Before the IELTS exam I decided firmly that I would remain confident and happy throught my preparation, my exam and after that.
With very less support from the net and with only a practice guide (given free with registration) before me, I started my preparation just a week before. I just skimmed through the material without any interest. Before I could realise it was already friday. I wasn't even past the introduction. Saturday was the exam. I didn't go for office that day and took the practice book seriously. Everything was vague. I could neither get the feel of the exam nor understand what they are trying to test. Anyway I did all the exercises given in the book. I took the practice test in the CD. That sample test clinched the test of me.
Basically there were 4 sections - listening, reading, writing and speaking. Speaking test would be conducted individually and for me it was on a different date from the other tests. Other sections were 40 minutes long. Listening was the easiest of the lot. One has to listen to conversation, speech etc and answer the questions. A little bit of concentration would fetch you the full 9. Reading had 2 paragraphs. One smaller and another bigger. With just one day of preparation, it was harder to follow the tips given in the book. But if one follows them, it would be lot easier. On the test day, I went by the book tips. it was enough to fetch 8.5.
Writing section was a bit tricky. No clear cut winning formula was available. I applied whatever I learnt for my AWA writing. I got 7.5. Speaking test was very straight forward. A small introduction, a speech about an event, Q&A around the speech and a brief speech to conclude. I was lucky to get sports related topic. I talked about a non-existing NCAA experience, my club etc and was very emotional when asked about country's sporting infrastructure. I earned a 7.5. So, my final average score was 8. Not bad considering Haas expects at least 7. A special mention has to be made about the test experience.
It was professional to the core. British council conducted it in GRT hostel. I was one of the few people who looked like earned his own money. So, it was quite chaotic with the majority college going kids. One of them was shocked to hear that I didn't go for a coaching class. The ambience in the hall was very good. Proper light. Proper sound. Two beautiful (in fact very) girls at either side of my desk. Speaking test was in British Council itself. Sunday traffic didn't offer much resistance to my libero. I had to wait for my turn. In that period, I talked to a very forthcoing catering student from Australia. Without giving a thought about our mother tongue, we spoke in english. So, I was well warmed up. I already knew the test would be recorded. I was apprehensive to find the playback audio level so low. So I raised my voice above my normal level. The lady who conducted the test was very nice. She made me very comfortable. More than that she reacted to what I said. That really helped me. All in all the experience was very pleasant and one to cherish.
