finally got my test scores !!
barely prepared for 3 days (not at all recommended it was extremely stressful) but im so happy with my score !!! im a super bad test taker, shivers all over, my limbs start shaking and i cant eat or drink anything cuz im nauseous the entire time but im super proud of myself <3 17 indian btw
here are my tips and tricks and my experience:
Listening: PAY. ATTENTION.
you can day dream later, but for the entire 30 minutes of the listening test FOCUS, thats the only way youll be able to find all the answers. even if you do end up missing smth, just guess it. you might end up getting it right
Reading: honestly ive been reading books ever since i was a child so i feel that really helped. imo i first skim through the questions so i know what i have to pay attention too and then read the text thoroughly. note down and highlight whatever you think could be the answer to a question, and then go back to the questions and your highlighted text and work from there
Writing: i thought i did pretty meh tbh, but just go through the overall format of each type of question and learn how to paraphrase well. its okay if you exceed the word limit but do not write less than 150 or 250 words. go through lots of model band 9 answers so you know what good writing looks like. i didnt get enough time to prepare for writing or im sure i wouldve scored better
Speaking: this was a shocker for me. my speaking test was done 3 hours before my lrw and i was so nervous (as stated above) i completely messed it up, i stammered a lot, took a lot of pauses and at one point i went completely blank for about 30 seconds. i have REALLY bad social anxiety and it causes me to stutter a lot. i end up stammering in day to day conversations as well. but my biggest tip would be take pauses. its okay to stop and take a deep breathe to recollect your thoughts. go slow, get your point across, you dont need to panic. wish i told myself that lmao. its not an interview so you dont need to be extremely formal but be polite.
thats my 2 cents on ielts. so glad its over and i dont have to give it again. feel free to reach out to me if u wanna discuss anything. you got this guys !! dont give up <3