0The IELTS test is a standardized test taken by non-native English speakers; hence a lot of preparation is essential before clicking for your test date.
In my experience I have often seen students feeling intimidated when told that they speak "Indian English" or they need to hone their skills in the language. Again, I have seen students coming to seek professional help after taking the test many times or doing badly in a few of the four components, which would have resulted in a bad score. Either ways, it is the test taker who loses out his or her money, time, effort and self confidence, which can be demoralizing.
Instead, I personally feel, our test takers, especially Indians, must compulsorily go through a refresher course in English, study their strengths and weaknesses in the subject and then appear for the IELTS test after realizing that their Indian ways of speaking or writing will fetch them only lower band scores.
Next, after a thorough understanding of sentence structures, ways of speaking and interacting, familiarizing themselves with native accents and exposing themselves to a lot reading materials, they must set aside some quality time to either attend a coaching centre or study on their own. I have students who are regularly irregular and repent that they missed out on doing well in the test, even though they were capable of performing well! This late realization must not be your cause for repentance in later days!
Thus, after brushing up your language skills, going through a systematic process of tackling the components must you think of looking at the test dates. I am of the opinion that multi-tasking, feeling overconfident or taking the test lightly will not fetch you the desired result.
The evaluation process for each component in IELTS--speaking, reading, listening or writing--is so scientifically designed and systematically assessed that IELTS test takers must be aware of their weaknesses and work towards proficiency to avoid bad results.
So, aspirants, try, try, try again … must not be your philosophy here. Instead, ‘one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration’, combined with the adage ‘practice makes perfection’ must lead you towards getting a high band score at one go!
Best Wishes,
Sheila Sudheendra
