IELTS Experience 101

It was my first time to take the IELTS exam and I must say, it was really a nerve-wracking experience.  At first, I really don’t have any idea how am I gonna prepare for this English language test. I also feel pressured because I’m not really that confident with my English especially in the Writing and Speaking part. But I think I don’t have any choice left if I want to make it overseas.

Earlier this January, I started to familiarize myself everything about IELTS. First, I’ve looked for forums and blogs in the web hoping I will get some ideas from the past experiences of previous IELTS examinees. I also asked who among my friends already took that test and asked for advices and tips on how to get the band score I needed. I was thinking about self-studying and also considering a review center at the same time. It was really frustrating if you’re looking for the best option to get a much better results, so I ended up choosing the latter. It was a 6-day review and mostly, they will teach you different techniques on how to answer and finish the test on time.

Basically, IELTS is divided into 4 main categories, namely; Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking.

I think the hardest part for me is writing and speaking. For writing, you are required to complete 2 written outputs within an hour. The first one is limited for 20 minutes and requires at least 150 words to describe a certain graph, cycle or a process while the second part is more of an argument or essay wherein you are tasked to finish for the remaining 40 minutes and with a minimum of 250 words.

The Speaking part was subdivided into I think 4 categories. You will be first asked about personal information followed by general infos then last part is more on opinions about past or recent events in the society.  The examiner won’t give you any comments or details about outcome of the interview and you will be recorded the whole time. I think the interview itself will only last for 7-14 minutes but for me this 7 minutes was the most crucial time of my life! haha

Moving on, my official IELTS exam date was last February 26,2011. The venue was in Crown Plaza Hotel in Ortigas Center few blocks away from the main British Council office in Taipan Place.

On the examination day, we were instructed to go to the venue 1 hour before the scheduled time which is 9 am. But my mom and I left the house as early as 5:30 am to avoid the traffic because we will be coming from Cavite. We never drove to Ortigas before so we were very hesitant to bring the car with us. Back home, we planned and agreed to park the car near Mall of Asia and we’ll just take a cab to get there instead. However, we realized it was too early and we weren’t able to find a safe parking lot so my mom decided to take the car with us.

At 7:00 am, we were able to get there safely and the venue wasn’t really that difficult to find. We first ate breakfast at some fast food chain and then proceeded to the hotel. When we got to the 4th floor of the building, there were already a few examinees who are waiting outside the hallroom.

At exactly 8:00 am, one of the invigilator made some reminders and instructed us to looked for our candidate number and seat plans posted in the bulletin board and told us that we can go to the registration area afterwards.

After finishing up the registration part we were then led to the hallroom room and guided us to our respective seats. Inside the hallroom, everyone looked very calm and quiet so It felt like I am the only one suffering from too much anxiety. haha

At 9:00 am, again one of the invigilator made her last reminders before starting the first task which is Listening. We were given 30 minutes to finish the actual listening test and another 10 minutes to transfer our answers in the answer sheet. I was really nervous in the beginning so I was really worried if I can finish the test on time. Fortunately, as the test went on, I found myself feeling more relaxed and at ease. I was able to finished all the listening parts ahead of time.

Before the Reading task started, I asked one of the invigilator if I can go to the restroom but they said we were only allowed to go out after the Reading test instructions were given. I don’t want to jeopardize my exam because I know I can’t focus if I wasn’t able to go the restroom so I waited patiently. The cold air inside only added to my frustration even if I had my sweater on.

After giving out the instructions, I immediately gave my identification card to the girl who I asked earlier then I went out quickly to go to the restroom but when I got back, the test has already began and I lost 4 minutes of the given time and now, I only have 56 minutes left to finish the task. That’s the time when I really started to get nervous because for me, TIME was the most important factor to passed this test. I really thought my reading test would end up into a total disaster because I was in the midst of panicking, totally cramming for real. The fact that I was overly distracted with the remaining time and the reading sections were also too long which makes it more frustrating. It’s driving me nuts!.. Thankfully, I was able to finished the test just on time. BUT I didn’t even had the chance to review my answers!

The third task was Writing. I was expecting to describe graphs in the first part of the test but I was surprised when I learned that the test was about MAPS. I never encountered one before because I was only used with graphs or cycles but not a map. I don’t know how to start or what to write so I calm myself first and analyzed the given situation. I was able to come up with the 150 words. I just hope that the quality was enough.

The Second part was the essay. The question was “do you agree that a country should produce their own food for their population and import as little as possible?” Well, after completing the first part, I was more confident that I can do well in this one. Even though I was able to make a roughly 250 words, I just hope I was able to give a decent argument to get a reasonable score.

Before leaving the room, it was later  announced that the speaking test will be held in Taipan place. So we were given enough time to take a break and grab some lunch. My speaking test schedule was 2:55 pm so I had a pretty much time to prepare and be nervous.

At around 2:00 pm, we then went to the British council office at the 10th floor of the building and did the Speaking test registration part and I was later instructed to wait to be called for the actual speaking exam. Along with the other examinees we were waiting for our dreadful end, the last part of this journey, the final judgement! T_T

Few minutes later, my name was called. we were advised to go down to the 4th floor and wait for our turn to be interviewed. The waiting part was the most difficult part for me! because the more I wait, the more anxious I become.

Then the actual interview started, my examiner was a fellow Filipino. She looked nice and approachable. She first asked my full name and then other personal questions like “where are you from?”, “what do you do?” stuff like that. I didn’t expect that the second part questions are far more complicated than I thought because the questions were more related to the society today.  I kept on talking without realizing that I misinterpreted her first question so she was like ” no, the question was…” It was pretty embarrassing but the show must go on. Later on, I think I was able to finally answer the question correctly. But I don’t know, she just smiles and nods every time  I answer her questions

For the third part, I was given like a cue card together with a question in it that says “what practiced skill that I learned is very useful, cooking or driving?” and the corresponding questions are “when did you learned it?” ,” how did you learned it?”,  and explained why is it very useful. I chose Driving. For the first minute I think I did okay but as the time goes on, I started to stutter while looking for the right words. I had pauses and this went on until she finally said thank you and it was the end of the interview.  I left the room feeling down and hopeless wishing I could have have done better. I felt that all my confidence I had in the morning was all gone and deflated.

Now, I am waiting for my uncertain fate. 6 more days to go and I’m going to find out my final verdict. I’m not really expecting too much but I hope God will somehow help me with this one.  Geez, I am really worried with my Speaking test, I wish she would grant me my much needed 7.0 band score

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