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How to effectively prepare for IELTS test

Written by IELTS Profi for Campus Perth

IELTS, also known as the International English Language Testing System, is one of the most renowned English proficiency tests in the world. People need the IELTS test for various reasons. People who want to study or migrate to English speaking countries in most cases should take the IELTS test.

IELTS Test Structure

Before giving you tips on how to prepare for the IELTS test, let us give you details about the IELTS test.

The IELTS test has two modules - General and Academic. IELTS has four sections - reading, listening, writing and speaking.
IELTS Listening and Speaking sections are the same for both modules. However, writing and reading sections are slightly different.
IELTS general writing requires you to write an essay and letter. IELTS academic writing requires you to describe a graph and write an essay.
IELTS reading might have different question types for each module. But, question types are mostly the same.
Now, let me give you some tips to succeed in the IELTS exam.

Master your vocabulary skills

I am sure you already know that vocabulary is one of the main components of learning any language. Since the IELTS test is all about the English language, you should make sure to expand your vocabulary.
One of the best ways of learning new words is by reading books, newspapers, articles, or whatever you like reading in English. When you start reading, you will feel that you do not know most of the words that you read. One thing you should do is to highlight these words. Then, get the definitions and meanings so that you can learn them one by one.
If you try to learn 15-20 words per day, you will be very fast at enriching your vocabulary.

Make sure to read a lot

As mentioned earlier, reading helps a lot while preparing for the IELTS test. Not only will it improve your vocabulary but also the reading speed and understanding the context. As you know, there will be a reading section in the IELTS test. The reading section consists of passages that you should read and answer the questions.
When you read more, you start understanding the context better. In line with that, your reading speed increases as well. When you get more into the IELTS test, you will realise the importance of fast-paced reading.
In the examination process, the last thing you want to do is spend more time on tasks than it is accepted.

Enhance your writing skills

Writing is another part of the IELTS exam. How would you be able to become better at writing? - It is a rather lengthy process for you, but achievable. For the writing tasks, you have to make sure you know the exact formats of each task.
In the preparation process, make sure to get regular feedback about your writing tasks. This way, you will be able to measure your progress. Also, you can find your weak spots in writing and work on them.
You can find local IELTS tutors who can help you with the feedback part. Also, you can search the web to find online solutions for this.

Work on your fluency and pronunciation

Since one of the IELTS exam parts is speaking, you want to make sure to work on your fluency and pronunciation. As you might know, the accent you speak with does not affect your IELTS speaking score. Yet, fluency and pronunciation can shrink your score upwards or downwards.
For you to be better at speaking, you can find someone that could talk to you in real life. If you have a friend that knows English and can have a conversation with you, that is perfect. If there is no one that can help you, you can find people like you online who want to find a partner to talk with.

Practice your listening skills

To advance your listening skills, you need to find videos, podcasts or audiobooks in English. The key here is to make sure that those are interesting for you.
In other words, I recommend that you find some TV shows or YouTubers that speak fluently. There are hundreds of thousands of YouTubers. You can find one that is blogging about the subject that you enjoy listening to. While listening to them, you will be able to start copying their speaking style and thus improve your fluency and pronunciation level.

About our website and the author

At the IELTS PROFI, we proudly help students to get their desired IELTS score. We teamed up with IELTS professionals to create a platform that would be the best friend for any English learning student. We provide valuable content for the English learning preparation process. Our students find value in us because of the quality and availability. All of the content on our website is provided for free.
The author of this article is Hazreh Shanzari. She is a marketing specialist at IELTS PROFIand helps to build IELTS PROFI as an online educational platform.