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IELTS India Test Format and Preparation | How to improve English? - YouTube
Channel: The Urban Fight
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If you want to study abroad or
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if you want to work at places like UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia
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then this video is for you.
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IELTS, also pronounced as I'E'LTS is a test that
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most of us fear. Why?
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Because it is an English and Communication test.
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Two things that our education system forgot to focus on.
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But don't worry, there is still a chance that you'll do well
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as long as you know, how to prepare for the test.
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So it doesn't matter if you are a student or a working professional,
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today by the end of this video, you'll know exactly what you need to do.
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So in today's video we are going to see
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What is IELTS and why do you need to give it?
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What is the format of the test?
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How to prepare for it?
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But most importantly, towards the end, I'll give you a Bonus Tip
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that'll help you get over the nervousness while appearing for IELTS.
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But before that, if you are serious about learning English
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then hit that 'Like' button because that tells me
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that I should make more videos about English and Communication.
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Let's begin.
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The International English Language Testing System or IELTS
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is an exam you give if you want to study or work at a place
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where English is the language of communication.
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This test is accepted by over 9000 organisations worldwide
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including universities, employers, immigration authorities.
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The main purpose of this test is to find out whether you can survive
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in an environment where English is the primary language.
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This test has 2 main modules.
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IELTS Academics is for people who want to enrol in a university.
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And IELTS General Training module is for people who want to work abroad
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or for immigration purposes.
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Remember, there is no pass or fail in IELTS.
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You'll get a score from 1 to 9.
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1 being the lowest and 9 meaning that you are an expert user of the English language.
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See, IELTS wants to test whether you can
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read, write, understand and speak in English
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which is why the test also has these 4 modules.
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Listening, Reading and Writing are completed in one sitting.
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But the speaking test can be done on the same day
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or a few days before or after the other tests.
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Now, both the Academic and General Training modules are almost the same.
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The only difference is in their 'Reading' and 'Writing' rounds.
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For GT module, the text that you will read and write will be related to
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daily life topics.
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But for academic module, the text will be analytical in nature.
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I'll tell you the difference between both with examples
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in just a few minutes. But for now, let's understand
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what these 4 sections contain.
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#1: The listening round.
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It lasts for 40 minutes and has 4 sections.
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In these sections, you will hear an everyday conversation
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like 2 colleagues talking in an office,
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one person speaking,
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an educational situation where may be a student is talking to a professor
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and a talk or a lecture on a general topic.
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Now that you know the format, here are a
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few important points to keep in mind before you attempt it.
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#1: Synonyms are important.
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For ex: Suppose the question is, 'How does John travel to work?'
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And the voice you hear says...'John walks to work.'
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Then, one of the multiple-choice answers could be, 'on Foot'.
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Did you see that?
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What you hear and what the answer is
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might not be same word-to-word.
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So, be alert.
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#2: Always look out for distractors.
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For ex: Suppose the voice says,
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'It's Tue, 4th of July, 3:15 PM. Oh no, I'm sorry. It's actually Tue, 4th of July , 3:50 PM'
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I am sorry for the bad accent imitation but the point is,
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sometimes, the correct answer comes later.
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So listen carefully and be alert for distractors.
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and #3: Remember, not all question types will be same.
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They might be in the form of multiple-choice questions,
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fill in the blanks, match the following,
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they might ask you to write no more than 2 words/3 words
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and if you get these basic instructions wrong,
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then your answer will be wrong.
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So please, read the instructions carefully before you answer.
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For example, suppose the question is, 'What is John's gaming level?'
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and the multiple-choices are... Beginner, Average, Good, League.
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And the voice you hear is a conversation that goes like this.
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How do you rate your game? Beginner, League?
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Oh no, not League standard. Just middling really. Not bad. Not good.
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So, the answer is 'average' but he said, 'middling'.
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Thats why, you read the questions first and be
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prepared just incase you encounter synonyms as well.
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The next round is reading.
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Reading lasts for 60 minutes and has 3 sections.
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If you remember, we discussed that the reading
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text will be different for Academic and for GT module.
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For Academic module, the text will come from
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book, magazines, newspapers and may include
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diagrams, graphs, illustrations.
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You don't have to be a specialist in something to understand these.
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The GT module also has 3 sections.
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Section 1 will include simple text from
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Public Notices, Timetables, Advertisements.
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Section 2 will be slightly more difficult and will include
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text from a workplace environment
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like job description, contracts, training material.
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Section 3 will include a passage from a book, magazine or a newspaper.
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Now, here are a few points to remember while
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attempting the reading section.
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Don't start by reading the whole text first.
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You won't have time for this.
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Just skim through the text and then go to the questions.
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And while you read the question, you will remember
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'Oh, this para has that answer!'
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Now, go back to that para and read it carefully
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while you answer that question.
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And needless to say, each question type will be different.
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Multiple-choice questions, Yes/No/Not Given, Sentence Completion,
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match a heading to a paragraph.
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So please, read the instructions carefully before answering the question.
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Now, let's see an example.
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Suppose, the first 2 paras of the text look something like this.
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You first start by skimming through the text and then move on to the questions.
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The first question is, 'Which game company was established in 1858?'
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You know that the answer lies in the first para.
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Now, you go back to the text and you notice the answer in the last line.
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Now read it carefully and while answering
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double check the spelling of your answers.
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Next comes, writing.
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The writing test lasts for 60 minutes and has 2 tasks.
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For academic module, you will be given a
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graph, diagram, chart or a table and you'll
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have to describe it in your own words.
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For General Training module, you will have to write a letter in response
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to a everyday situation or a problem.
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Task 2 will be the same for both the modules
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where you'll be given a situation, an argument or a point of view
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and you'll need to write a short essay in response to it.
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For the writing round, here are a few important points to remember.
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In Task 1, you will need to write atleast 150 words
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and in Task 2, you will have to write atleast 250 words.
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Task 2 is worth twice as many marks as Task 1.
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So ideally, out of the 60 minutes, you can spend
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20 minutes on Task 1 and 40 minutes on Task 2.
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So always, keep track of the time and leave
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enough time in the end to review what you have written.
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#2: Write in paragraphs.
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Each para must start with a topic sentence
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and the rest of the paragraph must support that topic.
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Why?
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Because when examiners look at your writing
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they are looking for, how well you organise your thoughts,
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your vocabulary, your use of grammar.
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So when you use paragraphs, it gets easier for them to assess all of these.
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Especially in Task 2, have an introduction, a body and a conclusion
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and in the conclusion, make sure that you include your point of view.
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An example of Task 2 is this.
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Now you can organise the answer to this question in 4 paragraphs.
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The first para will obviously be introduction.
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The second para can be about the disadvantages of international tourism.
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The third para can be about it's advantages.
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And finally, in the conclusion make sure that along with the summary
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you also include your point of view, whether you are for it or against it.
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And the last section is speaking.
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The speaking test lasts for 11-14 minutes and
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is conducted in the form of a one-on-one interview with an examiner.
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It has 3 parts.
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Part 1 is general introduction where you'll talk about
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yourself, your work, your family and other familiar topics.
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In Part 2, you will be given a topic card and one minute to prepare on that topic.
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At the end of that one minute, you are supposed to talk
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continuously for 1-2 minutes on that topic
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without being interrupted by the examiner.
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In Part 3, the examiner will have a conversation with you where
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they'll ask you questions related to the topic in Part 2.
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Now, here are a few important points to remember.
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Don't memorise your answers, especially the introduction.
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The examiner will spot this and will give you less to zero marks
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for answers that look prepared.
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#2: Give a little bit more detail.
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Suppose the examiner asks you about your hobbies.
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Don't just say, 'I like badminton.'
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Give a little bit more detail....
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Why do you like badminton?
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Whom do you play with?
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How does it make you feel?
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They want to assess how well you communicate.
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So, talk as much as you can.
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I know that the speaking section sounds scary
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but the more you talk to native english speakers,
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the better you get at it.
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And one of the ways to talk to experts, who will help you
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with your spoken english is through the Cambly app.
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This video is bought to you by them.
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I'll show you how this app works later.
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But for now, let's see, what a Part 2 topic looks like.
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On your card, the topic can be, 'Describe a well-known person you like or admire.'
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So you talk about... who this person is, why is this person well-known
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and explain why you admire this person.
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The one minute preparation time you get is crucial.
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So, note down bullet points related to that topic.
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These bullet points will give a nice structure to your talk
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and will also act as a guide incase you go blank while speaking.
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So as of today, this is the format of the test.
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But it's always better to check the official website of wherever you are booking
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whether British Council or IDP to know the current format while preparing.
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Now, before I tell you how to prepare for IELTS
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comment below and tell me, which section
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do you find the most difficult?
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Is it reading, writing or speaking?
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Because, this will help me decide, on what topics
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should I make my future videos on.
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So, these are the things you can do to improve your chances of getting a good score
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months or weeks before your exam.
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#1: Read as widely as possible, be it newspapers, books or blogs.
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#2: Practise writing essays and after you have written them
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assess them like an examiner.
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Check your vocabulary, your paragraph formation
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so that you can understand your strengths
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and work on your weaknesses.
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To improve your listening skills
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chose a lecture, a talk or watch English YT videos...
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....like The Urban Fight. :D
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What can also improve your speaking and listening skills
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is having a conversation with native english speakers
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so that you can also learn to understand their accent.
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And as discussed earlier, Cambly can help you do that.
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You can have 1-on-1 speaking practise sessions
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with tutors from UK, US, Canada.
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Infact, you can even specifically search for 'IELTS preparation' and start talking to the tutors
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just like this.
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Hello.
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Hi Margie. How are you doing?
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I am well and you?
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Did I pronounce your name correctly?
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Yes, yes you did.
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How can talking to an IELTS tutor like you
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help someone get better at speaking or even listening?
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You must remember, when you are speaking to
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a teacher or a tutor or anybody on the other side,
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especially if they are native english speakers,
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their pronunciation is probably different to those who have a dialect.
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The more you spend time with them, they will also help you.
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When you read or you pronounce something and your grammar,
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if your terminology is incorrect, they will always help you.
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Ofcourse it will help you.
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The more you speak, the better you become.
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So, when they say, yes, I have to do a test in a week or 2 weeks time
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what we do is, we pull it (the examples) up
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and then we say...okay, so these are the questions
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or we prepare them in how they are going to answer the question.
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Thank you so much Margie, this has been great.
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Have a great day and I hope I get to talk to you again.
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Oh yes, super. Thank you very much, Taskeen.
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Bye.
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And it's that simple.
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If you want to try out Cambly then I have got a special discount for you.
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Go to the subscribe page and type the code, 'uf40'
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and you will receive, a 40% discount on a
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2 month IELTS special plan.
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So download Cambly and check it out for yourself.
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Now before I give you the Bonus Tip,
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here is a gentle reminder to Subscribe to my Youtube channel
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and hit that 'bell' icon so that you receive a notification
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every time I make a Career, Finance or an English related video.
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Think about it...
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Every time we are nervous, we mess up more than we would've otherwise.
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Yes or no?
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And IELTS is one test, where if you are nervous
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everything will go wrong.
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While listening, you will miss that answer.
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While writing, you will write the wrong spelling.
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While speaking, you will go blank.
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And while reading, you will miss the basic instructions.
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And silly mistakes like these, cost marks.
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So today's Bonus Tip is this...
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Relax!
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Prepare the best you can,
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get a goodnight sleep and before the exam...
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take a deep breath!
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Don't keep thinking...I have to use this word, grammar, vocabulary.
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If you are relaxed, all of it will come to you naturally.
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It's just like holding sand.
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As they say, the tighter you hold,
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the more you'll lose it.
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So please, before the exam, chill...
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and watch this video once again. ;)
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On that note, I promise to see you again in the
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next video, until then
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Keep fighting, the Urban Fight to be Fit!
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