Juliana Galassi - Master the IELTS: A complete guide to prepare yourself for the exam

Master the IELTS

By Juliana Galassi

Translated by Helena M. L.

Introduction

A nyone who plans to study abroad or take part in an exchange program be it in high school, university, graduate school, etc. eventually comes across the need to take an English proficiency exam.

Theres nowhere to hide from this; any serious institution will require these exams.

Whether its through IELTS, TOEFL, Cambridge, or whichever other exam, you will need to prove that you communicate well enough to keep up with classes and to live in another country.

If you got this far, its because youve decided on the IELTS among all other options.

Good choice!

This exam is the most commonly used among universities and is well known in the international job market, and thus will offer you many opportunities.

Even in the U.S., where TOEFL is preferred, the number of universities that accept IELTS has increased exponentially.

Knowing this, from now on I want you to understand one thing: planning to study abroad involves many steps deciding on your destination, school, collecting documents, among other things. The proficiency exam is just one of them and shouldn't be a barrier in realizing your dream.

While enjoying your experience studying abroad, you wont even remember this step and how much you suffered through it.

With this in mind, I developed this text for the purpose of simplifying this step of the process so that you can focus on what is truly important: planning your study abroad experience peacefully and confidently.

With this ebook, you will:

Know your level of English and how to attain your desired score

Learn everything about the IELTS, from the structure of the test to how it is scored

Learn how to take the exam in a practical and accurate manner

Discover the Dos and Donts of IELTS

Organize a study schedule

Take advantage of the best study materials that the Internet has to offer

However, have in mind that YOU are the most important piece of this puzzle.

I will offer you EVERYTHING you need to know to succeed on this exam. You just need to put it into practice.

Got it?

Its vital to understand that I am not giving you any otherworldly technique, miracle, or problem-solving quick fix. Im not a guru or an Internet charlatan.

I will teach you an efficient and assertive method that, with the right dedication, will guarantee you an overall score of 7+.

Now, you could be asking yourself, Who are you to guarantee me that you know everything there is to know about the IELTS?

Well, I am Juliana Galassi.

I graduated from Mackenzie Presbyterian University in Languages and Literatures (Portuguese and English). Ive been working as an English teacher and a Web Content producer for the past four years. With this e-book, Ive integrated these two activities.

In 2018, I decided to study abroad its a long (but exciting) story, and you can check it out on my blog.

Eventually, I came across this blessed step: taking an English proficiency exam.

Theres just one but... I made it an objective of mine to do very well on this exam and to understand IELTS deeply for two main reasons:

1. For my desired course, the IELTS score is the only criterion of approval. No letter of intent or any academic history was required; I just needed an above-average score.

2. As an English Teacher, understanding this exam could prove to be highly useful (this e-book serves as proof).

So, I dedicated myself to understanding everything about IELTS and its workings. And, now on the other side of it, I'm able to pass along my knowledge to you! :)

I hope you enjoy this book and are able to eliminate this step from your path towards studying abroad.

Why take the IELTS

W ell, for starters , I want you to understand the importance of doing a proficiency exam before getting in a foreign university, this way you can really focus on what I am going to set forth in this guide.

I have already heard students saying how lame this Examination method is, and that a simple conversation with someone from the Admissions office of the institutions would be more than enough.

So lets make 3 things very clear:

1. They have other things to do;
2. Some institutions may actually do that, but usually just for lousy technical courses where the main focus is getting your money and not really teaching; and
3. It doesnt prove anything.

Trust me, it is for your own good!

The everyday or even business English that you have learned is nothing like the communication level asked by universities.

If you have already finished college, technical courses or even a good high school, you know that all these educational processes are not easy. It is wearying, takes time, and costs money and health (be it physical or mental).

So, imagine doing this in another language!

The educational institutions just want to be sure that you have the communicative capability to be able to follow classes. They (and you as well) dont want to lose time (and money, lots of money) with a student that is not enjoying the course because he is not able to understand what is going on.

After all, you will need to read and write texts, listen to and debate with colleagues. And we havent even mentioned that you will need to live! You need to communicate well enough to be able to find a good bakery and order some bread.

A proficiency exam is evidence that you can do all this with mastery and that the English language is not going to be a barrier for learning.

Besides that, by studying for the IELTS you can get used to the type of text and structure that you will find in your academic life, so this knowledge is not going to be restricted for the exam only.

Therefore, you should devote yourself!

K now the exam from head to toe

So lets get down to business!

If there is one thing that I know of in this life it is that in prep courses for competitive positions, content and subjects are not taught they only teach how tests work and give you tips so that you can pass.

It is no use being an English whiz kid if you dont understand how the exam works.

There are lots of stories out there of native English speakers who didnt get a good grade simply because they didnt know the test and had no idea what they were doing.

You are not supposed to find out what they ask on the day of the test, you need to get there sure of it.

That being said, in this chapter we are going to focus on knowing the test by heart.

What is the IELTS?

The IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is a proficiency exam for the English language developed by Cambridge Assessment English (the same one that makes the other Cambridge Exams - FCE, CAE, CPE and so on) and is applied worldwide in partnership with the British Council and the IDP Education Australia.