Bismillah....
Alhamdulillah, at this point of time we are no longer in MCO and I have been fully vaccinated. However, I still can't get my family to come to Sabah because interstate crossing is only allowed for urgent matters and in the case of emergency. I haven't written much on this blog since August, partly because of me being all preoccupied with my university and scholarship applications. I anticipated the challenges but still I admit that this whole process is very very tiring.
I am currently in the tawakal phase, waiting for the result for Graduate Excellence Programme (GREP) offered by MARA. Although my departure to UK has yet to be confirmed, I'm very compelled to share this whole journey because I think one of the thing that have kept me going besides the support I received from family and close friends are the blog entries where bloggers shared the reality of their academic journey.
When I was applying for Chevening, I looked through the previous scholars' blogs and YouTube channel to look for tips. They were all successful applicants thus their writings were very positive. The narratives, I feel, were meant to inspire others and in some, they even make you feel to be selected as an awardee is easy. Having failed twice, I really haven't figured out what is it that the selection committee is looking for. I guess you must really have an exceptional writing skills to be able to sell yourself with just 500 words hahaha
Anyway, in this first entry I'm going to talk about the International English Language Test (IELTS). Yes, the one that I registered the day after I found out I didn't advance to the interview stage for Chevening. For my case, I needed the IELTS result to apply for MARA scholarship which requires a minimum score of 6.5 and also to convert my University College London's (UCL) conditional offer to unconditional offer where I have to score a band 7. Yes, I manage to get an offer from a top university, Alhamdulillah. InshaAllah, I'll share about university applications in another post.
The first thing to do is to make sure you register for the correct paper. There are 2 types of papers; Academic and General Training. And be sure to check whether the university you're applying to is a Tier 4 sponsor or not because if it is not, then you have to register for the UKVI which is slightly more pricey than the normal Academic paper. I think the British council website is very helpful with the whole process as long as you take your time to read all the information that they've provided. I registered for the UKVI Academic paper since at that time I have not decide which offer to accept.
The next question will be how much preparation should you make?
I had about 28 days to prepare. Knowing that some people had taken the test several times before getting the band that they needed and considering that my last English test was MUET back in 2004, I decided to take this test seriously. After the registration, I received a confirmation email on my test booking and this was followed by several emails on how to prepare for the test and links to useful resources.
One that I found useful is this free live webinar on Thursdays. So, for several weeks I would rush home sharp at 5.00 pm to make sure I arrive at home just in time for the webinar. I highly recommend these webinars but do not solely rely on them because these webinars will only assist you to familiarize with the formats and the marking schemes but it is not a practice platform. I enjoyed all the sessions and they were surprisingly interactive and engaging. You'll receive the recording a few days later even if you can't attend to the one that you've signed up for.
Oh! I also downloaded the free study guide and adjusted the study plan into my 'busy' schedule. Yes, I was that serious! My money was at stake if I were to retake the exam. And the intermittent surge of Covid 19 cases caused irregular test schedules so I didn't want to risk it.
This is where you'll find the information on the format
For listening and reading, I did some practice at this British Council Learn English website. To be honest, in reality the listening test is much harder. Firstly, you'll be listening to native speakers of various accents. Secondly, the monologues/dialogues are lengthy so you have to maintain your attention. There was this part in which two architecture students were discussing about house designs from different era. They were talking without any pause at a considerably fast speed. I was sitting next to the radio, so it was loud and clear but still I have to quickly jot down the important points. The task was to match the characteristics with the correct houses and there were seven different types! Mind you, the conversations will not be straightforward and will only be played once. I scored a 7.5 for listening.
As for reading, although I scored 8.5 which means I only got 2 to 3 wrong answers, I wouldn't say it was easy. The articles given were long and the questions, from my opinion, are sometimes obscure. My advantage was I can speed read and process the information as I go hence I didn't need to reread the whole article to find the answers. However, I do think this is the section where you can score the highest.
The writing test is where many people had a hard time scoring thus affecting their overall marks. Two-third of the marks will come from task 2 thus more time should be spent on this one. I was lucky to get an easy topic for task 2. The question asked for my opinion on sharing personal details online. If you look through the past questions, many of them were on first world issues that we're most likely not familiar with. Like what's your take on space exploration? Which is better, punishment or rehabilitation? Eating meat vs eating plants? I did prepare for these kind of topics by reading articles in BBC, The Guardian, The Economist and Reader's Digest. I spent 1 to 2 hours per day reading articles on science and technology, economics, arts and even law. Well, I found it enjoyable to discover all these things that I never knew about like feeding cows with seaweed to reduce the amount of methane when they burp hahaha So I could keep up with the habit and I still read these websites everyday until today hahaha
For task 1, the question that I got was a bar chart. My advise for this section is to study the format, read as many samples as you could and do practice writing with different kind of diagrams. If you could get someone to check for you will be the best but for me, I practiced by writing within the actual time frame and then improvised how I organized my points and my language. The sites that I frequented for this exercise were IELTS preparation with Liz and IELTS buddy. I stick to just these two because I found the techniques that they shared were easy to follow and they have hundreds of sample questions. I think they will also respond to enquiries. How much did I practice my writing? I took a 3 days leave before my exam and I actually manage to use up almost one whole exercise book to practice writing essays.
And finally, the speaking test which consists of 3 parts. The 1st part is said meant to make us relax where the examiner will ask questions about yourself. I was asked about my work, why I chose my career and what I don't like about it. In the 2nd part, you'll be given a card asking about a particular topic and the points that should be covered as you elaborate the subject. Mine was on telling the truth to a friend and how it affected our friendship. I think the biggest challenge for this task is you must continue talking for the entire two minutes. And in the final part, the examiner will ask more questions related to the question on the card and an additional issue. I was asked on my opinion on cheating in sports and the importance of farming in your country.
There was a moment when I can't recall this farming method and paused for a while. Then I just admit that I can't remember the name and went on to describe it instead. For speaking, to improve my pronunciation, sometimes I read aloud articles. For the second part, since I have no partner to practice with, I record myself speaking on sample topics. I actually planned my answers ahead. For instance if I were to be asked about an object like my favourite book, I already have which book to talk about in mind. If I were to talk about someone I idolize or a family member or a friend, I already have in mind the people that I should talk about so this save me a lot of time during the 1 minute preparation period.
Alhamdulillah, I manage to score a band 8 which was my actual target although I only needed a band 7. I purposely targeted a higher score so that I can push myself like the above. Honestly, I think IELTS should not be taken lightly. Take a class if you must. And even if you're confident enough with your current proficiency, do adequately prepare. I was mentally exhausted when it finished and IELTS was the most difficult English test that I've ever sat.
I hope this post will be useful for future test takers (^^)/ Yes we can!
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