30 March, 2005
What a week that was and will be...
The dust has settled after another long, bruising week battling the demon IELTS! By now you all know what you have let yourselves in for and what your respective strengths and weaknesses are. While not underestimating the enormity of the task ahead, I would urge you all to be positive and steadfast in your resolve to tackle IELTS head-on and give it your best shot.
There was no specific 'homework' as such this weekend. In your shoes I would be re-reading those notes I gave you, absorbing some of the tips and model answers from the course and test practice book, while listening to and reading as much authentic native speaker English as possible.
The Reading module alarms me - you ask me "What's the best way to deal with answering 40 questions of varied complexity on 3 sections in 60 minutes?" Besides "pray" what can you do?
- Do timed practice readings on IELTS type material.
- Get used to speed reading effectively under pressure.
- Study those questions extremely carefully - are you completely sure that you know what you are looking for in the text?
- Try to see how the question setter has re-worked the original text to see if have understood its meaning.
- Practice skimming through the passage to familiarise yourself with its content and argument, so that you can intensively read the key part of the text that will enable you to answer these tantalising questions.
- General Training readers for Sections 1 and 2: you have to deal with practical reading tasks that you will face in an English-speaking country - get those highlight pens working and be flexible in analysing the questions in detail after a quick glance through the given text(s). Make up time on these two sections 18 + 18 minutes to give yourselves enough time for the academic text in section 3.
- Transfer your answers to the answer paper carefully as you work through each section - don't throw away marks by answering True or False when it wants Yes or No. If you transfer hurriedly and answer the questions correctly but in the wrong order then who is to blame for a disastrous reading test?
- Concentrate, focus, marshal your vocabulary resources.
- DON'T PANIC - be logical and measured.
Ultimately, it is how you react and perform under intense pressure on one day in your life. Tomorrow is another day. Ask yourself -"was I really ready for IELTS?" "Had I studied consistently before the exam and invested time and effort in improving my core skills in English by reading a wide range of material: online web-based material, magazines, newspapers, novels?" IELTS practice reading tests are fine, but if you do not have that depth of vocabulary and sensitivity for the nuances of meaning, then you will struggle to perform to the level you need to score well in this very demanding part of the IELTS exam.
So, I wish you good night and courage for the ordeal(s) ahead - maybe some 'divine intervention' isn't such a bad thing after all!
I aim to plan, write and post a Task 2 essay from the "69 Arguments" sheet in a 20-25 minute spell at some stage over the weekend. I'll write it by hand within this 20-25 minute time frame and post you as to exactly how long the process took me.
OK campers, that's all from me for the time being.
Might see you on Thursday morning and then again I might not. The blog is yours 24/7 - so take that apple off the tree and eat it - it won't jump into your hand!
Good luck! Don't lose heart!
GOOD NIGHT
Tony
