Don’t let the Covid-19 affect your IELTS preparation plan. There are always ways to continue ensuring that you are as well prepared as possible. To that end, we have prepared a series of not-to-be-missed IELTS tips to help learners during this difficult time. See below for our essential Reading Tips:
Reading tips
1. Choose a variety of texts and combine reading for studying with reading for pleasure.
2. Spend 20-30 minutes every day reading different texts: newspaper articles, blogs, books, textbook activities.
3. Improve your vocabulary by looking up common words (words you hear a lot) in the dictionary.
4. Try different techniques while reading: skim and scan the text quickly, answer questions in detail, summarise the main idea(s).
5. Choose topics of interest but also try to read texts on various topics as IELTS chooses subjects from many fields.
6. Discuss some interesting texts with your friends and exchange ideas in English.
7. Read for speed. Set a timer and try to read a text within the time limit (e.g. 5 mins). Check your understanding. Reduce the time limit as you improve and get faster (e.g. from 5 mins to 4 mins to 3 mins).
8. Read aloud with your friends or even by yourself. You could record yourself if you wish. Listen to how you sound. This will help your fluency and pronunciation. It will also build your self-confidence.
9. Familiarise yourself with the style of the exam and how long each part takes. You need to develop skills to answer each type of question in the reading examination. Questions could take the form of any of the following:
- Multiple choice
- Short answer questions
- Sentence completion questions
- Notes/ table/ form/ summary/ flow chart/diagram completion questions
- Yes, no, not given or True, false, not given
- Classification questions
- Matching
- Choosing headings
- Scanning & identifying location of information
- Labelling a diagram which has numbered parts.
