Eu e meu marido tivemos que fazer o IELTS. Para aplicar para a imigração ele, que era o aplicante principal, teve que fazer o IELTS General, lá em 2009... eu nem precisei...
Mas chegando aqui descobrimos que, para qualquer coisa que quisessemos relacionado à medicina (e a outras profissões tb, fiquem de olho!), teremos que apresentar um novo resultado de IELTS, com validade de até 2 anos, e dessa vez o Academic, com uma nota exigida bem maior (7 em cada componente).
Como o marido já havia feito uma vez a prova e, portanto, sabia o que esperar, ele agendou o teste dele para janeiro passado. Pouco mais de 2 semanas após a prova o resultado dele chegou em casa: notas ótimas, overall de 8!
Eu, que nunca tinha feito a prova (e sou insegura pra caramba), me matriculei por 4 semanas num curso preparatório para o IELTS aqui em Calgary, na Global Village. O curso foi ótimo! Tinha 3 salas só de preparatório para o IELTS, com turmas divididas em níveis (1, 2 e 3), de acordo com o desempenho num teste aplicado no primeiro dia. Isso garantiu que as turmas fossem niveladas, garantindo um melhor aproveitamento pros alunos. Eu fiquei no IELTS 3 e fiz aulas com uma professora britânica, chamada Sharon. Ela foi sensacional como professora e também como psicóloga (trabalhou bastante na minha auto-confiança). E o fato de ela ser britânica também ajudou, já que pude me adaptar ao sotaque britânico, que domina o "Listening" no IELTS...
Meu curso aconteceu no período entre 14/01/13 e 08/02/13, e eu agendei minha prova para 02/03/13. A prova durou o dia todo. Pela manhã, fizemos o Listening, o Reading e o Writing. À tarde retornamos para o Speaking. Eu fique tão nervosa no Speaking, tremendo que nem vara verde, gaguejando e entrando em quase desespero, que eu saí de lá com a certeza de que não havia conseguido. Fiquei triste naquele dia, mas no dia seguinte melhorei e comecei a pensar em refazer a prova. Como sou derrotista... que vergonha!!!! O resultado estava previsto para sair em 15/03, e deveria chegar pelo correio na segunda-feira seguinte (dia 18/03). Mas é claaaaaro que, pela lei de Murphy, o grau de ansiedade é diretamente proporcional à chance de atraso... dito e feito: o resultado não chegou na data prevista... No dia 19 entrei em contato com uma colega de curso que havia feito a prova no mesmo dia e ela disse que, por telefone, havia sido informada de que os resultados estavam mesmo atrasados, mas que poderíamos acompanhar através do site. De fato, na própria terça-feira o resultado apareceu na internet... de acordo com o site eu havia conseguido a nota que precisava... mas havia uma observação embaixo dizendo que aquilo NÃO era o resultado oficial, e que divergências poderiam ocorrer... mais 2 dias de desespero até que hoje na hora do almoço chegou o resultado oficial, confirmando as notas que estavam no site!!!
Estou super feliz por ter conseguido. E decidida a melhorar minha auto-imagem/auto-estima/confiança...
Para quem ainda vai fazer, em seguida mando algumas dicas valiosas sobre o "Speaking" e o "Writing"do IELTS Academic:
IELTS - SPEAKING
What is evaluated (in order
of importance): - fluency
- coherence
-
range of grammar
-
range of vocabulary
-
pronunciation
3 PARTS:
(1)
Introduction/Warm-up: 4-5 minutes; personal
questions; common topics:
·
Common topics: hobbies/spare
time, last holiday, traveling, food, family/friends, plans for the future, occupation, home, last weekend, sport interests, schooldays, ambitions, studies, hometown/country (description, climate, culture, etc.), current city, learning English,
festivals and national holidays, National Park/wildlife in your country,
careers (past, present, future)
(2)
Long turn: 1minute to prepare, 1-2 minutes to speak; main question + 4 ideas + wrap up
·
“Describe… You should say
what… where/when… how… why”
·
“I would like to talk
about…” “I have chosen to talk about…”
“That are a lot that I’ve
enjoyed, but the best one was…”
·
Common topics: restaurant,
situation when you were helped by an unknown person, special visit to a
friend’s home, party, city vs. countryside, reading habits, technology,
punctuality, place you live or have lived, job (current or future), meeting new
people/taboos, lifestyle, environment (nature vs. nurture), health, medicine,
cultures, food, entertainment, sports, music/concerts, movie/play/musical,
book, artist, careers, art, future (space/science), teenagers
(problems/differences over the last decades), business, communication,
education, history, endangered species, stressful situation
·
Follow-up questions (1-2):
answer briefly (yes or no, I
think so or I don’t think so)
(3)
Discussion: 4-5 minutes; 5-6 questions
about item 2 subject; personal view + opposite/counter-view
You can say:
“Could you please repeat
that? / rephrase that? / paraphrase that?”
“I’m sorry, I still don’t
understand. Can you say that again in a different way please?”
“That’s an interesting
question. I’ve never really thought about that before.”
“I’m not really sure, but I
would guess that…”
“I can’t remember exactly…
but it was something about…”
“I’m afraid I can’t really
think of anything interesting to say about…”
Giving an opinion:
“As far as I can see…”
“From my point of view…” “Personally,
I believe/think…”
“Some people think …
However, I think…” “Some people say … However, I think…”
“It may/might be better
to/if we…” “As far as I’m concerned…” “I doubt that…”
Giving an explanation:
“One reason is…” “It is possible due to…” It may be because of…” “Firstly…”
“It may come from the fact
that…” “Consequently…”
Giving examples:
“For example…” “For instance…” “…such as…”
Making a suggestion:
“It would be a good idea
to…” “One thing we could do would
be…” “One idea would be…”
“The main improvement would
be…”
Comparing two things:
“… better than…” “… less useful than…” “I
prefer”
“I’d rather…”
“While … may be true, I also
think…” “Although…”
“Certainly/Obviously … but…”
“It’s true that … but on the
other hand/alternatively…”
“Some people think …
However, I think…”
Making a prediction about the future:
“It’s possible that…” “It’s unlikely that…” “In the long run…”
“It’s quite likely that…” “I doubt whether … will happen”
“It’s very difficult to
predict the future of course, but I am quite optimistic/pessimistic about…”
Agreeing or disagreeing with something:
“I’m not sure that I agree
with…” “Yes, absolutely (because)…” “Certainly, yes, …”
“Yes, I think we should
actually, because…” “Not really
(because)” “To be honest, no, …”
“I’m afraid I can’t agree
with that idea because…”
“I agree entirely…”
“I strongly disagree…”
Summarizing:
“In short…”
“To sum up…” “In conclusion…” “To conclude…”
Explaining how you feel - now and then:
“What I like about … is that
I can…” “What I liked about
… was that I could…”
“The reason I don’t like …
is that…” “The reason I
didn’t like … was that…”
“The reason why I enjoy … is
that…” “The reason why I
enjoyed … was that…”
“One of the good things
about … is that…” “One of the problems
with … is that you can’t…”
“One of the bad things about
… is not being able to…”
Describing the past:
“Until quite recently…” “It was common to see…”
“In those days…”
“They used to…”
“Once,…” “Back in the …, they would…”
Describing the present:
“Nowadays…” “They no longer have to…” “Things are getting…” “These days…”
“Since then…” “People are becoming…”
Expressing a sequence of events:
“before” “prior to” “until” “after” “afterwards”
Expressing time:
“eventually”
“finally” “in the end” -
when something happens after a lot of time
“while” “whilst” “when” “as” “meanwhile” “throughout” “during”
Giving extra information or reasons:
“in addition” “as well as”
“not only… but also” “as
well”
“Furthermore/Besides/Moreover”
Expressing conditions:
“provided that/providing
that/as long as” “unless” “whether or not” “otherwise”
Expressing purposes:
“The purpose of doing…” “so that” “in order to”
Expressing consequences:
“As a
result/Therefore/Consequently”
Note exceptions:
“except” except for/apart for”
Adverbs of frequency (how often):
“(almost) always” “frequently” “(quite) often”
“regularly” “sometimes”
“occasionally” “seldom” “hardly ever” “(very) rarely”
Adverbs of degree (how much):
“incredibly” “extremely” “very” “pretty”
“quite”
“fairly”
“somewhat” “a little bit” “slightly”
Finishing your speaking:
“Have I given you enough
information?” “Shall I tell you more
about it?”
“That’s about all I know” “Would you like
me to explain anything?”
“Do you need to know
anything else?” “Thank you.
Goodbye.”
IELTS - WRITING
THINK Þ PLAN Þ WRITE
2 TASKS:
Task 1: REPORT (graph - common OR process - rare); 150
words, 20 minutes
·
Do not contract (e.g.
“don’t”)
·
Do not write opinions (no
“I” or “we”); do not have conclusion!!! (conclusion is a opinion)
(1)
Process (rare): usually a flowchart or a diagram
o
Natural cycle: active
voice (e.g. “water evaporates into the air”)
o
Manufactured: passive
voice (e.g. “the fruit is picked and packed”)
o
3 parts: Introduction + Overview + Body (or
introduction + body + overview)
1.
Introduction: what the topic is about -
title
-
“The diagram given shows a
natural process, known as ‘water cycle’”
2.
Overview: summary - n° of steps,
“starting from … and ending with…”; 3 main steps
-
Maintain it a little bit
vague
3.
Body: describe in details
-
Sentence connectors
indicating sequence: first, firstly, first of all, first and foremost, second,
third, next, at once, then, after that, meanwhile, finally, last, lastly,
subsequently, now
(2)
Graph (common):
o
3 parts: Introduction + Overview + Body (or
introduction + body + overview)
1.
Introduction: what the topic is about; 1-2
sentences
-
Write one sentence to
introduce what the graph shows; just paraphrase the question statement
-
“The graph given shows/demonstrates…”
-
“The illustration given is a
pie chart, which demonstrates…”
-
If 2 illustrations: “There
are two illustrations given, the first which is a line graph shows… The second
is a bar chart that describes…”
2.
Body: describe in details
-
Biggest paragraph, can be
divided in 2 paragraphs
-
If 2 illustrations: 2
paragraphs for the body (1 to describe each illustration)
-
“Firstly…”, “Secondly…”
3.
Overview: general trend; 1-2
sentences
-
Describe the overall trend
-
If 2 illustrations: must
contain a link between the 2 illustrations given
-
“In general…”, “Overall…”
o
Prepositions with numbers and dates:
(1995: 35%, 1997: 10%)
-
In 1997 the
number fell to 10%
-
In 1997 the number fell by 25%
-
In 1997 the number fell from 35%
-
The number dropped to 10% between 1995 and 1997
-
By 1997 the number had fallen to 10%
-
From 1995 to 1997; in 1995,
in 1997; for 2 years; between 1995 and 1997; during/throughout the period from
1995 to 1997
o
Combination:
-
Verb + adverb: increased significantly
-
Adjective + noun: significant increase
Task 2: ESSAY; 250 words, 40 minutes
·
Your opinion (have to write
“I” in introduction and conclusion, not
in the body)
·
Answer the question in an
essay format
·
Do not put a question in
your essay
1.
Introduction:
-
Analyze the question you are
looking at (advantages vs. disadvantages? opinion? 2 different points of view?)
-
Paraphrase the task
-
Thesis statement (generically)
-
“I agree…”, “I disagree…”,
“I am of both minds…”, “… and my essay will describe why.”
-
“One of the most
controversial issues today relates to…”, “Some people argue that… However…”,
2.
Body 1:
weaker idea
|
Body 1:
weaker idea
3.
Body 2: stronger idea
4.
Conclusion: paraphrase your thesis
statement, including information of the body
-
“To sum up…”, “Overall…”,
“In the final analysis…”, “In conclusion/To conclude…”, “Ultimately…”, “In the
end…”, “Taking everything into consideration…”, “In brief…”
-
“As we have seen, there are
no easy answers to this question. On balance, however, I tend to believe that…”
·
Expressing contrast or
concession: despite, nevertheless, on the other hand, although/even though,
while, whereas, however, on the one hand … but on the other hand
·
Providing reasons: as a
result of, because of, since, due to, as
·
Adding further support: in
addition, as well as, moreover, furthermore, not only … but also, besides
·
Giving examples: for
example. for instance, such as
·
Stating results or
consequences: so, consequently, therefore, thus
·
Stating purpose: in order to,
in order not to, not to
