For many students and parents who are new to IELTS in China, IELTS is a relatively unfamiliar test. The type of questions, the content of the test, and the direction of the test are not very clear. If you don't understand and plan in advance to prepare for the exam, it will lead to many unnecessary detours when applying for study abroad or domestic study/employment in the future. Therefore, the following editor has prepared this IELTS beginner introduction guide for you, leading you to learn IELTS from 0️⃣ and avoid detours!
What is IELTS?
IELTS, the full name of the International English Language Testing System (International English Language Testing System), is the world's first English test to measure English ability from the four aspects of "listening, speaking, reading and writing", jointly administered by the British Council, Cambridge University Examinations Board and the Australian Agency for International Development of Education (IDP).
IELTS is recognized by more than 11,000 educational institutions, employers, professional associations and government departments in more than 140 countries and regions, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe, Southeast Asia and other popular emerging study destinations for higher education and immigration.
IELTS question type
IELTS is divided into Academic (Type A) and General Training (Type G), Type A is the academic IELTS we are more familiar with, and the IELTS score required for undergraduate and graduate students is Type A IELTS; Type G is the training type IELTS, which is generally used for foreign secondary school course applications, job applications, planning immigration, etc. Most candidates are prepared for Category A, and the following is mainly about the test content and preparation plan for Category A IELTS.
Since 2020, IELTS has made major adjustments to the listening test, eliminating the example part of the sample questions, and the instruction is completed and the test goes directly to Part 1.
IELTS Listening is divided into 4 sections, 40 questions, and a total test duration of 40 minutes. 30 minutes of it is used to listen to the recording + time to do the questions, and the last 10 minutes are used to fill in the answer sheet. During the official exam, students should not rush to fill in the answer sheet, and it is the best policy to calm down and do a good job.
Listening questions include multiple-choice (single-choice, multiple-choice), fill-in-the-blank questions, form completion questions, matching questions, and map and chart questions. You can practice more on your weaknesses.
In addition, although most of the standard British pronunciation of the IELTS listening test will appear, there will occasionally be standard pronunciation with American and Australian accents.
The purpose of the IELTS Listening test is to test students' listening skills in academic, working, living and other environments. For example, in an academic environment, students need to discuss with their classmates in small groups and have academic exchanges with their tutors in class. The IELTS Listening section is designed according to these scenarios.
The following are the 4 parts of the listening test and the content of the test:
There are three articles in IELTS reading, each of which is about 800-1200 words, 40 questions, and a total duration of 60 minutes.
In a limited amount of time, reading word by word may affect the efficiency of answering questions. Therefore, the main purpose of the reading test is to test students' reading skills, how to quickly and effectively digest a large number of academic materials, and obtain information. When reading, you need to master skimming and scanning methods.
In terms of IELTS reading question types, they are mainly divided into these 7 categories
1️⃣ Fill-in-the-blank questions
2️⃣ Multiple choice questions (usually in order)
3️⃣判断题(True,False,Not given)
4️⃣信息题(Which paragraph contains the following information?) 碰到信息题，要对自己的时间有点不一样的安排和调整。
5️⃣配对题(Matcheachstatement with the correctperson/date etc.)
6️⃣段落大意题(Choosethecorrect headingforeach paragraph)
7️⃣ Flowchart, diagram questions
There are different reading styles and answering techniques for different question types, but skills are ultimately an aid to reading, and remember that there are more complex challenges waiting for you in the real exam, and you need to deal with them one by one according to the situation.
In addition, you must carefully analyze the wrong questions, guess the correct questions, find out the reasons for the mistakes, and improve your reading ability after the confusion is solved.
In addition to answering questions and memorizing words, an indispensable part of improving reading scores is to read a lot of English materials, whether it is newspapers, magazines, short articles, novels, the more you read, the higher your reading ability.
IELTS Speaking, which is mainly topic-based, is divided into 3 parts.
The duration of the exam generally ranges from 10 minutes to 14 minutes. The speaking part mainly examines whether the test taker can have basic daily conversations, express his or her own opinions, and discuss academic issues.
IELTS Writing consists of two tasks. Task 1 Essay (150 words) and Task 2 Essay (250 words) are 60 minutes in total.
In addition to writing skills, writing also measures time management and planning skills. In addition to completing the writing content during the entire 60 minutes, it is also recommended to include brainstorming (mind mapping) and checking spelling and grammar.
According to the official requirements, 150-200 words need to be written in 20 minutes, and the score accounts for one-third of the total writing score. This section mainly describes the information content on the chart, and does not need to express your own opinions. The main test is the candidate's ability to describe and analyze data.
The question types of Task 1 essays are broadly divided into the following categories
1️⃣线形图Linegraph
2️⃣柱状图Barchart
3️⃣饼状图Piechart
4️⃣表格Table
5️⃣流程图 Diagram
6️⃣ Map
7️⃣混合图，其他Mixedchart
At first glance, the small essay looks very academic, and it is necessary to make an objective description of the known information in English, but in fact, for different question types, there are certain routines and mysteries in it, such as vocabulary and sentence logic can be accumulated through exam preparation.
A large essay generally requires a minimum of 250 words in 40 minutes, and the score accounts for two-thirds of the writing score. Here are a few common types of questions for large essays
1️⃣双边讨论 Discussboth sidesandgiveyourownopinion
2️⃣单边论述 Towhatextent doyouagreeordisagree
3️⃣利弊分析 Advantagesand disadvantages
4️⃣分析+建议 solutions
The essay examines the candidate's ability to discuss and argue in an appropriate tone and register. However, it should be noted that if the difference between the scores of the two essays is greater than 1 point, after weighting, 0.5 points will be automatically deducted from the total score.
When preparing for the big essay exam, it is not only necessary to accumulate relevant vocabulary and sentence patterns, supplement grammar knowledge, reading materials, etc., but also need to update and improve the candidates' logical thinking, especially critical thinking ability, which is the weakness of Chinese candidates, but can be improved through systematic thinking training.
Preparation time
How long does it take to prepare for IELTS? Students who slaughter ducks for the first time will have such questions, and today we will solve this problem for you.
Normally, from class to practice and weak point assault, the more concentrated basic preparation time is generally three months.
However, some students with a poor foundation, such as those who have not passed Level 4, need to reserve more time to prepare. The detailed time is determined according to the student's current English level.
Therefore, before officially entering IELTS study, English proficiency assessment is an important part that cannot be ignored.