Onto
the core of our article – the IELTS tips and tricks that can make the
difference between a band 6 and a band 8/9! Many of these have stood the test
of time, and are imbibed with one common theme – logic. Some of these tips may
seem obvious to you, while the rest can change the IELTS game for you. Having
said that, go with what makes you comfortable. Even a non-native
English Speaker can aim high and score well if they keep their wits about
them.
IELTS
Reading Tips and Tricks for Band 9
Read every day :
Firstly,
you need to read. You need to read from myriad sources. Articles
online, newspapers, novels, and journals are wonderful places to start. Try
not to read consciously and just go with the flow of the text. Read curiously
and read for fun. I cannot stress this enough. This will build
your reading stamina, your vocabulary and your reading speed. If
there ever was a panacea to cracking the IELTS, it is this tip. READ. EVERY.
DAY. It could just be for half an hour or 45 minutes, but make sure you read.
Read the questions first:
This
tip is a game-changer when it comes to the IELTS. You have 60 minutes to answer
40 questions linked to 3 texts. Time is of the essence, so you cannot read the
text fully and take your own sweet time. Read the questions
first. This will tell you what to look for when you get to the passage and save
precious time.
Reread the questions and understand
them :
Seriously,
a small error in understanding what the question wants can pull you back a long
way. Read the questions thoroughly.
Scan, skim and summarize :
What?!?
So much to do? Hold your horses there! This is a tip that will work wonders if
you follow it up with Tip 1 (seriously, start reading today!). Skim the
passage given to you and look for main ideas, understand the layout
of the text, highlight keywords and salient points, and try to make sense of
what the passage is about. This is key when it comes to the
Reading Section.
Key in the keywords in your head :
The
IELTS involves a lot of information-hunting. Questions will ask you to look for specific
information and fill in/choose the right answers. While
skimming, make sure you highlight keywords like dates, places,
topics, numbers etc. You will learn to recognise them with
practice.
Familiarize yourself with various
Question Types and practice :
The
consensus among the every dynamic IELTS community is that True/False/Not Given
Question Types are the worst out there. While that may be true for them, what
will prove to be your bane? Conversely, what type of questions will you excel
at? You can only do so with practice tests. These will help you familiarize
yourself with the IELTS Question Types (the list can
be found above) and ensure that you have sufficient practice.
Vocabulary? :
While
using flashcards and memorizing a whole bunch of words may seem like the ideal
way to build your vocabulary but reading from a variety of sources about
various topics will prove to be the better technique out of the two. When
you read articles and content from different genres, you are not only building
your knowledge but also encountering new words as you progress. A sense of
grammatical intuition will also develop. Read, learn the words you do not know,
and keep reading. This will work far better than memorizing
7000 new words for the IELTS. Make sure you go back and learn the words you did
not know in your practice tests as well. You can use this as
a reference for learning any words you come across.
Distinguish the IELTS texts :
You
will come across texts that can be divided into 2 broad categories –
·
Descriptive –
These texts are chronological in order and are usually full of facts and
information about a particular topic. Example: History of the Silk
Road.
·
Discursive –
These texts are centred around a theory or hypothesis based on the author’s
research and evidence. It may also express certain opinions and put forth some
arguments. Example: Does Meritocracy aid economic growth?
Answer all the questions even if you’re
unsure of the answer :
The
IELTS does not have any negative marking, so answer as much questions with as
much accuracy as you can!
The
Passage is sacrosanct :
Your
own base of knowledge should not influence your answer choices. Read the
question and try to understand what it wants. It is fixed on the
author’s point of view or the contents of the passage. This
will help enormously with question types such as True/False/Not Given.
Paraphrase :
The
language in the question may not reflect the language in the text, so you must
build your reading capabilities (you can only do this by reading every day) in
such a way that you are able to paraphrase using synonyms and glean the meaning
of the question.
Grammar is key :
Make
sure that there aren’t any grammatical mistakes when you have to
answer Short Answer Questions or any other Question Type that involves you
writing the answer. Grammatical intuition, Spelling and
Sentence Structure are all very important.
The
above IELTS Reading Tips and IELTS Reading Strategies will definitely prove to
be invaluable during the day of your exam. The techniques above will certainly
be useful. Having said that, work with what you are comfortable with. Make sure
that you follow these basic IELTS Tips.
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