IELTS 8.0: How I Prepared & What I Learned

I was lucky enough to get a pretty good IELTS score, so I thought I'd share how I prepared. The resources are probably similar to what you've seen, but I hope this helps a little~

📍Scores 【Overall: 8.0】L 9.0 / R 8.0 / W 7.0 / S 7.0

📍Background & prep time:

Not an English-related major. I haven't taken English cram classes since elementary school, but I like English

I prepared with free resources, and studied seriously for about 2.5 months

(While juggling my thesis Final + work at the same time😂)

📍Listening

1. IELTS Online Tests

A practice platform I absolutely love, with tons of questions. After finishing the Cambridge tests, I practiced here. The downside is the questions are on the hard side, and sometimes they really make you question your life. But later on, scoring 7.5+ on these nasty questions feels super rewarding, and the Cambridge practice tests feel much easier afterward~ Highly recommend!!!

2. Yasi Ge (雅思哥)

A great companion for IELTS prep (probably well known by now). For anyone taking the computer-delivered test, Yasi Ge works very much like the real exam, so definitely try it out before your test

3. Podcasts

Free resources on podcasts & YouTube. All Ears English Podcast is a well-known channel lots of people recommend, but I only listened while working, to immerse myself in English. I often listened to learn english lab podcast and also searched YouTube for IELTS C1-C2 Podcast, picking topics and content I liked. Besides the topics being more lively, you get used to different accents and learn how they phrase things, tell stories or hold conversations. I think it also helps with speaking prep (two birds with one stone~

4. Other

If you register for the test through British Council, you get free practice tests. The questions are on the hard side and the site is clunky, but it's still a great free resource! Just don't take the scores too seriously~

5. Takeaways

I start underlining key points from part 1 (keywords/verbs/subjects/places, etc.) and keep going until the audio starts. After part 1 ends, I spend about 5-10 seconds checking my spelling so I don't make careless mistakes, then keep underlining and racing to understand the question types. By the time I'm answering part 2, I've already finished underlining through part 4, so I have more time to read and think about the harder part 3 and part 4. Mark anything you're unsure about and use the last 2 minutes to think it over. If it's gone, it's gone; try not to overthink. Staying steady during the exam is so important~~~ I practiced listening with over-ear headphones (to simulate test conditions as closely as possible). Growing up, I always felt I was better at listening than reading, but IELTS is very different from English tests in Taiwan : ) On practice tests my reading scores were actually higher, so I figured out why and worked on that part. Getting a perfect 9.0 this time was really lucky, a pleasant surprise~

📍Reading

1. IELTS Online Tests

I highly recommend this platform for reading too. The interface is a bare-bones version of Yasi Ge, and you can still underline. The downside is the same: the questions are on the hard side and really nasty, and they don't go in order like Cambridge, sometimes jumping around, which is honestly a bit annoying. But once you figure out how the questions are set and your scores stabilize, I personally think it's an excellent free resource for training attention to detail

2. Takeaways

My personal habit is to start with Part 3 (always finished within about 25-30 minutes). Some people think you don't need to understand the whole passage and can just answer from the questions, but I think that's a bit risky. So I first go through the question types in that section, look at the keywords in the first 3 questions, then start reading. You don't need to understand every paragraph perfectly, but you should at least have a rough idea. Noting roughly where each answer is located as you read saves time. I'd suggest not guessing blindly just to go faster; answering steadily is better than rushing

After Part 3, I do Part 2, then Part 1. On test day I made myself be careful and answered a bit more slowly than in practice, and still had 7 minutes left to check~ When I hit words I didn't know while practicing reading, I'd look them up and write them in a notebook. Because of time, I rarely went back to review them, but just writing them by hand helps them stick a bit

Whether to memorize vocabulary for reading depends on the person. Since I was writing a thesis in my master's program, I gradually read more English journal articles, which may have helped a bit. But my undergrad and master's programs never used English textbooks; I just made myself get more exposure to English to build reading speed and pick out keywords!!!

And then try to enjoy the exam as much as possible (?) I actually like doing practice questions because I learn something new every time (my friends say I've gone off the deep end hahaha). I like making the process fun, which makes it less painful and helps me stay patient, so my practice scores stayed pretty consistent

📍Writing

1. Library

The library has loads of IELTS books. When I saw good sentence patterns and phrases, I'd write them down, and I also organized useful arguments by topic. The key is to try using them every time you practice. Judging by the results, I think it helped quite a bit! Before the exam, besides reviewing, I uploaded my organized arguments to GPT and had it make fill-in-the-blank questions from them, to make sure I knew how to use them and had really learned them~

2. Chat GPT

I uploaded my Task 2 and Task 1 essays for it to grade (with the IELTS band descriptors attached). After grading, I asked it to expand or revise them into a 7+ version in my style and with my arguments, then studied the revised phrasing and good sentences and added them to my notes as well

3. Yasi Ge + online resources

Yasi Ge has the Cambridge writing prompts, and I practiced all of Cambridge 15~20. I also practiced with prompts shared on Dcard boards or elsewhere online. The upside of practicing writing on Yasi Ge is that timing is easy and there's no spell check, so you can practice spelling accurately!

4. Takeaways

(Breakdown: Task1 7/7/7/6; Task2 8/8/7/6)

So close to 7.5, a bit of a pity... -> My grammar just wasn't steady enough under exam time pressure🤦🏻

The four IELTS Writing criteria: Task Achievement / Task Response Coherence & Cohesion Lexical Resource Grammatical Range & Accuracy

When practicing, you can ask Chat GPT to score each criterion so you can find what you need to improve, and try to practice with the exam's time allocation. I usually write Task2 first for 40 minutes (based on its weight), then Task1 for 20 minutes. I don't really write drafts; I just run through the topic and key points of each paragraph first. You need the whole picture in your head first so you don't go off topic

📍Speaking

1. Yasi Ge

It has speaking prompts likely to come up that season. Practice as much as you can, it'll definitely help. But in my case, none of the prompts on there came up (not a single one😆). Luck really matters in exams~~~

2. Chat GPT

My 24hr practice partner. I give it the prompts I want to practice and ask it to play the examiner, one question and answer at a time, then give me suggestions at the end. I did at least 6-8 full practice sessions a week

3. Takeaways (Breakdown: 7/7/7/7)

The four IELTS Speaking criteria:

(1) Fluency and Coherence: speaking naturally and continuously without pausing, whether sentences connect logically; using varied linking words, avoiding excessive self-correction, hesitation and repetition; whether length and depth are enough to develop your points

(2) Lexical Resource: whether your vocabulary is wide-ranging; whether you can flexibly use synonyms, concept words and abstract vocabulary; whether you can use collocations naturally and express meaning precisely

(3) Grammatical Range and Accuracy: whether you can flexibly use different sentence structures, and the proportion of complex sentences; whether your grammar is accurate and whether errors affect understanding

(4) Pronunciation: whether you're clear and easy to understand, whether your stress & intonation sound natural; whether you can use spoken features like weak forms and linking; whether the examiner can understand you throughout (intelligibility

[They say to treat IELTS speaking like a chat... but after reading these criteria... there's no way I can relax and chat with the examiner like a friend...]

I'm not afraid of speaking English, but since IELTS is so expensive, the pressure was still sooo~~~ high! I spent a lot of time practicing, finding problems, and adjusting my pace and how I approached answers

To get a 7, I think staying natural and keeping a steady mindset matter a lot. Easier said than done… you only really get it after taking the test🫠

Before the test, I'd suggest stretching a bit or washing your face to calm yourself down

What helped me most was adjusting my mindset. Think of it this way: I'm going to talk with a native speaker from abroad, and I want to express my ideas as clearly as possible using what I've learned. The person in the room isn't an examiner, just a stranger who's there to talk with me, wants to hear my thoughts and is helping me show my English ability. And I should express myself as well as I can and respond to the questions accurately

The key skills are "clear logic, good organization and fluency," like building on a point and extending your answer, or giving an analysis of both sides. Don't think of it as being examined and scored

Keep your facial expressions as natural as possible when answering (a stiff face just shows you're nervous), and nervousness may be read as a lack of confidence, which would be a real shame. In Part 2, remember to stick closely to the prompt: cover everything on the cue card first, then expand. Part 3 follows up on the previous part, so share your views and give examples as much as you can

After all, you can prepare for speaking prompts, but they won't necessarily come up, so being able to flexibly use the vocabulary you've learned is extremely important!!!

📍Overall advice

Everyday practice builds up your ability. I strongly recommend at least adjusting your daily schedule to be close to the exam's. I practiced doing listening, reading and writing back to back for 2.5 hours, then speaking with Chat GPT in the afternoon. Since I didn't have much time to practice, I tried to be in exam mode every time! Honestly I kind of like IELTS (I know that sounds like I've gone off the deep end hahaha). Learning new things from the questions and getting that sense of achievement is pretty fun, but it's way too expensive!!!😖 If you don't resist it too much, you'll enjoy it more and feel more relaxed~

📍Summary

Thanks to everyone who read this whole long post!!! Preparing for IELTS really isn't easy, you've all worked so hard~~~ Wishing you all the best in showing what you can do on test day!🙌