Hi, welcome to your IELTS preparation course.
My name is René Lora, and I'm going to be the teacher
guiding you throughout this course.
To begin with, let me tell you a little bit about myself.
First, I've been a teacher for about 10 years,
teaching different students from different backgrounds,
both in person and online.
Also, I have a major in linguistics from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia,
as well as a C2 English certification from IELTS.
I also took the IELTS like you are planning to.
This is why I'm here, to guide you and share my experience with you
so that you can have a better result when you take your exam.
Llet me tell you what we're going to learn throughout this course.
To begin with, you're going to be able to learn
the IELTS test structure,
which means you're going to understand the organization of the test,
as well as the different questions that appear for each of the skills.
You also will be able to learn some new tips and tricks
to approach each question and answer them correctly,
as well as some exercises
that will help you practice for the real exam,
which we're going to go through together.
Finally, you will be able to understand the scoring system,
and we're going to understand what are the skills
that are necessary to achieve a particular score.
As I said before, IELTS is divided into four different skills.
These four skills are assessed in two different sessions.
The first session is going to be the reading,
the listening, and the writing.
And the second session,
maybe the same day later or maybe in a different day,
is going to be the speaking part.
Before we begin talking about
the tips and the tricks I was telling you about,
I recommend that you take this course on a computer,
or if you're doing so on a mobile device, like a tablet or your smartphone,
make sure you flip the screen for a better experience.
Okay, let's get into it.
The first question that a test taker might ask themselves is,
what is the IELTS exam?
IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System,
which means it's an international exam
that certifies your level of English and proficiency across the world.
Now, why should somebody take the IELTS exam?
Well, it's for three main reasons.
The first reason is for education.
Another reason is for migration.
And the third and last one is for work.
Why for education?
If you're planning on traveling and studying abroad,
IELTS is recognized by more than 11, 000
education providers around the world.
Now, if you're planning to migrate,
the exam is also recognized
in many different English-speaking territories,
such as the United States or the United Kingdom.
Finally, if you're looking for work,
IELTS is recognized by many recruitment agencies
for recruitment purposes.
Now, there are two types of IELTS exam.
We have the general training IELTS exam,
and we have the academic IELTS exam.
But what are the differences between these two types?
Well, if you're talking about the listening and the speaking parts,
there's absolutely no difference.
They are exactly the same. So you don't have to worry here.
However, there are some differences between the reading and the writing.
In the reading, in thegeneral training type,
the passages are shorter
and usually are more general interest topics or work-related topics,
while on the academic version, the passages are longer,
and the type of texts are more academic,
as well as their vocabulary.
When it comes to writing,
in the general one, you have to write a letter.
While in the academic version,
you have to describe a chart, a diagram, a table, or a map.
Now, a student might ask themselves,
what is the difference between the IELTS exam
and the TOEFL exam,
which is another exam that is globally known
and globally accepted?
Well, there are a few differences. But the main difference
is the speaking part in the IELTS exam,
you're talking to an examiner.
It's a conversation with a real person.
While on the TOEFL, you have to record your answers.
You have to use a computer and you have some time to record them.
Another small difference is the scoring system.
In the IELTS exam, you have a 0 to 9 band score.
While in the TOEFL, you have a 0 to 120 points score.
The final difference is the length.
In the IELTS exam,
you have around two and a half hours length,
while in the TOEFL, you have three plus hours, so it's longer.
Okay, we've covered the general overview of the exam,
as well as some reasons why somebody might take it.
Now I want you to tell me
why you're taking the IELTS exam.
Write it on the comments section.
Also, let me tell you from now that we have a final project.
This is going to involve a lot of practice
and some self-reflection on your part.
For now, let's continue and I'll see you in the next class.