How should I practice the 4 skills in the final days before the exam? Tips to practice for the intensive IELTS exam preparation

Preparing for the IELTS exam requires focus, strategy, and the right resources. Intensive IELTS exam preparation equips you with essential skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening to achieve your target score. With a structured study plan, practice tests, and expert guidance, you can build confidence, tackle challenging questions, and excel in each section of the exam. Start your intensive preparation journey today to reach your IELTS goals!

I. IELTS exam preparation intensively - Listening + Reading skills

Regarding these two passive skills, practicing with test papers is the most important thing to do when exam day is approaching. However, it is essential to avoid excessive practice and lack of control. During this IELTS exam preparation intensively phase, three factors need to be ensured:

1. Authentic test papers

During the IELTS exam preparation intensive process, choose test papers from Cambridge or real exams that teachers have thoroughly reviewed. Note that you should limit practicing with widely available predicted papers on the internet, as they often contain many errors in both the questions and answers.

Choose test papers from Cambridge or real exams that have been thoroughly reviewed by teachers.

2. Time management

Accurate timing (in the Reading skill) is extremely important because it will help you avoid spending too much time on a difficult question, thus running out of time for easier questions. In the intensive IELTS exam preparation phase, time factor is the most crucial. Unlike regular studying, we may not need to pay attention to the time factor. When answering questions, as long as we learn new knowledge, the longer we contemplate, the better. However, in the practice phase, good time management will make you more confident and prevent panic during the actual exam.

3. Reviewing mistakes

Reviewing mistakes is a vital step in the intensive IELTS exam preparation process, but students often overlook it. This is because students often focus on counting the number of correct and incorrect answers without examining why they made mistakes.

• For example, in the Reading section, you should be able to identify whether a mistake is due to misunderstanding the passage or question (due to lack of vocabulary) or due to a lack of test-taking skills (understanding both the question and passage but not knowing where to find the information). From there, you can focus on improving your test-taking skills or vocabulary.

• You should do the same with the Listening skill. Note that at this stage, as the exam day is approaching, it is crucial to consolidate and categorize your mistakes in the practice papers. This helps you identify your weakest areas and what causes you to lose points. Then, you can practice more or seek guidance from teachers on how to improve those areas during the intensive IELTS exam preparation period.

With different score targets, candidates should compare them with the IELTS band score to convert them into the number of correct answers needed in each test. Note that the scores for the Reading and Listening skills should be at least 0.5 band higher than the Overall band score. For example, if you need an Overall score of 6.5, your Reading and Listening skills should achieve at least 7.0, which is equivalent to getting at least 30 correct answers for each skill. This is to ensure that the scores for these two skills can compensate for the scores of the more challenging Speaking and Writing skills.

II. How to practice Speaking effectively?

During the IELTS exam preparation intensive process, avoid relying on memorized answers and prepared model speeches based on predicted topics. This is because you are likely to get overwhelmed and lose your authenticity. Additionally, examiners can easily detect memorized responses, which can result in a deduction of points. Instead, you should:

• Part 1: Practice speaking fluently about the four most common topic groups: Work & Study, Family & Friends, Hometown & Accommodation, and Hobbies.

• Part 2: Practice speaking about general topics that allow you to generate ideas or adapt your speech to specific subtopics.

• Part 3: Practice answering various types of main questions (taught extensively in the Speaking 6-7 course) using effective response structures for each type.

Furthermore, throughout the rapid IELTS Speaking skill practice, it is recommended to record your speaking sessions. Afterward, listen to your recordings and take note of any mistakes you need to pay attention to and work on. Keep practicing until you become fluent. Always remember, "Practice makes perfect," Preppies!

III. Daily Writing practice to achieve high scores

• During the IELTS exam preparation intensive process, practice writing one Task 1 and one Task 2 essay every day, covering different essay types. This will help you become familiar with the writing structures required for each essay type. Pay attention to the time allocation of 20 minutes for Task 1 and 40 minutes for Task 2 to get accustomed to writing speed and idea development.

• For Writing Task 2, expand your vocabulary and brainstorm ideas based on major topic groups commonly asked about and broadly applicable to Writing Task 2, such as Education, Food, Sport, Society, Technology, etc. This will provide you with a pool of ideas, saving you time in thinking during the actual exam.

• During the rapid IELTS Writing skill practice phase, review all the essays that have been assessed and corrected during your preparation. This will help you identify and rectify your mistakes without referring to the original essays. The specific purpose of this exercise is to revise your ideas and vocabulary. Additionally, while reviewing your previous essays, you can assess whether you have improved on the mistakes pointed out in the previous assessments because "Writing is rewriting."

These are the effective strategies for IELTS exam preparation intensively. PREP wishes you success in your IELTS exam, and encourages you to remain calm and confident in order to achieve high scores. Preppies, strive to attain excellent scores and earn a place on PREP's honor roll!