We would like to introduce you to one of our Outstanding BlueSkyians – Wathanta Aung who has recently achieved an IELTS overall score of 7.5. In his younger years (back in the 2010s), Wathan studied one Cambridge English course after another at the Blue Sky International. We are so happy that he came back to study with us when he needed to take an IELTS exam. Having a solid foundation, Wathan could hit a score of 7.5 in the IELTS easily, with just some practice under the guidance of Teacher Wendy @ Hla Win May Oo. He enrolled for the five individual coaching sessions over a few weeks before the exam for the intensive preparation and practice.
Wathan is a fresh graduate from Coventry University with Honours First Class in the Bachelor Degree of Electrical & Electronic Engineering. In addition to his achievement in the IELTS, Wathan has also won a scholarship from AIT (The Asian Institute of Technology) to pursue his Master’s Degree in Thailand. Our big congratulations to Wathan on achieving a very good score in the IELTS and winning the scholarship to study abroad! We are so proud of him.
The following are the tips shared by Wathan for those of you who are on the IELTS preparation journey.
Listening Tips👂
First of all, please make sure to imagine that you’re taking a real test whenever you practice listening. Set a timer and take a mock test. There might be some parts you didn’t get or missed during the test but worry not! You can listen to the recording again or check the dialogues after the test since it’s not an actual one.
Filling in the blanks might be the easiest part, but please be careful about spelling, capitalization, plural and singular nouns and so on. A real deal for me is the multiple choice questions. It’s quite rare to encounter direct meaning or words in their speeches and sometimes, you’ll have to rephrase, think and answer at the same time. Therefore, please do not lose your focus while you are taking a listening test.
The more you practice, the more you get familiar with the tactics, different accents and possible mistakes you would make again. So, frequent practice is suggested since it’s fun and it doesn’t take too much time.
Reading Tips 📖
Well… I’m scared of the reading test. Reading 3 long passages within 60 minutes isn’t easy, but there are some ways to reduce its difficulty. First of all, check the questions before you start reading the passage so that you’ll know what type of questions you have to answer first.
If you’re about to choose titles for each paragraph, make sure to check the given titles first, then read each paragraph briefly and try to get the general idea of it. Some titles are a bit tricky, so please think carefully or move to another paragraph for another title first. Filling in the blanks and choosing suitable words from the box are the easiest parts and they are where you can get solid marks. However, you’ll have to read paragraphs thoroughly and find the right answers sometimes. For the True/ False/ Not Given or Yes/ No/ Not Given questions, you’ll need to get the general idea of a certain section mostly but you’ll also have to search an exact meaning sometimes. Moreover, be careful with the Not Given and No/False answers since those two are a bit confusing. However, please don’t spend too much time on those questions and skip them if you have to since you can trust your luck and choose the answers blindly (or try to make a guess) even if you don’t have time.
I would love to recommend reading fictions or novels in your free time and it’ll improve your reading skills.
Speaking Tips 👄
Watching movies and TV series help. You can learn many new vocabulary items, ways of expressing your thoughts into words and helpful conversations from them. Don’t be shy and talk alone if you don’t have a partner for the speaking practice. Listen to previous recorded IELTS speaking tests too. The more you talk, the more fluent your speaking will be. It would be the best if you can speak fluently and grammatically but if you can’t, it’s ok to focus on your fluency more. Try to think up your ideas as fast as possible, find the right words in English and speak calmly.
Writing Tips ✏️
Generally, there are some good wordings and sentence structures you can memorize or study by heart for both Writing Task 1 and 2. Read Band-9 sample answers, take notes and study them. As long as you rephrase the question for the introduction well, use suitable adverbs, synonyms and state noticeable facts, differences as well as comparisons or steps of a procedure clearly, you’ll get a good score for the task 1. But for the task 2, although you can memorize certain wordings and sentence structures, the topic you will have to argue or discuss about depends on your luck. Sometimes, you will encounter an easy topic category like gaming or food, but if you’re unfortunate, some difficult ones like politics are waiting for you in the task 2 section. Therefore, it would be an advantage for you if you have some general knowledge on commonly asked topics in the task 2. More importantly, please mind the spellings and grammar in both tasks.
Practice like you are taking real tests at home so that you’ll have confidence in yourself when you go for an actual one. All the best to you!
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We really appreciate for sharing your tips despite your tight schedules these days. Thank you so much, dear Wathan! And again, big congratulations on achieving a good score of IELTS on your first attempt and winning the scholarship! We wish you all the best with your further studies in Thailand.
Warmest wishes,
Blue Sky international Learning Academy
232, Orchid Condo, Unit 82 & Unit 198,
Ahlone Street, Ahlone Township, Yangon, Myanmar 11121
09 254 278 273
09 787 682 164
09 886 272 475
09 504 3135
bsieducation.myanmar@gmail.com
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We provide quality English language courses for learners of age 5 to 55. We have proven records of success in coaching for the IELTS, TKT and other Cambridge Exam Preparation (Starters, Movers, Flyers, KET, PET, FCE, CAE, CPE) over 15 years.
Blue Sky International is founded by Ms Hla Win May Oo @ Teacher Wendy who is currently in pursuit of her doctorate through the University of Otago, New Zealand. Being a graduate of BEd, MPA, and MA in Teaching of English as a Foreign Language, she is a well-trained and well-experienced ESL Teacher, Teacher Trainer, Success Coach & Mentor, and Business & Education Consultant. She has also worked as a Social Enterprise Consultant and “Education for Entrepreneurs” Trainer with the British Council, Myanmar, and a Lecturer for the MBA program at Temasek International College, and a Research Associate with the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She is passionate about teaching, training, researching, consulting and coaching.
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Learn more tips shared by other Outstanding BlueSkyians in the following links:
Outstanding BlueSkyian (18)
Outstanding BlueSkyian (17)
Outstanding BlueSkyian (16)
Outstanding BlueSkyian (15)
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Our IELTS online class schedules in the links:
IELTS online classes