4 Steps to Success in IELTS

It’s important to improve your vocabulary for each IELTS topic.

Improving your vocabulary for each topic will help you in three ways.

Having the relevant vocabulary will help you generate your ideas and so help with Task Achievement.
This will also make your ideas clearer (coherence)
and demonstrate to the examiner a high level of vocabulary, this is your lexical resource.

Student mistakes

Many students fail to provide sufficient or appropriately used vocabulary and their band score is reflected in this.

When looking at a topic, it is important to record new vocabulary correctly so you build up a bank of words internally.

When you see new vocabulary in a reader, article or passage

try and predict the meaning from the context
then look at the sentence to see how the word is connected to other words.
before you check the meaning in a dictionary and
finally, record the word in some way for future reference.

I personally use a notebook, but some apps allow you to make electronic notepads, and you might already have an established method.

What’s important is that you note the word and THEN review it and regularly!

To be able to use a word effectively, it needs to be reviewed at least three times before it can be practiced.

Don’t just make a list and abandon it.

Focus on a topic

Like any good textbook or school syllabus, vocabulary is presented within a theme so it’s important to spend some time focusing on general topics.

Use my list of popular topics and find a reading and a listening activity, for example, a newspaper article and a podcast related to the topic.

Then follow it up with a related TASK 2 writing question or look at some sample materials and note some vocabulary and the MAIN ideas.

If you attend class, discuss with another student or join my Facebook and find a Study Buddy.

The main ideas for IELTS learning here are

Topic awareness, Vocabulary acquisition and Skills Practice

Reading and listening widely

If you are fortunate enough to attend class, it is still important to practice at home.

My tactics have always been’ little and often’ as 30 to 60 minutes focused activity per day can make a significant difference to your overall score.

If time is limited, whatever you can do is valuable.

If you study smart this will focus on all four language skills and familiarise you with the common topics at the same time.

It’s a good idea to look at some sample materials from IELTS but it’s a bad idea to rely only on these materials

Actively look for articles on the common IELTS topics and note good vocabulary.

Listening to topics on the radio or podcasts is also a good method and you often find that programmes are grouped by theme.

I regularly post articles relevant to IELTS candidates on my Facebook page and also collect IELTS articles here.

Finally,

Expose yourself fully to English

Focussing on topics is a strategy that will best prepare you for IELTS, but it is not enough to consider topics alone.

To be truly effective in IELTS you should gain as much exposure to the language as possible.

Try to read for pleasure and spend time some time listening to the radio or podcasts – you don’t have to understand every word, but the more you actively read and listen, the more you will more easily be able to

read more quickly, predict content and select the correct answers
listen efficiently and spell the words that you hear
write more effectively, and have relevant ideas
speak more confidently on a range of topics

I’ve collected a bank of reading resources here to get you started.

Again, when you encounter a word you don’t know, note it and check the meaning, collocation and synonyms and review it so they become part of your vocabulary

For Android and Apple here is a list of Note Taking Apps

However, my personal favourite is PENZU. It reminds you to enter notes and also review the notes you have made!