Preparing for IELTS exam can be daunting without the right plan and preparation. In this post and the next, we break down how you can prepare for the IELTS exams based on how much time you have to prepare.

In this post, we will look at how you can prepare for the IELTS Exams if you have more than 3 months. In the next post, we’ll look at how to prepare for the IELTS Exams if you have around 3 months to prepare.

Let’s get started!

Preparing for the IELTS if you have more than 3 months

Practice early in the day

First of all, candidates should wake up every day early in the morning (and take a nap at noon if necessary to maintain sufficient study time and energy). After waking up in the morning, which is the best time for the human brain to remember, you should read English articles aloud. You can read some texts or IELTS reading materials, to practice both speaking and listening.

Memorize words from the IELTS material

The second step of the IELTS test preparation schedule is to memorize words for the IELTS test. Memorizing words is one of the key strategies. Candidates should consolidate their reviewing words routinely after eating breakfast. Be sure to read more every day. Words that you cannot remember separately should be marked out; use about an hour a day to memorize words and their meanings.

Practice with real IELTS exam questions

The third step in the IELTS test preparation schedule is to do the actual test IELTS exam questions. This step can start with listening. Each practice listening content package requires listening more than three times material content, topics with which you are familiar. Figure out why each question requires a certain kind of answer.

This is actually very physical and energy intensive listening. Candidates should not be overly tired, so they should combine periods of work and rest. After doing the listening part of the review, almost to lunch time, candidates should relax their brains; if necessary, they should close their eyes and sleep for a while.

Practice reading and writing IELTS test material

The IELTS test schedule is the fourth step of reading and writing. For the IELTS reading and writing sections, begin this step after the break at noon. Reading topics should involve reading carefully. Read each article more than three times in order to figure out the context of each topic. Read the high-frequency words you do not know and concentrate on memorization.

The first thing you need to do is to start practicing writing, and you should keep a diary in English, if you have time. For reading, focus on developing the skill of locating information, and pay attention to the difference between NO (FALSE) and NOT GIVEN in judgment questions. This is something you need to learn slowly, but just a few times is not enough: you need to repeatedly figure out such problems.

For speaking and writing, you should consciously start to accumulate vocabulary and memorize sentence patterns. For the speaking part, practice two to three topics a day; write down everything you say; see how to make what you say better, and reinforce these skills over and over again. Find a suitable person to help you revise your essay. After four days, train once more for the subjects you feel weakest in.

Listen to and practice English using other materials

The fifth step of the IELTS exam preparation schedule is the practice of speaking. IELTS candidates will inevitably feel tired after the afternoon reading and writing review, which can be relaxed with the help of some English language movies, while imitating the sentences and speech of which also improves the candidates’ speaking.

For the practice material, we recommend such films as Old Friends, as well as The Princess Diaries, Forrest Gump, Sleepless in Seattle, Notting Hill, and similar movies, which can be used as materials to improve the voice intonation.

Work on clarity and fluency of the English language

In your preparation review for the IELTS test speaking section, you should also strengthen your training in terms of speaking and try to make your sentences clear and fluent. This stage requires that candidates not only to imitate the pronunciation of British, Canadian, and American speakers of English, but also to practice speaking and practicing on their own, which can be done by repeating some English materials, and also by recording their own words and comparing them with the pronunciation of British, Canadians, and Americans to find their weak points.

Recap: How to prepare for IELTS exams in less than 3 months

In a daily preparation schedule, the basic elements also include the following:

1. Memorizing words and practicing listening. Both of these are routine tasks.
2. Do grammar exercises. The focus of doing grammar at this stage shifts from a comprehensive review of grammar knowledge to checking for gaps.
3. Start “contact preparation” for the IELTS exam, learn about the basic question types and requirements of the IELTS exam, and simulate a test yourself.
4. Read a long article every day. Refer to the length of the IELTS reading essay for the length of the essay. Read it aloud. The difficulty of the article should be increased at this stage, so you can refer to newspaper articles and record and digest any raw words in time.

Within the last month from taking the exam, there is no time to let up; you must keep working hard to maintain a high standard until the end of the preparation period. In this stage, we have to switch to the pre-test mode.

For more information or to enroll in Ouya’s IELTS Preparation course, contact us today!