This is What I Did to Pass the IELTS Test

Studying in a university nowadays has been very costly. Tuition keeps on increasing every year and it is amazing how a typical Filipino student can pay his or her way tuition through different scholarships or by getting part-time jobs. And as for me who have finished my degree a year ago, getting a scholarship in the United Kingdom for a post-graduate degree was indeed a blessing.

I applied for a scholarship grant since I am not financially capable of sending myself to graduate studies. I was a little embarrassed to ask my parents to finance me in my graduate studies. Luckily, I passed and was given the requirements for school. One of these requirements was for me to take the IELTS or the International English Language Testing System examination. I was an English major and I thought this would just be a piece of cake.

I started my preparation through searching on the internet for some IELTS practice tests. Later on, I tried purchasing review manuals suggested online. At first, I was getting good scores until I realized that I was starting to have a hard time. First, the reading passages were too long for the given time. It was too difficult for me to finish reading and answering a task. Listening was a bit odd since I was not familiar with English accents other than American English. Speaking was difficult without someone to talk to and writing was a challenge especially describing graphs and data. Right at that moment, I told myself that I needed an IELTS review center.

I enrolled in one and attended classes. There were a lot of things that I learned from the lectures and classes. Additionally, the environment in the class was not really stressing as everyone worked hard to get their target scores. The trainings taught me skills that I needed for the exam and even improved the ones I already have. It was a total surprise for me to learn more things about English particularly for the IELTS test. After a couple of months, I took the test and got my target score of 7. I was really thankful and so I want to share to you the things I did to pass my test.

1. Read a lot. It does not have to be something academic. Any material will do as long as you learn new words and improve the love for reading. You will need your interest in reading improved for you will be reading long passages in the test.

2. Watch movies in English on different accents. Try watching movies of Hugh Grant or Nicole Kidman. Their accents are wonderful to help you learn more on British and Australian English accents respectively.

3. Speak English when there is an opportunity. I tried speaking English when I was around them. It helped a lot boosting not only my skill but also my confidence.

4. Have a journal. I always wrote a single paragraph essay just to practice my writing. As time went on, I wrote essays on different topics. Like what they say, practice makes perfect.

IELTS review centers teach a lot of skill building and development. However, you must also do things to better your skills by following the things I mentioned above. Do not get nervous for the test. No one gets anxious when they are confident and have the right preparation for the examination.

If you need more IELTS tips go here www.ieltsexamstips.com.