IELTS exam

[bluebell2]

i'm looking for people who took IELTS exam. May somebody tell me sth more
about how it looks?

thanx for help
dana

[abere8]

I took it in January this year. What do you want to know? :-)

There are four parts: speaking, listening, reading and writing. The three
latter parts are all together (they take about 3 hours), and the speaking part
is an individual interview at some other time. Mine was on the same day in the
morning.

These are just the basics - do you want to know more about the structure of the
exam, or the atmosphere there, or something else? Be more specific and I'm at
your service! :-)

[Gość: bluebell2]

ok :) thank you for info.
i will try to be more specific :)

i just wonder how difficult it is, how is the atmosphere, how the assessors are
(friendly, helpful etc).
what part did you find the most tricky (or stressful) and why? Is having a
dictionary allowed? What was your topic in speaking part? What were the
questions?

Did you prepare in a special way before the exam? (any special books,
exorcises, course etc?). My English is not very good and i’m determinate to get
as many points i can manage so i want to prepare well....

And how long were you waiting for the results? Was that exam helpful in your
immigration process at all?

[Gość: shangazi]

get on www.ielts.org/candidates + u'll know more, regards

[Gość: abere8]

Gość portalu: bluebell2 napisał(a):
>
> i just wonder how difficult it is, how is the atmosphere, how the assessors
are
>
> (friendly, helpful etc).

The atmosphere was very, very good; everybody was friendly, the examiners were
smiling, ready to answer any questions etc. Of course, during the exam you had
to be quiet, but if there was any problem at all, it was allowed to raise your
hand and they came up to you to help. During the speaking part the examiner was
speaking really slowly and clearly, asked if I understood everything, so
there's no problem with that.

> what part did you find the most tricky (or stressful) and why? Is having a
> dictionary allowed? What was your topic in speaking part? What were the
> questions?

No dictionaries allowed. And you have to use a pencil only, even in the writing
part. The most difficult part for me was writing because I felt that I didn't
have enough time to write the essays as well as I wanted to. On the other hand,
I was done with the reading part with 20 minutes to spare, so it just depends
on what you're good at.

As for the speaking part, I remember talking about a famous person from my
country, and then we had a general discussion on why people become famous.
Also, I was asked about the hobbies or favorite activities that young people in
Poland have. There was also something about how I like the city I live in
(Wellington, NZ).

>
> Did you prepare in a special way before the exam? (any special books,
> exorcises, course etc?). My English is not very good and i’m determinate
> to get
> as many points i can manage so i want to prepare well....

I was trying to prepare for about three weeks before the exam, just to see what
it would be like, what parts it had, what kind of tasks, etc., because I hadn't
heard of it before I came to NZ :-) I checked out a few books from the library
and practiced some tests. No listening, though, but it wasn't too difficult
anyway :-) Now I'm teaching English to foreigners and most of my students are
preparing for the IELTS exam.
>
> And how long were you waiting for the results? Was that exam helpful in your
> immigration process at all?

It was a little less than two weeks before I got my results (9 points overall),
so not quite as long as you wait for the results of the FCE and such. It is
helpful in my immigration process only because it proves that I can speak
English, whereas my Masters Degree in Linguistics doesn't... :-(

Good luck, and if you have any other questions, I'll be happy to help!

[Gość: bluebell2]

thank you very much! i didn't expect such specific answers for my questions! i
really appreciate! it doesn't sound very bad though. speaking topic -
pretty 'friendly'. Do u remember your esseys's topic?
anyway, i'm going to take my exam on September, so have some time for
improvement.
Thanx again, take care, dana

[abere8]

Task two in the writing part was something about universities not being
practical so why study theory when you need practical knowledge to find a job.
Something like that :-)

Task one had some graphs to describe; I think they were about renewable energy
sources in a few countries.

Good luck!

Ola