The speaking component of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) may be the longest 11 to 14 minutes of your life!

It is broken up into three parts with the first part being a general discussion with the examiner that will probably be very close to a real-life situation. That is where the art of small talk comes in!

Small talk is an expression that means light and informal chitchat that covers a whole range of topics and nothing really specific. In a real life situation it is usually used to cover silence between people who may or may not know each other.

If you can master small talk then you are on your way to doing well in part one of your speaking component.

The best way to do this is to practise as much as you can. The good part is that in most English-speaking countries, small talk is considered normal, so you can chat away to the supermarket cashier, the woman at the bus stop, the waiter in the café and everyone will think you are just a very friendly person!

If you want to improve your speaking abilities, a good method is to socialise. If you are in a social environment you do not have the stress you may feel in the classroom. In a test the people who watch and listen to you, are the people who judge your future. To know that can make you nervous. In just over 14 minutes, your future will be decided. Examiners are like school teachers, some are more lenient than others, some are stricter than others. How do you know if a marker is strict or lenient? The answer is, you don’t. You go in there, and hope for the best. While the examiner listens to you, they may try to find as many mistakes as they can. You may not know you’ve made mistakes, until the test is completed. They may do this because they are bored, sadistic, picky, they love the power or they take their job too seriously. Not all examiners are like this. But the truth is it’s hard to know.

However, in a social environment, you are more relaxed and calm. You are with people you know, people you like, people you trust and people you can depend on. These people will tell if you’ve made a mistake. If you feel you’ve made a mistake, you can ask them. You can be yourself. They are your friends, family, work mates, and you know them well enough to ask questions. You can request their complete honesty about anything. They don’t judge you, and they don’t decide your future. You can depend on them for help. You can be yourself. One student asked their lover if they made mistakes or not. While another learnt expressions from their friends. My trainer said, a Somali cab driver in New York, doesn’t just learn English in the class room, they learn it from discussions with their passengers.

While you’re in a social setting, you can pick up new words at your own pace, you can take your time to learn new expressions. You can test out sentences you’ve heard, you can hear new words. This can be a productive learning experience, and a safe learning environment. Little to no fear of ridicule.

In my next blog, I will tell you about the benefits of electronic media, in practising your speaking and listening.

Clarity,

Concise,

Concentrate,

Confidence.

Speak clearly, speak concisely (keep to the point, use details and background if necessary), listen to what you’re saying and pay strong attention to the listening CD, and trust in your hearing and remember what you know, and don’t be afraid, be confident in yourself.

Tackling something like the writing component of your International English Language Testing System (IELTS) requires a wide vocabulary so enriching your word range is one of the first steps you can take when preparing for the test.

Apart from working on your vocabulary, one of the best ways to prepare is to read as many sample essays as you can to see what other students have done in the past and what is required of you.

Reading other essays will also give you some ideas for subject matter and what you can write about when it comes to your test.

The next step is to practise your writing so that you become familiar with what is expected of you in the time frame allowed. There can be nothing as stressful as trying to write in a hurry – writing becomes scrawled, spelling mistakes occur and thoughts get jumbled.  If you find this happening to you, take a deep breath and a short break before focussing and starting again.

When my children send me a text message sometimes it takes me two or three attempts to understand what they are actually saying.

I, on the other hand, find it hard to SMS and cut my words up so they look like bits of leftover pizza and still make sense. I think this must be due to years of writing and editing, or perhaps I am just old-fashioned!

SMS messaging is a great way to learn a new language and practise your writing skills with friends but when it comes to the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), it is a big no no.

Informal English is lots of fun and has a great role to play when experimenting with your new language but not when it comes to writing.

You need to remember to keep your English formal when writing essays, reports and letters. Keep the slang and messaging for informal times.

Hi Na Pham,
 
I am Deepak Agrawal, a student of your writing module training for IELTS. I am writing to express my heartfelt thanks to you on achievement of my IELTS 7.0 on all Modules.
 
I’ve received my results today, which just made me happier by seeing a score of 8, 8, 7 & 7. This does not only mean that I can apply for my VISA now but it also marks the end of the exam trauma. Attempting exams again and receiving undesirable results was making me little nervous about myself.
 
My learning journey with you would have continued had I been continuing to stay in Australia. It was not mere preparation of IELTS for me. You boosted my confidence (and I believe of everybody else’s as well) by your honest rating of the essays and pinpointing the problem most of the times. I am trying to practise writing in the “Na Pham” format all the times now.
 
I wanted to say you thanks for your efforts. Most of us choose a profession to pursue a living but your profession is changing lives for many peoples.
 
Thanking You….
 
Yours Faithfully
Deepak Agrawal

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is the English exam taken by over 1.4 million people around the world each year as a step towards an international career or education.

If you have taken up the challenge, congratulations and good luck. The biggest tip that I could give you would be this – BE PREPARED!

Like any girl I love surprises; a box of chocolates, a bunch of flowers. But when it comes to something as important as a test, I like to know what I am up against and what is expected of me well before I sit my bottom on that chair at crunch time.

If you are taking the IELTS test, make sure you know what is expected of you and set goals to make steps, even if they are small ones, to achieve those goals.

Make sure your goals are reasonable for each category (reading, writing, listening and speaking) and take into consideration that you may be weaker in some areas than others so allocate more time to work on these with your teacher.

Read ever piece of information or tip that you can, and keep an eye on this blog which includes some great advice on improving your skills by our expert tutors.

Some IELTS students often feel that editing an essay is a waste of time, or sometimes they cannot afford time to do this although they know it is necessary. This is a serious mistake as most writers, however excellent they are, still need to do editing to remove redundant ideas, or some simple mistakes.

The purpose of editing is to make sure your essay is well-structured, logically developed, precise, focused and cohesive.

• You should go through every sentence line by line slowly. Take your time to check every single noun and verb in your essay to make sure they are written with correct grammar.

• Check the structure, the logicality and the flow of your essay. Make sure it has no redundant sentences or repeated ideas.

• Make sure that each topic sentence is followed by adequate explanation and example.

So please never forget spend at least 5-7 minutes at the end of IELTS Writing Test to edit/check your essay.

How to Improve your Reading Skills?This is something which every student strives for but many don’t know how to achieve this.
My task as an Ielts Reading teacher is to instruct and show you how this is done .

There are four (4) main skills that you need in order to do well in the Reading Module.

Firstly one of the main difficulties that students face is not having enough time to complete the test, it is therefore essential to read both efficiently and effectively. Previewing approximately 2 minutes per passage.

Study Key parts of the passage by skimming .Read the first paragraph which often focuses on the main idea.The first sentence of each paragraph usually expresses key points of paragraph known as the topic sentence ,generally the concluding paragraph provides a summary of the passage.

Secondly Interpreting the questions and questions – When you are looking at the questions, you need to recognise – what type of question you need to answer -gap-filling, multiple choice. Whether the questions requires a specific or a general answer. What form should the answer take – a number, date, reason. All this should take approx 2 minutes.

Thirdly, scanning text for specific answers approx a minute per person. Use time wisely. Locate key words, synonyms. The sentences around these words are likely to contain the answers.

Lastly, check your answers approximately 3 minutes. You need to check your answers after you have completed them if you have time return to the questions you have marked because you were unsure and decide which answers the best one .

So all these tips refer to time management how to spend your time wisely.

Some more helpful hints: there may be some words in the passage with which you are unfamiliar, check the context, look for a definition, identify the words place and purpose, look for connective words. Be aware of the use of connective words.

I guess this is for now, each week i’ll give you ways, tips and strategies on how to improve your Reading skills .