IELTS | PET | OET | any English language test
Get your highest score IF you aim high and work hard.
1. SPEAKING - Practise conversation with an English speaker. It's hard at the moment while you can't travel but it's also easier to get in touch with English speakers online - try verbling.com or italki.com . If you can't do this - try the next one - it's also for LISTENING
2. SPEAKING and LISTENING - use a TED talk of under 6 minutes and follow the script - speaking with the presenter. This can make you very tired after 2 minutes, but do a little bit every day. Here is my video to show you how to do this.
3. LISTENING - use these websites to listen first, follow the speakers conversation and then read the script - it's very important that the first time you ONLY listen.
4. READING - go to high quality websites for reading test practice. Avoid the websites in your language!
5. LEARNING SKILLS - Have you got a weekly schedule? Any learning needs you to have time when you can think clearly without distraction. Make a weekly timetable like this one to help you stay focused on your goals. This one is an example for a student working 3 days a week, and in lectures at school/university 2 days a week.
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| | speaking | writing | | | |
working | working | writing | reading | uni | working | |
| | English lesson ... | listening | | | |
| | ...online | vocab/grammar | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | sport | free | | reading | catch up .. |
| | uni | free | | vocabulary | english study |
family dinner | do test practice | | free | do test practice | do test practice | |
| speaking | | | vocabulary | grammar | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
6. VOCABULARY - make flashcards and put these flashcards in groups according to the common topics in the test. For example, IELTS has a wide range of topics but these are common
health and disease prevention
technology and computing
climate change and the environment
art and design
education (online or f2f)
7. GRAMMAR - get to know YOUR unique problems. And practise those ones - focus on them, don't waste time on the other grammar points that you are ok or good at. If your problem is verb tenses - here is a good website. EnglishPage If your problem is making your sentences more like natural English and less like your own language try this website English sentences because you have to do some study.
8. Put your computer language settings onto English! This is so easy to do - you MUST do it to think in English and use English. Do this for your phone as well.
9. WRITING - use Cambridge's tool Write and Improve every day - put it into your schedule (see hint #5) and get immediate feedback on your writing.
10. Know your 'WHY'. Stay motivated. Why are you studying English? Why do you need to do PTE or OET or IELTS or CAE? What is your dream? How does this test help you reach your goal? Stay focused on your 'WHY' to keep you going through the bad times.
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