#ExperienceSharing #EnglishPrepForStudyAbroad IELTS, Part 0: How I Prepared, and Should You Take a Prep Course?

Hi everyone, I'm 六角森林 (Hexagon Forest)!
I took the IELTS to apply to grad school abroad. My score wasn't especially high, but it did clear the requirements of the schools I applied to
And since so many people helped me along the way, I decided to share what I learned, plus useful info and materials, for everyone's reference~💕

* The highest requirement among the schools I applied to: OVERALL 6.5 with at least 6 in every section *

—— Main post starts here ——

[My prep timeline]
Crazy busy at work + prep school for 4 months
→ Mock test
→ Regular work hours + 1.5 months of self-study
→ First attempt
→ 5-month gap, crazy busy at work
→ 3 weeks of self-study
→ Second attempt

[My scores]
◆ Before prep school: 5~5.5
(TOEIC: about 550~600; passed the GEPT Intermediate in 7th grade; level 13 in English on the GSAT)

◆ Prep school mock test: L:6 / R:5.5 / S:5.5 / W:5 ; OVERALL:5.5

◆ After 1.5 months of prep following the course, first IELTS score: L:7/R:7.5/S:6/W:5.5 ; OVERALL:6.5

◆ After a 5-month gap (my career was taking off and I barely touched English), then 3 more weeks of prep, second IELTS score: L:6.5/R:7/S:6.5/W:6.5 ; OVERALL:6.5 (passed, confetti 🌼🌼)

-

[Should you take a prep course?]
Judging from the prep school mock scores above, I improved very little during the course
At the time, work was extremely, insanely, explosively busy
I had just one day a week for English: 5 hours of class + 1 hour of homework
The rest of the time was work + sleep (yes, it was that extreme)
So for me, "prep school is a way to get into exam mode quickly"
But if you have time to do some research on your own, a prep course isn't really necessary
because in the end you still have to do the preparing yourself 💪

Here's info on the prep school I went to: CES at Zhongxiao Dunhua
*Focuses mainly on writing and speaking (most people's weak spots), with some tips for listening and reading
*Before you join, there's a short placement test to estimate your rough score level, and you can choose which country you want your teacher to be from
*Small classes of no more than 10 people, a really nice environment, and lots of speaking interaction
*Includes 1~2 mock tests (depending on your package)
*Partners with a free UK study-abroad agency, so you can get free advice later when applying to schools, which is very convenient

[How to prepare on your own]

To prepare on your own, you first need to:
1. Understand how the exam works
2. Know roughly what's tested
3. Know the question types

Lots of websites will tell you this. Here are links that explain what the IELTS is all about:

＊ IDP: https://ielts.idp.com/taiwan

＊ BRITISH COUNCIL: https://tw.ieltsasia.org/

＊ IELTS Simon:
https://www.ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/ (old site)
https://ielts-simon.study/ (new site)
This site has short exercises for listening, speaking, reading and writing so you can get to know the question types.

I also have a friend who simply took the exam once to figure out how it works, which is a pretty good approach too. If you're lazy, find it hard to get started, or don't have time to look into it, you can also take a prep course~

＊ Here's a free resource too: How to Pass Your IELTS Test, 2022 editionhttps://www.ieltsanswers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/How-to-Pass-your-IELTS-Test-in-2022-update.pdf

And his YOUTUBE channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/IELTSanswers/videos

These resources came from the teacher of the online essay-correction course I took, so I'm sharing them too! (He's really great at correcting essays. I'll be sharing my Writing tips bit by bit later! Wait for me >< )

[Self-study TIPS]

TIP 1. *Practice everything within the time you have*
The most important thing when studying on your own is "practicing every day". (10 minutes a day works better than 70 minutes once a week!)
I "do listening, speaking, reading and writing every day", but I put extra work into my weak areas!
For example, my reading is weaker than my listening, so I spend more time on reading
For example: today I only have three hours, and reading and speaking are my weaker areas
My listening : speaking : reading : writing split would be roughly ──
listening 30~45 min : speaking 60-75 min : reading 60-75 min : writing 30~45 min

TIP 2. *Make use of spare moments*
Also, if you're not studying for the exam full-time and have classes or a job, making good use of spare moments really matters!
I listen to English radio in the morning before work and while doing chores, and spend 5~10 minutes of my lunch break reading an article or watching a short English video
I also got into the habit of memorizing vocabulary or doing some review on public transit

TIP 3. *Create an English environment*
The point is to get more familiar with, and more used to, having English around.
First, switch your phone to English!!
It may be painful at first. You'll often want to switch back to Chinese, or you won't understand what the buttons on your phone mean and have to look up words. But over time, seeing English becomes as natural as breathing~ (I'm used to the English interface now and still haven't switched back, even after the exam XD)

TIP 4. *Switch your downtime to English too*
Studying textbooks nonstop is painful, so if you want some downtime but worry about wasting study time, try what I do!
For example, I like reading webtoon comics, so I switched them to the English version!
I also subscribe to foreign YouTubers I'm interested in, like beauty, earth science, fashion, talk shows, lifestyle and so on. I also have friends who switch foreign movies to English subtitles. Just some ideas for you!

It makes learning English *feel more natural, even fun* This approach took a lot of pressure off me!
And even though I don't need to take the exam anymore, I still keep up the habit of watching things in English.
It's turned into downtime, so of course I watch it (no shame at all) 💕

Here are the YOUTUBERS I subscribe to:
bestdressed (fashion; I love listening to them talk, they go on and on and it's super cute)
sichenmakeupholic (a beauty YouTuber whose makeup is gorgeous)
I’m Jonas (he's adorable and really funny)
BBC Earth (I like watching animals)
LoeppkysLife (beautifully made videos, really soothing visuals, and the kids are ridiculously cute)
Prozzie (an American living in Taiwan)
The Graham Norton Show (talk show)
The Late Show with James Corden (talk show)

-

That's it! (Super long post, thanks to everyone who read this far ><)

Unless your English is already really good, hitting your target score in one go is genuinely hard.
After my first IELTS, during the 5-month gap when I had no time to study English, I kept my English up only through the occasional English downtime. My real final push was just 1.5 months (and that was while working, with only 3~4 hours of uninterrupted time a day)
Even better, these days it's easy to watch anything, so you don't have to grind through textbooks or prep books the old-fashioned way. It's so, so much more fun~~

I hope this helps and gives anyone who needs it a bit more confidence!

This post is just an overview. I'll write a separate post for each section (listening/speaking/reading/writing) sharing the resources I used to prepare

Wishing everyone the score you need or want 💕💕