This post is dedicated to an amazing person, Avinash, who faced a ‘do-or-die’ situation. IELTS Band 9 in Listening was the only thing that could save him from deportation and give him a chance to live his best life in Canada.
His journey was nerve-wracking and looked hopeless at times, but… he made it! This is a story best told by the person who lived it. Hear it from Avinash, in his own words:
Background
I was in an interesting phase of my life and IELTS-Blog.com changed my life for good. I wanted to emigrate from the US to Canada and the Canadian immigration needed a high score in listening (Band 9) to award the most points to high skilled immigrants.
Before
No matter how many tests I took I always ended up with a band 7 in Listening. Test after test, the score would not move. Needless to say, my frustration was through the roof. I stopped taking Listening tests, instead I started listening to BBC podcast and other audio files that have nothing to do with IELTS.
A month passed by and I took one test and I was back to square one – no change in my score. Listening was the only section I needed the highest score and it was the only section I would score less month after month. I was willing to do anything to improve my score, my life depended on it. I was literally getting kicked out from the US due to visa issues. IELTS was my way in to another country, Canada. I was devastated!
After
A few days later, I summoned up courage and started with a Google search on how to improve Listening and with some divine intervention I stumbled upon IELTS-Blog.com. The Listening strategies I read on it hit home for me. I read them over and over again until they registered in my brain. Before I was ready to take another IELTS listening test I practiced the strategies discussed on the blog. I have taken the High Scorer’s Choice Tests 1 – 10 and they are some of the best practice exams one can use to best prepare themselves for the real IELTS test.
Another month passed by. The stakes were high and I needed this to work. I took a mock test and lo and behold, it worked! I got a good 38 out of 40 in my very first attempt. There was nothing holding me back now and I took the actual test within a week. I can tell you these techniques work. Practice and witness the results yourself. I got a band 9 in Listening and all the credit goes to IELTS-Blog.com.
Lessons Learned
My experience with IELTS was different from all the other tests I took in the past as a student, namely TOEFL and GRE. They were technical and required a lot of uncommon use of words/vocabulary. IELTS seems deceptively simple up to band 7 to 7.5 but to truly get a higher score one has to understand the test in intricate details. At the time I was working full-time and to realize that IELTS requires a certain style of preparation took me a long time. It was only after going through several of your blog posts that I realized the technicalities of the test and not just the language per se.
It is hard to commit yourself to a consistent prep time when you are working or juggling kids in everyday life, but IELTS-Blog.com, when read carefully, gives you the formula to crack the exam. As an engineer this appeals the most to me and sets apart this blog from hundreds out there. Being a non-native English speaker I always underestimated the knowledge of language I had whenever I got a lower score. However, I have realized most of us have what it takes to crack the exam, it is the hidden formula you need to know to get a high score.
Congratulations on your amazing Band 9, Avinash!
The post Avinash went from Band 7 to Band 9 in Listening, in just a month first appeared on IELTS-Blog.
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