IELTS Preparation

There are  General level of English (Slow)

three main  Test skills (Medium)
things you
need to  Knowing how the test is marked (Fast)
improve:
Step-by-Step
Approach to
IELTS
Preparation:
1. Decide if you
are doing
General Training
or Academic
2. Understand
the Test
Format
  There is a big difference between the score you want and the
3. Set Realistic score you are realistically going to get.
 Effective IELTS preparation will help you succeed and will
Goals ensure that you get the best score you can possibly get, but it
does not ensure miracles.
4. Understand
Marking  IELTS score
Criteria
5. Understand
the Different  There are more than 10 different types of question for Reading
Question and Listening. Again, there are more than 10 different kinds of
question on the Writing test.
Types
  There are many different approaches and strategies that you
need in order to succeed in IELTS.
6. Perfect Your  For example, do you know how to write an effective
introduction and conclusion?
IELTS Skills  Do you know how to develop your answers in the speaking
test?
 Do you know how to quickly locate the correction information
in the reading test?
7. Improve
 Vocabulary is a huge part of the IELTS test.
Your  It covers 25% of your total mark in Speaking and Writing.
Vocabulary  It is also tested in the Reading and Listening tests.
8. Practice
English Every  There are hundreds, if not thousands, of ways you can practice
Day every day and it doesn’t have to be doing boring IELTS tests. 
  Quizlet– This app allows you to make flashcards and quizzes.
Perfect for reviewing vocabulary. There are also flashcards and
quizzes made by other people on the IELTS test.
 Anki- Another great site for vocabulary. It is a spaced repetition
flashcard program, that will make remembering vocabulary easy.
Vocabulary  Memrise– Memrise helps you learn words and phrases by using a
spaced repetition program similar to Anki. All the materials are
contributed by other users, so there are lots of materials ready to
go.
 Wordreference.com is a powerful translation tool.
 Wordsteps helps you remember 20 new words a day.
  Learning with texts allows you to paste in a section of text, note
which words within that text you do and don’t know, quickly look
up the words you don’t, and create flashcards from them.
 Dreamreader.net is a great resource for students who want to
Reading practice their reading skills. New articles are uploaded daily; with
quizzes to test your knowledge.
 The English Learner Movie Guides provide movie and character
summaries, as well as words and phrases learners might not know
from well known movies.
  Forvo allows you to simply type in a word and hear how a native
speaker would say it.
 Sounds of Speech is an invaluable app for anyone learning
Pronunciation phonemes. It animates the different mouth movements required
to make each sound.
 British Council Phonemic Chart allows you to see and listen to all
of the sounds of English.
  TuneIn Radio– With over 100,000 stations, TuneIn has the largest
selection of free sports, music, talk & news radio from around the
world.
 RhinoSpike is an online language learning community that allows
users around the world connect and exchange foreign language
audio files. Get any foreign language text read aloud for you by a
Listening native speaker!
 VOA Learning English allows you to listen to the news in English
and improve your listening and vocabulary at the same time.
 Lyrics Training provides gap-fills for well known English songs.
Great for listening, grammar and vocabulary.
  Google+ Hangouts– Simply set up an account and connect with
lots of people who want to practice speaking English.
 iTalki is a language learning social network that connects students
and language teachers.
 Verbling lets language learners connect with native speakers
around the world through live chat and video.
Speaking  Bussuu.com is one of the biggest language exchange communities
on the web.
 Internations is a huge network of English speakers living abroad.
Use it to connect with English speakers in your country.
 VoiceThread is a tool that allows you to up load pictures and
videos and then record yourself talking about them.
  1. Lyrics Training
 2. Surround Yourself With English Speakers

Great Ways to  3. Find Out What’s Hot on YouTube

 4. Become a Movie Star
Learn English  5. Find Your Passion
at Home for  6. Start a Blog
Free  7. Exploit Free Advice
 8. Listen to Podcasts
 9. Listen to Ted Talks 
 10. Use English at Home
  Hardcore History Was Alexander the Great as bad a person as
Hitler? How did World War I shape our lives today? How did
Genghis Khan rise from humble beginnings to master a huge
empire? Dan answers these questions and more.
 Freakonomics Radio This podcast is likely to appeal to people
who are interested in sociology, social issues, current events,
science, and the human condition. 
 The Joe Rogan Experience Joe is never short of an interesting
Podcasts guest from comics, professors, celebrities, MMA fighters,
authors etc. His shows are long, always interesting and often
hilarious. 
 The Tim Ferriss Podcast Tim interviews world class performers
from many different fields and tries to isolate their common
traits. 
 Startalk Not about celebrities, but about the real stars above
us. Dr. Tyson breaks everything down into terms that the
common dummy can understand. 
  Tech News Today Find out what’s happening in the world of
technology in 30 minutes or less. Always interesting and informative,
and just the right length.
 Common Sense with Dan Carlin If politics and current affairs are your
thing, then check out this one. He has an integrity and sense of
purpose that you don’t often find with the voices involved in current
issues.
 Smart Passive Income Pat Flynn gives you honest advice about how
to start a profitable online business. I’ve learned so much from him.
Podcasts You’ll learn everything from how to start a blog, use social media and
he’s even helping me create an online course. A wealth of information.
 Stuff You Should Know Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant get to the
bottom of odd questions, like how the Pyramids were built and if
zombies exist.It’s a fascinating biweekly podcast. A unique dose of
education and comedy.
 Criminal Fascinating stories about people who’ve broken the law,
been the victims of crime, or somewhere in between.
  There might be common topics for the writing test, but there
are certainly no common topics for the speaking test.

 Topics for Writing Part:

 Health

Common  Environment
 Education
Topics  Development
 Globalisation
 Public Transport
 Criminal Justice
 Technology
  Reliable sources of practice tests:
 Cambridge Past Papers books
9. Practice  British Council
Tests  IELTS Essentials
 IDP https://idpielts.me/
10. Find out  The most effective strategy for IELTS preparation is
to find out your weaknesses, go away and work on
your them and then come back and have your work
weaknesses assessed.