IELTS 4 U - IELTS Exam, IELTS Online Training Centre, Sample IELTS Practice Tests

People of the developing nations believe that to pursue qualitative higher education they must migrate to developed countries. And citizens of a non-English speaking country who like to migrate to the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, etc for the for purpose of education or employment, are required to appear an English language proficiency test: International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The test evaluates your ability to communicate in English across all four language abilities – listening, reading, writing and speaking. One needs a systematic preparation for each component. Further; each component has its unique methods of preparation. And in this article I would like to discuss some tips of preparing for the IELTS listening and speaking modules. The listening and speaking modules are common for the Academic and the General test. The Academic test is meant for those who want to migrate for education; but, the General test is for employment purpose.

The listening module comprises four sections. A question booklet is given to you and the audio is played. You need to answer on the question booklet as you listen to the audio. At the end of each section you are allowed 30 seconds to check the answers. At the end the four sections you are allowed additional 10 minutes to transfer the answers from the question booklet to a separate answer sheet. The duration of the listening module is 30 minutes, excluding the additional 10 minutes for transferring answers. The topics in the listening module include: Lectures, Conversation between a Student and a Faculty Member ,   Conversation between a Student and a University Staff Member, Conversation between a Citizen  and an Official,etc. Generally the language used in these conversations comprise British and Australian accents.So, you need to be able to comprehend these accents. 

Now let me say something about the speaking module. This module lasts for maximum 15 minutes. It comprises three sections. Section one: Self-Introduction; Section two: Topic; and, Section three: Discussion. First you need to speak about yourself for about three to five minutes. You may say about your hobbies, aspirations and why you want to go abroad. If there are any achievements in your life like gold medals, prizes, awards, etc you may well detail about them.Then, a topic card will be given to you. The card contains a topic and a few synopses below it. The following are typical topics for IELTS speaking module.