IELTS Test Preparation: How to know your Strengths and Weaknesses?
There are several IELTS Online materials and courses available on the internet. These materials recommend numerous tips and strategies to clear the IELTS Exam.
Despite such a myriad of handy and accessible resources, most of the aspirants found asking one common question - "Which is the best way to prepare for IELTS Test?"
Why?
All the materials are designed to provide general information that is aimed at all the candidates preparing for the exam who desire to achieve Band 6 or Band 9.
The best possible solution to overcome all your challenges is - "To work on your own strengths and weaknesses for IELTS".
Self-evaluation or self-analysis plays a vital role in preparing for the IELTS Test. You need to find out the key areas where you need improvement and the areas where you need to brush up your skills.
It reflects on how much you know, how well you are doing and also suggests the areas for improvement.
Take a Practice Test
Begin your IELTS Test preparation by taking a practice test; you need to analyse your strong and weak areas.
Based on that, design a Study Plan to help you focus on the weak points and improve them while still maintaining the practice of your strong areas.
Understand the Test Format
Another task for you is to know the actual format of the IELTS test to clear all your doubts. Familiarise yourself with all the topic contents, band structure, question and task types to a better understanding of the IELTS exam.
Time Limit
Like other exams, IELTS Exam also has a time limit, and therefore you need to develop a better understanding of the test structure.
Try to give IELTS mock test under timed conditions, so that you will become habitual with the structure of the exam.
For each IELTS module, you will get a time limit, and if you fail to complete the modules, then you need to focus on your IELTS preparation.
Develop Your IELTS Skills
The biggest mistake IELTS aspirants make is to focus only on the IELTS practice tests rather than improving the English skills. Always remember that preparing for IELTS is a process.
Get the best help from the materials of IELTS Tutorials to develop IELTS strategies and techniques.
Appeared for IELTS Test before? Here is what you can do�
Analyse your previous results. Have a look at the module-wise Band Score and Overall Band Score. Try to recollect the number of questions you missed during the Test. But, this is not it.
You must also find out the type of questions that you are unable to attempt. This is where you come across your strengths and weaknesses.
For example, you may be weak at Essay Writing task or you may lag behind with Vocabulary. These points tell you where you really need to focus and spend most of your time while preparing for the actual test. This process also helps you determine your strengths. Suppose, you are good at Speaking. This means you need to devote less time to practice it. Likewise, you can frame your entire schedule and ace your IELTS preparation.
Attempting IELTS Exam for the first time? Start practising now!
If you haven't taken any English Language proficiency tests before and are unaware about your strengths and weaknesses, you must start taking free IELTS practice tests.
The analysis of these tests will give you a clear idea about the areas you are lacking in and the areas in which you are proficient enough.
Be a Multitasker when Listening
IELTS Listening test is not about only listening to the recording but also about understanding the content and finding answers at the same time.
Remember, you can hear the recording only once and get the last 10 minutes to transfer your answers. IELTS Listening exam consists of 4 recordings where you have to answer 40 questions; 10 each for four recordings.
Know your listening strengths and weaknesses to overcome all your challenges. Prepare for the IELTS Listening exam with the free mock tests.
Develop the Reading Skills
The only purpose of the IELTS Reading exam is to assess your level of understanding about the content, reading for main ideas, reading for skimming and finding the answers.
Ensure you practice all types of reading questions to get familiar with all the question types. Timing matters in the IELTS Reading Exam, and therefore you will not be able to go through the texts several times.
Make sure you have enough strategies to avoid such circumstances in the IELTS reading exam. Focus on the information you want and learn to ignore the rest.
Enhance Your Writing Performance
The writing exam is the most challenging exam that IELTS aspirants struggle with. There are two tasks in the IELTS Writing Exam: IELTS Writing Task 1 and Task 2.
You will get certain instructions to write your answers for both the tasks. For your preparation of IELTS Writing Exam, you could also download the IELTS Tutorials Exam Practice App.
Get an extensive collection of writing sample questions with their comments and model answers for the best practice.
Be Fluent in the IELTS Speaking Exam
It lasts for 11-15 minutes depending on your answers, so make sure you give your best at that moment. The examiner will pay attention to your fluency, pronunciation and grammatical knowledge.
The IELTS Speaking App gives you the ability to practice efficiently and also allows you to learn the best. You can download the IELTS Speaking App; it is a free and self-preparation guide that will boost your speaking skills.
Don't Neglect your Strengths!
You must also see to it that in the process of improving your weaknesses, you are not neglecting your strengths.
You can even carry out some of the below-listed exercises to improve your skills -
- Practise writing notes while listening to the news
- Read articles with your Study Partner and ask questions to each other
- Listen to podcasts or read magazines and then talk about it to your friends
Once you have identified your strengths and weaknesses, you can take an estimate of the number of hours you will need to study. Then, you can make a full Study Plan. Allot more time to overcome your weak areas. You can even make some changes to your plan as you progress in your preparation.
If you are not sure where to start your IELTS test preparation, you can check out sample plans for IELTS preparation and obtain suitable Study Plan from experts on IELTS Tutorials.
All the Best for IELTS Exam!