Simple Strategies to boost your IELTS skills

IELTS is not only an exam, but also a dream high enough to inspire you and low enough to
encourage you. So I just want to share some tips and tricks to all examiners. Keep in mind that,
you will never achieve real success unless you like what you are doing, so do all the modules
sincerely.

Table of Contents:

1. IELTS Preparation on Listening Module

2. IELTS Preparation on Writing Module
2.1 Strategy to improve Writing Task - 1
2.2 Strategy to improve Writing Task - 2
3. IELTS Preparation on Reading Module
4. IELTS Preparation on Speaking Module
4.1) IELTS speaking Section - I
4.2) IELTS speaking Section -II
4.3) IELTS speaking Section -III

1) IELTS Preparation on Listening Module

Now we will focus to improve Listening skill, as well as the easiest skill rather than writing,
reading, speaking.
As far we are concerned, you never will hear the recording again. So just check your Headphone
in the exam room and inform your Instructor immediately if there is any problem with it. Try to
be calm and confident. Do not get yourself under pressure. Never get nervous in the exam room.
Take a deep breath before the exam. It helps to relax your mind and increases attention.

We will just focus on some tips that may lead you to your goal.

1) Practice and Prepare, Practice and Prepare, Practice and Prepare, Practice and Prepare. That
will enable you to achieve a score based on your true English level.

2) Read the Questions carefully. Read the Exam Instructions carefully. Never skip them. Never
think about saving time by skipping them. That can be a wrong decision and it will cost you in
the long term.

3) Always make sure what the requirement of each question of. Mark the KEYWORD so
that when it is listening to the tape you may concentrate on the keyword and find the answer
easily. While practicing never rewind or pause the tape. Remember you heard the recording only
ONCE. Just complete the track and try to answer as much as you can during preparation.

4) After the completion of each segment you will be given one minute to check an answer, use
this time to scan the next question section.

Hrishikesh Das Gupta |CUET 1

5) After checking the answers, listen again with the tape script. Try to figure out your problems.

6) Always observe the pronunciation of words and talking expressions of the speakers. It will
help you to improve your listening skills as well as your speaking skills heavily.

7) You will never get any number for spelling mistakes and grammatical error. Be care about
silly mistakes.

8) When the answer is a Noun, the answer starts with a capital letter. Be careful about this.

10) Read the grammatical rules (especially Parts of Speech, Tense, Person) and try to consult
them when necessary.

11) Listen carefully. Write clearly in the answer paper.

12) Do not leave any blank in your Listening exam as you do not lose any marks for wrong
answers.

13) There are a variety of questions in the question paper. If you ever miss any answer just think
logically.
If it is Multiple Choices, do not look after the right answer but cross the wrong ones. After that,
if you stuck within two answers just uses logic and insert in the most appropriate answer.

14) Furthermore, if the same thing happens to fill in the blank, looks after the whole theme and
the sentences before and after the question line. Then, guess a word and you may get lucky to get
some extra points.

15) Always use the word that is said in the conversation, you are not allowed to use synonyms.

16) Be aware of the following questions, as missing one question you can get through easily to
the next one from its keywords.

17) As you have no control over time on your listening test, always be conscious. If you ever
lose the flow on the exam observe other candidates are writing or not, if they turned to another
page just do likewise. You might match up to the tape.

18) You will get only 10 minutes to put down the answers to the answer script. Make sure you
are putting the right answers to the gaps. Have a minute or two to revise the whole answer script!

19) Finally, put all those answers which you think are accurate, after that go back to those which
you have confusion.

Hrishikesh Das Gupta |CUET 2

 2) IELTS Preparation for Writing Module

The examiner wants to check that,

1) The usage of English appropriately fulfilling all the question requirements

2) Communication style and cohesiveness

3) Focusing on the topic

4) Convince the examiner with evidence and strong points

5) Avoidance of unwanted topics

Sometimes it occurs that the writing task one question doesnt make sense to you and without
thinking much about that jump to task two.
On the other hand, when the structure seems an unseen look at the initial and final portions, then
mark the significant change that attracts your mind. After that, just write those by following the
simple structural rule of Writing Task One.

2.1 ) STRATEGY TO IMPROVE WRITING TASK - 1

1) Describe the paragraph fully. That doesnt mean note every detail in the answer script.
Therefore, you need to summarize the whole question by dividing into main parts.

2) Use a simple structure (Introduction, Body paragraph, Conclusion) and appropriately use the
tense.

3) Never put personal opinion in the conclusion. To draw a decent conclusion end with one or
two sentences related to the main report.

4) Never copy sentences from the question. This is a waste of time and negative marking can be
assessed.

5) Opening sentences represents the whole makeover of the first paragraph. It should be standard
that depict what the graph about (date, location, subject being described etc.). Show the
information in present tense.

6) Describe the overall trend or significant change in the question figure to the paragraph.

7) After that, show the paragraph in chronological order in the body structure. Graphs, charts,
tables, figures are organized in various ways. For better performance, at this portion practice
every type of writing task question.

Hrishikesh Das Gupta |CUET 3

8) Moreover, Note each pattern of writing task one so that before the exam you can have a
glance at all of them.

Follow these linking words to improve your writing

To begin withFirst of allFirst.Secondly, thirdly, etc.

ThenNextAfter that.Finally
AlternativelyOtherwiseIn addition..
At the same timeConcurrently

STRATEGY TO IMPROVE WRITING TASK - 2

1) To improve your level, there are many writing books available on the market. Try to figure
out their sentence structures and linkage between paragraphs.

2) You have to illustrate a standard writing. That is why, read carefully different sort of questions
and give attention to their narrative style.

3) Divide the paragraph in four paragraphs. Introduce the paragraph with a Base sentence that
expresses the main point of the paragraph. So be careful about its uniqueness. Next, reflect the
views of your opponents. Prove your opponent to be weak by creating loopholes. Following that,
in the third paragraph continue body paragraph with supporting ideas. Also, you can reveal your
views in former portion and opponent outlook in latter portion. Finally, that is a sum up lead to
the main question of the paragraph in your own style.

4) Following this, it is completely your option to select your choice for and against the topic.
Otherwise, you can be neutral and highlight both sides. Moreover, keep in mind that larger
interest should be taken care of.

5) Role of transitional phrase, relative clauses, connectives are very important to make better the
quality of writing.

6) Remember, the examiner will read the whole paragraph to check your clarity. So make the
passage interesting with a complete structure.

7) If the question wants your pro and con point of view for a subject then, center on that point
that suits you. That means, choose the side on which you can write continuously. It will earn
more scopes for you to express your ability.

As there is always a place for modification you can include your own style. But, practice
variety of topics with convincing language foundation to be the best.

Hrishikesh Das Gupta |CUET 4

 3) IELTS Preparation for Reading Module

Remember, your chief objective is to read faster while improving comprehending skills hence
use the same type of reading material that provides consistency necessary for sensible practice.

1) Every day read something. The more you read the easier it will be. Study the sentence
structure and punctuation of what you read, but most of all, try to grasp the ideas in what you
read.

2) Familiarize yourself with the kind of questions that could be posted on the IELTS test. Learn
how to skim and scan. These two skills are essential for finding information quickly.

3) Read the title and the headings first. You should get a general idea of the passage from the
title itself. The headings should provide additional clues about the information structure of the
passage.

4) Take a quick glimpse at the questions and mark the keywords. Just see what kinds of
questions are asked and what information you should look for in the passage.

5) Read the passage at normal speed. Don't spend too much time on parts that you don't
understand. Remember that you don't have to understand or memorize every minute detail given
in the passage. You just need information that is necessary to answer the questions. That's all.

6) Remember, the reading test is 60 minutes long and there are 40 questions. If you spend one
minute of each question that gives you 20 minutes to read a lot of text. If you really cannot find
the answer to a question easily, move on to the next question.

7) The most difficult is to judge between a FALSE (NO) or NOT GIVEN answer. For this,
always keep in mind that:

If the meaning of question statement matches 100% with the discussion in the passage,
the answer is TRUE.
If the meaning of the question statement contradicts the discussion in the passage, the
answer is FALSE.
If there is no discussion in the passage for the question statement, the answer is NOT
GIVEN.

For example:

"The introduction of new government policies gave people better lives: they had jobs and more
money to spend."

Now look at the answer:

The introduction of new government policies had positive long-term benefits on peoples' lives.
True / False / Not given

Hrishikesh Das Gupta |CUET 5

If people had jobs and more money, surely this is better for them, and so it is natural to consider
this a 'true' statement. However, the key here is 'long-term'. From the text, it is impossible to say
whether the new jobs lasted 20 years or one day. If you don't make assumptions it is impossible
to answer question. As a result the correct answer should be: Not given.

9) Remember, you cannot write YES or Y if the question is asking you to write TRUE.
Similarly, you cannot write NO or N if the question asks to write FALSE.
If you are really running out of time leave all the True / False / Not given and Multiple Choice
questions until the end because you don't have to read anything to answer them.

10) If you are reading and answering texts out of sequence, take special care to ensure you don't
write your answers in the wrong places on the answer sheet.

11) During exam, you might get a text with masses and masses of long, complicated words. Very
often these words are key to the meaning of a sentence and therefore key to answering a
question. However, equally often these words are unnecessary - they are adjectives or adverbs
that provide greater description rather than play a part in meaning. If you start focusing on words
you don't understand, you will run out of time. If the some words are too difficult, ignore them.

4) IELTS Preparation on Speaking Module

On this occasion we will focus on some simple approach to have better results in the three
sections of speaking task.

4.1) IELTS speaking SECTION I:

This part is a formal interview.
So remember one thing; you do not have to be accurate. The examiner will not verify your
answers. Try to concentrate on the common themes of what you are saying to the Examiner
which will produce fewer mistakes. Do not worry about accuracy.

4.2) IELTS speaking SECTION II:

During the second part you will be asked to present a speech for 2 minutes. The examiner will
give you a Cue card with a specific topic with some questions related to this topic. Next, you
have one minute to read the card and prepare your answers. When the examiner will say Start,
speak for 2 minutes without stopping. We are not used to talk on a specific topic during
conversation. That is why; this is the biggest challenge for your IELTS exam. And the only
way to improve this portion is to practice speaking in a range of themes.

Before starting the speech, read the topic carefully and put some short notes related to the topic
that will remind you of an idea you want to speak about. In general, use One minute completely.
Never try to puzzle your examiner. He / She is observing you.

Speak clearly. Speak naturally. Speak fluently.

Do not be a Parrot please, just be as you are. Always try to give some examples as well as
share your own experiences. It is easy to remember and talk about.

Hrishikesh Das Gupta |CUET 6

Sometimes you can get topics related to the current affairs. Know what is happening in the rest
of the world. Stay updated.

4.3) IELTS speaking SECTION III:

This time you will be asked to continue your Topic card in a Two way Discussion method. It
takes four to five minutes to complete this session.

On this portion, the mentor will judge your confidence and instance response. Always try to
deliver some variation of words. We all know that the best way to improve vocabulary is to read
the newspaper, listening to the radio etc. But Practice is the best of all instructors. Practice is a
path to invite perfection. So keep practicing all these tips. Speak as much English as you can.

These are some tricks to make better your speaking skill.

A) If you prefer to start your preparation with Listening or Writing, also have some time for
Speaking. In case of "LISTENING" module, try to observe different conversations,
pronunciation of words. Hear the same listening tape again and again. Believe it or not, it is
quite helpful to improve communication with others. You will also improve your pronunciation
and vocabulary.

Moreover, topics from the WRITING are often used in some way in the exam of speaking
especially as a cue card topic, so when you spend preparing for the writing task will be
invaluable in the preparation of your Speaking topics.

B) Practice your speaking module in front of the mirror regularly, at least since 10-20 minutes.
As did so, you will be able to see your expressions as well as your pace. Do not talk too loud or
too slow. Just try to identify your errors, note them and keep that confidence in mind you will
never repeat the same mistake again.

All the sections discussed above are to improve your skills before the final examination. Now I
want to share some common things should be taken care of during the examination.

1) Your first impression is your last impression in the exam room. Show yourself well mannered,
well dressed.

2) Be calm and confident. That can be very scoring.

3) Do not answer anything in just YES and NO. That makes a bad impact. Speak two or
three lines in addition to that.

4) Always keep an eye contact with the examiner. Sit comfortably with a good posture. Control
your body movement.

5) Listen to all the questions carefully and respond in a friendly way. If you could not understand
the question, say sorry and request to repeat the question again.

Hrishikesh Das Gupta |CUET 7

6) Do not skip any questions about Cue Card topic.

7) Courtesy costs nothing but buys everything, so smile at the interviewer and say Thanks him
or her at the end of the speaking test.

8) The Examiner has been always on your side, he or she will try everything to make yourself
comfortable. Do not panic. The operator knows that you are worried, so be confident about
taking the test.

9) Avoid saying Dont or Wouldnt, say Do not or Would not etc.

10) Keep practicing!!!! If you do not practice the way you should, then you would not speak the
way that you know you can.

The best book for practicing IELTS is Cambridge IELTS 1-8 (Book along with audio files).

For more books and to download them please see the following link.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HigherStudyAbroad/doc/394614180600269/

For self study, there are some websites to practice. Please see the following link.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HigherStudyAbroad/doc/330075723720782/

And for some recent CUE Card topics of Speaking, please see this document.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HigherStudyAbroad/doc/394498410611846/

But, my personal recommendation will always be Cambridge IELTS 1-8 (especially 5-8).

As this is my first article please try to forgive all my mistakes and help me to improve my
column. If you have any question and suggestion regarding on this topic please ask it in the
comment section. Wish you a big success.

Hrishikesh Das Gupta

Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology

Hrishikesh Das Gupta |CUET 8