IELTS Preparation in Lahore
The year was 1994, and I was told that all international students are required to take an English ability test in order to qualify for a Visa to study abroad – not that English was a problem, but still, for some reason, the idea of being tested in a quizzical manner made me slightly anxious. Since it was the early 90s, VHS audio tapes ruled the day, and the Internet was yet unheard of. On the night of the test, a friend handed me a bunch of audio tapes for the listening section of the TOEFL test and Barron’s book for practice. As I had very little time on my hands, I hardly opened the book albeit I listened to the tapes for about 45 minutes. The concept of the test somewhat made sense in my head, and I awaited the dawn of the morrow. Taking the test in the hall full of candidates I kept thinking to myself that I was blowing the test and I had a peculiarly bad feeling about the whole thing. However, when the results came in I scored a stellar 633 in a maximum score of 677 which I beam about to this day. So that was my first brush with an English as a Second Language type test and now has been teaching both the IELTS & TOEFL courses for a solid decade, give or take, I can safely say that there’s hardly any tip or trick associated with doing well in these tests that I can’t share with my class.
CRACKING THE IELTS
In a given class, I am bound to get a wide mix of students who range from really proficient in the English Language to really poor in their ability to read, write, and converse in English. The approach to making either succeed in this test varies in the methodology applied to get the desired outcome, for instance, for the ones with exceptional English whether they are high school kids or a major in the military, even a prolific business personality migrating abroad with the family, and so on, all I have to do is engage them in intelligible conversations, keep making them practice each of the four modules namely Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking until they start navigating their way through the test with aplomb, and my job is done. For the ones with weak English, I need to patiently, answer multiple questions from vocabulary words to what the central theme of a reading passage is, at times translating an entire reading passage from English to their first language in order for them to comprehend the piece. And listening requires for me to apply repetitive playback, and techniques like shadowing, and simultaneous script reading, which ultimately start to pay off. Such candidates may take a longer time, but most of the time I end up helping them achieve the band or score they’re aiming for.
POLISHING ENGLISH SKILLS
Initiating the habit of reading helps, also starting to watch programs in the language such as TV shows, talk shows, variety shows, news bulletins, sitcoms, and of course movies (mostly with subtitles). I always advise candidates who are weak in the English language to expose themselves to as much English as they can for the duration of my course and also mandate participating in class discussions conversing in English. The latter always helps them do well in the Speaking module. Once they start, students quickly realize that they’re in safe hands, and they’re dealing with a tutor who knows his profession well and can proudly claim to be somewhat of an expert in the art of teaching IELTS & TOEFL as a course.
IELTS TEST TIPS;
- Learning the essay writing format
- Getting familiar with the reading question types
- Knowing how to pick the right answers in the Listening module
- Speaking interviews with death
- Regular practice
COUNSELLING
Throughout my illustrious career, I’ve had the good fortune of teaching any and all who need to take an English proficiency test whether it’s for study abroad purpose or migration to a foreign country. I realize that most students often lack belief in their own ability to excel in such tests and require constant encouragement and reinforcement that they have it in them to do achieve a good score. All they have to do is absorb the knowledge I share with them, and keep practicing sample tests, and practice questions regularly. My students succeed because at Easy Coaching we deliver what we promise and that’s the bottom line.
IELTS TEST DATES IN PAKISTAN 2020
The AEO in collaboration with the IDP is conducting the IELTS test every month in Pakistan. In September, the test will be held on the 5th, the 12th (Academic), and the 26th. In October, the IELTS test will be held on the 10th, the 15th(Academic), the 24th, and the 31st (Academic). In November, the IELTS test will be held on the 7th(Academic), the 12th, the 21st, and the 28th, whereas in December, the IELTS test will hold on the 5th, then 12th, and the 19th (Academic). The British Council is rumored to resume their IELTS testing in October 2020.
IELTS PREPARATION BOOKS
The best books for IELTS test preparation are the University of Cambridge Past Papers with Answers suite of which there are 13 editions available in the market currently. Each book has four full-length Academic tests and two full-length General IELTS tests, including the listening and speaking sample tests. The books also come with audio CDs for Listening practice and sample model essay, letter, and report answers for review and understanding. Of all the Literature available the Cambridge suite is the most useful and highly recommended. Although the British Council has it’s own study pack which is available by online purchase order and then there is Barron’s IELTS book as well which is also effective for understanding the test.
IELTS FEE IN PAKISTAN
The new fee for IELTS registration with AEO effective August 19th, 2020 is Rs. 38, 280, and with Online Credit Card payment after GST it comes out to be Rs. 39, 430. The data transfer fee is Rs. 9, 570, whereas the IELTS test Center change Fee is Rs. 1,160. The AEO IELTS test Karachi Registration Fee is Rs. 37, 290. The British Council IELTS test Fee for Peshawar, Abbottabad, Quetta, Mirpur is Rs. 30,000, for Karachi, and Hyderabad it is Rs. 33, 900, whereas for Punjab it is Rs. 34, 800.
IELTS TEST PREPARATION ONLINE
EASY COACHING provides one-on-one coaching and online training for the purpose of IELTS test preparation and is the best institute in this regard. EASY COACHING is owned by Professor Zeeshan A. Khalid who has been an IELTS instructor for the last twenty years. He is foreign qualified and has vast experience in helping students prepare for the test in person or online. His interactive, hands-on approach to quality learning is bound to produce guaranteed results by putting students at ease with the material as they learn the tips and techniques required to excel in the IELTS test. He offers classes on Zoom and also shares useful online material that IELTS test takers find especially beneficial to prepare well.