IELTS Energy 1490: Exactly What to Do In IELTS Preparation
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This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1490, Exactly What to Do in IELTS Preparation.

Welcome to the IELTS Energy Podcast from All Ears English, downloaded more than 22 million times with former IELTS examiner Jessica Beck and Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz. If you are stuck with a low score, our insider method will help you get the score you need to unlock your dreams. Get your estimated band score now with our two-minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com

Today, you'll find out exactly what to do to get the scores you need on IELTS. Whether you're just starting to study or you've already done great, but your scores are expiring.

Aubrey, I want to dive right in today because we have a

of great info for our students preparing for the exam. Aubree, what are we talking about today? Yes, we got two amazing questions. One about preparing for the IELTS exam if you have taken it before, and one if you haven't taken IELTS. So whoever is listening out there, you are in one of those two boats. So we're excited this will apply to everyone. Yeah, exactly. So you're going to notice, guys, that there's some different

in these two different cases, but there's also some things that you have to do no matter where you're at if you're preparing for IELTS. So let's read that first question, Aubrey.

Okay, first question. I have never taken IELTS before. I don't know how to prepare for the test. Do I need to recite IELTS vocabulary? I have no idea where to start. Thank you, best Cecilia. I feel your pain. This is so scary and frustrating when you don't even know where to start. That would be so difficult, guys. But you

I don't think anyone listening to us has this problem. That's why they're listening to us because you guys know that we teach you all of the great strategies you need for IELTS.

Let's say guys that maybe this is your first episode or maybe you're still- - Welcome. - Yeah, welcome. Or maybe you're still feeling kind of lost because there is so much to prepare for. So let's say the student has a little while, right? Three to six months before they have to take the test, let's say. What can we tell this person to do?

Yeah, in that case, you should spend a couple of months, one to two months, on your overall English fluency. So you should be reading in English. Find a novel that you love. Read the news. You should be listening to a lot of English. Podcasts, definitely stick around with us. Hit follow. You should be listening to a lot of different resources in English. And then speaking a lot, speaking aloud by yourself or with speaking partners, and also writing.

writing practice too. Yes, guys, remember that there is writing fluency just like there's speaking fluency. We recommend keeping a journal where you write every night for 10 minutes or whatever your routine is. That will get you more comfortable expressing yourself in English through writing. It's all part of fluency.

Exactly, right? And don't focus so much on vocabulary, especially not from lists, right? You want to discover vocabulary through this fluency practice as you are reading a novel, the news. Choose three to four interesting words for each thing that you read or what you listen to to add to a vocabulary book. If you are using a long list of vocabulary, you'll never

really be able to add any of it to your active vocabulary to be able to access it on test day. Yeah, guys, remember that the basic strategy when you're preparing for something that is so huge is to just focus on one thing at a time.

Separate your learning into manageable and realistic chunks and goals. So like with the vocab, like Aubrey said, only write down three or four new words a week. And then you're going to focus on using those new words out loud in your journal writing as much as possible so you actually learn them before moving on to more new words. Right?

Right. Use that journal consistently. Every time if you meet with a speaking partner, have the journal and have a goal of using a few of those words in conversation and practice answers, giving each other feedback. You've got to, a list of vocabulary is useless to you on test day. You can't take that with you. You can't use it. You have to consciously add it to your active vocabulary. Exactly. Exactly. All right. What is our last tip for this student?

Yeah, you must choose a system of strategies, one system to use, and then do test practice without timing yourself using these strategies. Focus on individual question types until you have each one mastered. You really know the individual strategies for each one. Exactly. That detail is very important.

to practice the strategies, applying them to test practice, but don't time yourself at first because you have to get good at these strategies at finding answers before you could do it quickly, right? So step by step. That's part of the learning system that we use in Three Keys IELTS, right?

Yes, exactly. If you don't have a system of strategies and you need one, we highly recommend the one we created. Go to allersenglish.com/keys, K-E-Y-S, for our complete system of strategies. And once you practice those strategies without timing yourself, then you'll move on to timing yourself using those same strategies so that you're ready on test day and you can get all of these answers quickly. Exactly, exactly.

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All right. I almost just started laughing, guys, because Aubrey just pointed out to me this morning how often I say exactly, and I didn't realize that I did that until I just said it twice just now. You guys probably know. I love the listeners are like, oh, we know, Jessica, and often twice like that. Exactly, exactly. But I love it. It's very reaffirming for me, right? I think it's fun. Oh,

All right, guys. So we've talked about how you can prepare for IELTS if this is your first time taking it, if you are new to IELTS. And now let's talk about a different case. Yeah. So here's the second question.

How can I study again for IELTS? I passed two years ago with an overall 6.5 and 7.5 in speaking, but my test results expire this month. I'm desperate. I can't learn anything in one month from Adria or Adria.

You know what's cool? Good question. Totally. I recently have talked to a couple students who came back to our course a second time because they were in this situation. In fact, the last student that we had on the podcast, he was taking the test because he was in New Zealand and his score that he got great the first time with our course,

That expired. And so he came back as a refresher. So if you've already done well, right, don't throw all of that away. You can still use those strategies.

Absolutely. And you can learn a lot in a month. So that's the first thing. If you feel the same as Audrey, like I can't learn anything in one month. Absolutely not. 30 days is a lot, especially if you've already prepared for IELTS. Those are amazing scores the first time. You can definitely even improve on those scores in 30 days, but you need a study plan.

Totally. So I think you guys can see that organization is key, right? No matter where you are in your IELTS preparation, you have to be organized. So in the Three Keys course, we do give you a 30-day study plan and a 60-day study plan. But in case you don't want to get into the

course, that's fine. You can make the study plan yourself. Just make sure that the study plan is a balance. It's not just test strategies and test practice. It's also still developing your overall fluency.

Exactly. And we've talked a lot on this podcast, maybe search study plan on the blog for details about how to do this, right? Which sections of the exam to start with, what you should be doing each day, because you do need to be really thoughtful about that and then follow it. Yes, you need to be intentional about your IELTS study. Guys, if you missed the episode, we did a couple of

A couple episodes back, we did teach you intentional and empathy and a lot of great vocab. So scroll up to IELTS Energy 1488, Self-Aware Band 9 Part 2, Describing a Person.

Nice. And then based on your scores, you're going to need to determine which exams need more work, right? If you got a 7.5 on speaking and you've been speaking a ton, like you're able to speak out loud a lot, maybe you'll spend a little more time on the exams that you got lower scores on, right? We weren't given individual scores here, but if your reading score, for example, was particularly low, you need to be practicing strategies on IELTS reading practice tests. Yes.

Yes, don't ignore the weak points and don't only practice the strengths. We know that's easy to do because if you're comfortable speaking, you're going to speak more, right? Yeah, exactly. Right. And then, like we were saying, you have to get strategies, whether you have taken IELTS before or not.

you must be using practice strategies on every section of the exam. And with 30 days, you're probably going to want to start timing yourself pretty soon, right? That though you can learn a ton in 30 days, you need to make sure that on test day, you know what it feels like to have about a minute per reading question, to have 40 minutes for task two and 20 minutes for task one. It's important that you are confident that you can do these tasks in that amount of time.

Yeah, exactly. Because two years is a long time. A lot can happen in two years. So you definitely need to be very focused in your preparation and still preparing, right? All the strategies, the timing, all of that. You still need to repeat that if you're taking the exam again.

Awesome. Well, again, if you need a system of strategies, you know you can trust ours. Go to allersenglish.com/keys, K-E-Y-S for Three Keys IELTS. And not only that, you are then in our community. We have speaking practice every week at Open Conversation Club, fluency parties, and you're invited to all of those events as a Three Keys student. Yes, awesome.

All right, guys. So check it out. allearsenglish.com/keys. And Aubrey, thanks for teaching with me today. Yeah, awesome. See you next time. Thanks for listening to IELTS Energy. Hit subscribe now and don't forget to find your estimated band score at allearsenglish.com/myscore.