Ielts experience: "essential reading" says Tony

Hello everybody,

This is Santhosh one of the members of ielts community -2 www.ieltswords.blogspot.com (Tony's hard core team) writing my veiws about the IELTS test conducted recently on 9 and 11 June 2005 .

Well, Ielts is not such a very hard test as usually expected by students. However, it is all about using appropriate words as and when required to link the required answer or subject matter.
The most suitable answers should be given in this way - KISS (Keep It Short and Simple)

Important information:
a) Always carry your personal ID card or passport with you.
b)Ensure to keep the test registration card attached with fee receipt with you.
c)The British Council egistration slip with the time of the exam and number should always be carried along with the above .
d) No mobile phones are allowed as it would be a hindrance during test.
e)Lastly do not strain yourself by thinking too much as it does not help. On the contrary, be relaxed and prepared to face any questions with your ability of using words and creative ideas.

Speaking Test:
The Examiner who conducted my test put me at ease and explained what he was expecting from me and also explained that my voice would be recorded live as we start our conversation. Here it gave me chance to really think of Tony's advice such as to be soft and clear and think about the connectivity of what I was saying.
Questions asked:

1)To speak about myself and my family,then someone whom I really liked personally and why?
2)How does technology help to learn about your ancestors? .Discuss (This question was given a I spoke about a person who lived about 50 years ago)
Total time-15 minutes

It was easy to speak about family but while explaining about a person, I felt I used only vague ideas to describe him and was just faking it but I still kept it relevant to the person. Again linking with the second question was even more easy as I just had to think about how I found out about the person. So examples of Technology used such photography and video-recording came to my mind.

So creativity in describing and connectivity of words to the subject is important .Sometimes it is alright to fake as it is not really important for the examiner to know the truth about the person who you really liked .

11 June brought a shower of tensions and many thoughts wandering around me (because I did not listen to Tony's advise to rest well and to be relaxed before my exam date)!!
Although the Examination centre was at the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel, a very nice venue , the invigilators were not from British Council.

Listening Test:

First listening test and reading test are together on the same answer sheet with bact to back print.
The test papers are different for academic and general.
(Nobody is allowed to open the question paper unless told to do so by the invigilator.)
For the listening test I had taken lots and lots of useful practice through www.bbc.co.uk where I learnt different accents and looking for stressed word.Also the Learning Zone at the British Council offers really wonderful assistance with its various study modules for each test.

Suggestions for listening:

Always keep your pencils ready, 1 or 2 extra would be a good idea with eraser, sharpener and highlighter.
Listen carefully and write on the question paper,later it can be transferred to the answer sheet in the 10 minutes after the recording. Always skim the given question paper quickly for answers you need from the tape or from the passage given in the question paper.
At times in a conversation try to understand as a whole subject and listen to answers as and when it is mentioned,sometimes it is clear the these answers are also repeated during the conversation.

Reading test: {Academic version}

This part of IELTS needs a lot of practice as time is not sufficient for understanding 3 passages completely.
So, always try to understand the gistof the paragraph as you may not really have enough time to read completely word by word.
I would suggest practising at home with a stopwatch to time yourself for practice reading.
Also, there are No breaks in between the exams (not even to go to the toilet)! If natures calls, then only one person at a time can go to the toilet and you will be accompanied by an escort all the way till returning to your seat.
Also do not wait for some answers, instead go ahead with the tape or reading part then always you can return to the left out question if you understand the subject matter (sometimes guessing works out) as empty space does not earn any marks.
Finally be cautious of singular and plurals while writing the answers.

Writing test:

The final hurdle comes immediately after Listening and Reading - without any breaks!
The usual Academic version Writing task 1 and task-2 are there for you:

Task 1
Describe the bar chart showing the percentage of annual spending on household expenses for seven countries in Europe .
And describe a pie chart depicting the percentage of annual spending in a particular year for households such as books,computers,holidays and so on.

Task 2
A discussion type of essay: "Recent figures show a sharp rise in crimes conducted by younger age people."
Here I was asked whether to agree or disagree regarding the reasons for this trend.
Please understand the whole idea and chart out your ideas in your question paper ,with an appropriate heading and rebuild the whole ideas as appropriately required then finally put in your conclusion with personal agreements and suggestions .
In this part of the test it very important to describe the situation as appropriately mentioned or as shown in the figure (remember to read the list of words given by Tony for Writing Task -1&2)
The list which includes words such as: on the contrary, however,by the way,on the onehand/on the other hand and descriptive adverbs / adjectives for task 1
These words are to be used judiciously to describe using your creativity with relevent information to the subject matter.
Also give the correct information with regards to the facts and figures given in the
question paper.
Also use your expamples to explain for task-2 and the essay need not be very short nor too long just appropriately with 250 words for task-2 and about 150 words for task-1. (As Tony says, KISS the subject) .

Thanks for reading this long blog but I felt it could help all my friends who would be taking up the test in near future.

All the best to all Tony's cronies and present and future aspiring Ielts candidates.

Regards

Santhosh from the ' Palace '