You have 30 days before you take your IELTS, and you want to know how you would prepare within this time frame. In this little article, we will try to give you some tips so you can make the best of your time.
Find your time
So, first of all, you need to find time to study every day. You may be very busy with your work and family, you must find some time. You need to remember that you chose to take the exam; no one forced you. Hence, it is your duty to not waste the registration fees and try to find some time every day for some practice.
How to use your time
You have now had some time to study every day. This is where you start using your head and make a strategy to prepare. You must know that unless you are a very regular user of English, 30 days will not make you an expert all of a sudden.
This exam tests your level of understanding of the English language. However, you definitely can improve to some extent if you follow the tips here. Try to follow the steps.
Use Mock exams well
Mock tests are like your guiding light at this point. Professionals who do not have much time during the day use weekends to take at least a full mock test.
If you are a full-time student, take mock tests 2 times a week with 3 days of study time in the interim. For example, if you have taken a test on Saturday, take the next test on Tuesday.
Writing
After each mock test, your tutor will tell you where you have made mistakes. Try to understand the mistakes and find out why you are making them.
The tutor will tell you exactly which section of the grammar you need to read and understand to fix them. In this case, you may need to read and understand various chapters based on the categories of mistakes.
Speaking
Please, follow the steps every day.
- Watch some news on YouTube, or watch talk shows like Hard Talk.
- Take notes.
- Start a voice recorder and talk about the topics covered in the news or hard talk.
- Try to give your opinion, provide evidence, and support your theories.
- Talk for as long as you can. Keep talking.
- Stop the recording and listen to it. Note down what you do not like and want to change.
- Start another recording and speak on the same topics.
- Keep repeating 3 to 6 until you are satisfied with your recorded voice. Do this every day without fail. Speaking improves with your practice, so practice as much as you can, if not at least 15 minutes a day. You will see the change.
Reading
Learning how to manage your time during the reading and how to let go the moment you feel you cannot solve a question will help you save a lot of seconds or even minutes.
Your tutor will tell you how to solve each type of question. You must take notes and practice at home on the same questions to properly understand. You need to understand the method. Finding correct answers comes next.
Listening
It is the same as the speaking practice we have mentioned above, minus the recording of your speaking first. Do it as follows:
- While you listen to various topics on YouTube, turn on CC or Closed Caption in English.
- Now, try to read and keep up with the video without pausing or rewinding.
- Practice it every day. Do not rewind a video until it is finished.
- Keep watching the same video repeatedly until you can keep up with the subtitle speed.
- During the listening exam, you will not only listen but also take notes and read questions. So, please, practice as we have told you.