lack this skill, but nowadays I hardly work to improve it. The easiest part in the exam was the spoken component, really I didn't have any problem at the interview. Thanks my friend for everything.
Esma April 26, 2013 15:44

Hello Dayn,

Thank you for the explanations, I wish I could pass this exam one day! :)
Dayne April 26, 2013 3:42

Thanks for all the comments my friends, and thankyou @I am Vietnamese for sharing one more useful link, I will check it out, I may just have a new favorite!

thanks again all!
Nadira April 26, 2013 3:10

Useful and informative Dayne..I can use this for my students too

Thank you :)
nida April 25, 2013 19:30

@I am Vietnamese,

Yes, I've been using that site and it's really excellent; not only for IELTS preparation but also for learning English for any other purpose. Thank you so much for sharing its link here.
I am Vietnamese April 25, 2013 18:31

Good job, Dayne. I want to recommend a really good site for IELTS candidates that nearly take a test: http://australianetwork.com/studyenglish/

of 2

This reply was deleted.