[Closed] IELTS English Test

Eh? WTF would you be taking an IELTS  test if you are from the UK? I have taught quite a few IELTS preparation courses. The main thing we taught the students was to read the questions carefully before answering as that is part of the test.

It's for my Canadian visa application.

It looks pretty daunting! Would be crap if it turns out I can't speak English.

I've always wanted to do one, just to see how I'd score. But every year we get a couple of students who have like 6.5 in all scores, and yet can't actually speak a word of English, so it can't be that hard

I'm in Canada & all my colleagues are going through this at the moment.

It's a doddle.

Just embellish as much as you can on the oral element of the exam. Long sentences & lots of words.

I did one earlier this year, also for my Canadian work permit.  It's easy, but it's also easy to zone out, especially during the listening test. As long as you focus it's a doddle.

I found a few of the questions open to interpretation,  but try not to over think it.

The speaking one is interesting: I got one question I couldn't care less about and one that was quite interesting. Just remember all they are looking for is that you can converse in English.  My examiner said she could chat to me for hours 😁

It's a pretty long day, though: I had to get up at 5am to get there in time. Fortunately, the whole thing finished in time for the 6 nations so I went and got p****d in a pub😂

As above key is to concentrate and don't over think it. Some of the questions will be ambiguous. It also seems somewhat arbitrary as sweamrs ( Degree in English literature from Oxford) only scored a 9/10 in the written section....

" Long sentences & lots of words."

The O.p. states he is from Doncaster , don't crush his dream.

😉

But every year we get a couple of students who have like 6.5 in all scores, and yet can’t actually speak a word of English, so it can’t be that hard

i have dealt with this people who supplied forged IELTS certificates in the UK. We ended up knicking one of their customers who was working in a UK health services provider.

my wife did one for our Canadian visa application (she was lead applicant so had to do it) she said it was dead easy and finished about 3pm, well before the suggested time of 6pm. most of the people their seemed to be applying for a visa to remain in UK, rather than leave!

The O.p. states he is from Doncaster , don’t crush his dream.

I know, right!

Thanks for the insights, I figured it would be fine, but there's always that niggling feeling that I can't speak my own language. I have a long history of being crap at spelling, so that's worrying me a bit.

If there's a lot riding on it, do a couple of the sample tests on the IELTS website to get a feel for way the reading/listening papers work, and check out some sample writing as you could be JK Rowling but still get marked down if you don't jump through the hoops.

I've taught IELTs a lot so I've done countless reading and listenings and, as said above, if you're not really paying attention (especially when reading the questions) it's easy to get in a mess.

Good point - if it is an English Language test to get into Canada, which spelling will they be looking for?

Rachel (who has to write everything at work in US English these days)

I had to do one too for Canadian paperwork. In theory it's dead simple but... As I recall, there are different types of questions within the test. One is basically "find and repeat the words that were used"; another is "here are a list of options none of which was actually said, which do you think is closest in meaning?". The latter was a bit disconcerting at first, but not too difficult.

Three tips:

- If they tell you to take a pencil, take a few *and a sharpener*. Having to put your hand up because you broke your pencil and need to borrow the sharpener is annoying, if amusing.

- on the written part, don't get too silly. I had to write a letter to the manager of a theatre saying my friend injured themself last time they were there, thanking the manager for their help and recommending how they might avoid that in future. I wrote that my friend had broken his nose because the toilet door swung back too fast on him, and elaborated from there and lost a half mark.

- on the oral (conversation) piece, there's a good chance your interviewer may not have English as their first language. The wife kept asking her interviewer to repeat the question as she couldn't understand her, and got marked down for that. Given the wife is a Brit and got less than full marks, it was quite amusing (for me).

Oh, and make sure you're on time and have your ID or you won't be allowed in and will lose the $300(?). Other than that, just soak it all in. It's quite something!

Good idea about pencils: take many.

Oh, and the security: Jeez! Its run tighter than air force one.

Be prepared for lots of waiting, and hope you get an early time for your speaking. I had a 3 hour wait.

You'll be fine as long as you can:

- explain the difference between an adverbial conjunction, a coordinating conjunction, correlating conjunction and subordinate conjunction (give examples)

- explain how a transitive verb differs from an intransitive verb.

- correctly differentiate between a present participle phrase and a gerund phrase.

Just stuff that any five year old can do (outside of Doncaster) 😉

Just stuff that any five year old can do (outside of Doncaster)