Many of my peers these days plan to pursue higher education abroad. The popular target countries include the U.K. and Australia. To be able to get in the universities in those countries, we--as the citizens of non-English speaking country--have to take a language requirement test. There are several kinds of tests, one of which is IELTS.
I decided to resign from my office job to take a two-week IELTS course at IALF Jakarta. My friends, who have taken the IELTS test as well as fellow graduates from English Studies program, told me that I do not need to take the course. It will be basically the same with what we have learned during our study. Also, because I work as a translator/interpreter, I would find it a piece of cake. I am, however, a natural worrywart, and I worried about my writing skills since I had not written any academic essays/paragraphs for so long after college. Thus, I made up my mind and signed up for it.
Originally, I thought I took the course simply for the extra writing practice. It surprisingly turned out to be so much more than that. I actually felt happy and satisfied by the time the course was finished. Of course, it would be a waste if I just store away my notes and leave it just like that without making much use of it. Thus, for my sake and the sake of anyone who probably read this, I would like to share some of the tips I got from my teachers at IALF. Before we start, I hope you enjoy reading this as well as I enjoyed writing it!
Reading
I have read lots of novels and popular articles, but they are totally different from academic texts! Of course, the vocabulary sets are different; moreover, the texts in IELTS test are the ones with questions. Having to answer the questions to test our comprehension of the text is something I find especially difficult because most of the times I just read carelessly through my chosen reading list. I never had to worry about the main idea of a paragraph, not to mention the paraphrases. Unfortunately, I have to be aware of those things in facing the reading test.
For this, one of my teachers actually gave me some helpful tips: (1) you have to use your scanning skill and read the text quickly. It really helps you to grasp the general idea of the text. At least, you can familiarize yourself with some of the words you might find on the questions. (2) You have to highlight the details, but what are the details? The details of a text include names, dates, places, and numbers. Highlighting them serves as something like the search tool on your e-Book. Your brain remembers that you have highlighted it, and looking for those details shall be a lot easier than ever. Lastly, (3) you have to look at the questions. These tips are not written in order, so you can do whichever first. My lecturer once told me to read the questions first to understand what you have to look for. However, reading the questions after you have done the previous two steps is also okay. The important thing is to do it in the most comfortable and efficient for you.
There are not many tips for reading, but these tips are more or less sufficient for reading and understanding academic texts (not limited to an IELTS test!). It goes without saying that reading practice is a must, and if there is one thing I realize after taking the course, it is that we have to have a wide range of vocabulary. As my teacher said, improving our vocabulary is not something we can do within a fortnight. Therefore, if you really want to improve yourself, I suggest you start by reading lots and lots of things--from reading articles and novels. You can also sign up for a newsletter from websites like Grammarly.com or Buzzfeed's Quibbles and Bits. I signed myself up for them and they are truly helpful.
Anyway, that is the end of my short and (definitely not) thorough recapitulation of what I've learned about the reading test. I will write about the other three parts in my next posts, for I fear they will be too long for one post.
Till next time!
Update:
A reader pointed out to me that the IELTS test often used articles from The Economist or The New Scientist. He shared the following links because they provided the PDF version of New Scientist magazine:
The Economist - 2 July 2016
http://banquyensoftware.com/english/the-economist-2-july-2016.html
The New Scientist - July 2, 2016
http://banquyensoftware.com/english/the-new-scientist-july-2-2016.html
Otherwise, you can just open The Economist and/or The New Scientist websites.
I have read lots of novels and popular articles, but they are totally different from academic texts! Of course, the vocabulary sets are different; moreover, the texts in IELTS test are the ones with questions. Having to answer the questions to test our comprehension of the text is something I find especially difficult because most of the times I just read carelessly through my chosen reading list. I never had to worry about the main idea of a paragraph, not to mention the paraphrases. Unfortunately, I have to be aware of those things in facing the reading test.
For this, one of my teachers actually gave me some helpful tips: (1) you have to use your scanning skill and read the text quickly. It really helps you to grasp the general idea of the text. At least, you can familiarize yourself with some of the words you might find on the questions. (2) You have to highlight the details, but what are the details? The details of a text include names, dates, places, and numbers. Highlighting them serves as something like the search tool on your e-Book. Your brain remembers that you have highlighted it, and looking for those details shall be a lot easier than ever. Lastly, (3) you have to look at the questions. These tips are not written in order, so you can do whichever first. My lecturer once told me to read the questions first to understand what you have to look for. However, reading the questions after you have done the previous two steps is also okay. The important thing is to do it in the most comfortable and efficient for you.
There are not many tips for reading, but these tips are more or less sufficient for reading and understanding academic texts (not limited to an IELTS test!). It goes without saying that reading practice is a must, and if there is one thing I realize after taking the course, it is that we have to have a wide range of vocabulary. As my teacher said, improving our vocabulary is not something we can do within a fortnight. Therefore, if you really want to improve yourself, I suggest you start by reading lots and lots of things--from reading articles and novels. You can also sign up for a newsletter from websites like Grammarly.com or Buzzfeed's Quibbles and Bits. I signed myself up for them and they are truly helpful.
Anyway, that is the end of my short and (definitely not) thorough recapitulation of what I've learned about the reading test. I will write about the other three parts in my next posts, for I fear they will be too long for one post.
Till next time!
Update:
A reader pointed out to me that the IELTS test often used articles from The Economist or The New Scientist. He shared the following links because they provided the PDF version of New Scientist magazine:
The Economist - 2 July 2016
http://banquyensoftware.com/english/the-economist-2-july-2016.html
The New Scientist - July 2, 2016
http://banquyensoftware.com/english/the-new-scientist-july-2-2016.html
Otherwise, you can just open The Economist and/or The New Scientist websites.
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