Read every day:
Firstly, you need to read. You need to read from myriad sources. Articles online, newspapers, novels, and journals are wonderful places to start. Try not to read consciously and just go with the flow of the text. Read curiously and read for fun. This will build your reading stamina, your vocabulary, and your reading speed. If there ever was a panacea to cracking the IELTS, it is this tip. READ. EVERY. DAY. It could be for half an hour or 45 minutes, but make sure you read.
Read the questions first:
This tip is a game-changer when it comes to the IELTS. You have 60 minutes to answer 40 questions linked to 3 texts. Time is of the essence, so you cannot read the text fully and take your own sweet time. Read the questions first. This will tell you what to look for when you get to the passage and help save precious time.
Reread the questions and understand them:
A small error in understanding what the question wants can pull you back a long way. Read the questions thoroughly and understand what it requires to find.
Scan, skim, and summarise:
This is a tip that will work wonders if you follow it up with Tip 1 (start reading today!). Skim the passage given to you and look for the main ideas, understand the layout of the text, highlight keywords and salient points, and try to make sense of what the passage is about. This is key when it comes to the Reading Section.
Key in the keywords in your head:
The IELTS involves a lot of information hunting. Questions will ask you to look for specific information and fill in/choose the right answers. While skimming, make sure you highlight keywords like dates, places, topics, numbers, etc. You will learn to recognize them with practice.
Familiarise yourself with various Question Types and practices:
The consensus among every dynamic IELTS community is that True/False/Not Given Question Types are the most difficult out there. While that may be true for them, what will prove to be your bane? Conversely, what type of questions will you excel at? You can only do so with practice tests. These will help you familiarise yourself with the IELTS Question Types (the list can be found above) and ensure that you have sufficient practice.
Vocabulary:
While using flashcards and memorizing a whole bunch of words may seem like the ideal way to build your vocabulary, reading from a variety of sources about various topics will prove to be the better technique out of the two. When you read articles and content from different genres, you are not only building your knowledge but also encountering new words as you progress. A sense of grammatical intuition will also develop. Read, learn the words you do not know, and keep reading. This will work far better than memorizing 7000 new words for the IELTS. Make sure you go back and learn the words you did not know in your practice tests as well. You can use this as a reference for learning any words you come across.
Distinguish the IELTS texts:
You will come across texts that can be divided into 2 broad categories –
- Descriptive – These texts are chronological in order and are usually full of facts and information about a particular topic. Example: History of the Silk Road.
- Discursive – These texts are centered around a theory or hypothesis based on the author’s research and evidence. It may also express certain opinions and put forth some arguments. Example: Does Meritocracy aid economic growth?
Answer all the questions even if you’re unsure of the answer:
The IELTS does not have any negative markings, so answer as many questions with as much accuracy as you can!
The Passage is sacrosanct:
Your own base of knowledge should not influence your answer choices. Read the question and try to understand what it wants. It is fixed on the author’s point of view or the contents of the passage. This will help enormously with question types such as True/False/Not Given.
Paraphrase:
The language in the question may not reflect the language in the text, so you must build your reading skills (you can only do this by reading every day) in such a way that you are able to paraphrase using synonyms and glean the meaning of the question.
Grammar is key:
Make sure that there aren’t any grammatical mistakes when you have to answer Short Answer Questions or any other Question Type that involves you writing/typing in the answer. Grammatical intuition, spelling, and sentence structure are all very important.
The above IELTS Reading Tips and IELTS Reading Strategies will definitely prove to be invaluable during the day of your test. The techniques above will certainly be useful. Having said that, work with what you are comfortable with. Make sure that you follow these basic IELTS Tips.
