Online IELTS Preparation - Why Does It Make Sense?


  • Because IELTS is a difficult test. While most agree that IELTS is a reasonable test, it is generally regarded as one of the most challenging tests of its type.

  • Because IELTS has question types peculiar to it. Among the ten or so question types IELTS commonly uses, about half are used only by it or in ways unique to it. In particular, the Reading Task questions about identifying the writer's point of view is unique to IELTS and particularly challenging, since it requires "reading between the lines," a skill that usually has to be taught.

  • Because IELTS uses familiar question types in unique ways. IELTS short answer questions, for example, are asked in three different ways. In all cases, at least at most testing centers, the unwritten rule is that the answers must be no longer than three words each. So, even if you have the write answer but have expressed it in more than three words, your answer will be counted as wrong.

  • Because IELTS sometimes asks even familiar question types in deliberately tricky ways. IELTS may, for example, provide a statement expressed in positive language as a true-or-false question when the answer in the Listening or Reading exercise appears in negative terms that have the same meaning as the positive words in the question. IELTS also may ask questions that require candidates to combine information from different places to arrive at the correct answer. In the Listening test, IELTS sometimes asks questions at the end of a section that require candidates to have been keeping track throughout the exercise; so, if the candidate has not read the question first, he or she may not be prepared to answer.

  • Because IELTS has specific formats it wants followed. It's not enough merely to write or speak well, for the IELTS Writing and Speaking tasks, it is critical that candidates answer in the ways IELTS expects them to. That means following often detailed formats that can be learned only in IELTS Preparation courses. In particular, there are rules about the Speaking task - and particular its middle section, during which candidates speak on their own - that are not explained to candidates in advance.

  • Because IELTS penalizes candidates as much as whole band point for not answering questions as asked. For example, if the Writing Task 2 question asks a candidate his or her opinion on a topic and the candidate writes about the various opinions pro and con with respect to that topic, there will be a penalty of an entire band point no matter how well the candidate writes.
  • There is no substitute for good, solid English skills. They are what IELTS measures. But without an in-depth introduction to the many things that are either specific to the IELTS test or the particular ways IELTS expects common tasks to be performed, it is unlikely that a candidate will earn the highest possible score.

    Svend Nelson is a university lecturer and internet entrepreneur. He is director of UniRoute Limited, a Hong Kong based company with offices in Bangkok and London providing IELTS Online Preparation and other web-based courses for university preparation. Svend lived and worked in various countries across Latin America, Europe and Asia before settling with his wife in Thailand.


    MORE RESOURCES:

    Euro-Zone Figures Demand Evocative Language
    Wall Street Journal (blog)
    By Ilona Billington These are just three of the adjectives used uncharacteristically by a range of economists Thursday to describe the flash euro-zone purchasing managers indexes for May and increasing evidence of economy almost certainly in the midst ...

    and more »


    Lancashire Evening Post

    Teaching primary school children two languages will only work if low teacher ...
    Scottish Daily Record
    THE GOVERNMENT must address low teacher number is they want children to learn two foreign languages at primary school, Labour has warned. The Scottish Government wants children to start learning a foreign language in primary one instead of the current ...
    1+2 plan 'needs funds and staff'The Press Association
    Haggis, neeps et pommes de terreThe Economist (blog)
    New S4M-03004.1 - Why Languages Matter, Improving Young People's OpportunitiesDeHavilland (press release) (subscription)

    all 120 news articles »


    Foreign Languages Kill Your Video Game Bullsh*t Detectors
    Kotaku
    It's for this very reason that folks trying to pull off a phony rumor use foreign languages to help mask their ruse. There's an element of, oh, it's in a foreign language, and so it must be real. Moreover, since it's in another language, this makes it ...

    and more »


    Houston Chronicle announces executive hires in Spanish-language publishing and ...
    MarketWatch (press release)
    HOUSTON, May 24, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Houston Chronicle today announced new leadership in the areas of Spanish-language publishing, marketing and communications. Joining the Chronicle is Alejandro "Alex" Sanchez, who will serve as ...

    and more »


    NorthJersey.com

    World Language winners
    NorthJersey.com
    Congratulations to the World Language students from Lyndhurst High School who attained national recognition for an excellent performance on the 2012 National Spanish Examinations. The National Spanish Examination tests students' knowledge of the ...
    What's Right With Our Schools: Discover SpanishWBIR-TV

    all 2 news articles »


    National Post

    Language skills the target of Canadian citizenship reform
    National Post
    If they don't have a diploma from an English or French school, they will have to either pass a language test or take government-approved language classes. Proving your language skills comes at a high cost for the applicant. One of the only standardized ...



    Daily Mail

    PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: The body language says it all as Kim Kardashian and Kanye ...
    Daily Mail
    By Amelia Proud and Kimberley Dadds And if these latest pictures are anything to go by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are head over heels for each other. The super couple have spent the last few days in France at the Cannes Film Festival.

    and more »


    Health: Language barriers hamper both patients and providers
    SouthCoastToday.com
    Family members, including children, often step in, or the task falls to medical staff who speak the required language with varying degrees of fluency. According to a study published in March, such ad hoc interpreters make nearly twice as many ...

    and more »


    Otago Daily Times

    English language rules the world
    Winnipeg Free Press
    The second president of the United States, John Adams, predicted in 1780 that "English will be the most respectable language in the world and the most universally read and spoken in the next century, if not before the end of this one.
    Chinese, an OpportunityHarvard Crimson

    all 13 news articles »


    TheBlaze.com

    Students At Harlem Elementary School Learn Arabic
    NY1
    Next year, all of the school's students in second through fifth grades will start learning the language. NY1's Lindsey Christ filed this report. Instead of recess, several second-graders at PS 368 in Harlem chose to study a new language.
    Hamilton Heights Kids Learn Arabic in First-of its-Kind ProgramDNAinfo
    NYC Public School Mandates Arabic Language Studies for All 2nd Through 5th GradersTheBlaze.com
    NYC gets first elementary school Arabic classesWall Street Journal
    New York Daily News -The Australian
    all 26 news articles »

    Google News

    Acne - Advertising - Aerobics & Cardio - Affiliate Revenue - Alternative - Attraction - Auction - Audio Streaming - Aviation - Babies & Toddlers - Beauty - Blogging & RSS - Book Marketing - Book Reviews - Branding - Breast Cancer - Broadband Internet - Muscle Building - Careers & Employment - Coaching - Coffee - College & University - Cooking Tips - Copywriting - Crafts & Hobbies - Creativity - Credit - Cruising & Sailing - Currency Trading - Customer Service - Data Recovery - Dating - Debt Consolidation - Debt Relief - Depression - Diabetes - Divorce - Domain Names - E-books - Ecommerce - Elder Care - Email Marketing - Entrepreneurialism - Ethics - Exercise - Ezine Marketing - Ezine Publishing - Fashion & Style - Fishing - Fitness Equipment - Forums - Games - Goal Setting - Golf - Grief Loss - Hair Loss - Happiness - Hardware - Holidays - Home Improvement - Home Security - Humanities - Humor - Innovation - Inspirational - Insurance - Interior Decorating - Internet Marketing - Investing - Landscaping & Gardening - Language - Leadership - Leases & Leasing - Loans - Lung, Mesothelioma & Asbestos - Management - Marketing - Marriage & Wedding - Meditation - Mobile & Cell Phone - Mortgage & Refinancing - Motivation - Motorcycles - Music - Negotiation - Network Marketing - Networking - Nutrition - Organizing - Outdoors - Parenting - Personal Finance - Personal Tech - Pets - Philosophy - Photography - Poetry - Politics - Positive Attitude - PPC Advertising - Press Release - Pregnancy - Presentation - Psychology - Public Speaking - Real Estate - Recipes - Relationships - Sales - Sales Management - Sales & Teleselling - Sales Training - Satellite TV - Science - Security - SEO - Site Promotion - Small Business - Software - Spam Blocker - Spirituality - Stocks & Mutual Funds - Strategic Planning - Stress Management - Structured Settlements - Success - Supplements - Taxes - Team Building - Time Management - Top7-Or-10-Tips - Traffic Building - Vacation Rentals - Video Conferencing - Video Streaming - VOIP - Wealth Building - Web Design - Web Development - Web Hosting - Weight Loss - Wine & Spirits - Writing - Writing Articles - Yoga

    Top
    Main Home Email Category Home