[sina6002]

--

[brady9191]

its not that hard at all as some say.do some practise tests and if u say ur english is gud,den 6.5 wont b a problem. i got 7 without any preparation .. the listening part is the easiest,reading is also ok but u hav2 practise that.. writing is also not tuff. but sometimes the speaking part can b a problem, so u shud lay stress on that.. familiarise urself with the pattern of the test and do some practise tests.. (u'll have to buy a book for that)..
best of luk!..

[RabbitCFH]

I prepared for my TOEFL test for 2 weeks I think. I scored 91 which equals ~6.5 I guess. As Brady said, you should do a lot of exercises, especially speaking. There's a lot of software that will help you but you need to know where to find them.

[ArianaBanana]

It's not hard to do , find yourself some good practice books and start cramming, the thing with IELTS is just knowing the tricks for answering certain parts (especially in the writing part) , most good IELTS practice books focus on that.

You can also check with the British Council near you , they sometimes have quick IELTS prep seminars (usually a day or two or even a few hours ) in which they focus on the important tricks and tips you might not know if you study on your own .

Good luck !

[brady9191]

and i forgot.. when u register for the test they give u a practise book. u do that thoroughly,i think it would be enough.it includes cds for listening n speaking..

[NoCommentMan]

(Original post by brady9191)
and i forgot.. when u register for the test they give u a practise book. u do that thoroughly,i think it would be enough.it includes cds for listening n speaking..

I didn't get anything. What are you speaking about?

[ArianaBanana]

(Original post by brady9191)
and i forgot.. when u register for the test they give u a practise book. u do that thoroughly,i think it would be enough.it includes cds for listening n speaking..

Don't think it's done every where ... I didn't get one when I registered for the exam.

[brady9191]

(Original post by NoCommentMan)
I didn't get anything. What are you speaking about?

dont kno brother about ur place. i got the book,it included 3 cds,2 for listening tests and 1 for speaking.. i found it pretty useful(only did that)..
perhaps u should ask the office where u registered..

[inbasagaran]

Not to brag, but I got an 8 without any prep. Its very simple and ridiculously easy if you speak English on a daily basis you should have no problem with it. Practice the writing part though.

I'm going to Sheffield too. Unconditional.

Best of luck.

[NoCommentMan]

(Original post by brady9191)
dont kno brother about ur place. i got the book,it included 3 cds,2 for listening tests and 1 for speaking.. i found it pretty useful(only did that)..
perhaps u should ask the office where u registered..

I suppose there is no need to ask them because the British Council says that I could buy the Official IELTS Practice Materials.

However, I have bought these materials paying £9.10.

Where did you take the exam? And, when did you register in?

[brady9191]

(Original post by NoCommentMan)
I suppose there is no need to ask them because the British Council says that I could buy the Official IELTS Practice Materials.

However, I have bought these materials paying £9.10.

Where did you take the exam? And, when did you register in?

i live in chandigarh (india). i gave the test through ''IDP'' not ''the british council''.. but both give a practise book here.some of my friends got it from the british council too!..

[brady9191]

(Original post by sina6002)
Thanks everybody for trying to help

Unfortunately I'm very weak in the writing part since I've never studied writing(we always skipped the writing part in the english institute I used to go).
I think I do good on the speaking and maybe listening part. I've nearly native (american) accent and people tell me your english is very good (because of the accent. although I'm not really good at grammar and other stuff), and the only thing that I think can bother me is having something to say cause I'm usually the silent guy in groups and I don't talk too much.

Guys, may I know one or two books which you think are the most useful books you studied? cause I've really short time. (please name the book, I'll try to find online ebook of it)
I got cambridge step up to ielts and it seems to be good. but I dont think it be enough. and I also need a book to learn ielts writing rules.
And I've to say I received nothing from the test center! its not even in sheffield(where I live now)

I'd highly appreciate your help, and thanks a lot for those who replied
Thanks a lot
Sina

if u have those cambridge books(i tink there are 6 of them),these are really good books.u should concentrate on them rather than panicking and searching for all other stuff u can get. because in the end it does not matter how many books u got,but what matters is how much practise u did.. u still got a lot of days,practise a lot have confidence in urself n u'll b all fine!..

[NoCommentMan]

(Original post by sina6002)
Thanks everybody for trying to help

Unfortunately I'm very weak in the writing part since I've never studied writing(we always skipped the writing part in the english institute I used to go).
I think I do good on the speaking and maybe listening part. I've nearly native (american) accent and people tell me your english is very good (because of the accent. although I'm not really good at grammar and other stuff), and the only thing that I think can bother me is having something to say cause I'm usually the silent guy in groups and I don't talk too much.

Guys, may I know one or two books which you think are the most useful books you studied? cause I've really short time. (please name the book, I'll try to find online ebook of it)
I got cambridge step up to ielts and it seems to be good. but I dont think it be enough. and I also need a book to learn ielts writing rules.
And I've to say I received nothing from the test center! its not even in sheffield(where I live now)

I'd highly appreciate your help, and thanks a lot for those who replied
Thanks a lot
Sina

I suggest 'Cambridge Grammer for IELTS' by Diana Hopkins with Pauline Cullen.

[ArianaBanana]

(Original post by sina6002)
Thanks for the book offers.

do you guys have any suggestions on each of the parts(writing, listening, reading and speaking) ?
Its my single shot and if I fail, I fail 1 year of my life, and more than 12 months of my family money. and that would cost around £10k living in uk for one year! and also I might get into visa problem.
would appreciate suggestions
thanks a lot

I'm not sure specific suggestions will be good for anyone , you need to find out what your weak points are.

For me the hardest part was the writing, I never thought I had problem writing in English , I realized the requirement in the exam for academic level is slightly higher than what I was used to and I had to practice how to write a text that will comply with the academic format required for answering the writing part in the exam. It was a pain in the ass for me but after practicing and reading tips I pretty much understood what format is expected in the exam.

Here is a link to a guide with tips which explain what is expected of you in the writing part as an example :
http://www.your-ielts-guide.com/IELT...-Writing.shtml
(Not saying this is the best site, if you look around you'll find plenty of those...)

If you need practice speaking and listening , those are much easier, find someone you can chat with in English , the speaking part is not a problem if you can converse with someone and answer questions to a certain degree of detail.

That's pretty much it...

[mtareq1626]

Hi sina6002:
As u consider urself good in litening and speaking , it wont be difficult for u to get an overall 6.5~7.0. I took IELTS last september (academic) and got 8.5-9-7.5-6.5 a total of 8.0. I practiced with Cambridge IELTS books 1-4 . Internet is also a very good resource.

The listening part will b the easiest part for you. Here u will be answering multiple questions or filling the gaps while listening to recorded conversations. Do some practice at your own. Make sure u follow all the instructions.

In reading section you have to develop your own strategy to beat the time constraint. I normally read the whole passage before going to the questions. but you have to store very small details in your memory if you want to follow that path. Sometimes people find it easier to look at the questions before going to the passage. SO find out which one best suits u while practicing.

I bet you will enjoy Writing . I had two questions in this section. First one was to describe a diagram (150 words) and the second one was to write an essay on a topic given. To get a good score, you should be careful in using transitional words . While answering the second question, try to focus on each and every part of the given topic.

THe last but not the least , speaking . I did horrible in this one as I felt shy and tried to hide my accent to the examiner. I'm sure you will do good as you are in a English speaking country.

To you, my advice is just to practice, practice and practice!

[xfallentears]

Guys, just want to share a few IELTS modules consisting of reading, listening, speaking and writing exercises. Hope this helps. Visit this link for more details - http://excellence-ielts.blogspot.com/. Good luck everyone. =)