10 IELTS study tips from Simmon

1. You need a method
   • Should have a way to prepare for every aspects for IELTS.
   • Have you practised a particular way of writing introductions or an approach for paragraph headings questions in a reading test or a technique for giving longer answers in speaking part 3
   • If you have a method for everything you'll feel much more confident going into the test
2. Small improvements
   • You will not find a special technique that will lead to a dramatic improvement in your scores.
   • Improvements happen slowly when you work on the small things like adding one or two good items of vocabulary to an essay or understanding one particular grammar mistake that you often make.
3. Less testing, more prepraring
   • If all you do is test yourself your score won't improve just test yourself maybe once a week and spend rest of the time preparing
   • This could mean working on vocabulary for IELTS topics or working slowly through a reading test using a dictionary or writing a model answer for a speaking question
4. Understanding is not the same as using
   • Many students think that they know a word when they understand what it means in my view you only know a word when you can use it correctly in a full sentence.
5. Learn from your mistakes
   • This is probobly the best way to improve in terms of both grammar and exam techniques if you make a grammar mistake you need to understand what you did wrong if you get the wrong answer for a reading or listening question analyse your mistake and correct answer carefully
6. Forget about 'difficult' words and 'complex' grammar
   • Too many students are obsessed with this idea of using difficult language in my experience they usually get lower scores because their sentences seem forced and unnatural
7. Answer the question!
   • Instead of worrying about the difficult language just focus on answering the question with a natural way as you would do in your own language.
8. Topic vocabulary, not 'any essay' phrases
   • You will not benefit from learning a list of phrases that can be used in any essay
   • The examiners are not impressed by these phrases the only vocabulary that really impresses examiners is topic vocabulary this means words and phrases that are specific to the question topic.
9. There isn't a secret
   • As I said earlier, there's no special technique that will lead to a sudden dramatic improvement in your score just keep practicing and keep learning.
10. Hard work instead of worry
    • Instead of spend your time worrying about the socre you need, open your book or pick up your pen and do some work. If you know you've worked hard and prepared well you'll feel much more confident going into the exam.