Hi, everybody!
Eid Mubarek! My best wishes to you and your families!
I had my exam on September 22 and it went well. Actually, reaaaally well. Beside myself, I have to thank for this the British Council for the preparation course and, especially, Tony Beale. After drafting this contribution, I counted eleven “Thank you, Tony!” across the text. To make the situation less embarrassing, I will say it once and strong:
THANK YOU, TONY!
The “extra” you added on top of the course meant a lot in the balance of the exam.
Instead of the DOs and DON'Ts (thoroughly covered during the course), I will concentrate on the “expected” and “unexpected”, the little things which can affect positively or negatively your exam day.
As you should already know, exam day starts at 9am in a room capable to host a large number of candidates for the written exams. In my case, it was Arzanah Ballroom at Sheraton Hotel and candidates were about 200.
Well, I expected a little crowding at the entrance, where people had also to store their belongings (nothing but pencils, rubbers and sharpeners was allowed in the room). What I did not expect was a delay in starting of the exam. Not much, but enough to play with your exam frame of mind.
LISTENING exam followed the procedure described during the course. Expected, but not desired, was missing by me of some answers. Not expected were some CD player technical difficulties and too loud sound. I was seated close to one of the room’s corners where one of the speakers was placed. In order to provide all the candidates with a minimum volume, people closer to speakers had to endure sound bombardment. Good for listening, very bad for your brain. Mine “vroom”-ed all day. I got band 8.5, so I assume improvisation for the missed spots helped.
No surprises during READING. The only difference compared to practice tests was the high percentage of TRUE, FALSE, NOT GIVEN questions. Applying the course techniques, I could finish in 40 minutes, so a lot of time was left for checking and transferring the answers. I encountered one unknown word which was essential for the meaning of the sentence and if I used it incorrectly might have generated one of the wrong answers. I got band 8.5.
WRITING exam was one of my concerns, especially if I was not so accustomed with the subjects. But, I was lucky, both the essay and the letter were juicy enough to provide arguments and ideas for at least 250, and 150 respectively, words. I got band 8.5
When I applied for the IELTS test mentioned that SPEAKING was going to start at 1pm. After Writing, I was informed that I was scheduled for 5:50pm. Good, because it was a clear personal not a group appointment, bad, because it was a dramatic change in day’s schedule and it was also extending the stress of the exam day. To add to the drama, I received a phone call around 4pm to come as soon as possible to fill in an opening resulted from some cancellations. I took the opportunity, but at the expense of my appearance, which I consider was not fresh enough, especially after quickly crossing half of the city. The exam itself seemed longer than expected, but I suppose the examiner wanted a better contact with my English. Unexpected was also the short time the examiner needed to bring me in a comfort zone. Subjects suited me (somehow unexpected) and, so, the examiner had difficulties to stop my verbal flow. Retrospectively, I think I might have been a little bit impolite trying to impose too much. I got band 9.0.
Receiving the results was a stressful job. Instructions received earlier mentioned collecting the results on October 4 from British Council, opposed to receiving the results by Empost courier as informed during the exam day. Nothing happened on 4th or on 5th. Conflicting information received from British Council toll free number and Empost added to the stress. Finally, on 6th, I went to Empost to collect the results to spare one or two more days.
Even though the overall band 8.5 is very good and satisfactory for my purpose, I have to look at this result in the context of the General Training test. To speak good English, I still have to work a lot.
Good luck with your exams.
Yours truly,
Vladimir Baranovschi
3 comments:
Congratulations Vladimir really it is wonderful. You achieved a golden or platinum level in IELTS (Tony will confirm the level name), Your result plants the hope to many people who try to gain less than this band. Good luck in your live
Hello vladimir,
I am very proud of you, and also i am very happy that someone get more than 7 (overall), it is just amazing,
Congratulation.
Vlad, you 'impaled' IELTS (a Carpathian joke for Transylvanians)!
I salute your majestic achievement! Thank you for your kind words regarding my 'help', but as ever, you guys sit the exam and overcome the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" to quote the Bard of Avon.
For other students' benefit, Vladimir is an engineer (surprise, not!) from Romania who took the General Training IELTS. He did the BC IELTS prep course with me in July and gave himself a TWO MONTH build-up to the actual exam! I could see from the outset that Vladimir was a strong candidate who came in at a Band 7.0! However, he simply was NOT satisfied with this excellent standard and pushed himself to beyond band 8.0. I find this to be an incredible feat and a testimony to Vladimir's thoroughness, courtesy and humility!
I love Vladimir's emphasis on 'expecting the unexpected' and will incorporate this golden advice in future IELTS prep courses.
Students, also note that Vladimir STILL considers that his spoken English can improve, DESPITE getting a band 9.0! This is the measure of Vladimir Baranovschi, a scholar, gentleman and conqueror of the demon IELTS!
Vladimir slew his dragon, I hope that his message inspires you to keep striving, practising and improving!
Bye for now
Tony
PS Watch the blog for news of the next weblog for my 21 October class.
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