Intro to IELTS

IELTS Format

Mindmap

  • https://idrive.neolingo.net/mirror/mindmaps/ielts-format.html

IELTS Format

  • Total time: ~3 hours
    • Listening: ~35 minutes (including 5 minutes for transferring answers)
    • Reading: 60 minutes
    • Writing: 60 minutes
    • Speaking: 11-14 minutes

Listening

  • 4 parts, 40 questions
    • 10 questions per part
    • Increasingly advanced vocabulary (Part 4 > Part 3 > Part 2 > Part 1)
    • Part 1 & Part 4: Gap fill (1 word AND/OR a number)

Listening

  • Content
    • Part 1 & Part 3: Conversation
      • 2 or more speakers (mostly 2)
      • Part 1: Daily life conversation
      • Part 3: Academic conversation
    • Part 2 & Part 4: Monologue
      • 1 speaker
      • Part 2: Daily life monologue
      • Part 4: Academic monologue (mostly lectures)

Reading

  • 3 Reading Passages, 40 questions
    • Passage 1 and 2: 13 questions each
    • Passage 3: 14 questions

Reading

  • Content
    • Taken from real publications (books, newspapers, journals, etc.)
    • General knowledge of History, Geography, Literature, basic Science

Reading

  • Difficulty
    • Increasing difficulty (Passage 3 > Passage 2 > Passage 1)
    • No specialist knowledge required
    • Grade 11-12 level reading
  • Length
    • 1000 words or less

Writing

  • Style: Academic, formal
    • No contractions
    • Avoid first-person
    • Avoid informal idioms
    • Precise, sufficient, appropriate vocabulary
    • Paragraphing

Writing

  • Part 1: charts, graphs, tables, maps, processes
    • 3 points total
    • 150 words or more
    • Should spend ~20 minutes
    • Skills tested
      • Summarization
      • Description
      • Analysis
      • Reasoning & Explanation

Writing

  • Part 2: Social Studies, Economics, Technology, Environment, etc.
    • 6 points total
    • 250 words or more
    • Should speand ~40 minutes
    • Skills tested
      • Reasoning & Explanation
      • Critical thinking
      • Vocabulary
      • Grammar

Speaking

  • Same test for General & Academic
  • Informal, non-academic
  • Focus: natural language, conversation
  • Recorded

Speaking

  • Part 1
    • Time: 4-5 minutes
    • Check name & ID
    • Introduction
      • Warm-up, 2-3 questions
    • Topic 1 and 2
      • 3-4 questions per topic

Speaking

  • Part 2
    • Time: 3-4 minutes
      • 1 minute preparation, 2 minutes speaking
      • There will be a small question to indicate the end of Part 2
    • Topic will be given
      • Topic question & 3 hints
      • Using hints is optional

Listening

  • Part 3
    • Time: 4-5 minutes
    • Questions related to Part 2 topic
    • 4-5 questions

Reading Question Types

Mindmap

https://idrive.neolingo.net/mirror/mindmaps/reading-question-types.html

Basics

  • 2 types: Detail questions and Idea questions
  • Detail
    • Finding specific information
    • Scanning
    • Answers near key words
    • Simple synonyms/paraphrasing
  • Idea
    • Intensive reading
    • Understanding ideas, opinions, attitudes
    • Complex synonyms/paraphrasing

Detail question types

  • Gap fill
    • Diagram
    • Summary, note
    • Table, flow-chart
  • True False Not Given
  • Matching Information
  • Sentence Completion
  • Short Answer

Idea question types

  • Summary completion
  • Yes No Not Given
  • Matching Features
  • Matching Sentence Endings
  • Multiple Choice
  • Heading

Listening Question Types

Mindmap

https://idrive.neolingo.net/mirror/mindmaps/listening-question-types.html

  • Gap fill
    • 1 word AND/OR a number
    • Mainly Part 1 & 4
    • Focus on grammar and meaning
    • Prediction helps
  • Multiple Choice
    • 3 choices, choose 1
    • 5 choices, choose 2
    • 6 choices, choose 3 (rare)
  • Most answers will be mentioned (as traps)
  • Tracking helps
  • Matching
    • Match choices (features, characteristics, ...) with answers (people, places, ...)
    • Write answers next to choices to be quicker
  • Plan/Map/Diagram/Flowchart
    • Label a plan, map, diagram, or flowchart
    • Maps most common
  • Short Answer
    • Answer a question using predefined amount of words/numbers