tips to succeed in ielts exam

Tips to succeed in IELTS Exam

11. Improve your English
It takes time to learn a language and one of the very best ways to learn is to take an English language course. The feedback you receive from your teacher will help you improve the specific skills involved in speaking, listening, reading and writing English.
Use your English every day. Read, speak, listen and write in English as often as you can as this is a proven way to improve your English and therefore your IELTS score.
12. Practise sample questions
Practise the test using these free IELTS test sample questions.Use the Official IELTS Practice Materials two books available which you can purchase online or from your local test centre.There is a wide range of IELTS materials available you can purchase from a variety of publishers.
13. Try to feel relaxed on the day before you test
On the day before your test, take the time to refresh your memory of the test rules, test format and location so that you feel as relaxed as possible.Read the Information for candidates booklet again this contains essential information to help you do your best. Make sure you know the test rules read the Notice to Candidates.Get plenty of rest the night before your test.Plan your journey ensure you are familiar with the location of the test venue and know how you are going to get there so that you arrive on time.
14. Read Academic Texts
Read in your free time! The IELTS texts are general academic texts. This means they are taken from sources such as textbooks and specialist magazines and journals. If you are not familiar with reading these kinds of texts in English it is essential that you start reading them in your free time so that you are used to the types of language and structure used when you meet them in the exam. Three typical sources for IELTS texts are in order of difficulty easiest first the National Geographic, the New Scientist and the Economist. You can get these magazines in most newsagents.
15. Focus
Focus on the text first, the questions second! A good understanding of the text helps you answer the questions more efficiently and effectively.
16. Categorise
IELTS exam writers select a range of specific types of texts. Learning to recognise the type of text you are reading can help you predict its structure and therefore understand it more quickly. There are four types of IELTS texts a analytic texts, which discuss the reasons why something happened or make recommendations or explain a concept b descriptive texts, which describe a situation, explain how something is done or categorise something c discursive texts, in which different opinions are expressed about an issue and d narrative texts, which explain a chronological sequence of events.
17. Skim
Develop your ability to skim. Skimming is reading quickly by skipping over unimportant words like prepositions and ignoring difficult words that you dont need to understand. Do this to get a general idea about a text or a paragraph or to intensively search for the answer to a question.
18. Scan
Learn to scan. Scanning is what you do when you look for a price in an advertising text or a name in a telephone book. When you scan you do not actually need to read the text but move your eyes quickly over it. You can scan from left to right or right to left, from top to bottom or bottom to top. Do this to find the location of answers in the texts looking out for easy to spot words like numbers, dates and words beginning with capital letters such as place names.
19. Structure
Learn to recognise paragraph structure. This often involves spotting the relationship between the main ideas and supporting ideas in a paragraph. Paragraphs are most frequently descending, i.e. they begin with the main idea somewhere near the start and develop from there, although some, frequently the first and last paragraphs of a text, are ascending the main idea is located towards the end. This can be particularly helpful when matching headings to paragraphs.
20. Overview
Get an overview of a text before dealing with the questions. Do this by reading the title and subtitle as well as focusing on the beginnings and ends but not JUST the first and last sentences of paragraphs. This helps you process the information in a text and thereby answer the questions more quickly.