1. Improve the Right Way (No Shortcuts)
What you shouldn’t be doing: studying IELTS for years on end, learning idioms to try to cheat the test, memorising your responses, or going to the test with no knowledge of how IELTS works. If you do those things, you will make a fool of yourself and the examiner will be laughing about you in the break!
Instead you should: spend time improving your English, learn natural English expressions like phrasal verbs, make sure that you practice a lot, learn about IELTS and watch some practice tests online to know exactly what to expect.
Otherwise, it’s like trying to play a sport without knowing any of the rules – it will be obvious you have no idea what you are doing no matter how good your clothes look!
2. Follow the Unwritten Rules of IELTS
IELTS is full of unwritten rules, just like real life!
- Some real life unwritten rules include:
- Wait until everyone gets out of the elevator before you get on.
- Don’t stop to read your phone in the middle of the sidewalk.
- Turn off your high beams if there are other cars.
- Don’t pee right next to someone at a urinal.
- Don’t text ‘k’ or ‘kk.’
- Say ‘thanks’ to people who open the door for you.
- Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze.
- Don’t speak too loudly into your phone.
The unwritten rules of IELTS are:
- Don’t tell the examine your life story.
- Don’t tell the examiner what score you need on the test.
- Don’t ask what your score is at the end of test.
- Don’t try to shake the examiner’s hand unless they offer first.
- Don’t ask the IELTS examiner any questions.
- When the examiner asks a short follow-up question at the end of part 2, give a short answer!
- Don’t ask the examiner to explain whole questions, only words, in part 1.
- Be as specific as possible in part 3 – don’t be general and don’t give personal examples.
- Don’t try to have a long conversation with the examiner after the test ends.
- Don’t try to look at the questions the examiner is asking or what the examiner is writing down.
3. Clean Yourself
Most of you can just skip this one because you are not an overgrown man-child.
But you’d be surprised by the number of candidates who show up looking like they just climbed out of the nearest garbage bin.
It shouldn’t impact your score. It probably doesn’t.
But still…
It’s bad enough that the examiner probably looks like trash – clean yourself up a bit!
Please do at least the following to spare your examiner: take a shower, wear clothes that look clean, brush your teeth, have a breath mint or two (this is the most important step), don’t vigorously scratch any part of your body during the test or pick your nose (I’m not joking!).
4. Be Interesting
Examiners usually have to talk to the same country, asking the same questions, over and over.
Sometimes that can turn out like this:
Candidate 1: Talk about an invention that changed the world in a good way.
“I’d like to talk about the smartphone…”
Candidate 2: Talk about an invention that changed the world in a good way.
“I’d like to talk about the smartphone…”
Candidate 3: Talk about an invention that changed the world in a good way.
“I’d like to talk about the smartphone…”
By the end of the day the examiner is bored to death of the same boring, predictable answers and wishes Steve Jobs had never invented the smartphone!
Being interesting won’t help your score necessarily – it might not make a difference.
But if you have interesting, unconventional answers the examiner will listen more closely and have a much more positive impression of you.
It could even help bump up your score in some cases!
How do you do it if you are not normally an interesting person? Just give more concrete, specific examples.
Don’t speak very generally: I really like movies. When I go to the movies I can relax and have a good time. It’s a nice environment to be in after a long day working and I feel much better after I’ve seen a movie.
Do speak very specifically: I really like movies. Last week I went to see Deadpool 2 and it was really cool. I saw the original too but the sequel was better because the action scenes were better. There’s one part where Deadpool …
5. Be Humble
Nothing turns off examiners more than arrogance (besides body odor or bad breath).
Here are some of the things that you shouldn’t do:
Don’t be late – you might make the examiner wait!
Don’t talk about how rich you are – examiners are poor, lonely, lost souls filled with hatred for people who are more successful than themselves!
Don’t look annoyed or impatient with every question the examiner asks.
Be respectful, listen carefully and don’t be rude at any point.
