IELTS Study Group

i am from Egypt, and i am about to take it
Are you living to Australia?

yup, i'm In melbourne. What module are you planning to take? Academic or General Training?

General actually, as it is required for my visa immigration with minimum score not less than 7

Hello,

I've already done the IELTS and are very disappointed of it. To me it seems to be a complete rip-off and another way of making money. Even native speakers are getting less points than they deserve if they don't prepare well and don't buy the prepariton stuff or take the courses. My results were all right but I needed 8 out of 9 points and got 7. I think they should change something about this test because it is giving an exact statement about the actual language ability.

Hello guys,
I took IELTS in 2010-Academic here in Philippines and I got 5.5 which is the passing score to be qualified in the university of Australia. I didn't pursue the study though although I made all the test as well as taking IELTS study preparation in an American Institute.
Every thing you do where you have to pay is business and you can't do against them even you completely disagree with them :-)
When I took the IELTS-there are takers whom I conversed with. They took academic for Canada and said it was their 2nd times already. They are so nervous to know the result, because if they fail, they have to start again and the worst scenario is another "payment!"
In Manila, they do it in 4 ways (speaking, listening, writing and reading) in English/british accent. I did so bad in writing-ggrrr :-) You don't have to buy all the materials though, because you can find a lot you need online. I practiced listening English accent so I wont get confuse. In writing skill, I admit that I'm so massed-up in it. My kind instructor kept telling me to write the way I speak and I look at her like this :-/ with a very confused face-haha. I enjoyed my study preparation though, because I had foreign classmates. There's a Japanese guy that is really desperate to learn and he always participate in a questions. Even our instructor laughed at him and he does laugh to himself. Perhaps he realize "what am I talking about?!" ...
The best you can do when taking a test is to prepare yourself even you are an English native speaker. You woudn't know what will happened during the test. If you are prepared, then you'll be confident and relax. Of course you couln't stop yourself in nervousness, it is normal, but how much more if you aren't prepared?
During the exam, you have what you need ( 2 pencil, answer sheet and ID) yes-that's what you need :-) You have to focus on what is going on, because time is limited. They don't allow you to open a dictionary-haha-I'm exaggerating now. And in listening part, if you miss a word that is supposed to be an answer, forget it and focus to the next, because you cannot request to the audio to repeat the sentence otherwise you'll miss the entire section of your test paper.
Lastly, there are alot of examples online that can guide you. You'll hear examples in speaking test of those who took IELTS and surely you'll be confident of yourself. But still, to be prepared is the key of confident.
Goodluck
HT

Hello there,
I'm happy to help, but I don't know whatelse to tell you..
Please state your questions..
Goodluck
HT

Hi everyone,

Just a quick question do we really need to take IELTS (and pass) before going for any further studies here in Australia?
I'm a former teacher in the Philippines and now would love to continue my teaching career here in Melbourne.
Thank you.

Cheers,
Mary Queen

P.s.
Can anyone tells me what are the steps?
thanks.

Hi i am planing to take IELTS.

me too planning to take ILETS.

Hi buddy,
Some friends who have already done the Ielts said that, Even native speakers are getting less points than they deserve.  Is that really true?
I am not native speaker.That's why i am really worry to do exam. I would be glad if some friends can share idea about ielts exam.

Hi Guys,

Happy to share what I know, IELTS is all about the exam, naturally it tests your ability in English, however because the exam is structured in a different style of what everyone knows, people get panic and performance takes a dip. If you are taking the exam, panic will make you score badly, the key is to remove the panic and turn your focus into something else.

I had to sit for General IELTS for my visa, my English is really good because I spent many years learning it, not in classrooms, but I was curious about the language since ever. I used to and still excited to learn new words, meanings, practical application of new terms, listen to music and watch movies the ones that have substance and tells you a story (not the heavy music or action movies), always kept writing in English, long letters and emails to new people, because if you write to yourself or friends only you will not be smart and careful, practiced lots of reading every week.
Now the EXAM: I went online 5 days before my exam, learnt few tricks on how to be smart in taking the exam (Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking), I remember I read 5 Articles online and practiced for 2 hours for 5 days. Had a good night sleep, woke up fresh, had a banana and an apple (not super heavy breakfast), a cup of tea and headed to the exam. On my way, I was listening to my favorite music, that morning I was just happy and focusing on beautiful things and ladies passing buy ------- I was singing my songs and kind of dancing till I started the exam. I saw  people nervous and anxious, biting nail in stress ... I went in, I was moving smoothly like water, did my part, moved out and was happy and smiling. Two weeks later the results came, I scored 7.5 in total and achieved 8, 8.5 in two bands

The moral of this story: Forget the exam, remember something and do things that will make you happy, take the test and see what is your language like? If it enough that's fine, if you need to improve your skills, do it and be curious about the language; else you need to improve your stress management skills. See the movie "Anger Management" and sing: I Fee Pretty ... Hahahaha

Happy to share more info on Academic vs General in Australia

Cheers mates
Zuhair

Hi,
I am planing to take IELTS.