Got good scores on Speaking and Reading.Thanks to Ryan

[Van]

I took the Academic IELTS by BRitish Council last Sept 20 here in Canada. I was surprised with my Speaking 8.5 and Reading 8.0, which were fairly high as compared to my previous results taken last year in the Phil., where I only got 6.5 for Speaking and 6 for Reading.For my one month preparation, I just came across with IeLTs lectures on youtube by Ryan.I listened to his lectures and wrote down important notes, like phrases to use in speaking to make the conversation more casual. I answered most of the common topics in ielts buddy for speaking and wrote it down first using Ryans phrases in answering questions and some of Ryan's 9 words for better speaking.Then I read my answers out loud without memorizing just getting the thought and right manner of answering certain topics. I dont really practice speaking by recording coz i dont feel it's natural and i tend to try recalling my answers instead of delivering it in a spontaneous manner, so what I did I searched for a native speaker in English, he is from London.I read the questions and answered them and he corrected me on the right manner to say it, coz i have the idea but I sometimes express it in my way literally in the same when I speak my own dialect. eX. "Switch on the light", I sometimes say it literally like, "Open the light" . I had a daily practice in speaking with him for 30 min to 1 hour a week before my exam.I also tried to emulate how the local people here in Canada speak. With my reading? I listened to ryan's interview with those two students from Australia and the other one i can't remeber. I dont just do practice test, I go per category, read lectures from ryan and other sources like IElts buddy and later on , applied what techniques I've learned.

[Ryan]

Thank you for sharing the story, Van. Congratulations on your success. How did you find your speaking partner in London?

Good luck with your future endeavours.