A hidden clearing

You found a quieter corner of the field.

Stay curious. Stay tender. When you are ready, let the field choose a path for you.

Wander somewhere unexpected
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IELTS: Notes from Practice

These are practical notes from my own preparation rather than an official guide. Exam formats can change, so it is worth checking the official IELTS information before test day.

Writing

My writing is honestly not very good, so I will keep this section short. Simon's and Vince's courses are often recommended online, and the courses themselves can be found on Bilibili. I also compiled a set of notes:

Copy the link and extraction code into the Baidu Netdisk app to access the files.

Speaking

The speaking test has three parts:

  • Part 1 — Everyday conversation. Around ten short questions and answers, mainly as a warm-up. A useful structure is one sentence answering the question, followed by one sentence explaining why.
  • Part 2 — Individual long turn. The examiner gives you a task card. You have one minute to prepare and may take notes, followed by a one-to-two-minute monologue. The examiner may ask an additional question.
  • Part 3 — Two-way discussion. The examiner asks more abstract and socially oriented questions based on the Part 2 topic, and may follow up spontaneously. This section lasts around four to five minutes.

A few things to remember:

  • The question pool changes every few months. IELTS does not publish it officially, but candidate-compiled versions can usually be found online.
  • The assessment focuses on pronunciation—not accent—along with lexical variety, grammatical range and accuracy, fluency, and coherence.

Listening

The most useful first step is simply to do a practice test and get a feel for it.

  • There are four listening sections, with fill-in-the-blank questions, single- and multiple-choice questions, and a few less conventional choice-based formats.
  • Each recording begins with a short introduction explaining the speakers, topic, and setting. This context is important.
  • There is usually enough time to preview fill-in-the-blank questions, but much less time for multiple-choice questions.
  • For map questions, inspect both the printed labels and visual landmarks such as trees, roads, and rivers.
  • Map questions often sound like people standing around and discussing a map, rather than narrating a route while walking through it.
  • Be absolutely sure where the starting point is in a map question.
  • In ordinary multiple-choice questions, pay close attention to whose opinion or action is being described—it is an easy trap.
  • For matching questions, preview the options first if possible. The questions themselves follow the order of the recording, although it is difficult to read every option in advance.
  • Across questions, the relevant information appears in order: the answer to Question 1 will be heard before the answer to Question 2.
  • Within a multiple-answer question, however, correct options may be mentioned in any order. If the answers are B and D, you might hear D first.
  • Fill-in-the-blank answers use the exact words heard in the recording. There is no need to change the word form, although the wording of the question will not repeat the recording verbatim.

Reading

Again, the easiest way to understand the section is to begin with a practice test.

  • There are three passages, each followed by 13 or 14 questions using two or three formats, including fill-in-the-blank and several unusual varieties of multiple-choice questions.
  • I generally found the time sufficient.
  • In my experience, the three passages become progressively more difficult.
  • The relevant information for consecutive questions appears in order. My most efficient approach was to skim all the questions first, then read a passage section and answer one or two questions at a time.
  • The most frustrating part for me was Not Given in True/False/Not Given or Yes/No/Not Given questions. Read the relevant paragraph carefully and do not fill gaps with assumptions: choose True, False, Yes, or No only when a sentence in the passage clearly supports it.
  • Word-choice questions rely heavily on synonyms. Once you locate a keyword, compare the options one by one. I found the vocabulary easier than the word-choice section of China's CET-6.
  • I dislike Heading questions most. A heading may either summarize the whole paragraph or foreground its central point; when a paragraph covers several things, identify what it is really emphasizing.
  • For paragraph-information matching, preview the options first.
  • Fill-in-the-blank answers also seem to use exact words from the passage. Always check the word limit.
  • A strong high-school vocabulary is mostly enough to answer the questions, although there will still be unfamiliar words. Many of them do not prevent you from understanding the passage.