as the topic states, wanna know more bout IELTS as i might have to take it to apply for Australia universities

apart from the RM500 fee.. is the test hard??

i haven't even tried local MUET test, so i don't know what to expect..

UPDATE : Topic changed from "IELTS" to "IELTS/IDP"

This post has been edited by mooze: Oct 23 2007, 05:54 PM

hard if you don't practice english at all...

i have taken the IELTS before this and i would like to advice that reading lots of english books will help you in that test...gud luck

reading lots of english books... doesn't sound like a practical solution if i'm about to take it soon.. isn't there any example questions/practice sets?

i think there is a failure of understanding what the ielts (or any of the equivalent tests) actually is...........

it is an assessment system on LANGUAGE COMPETENCY, and not a "test" per se.........therefore, there is NO "pass" marks..........you are tested on the 4 aspects of any language, ie speaking, listening, writing, and reading..........and graded based on COMPETENCY of these aspects...........

the overall band (from 1 to 9) then is an indication of you competency in the language...........1 is like non existant ability, and 9.0 a well educated native speaker...........note that many native speakers will not score 9 if they sit for the test, 8.5 is considered a very good grade........

it is up to the respective organisations to then set what they think is a minimum standard required.........eg, some oz unis will accept 5.0 for simple courses like business, laws and medicine needs 7.0, to qualify for migration now requires 6.5..........etc........

so there is really NO such thing as "hard" or "easy"........and the grades you achieve is your competency in english at that time, which you can improve upon, by using the language more (eg, read, speak with friends etc).........

and usually it cant be compared to MUET bcoz of different testing method. IELTS is quite rigorous in its testing system, where in one instance they arent testing ur ability to speak, but ur ability to converse. when i took the verbal test, i found myself in a situation where we were conversing for a prolonged time - i was thinking... when's the test gonna start? and then poof... that was the test hahahhaa.

conversation skills - the ability to relay ur thoughts in words that the 2nd party could understand, the ability for u to understand whatever the 2nd part has to say in response to ur words, and the ability for u to process ur understanding into a response to the 2nd party. it's not a sesi soal jawab. most people treat it as a question-answer session, so the situation becomes very dull and awkward fairly quickly.

ahaaa!!! now i get what IELTS is about.. this is my kind of game.. i'm gonna enjoy the challenge..

azarimy,i totally agree bout u said "most people treat it as sesi soal-jawab therefore its boring".. i remember my english verbal test for SPM... just had a friendly chat until can each other laugh as if having teh tarik at mamak,didnt even feel was a test.. but i won't let my guard down, will try prepare myself for IELTS version of teh tarik session..

will let u guys know what's the result if i take it.. honestly i'm a no-clue guy hoping to get entrance to AMC(australia maritime college) for a marine engineering course, but i haven't even stepped in an IDP office before.. what to do and what should i bring?? there is one in subang jaya SS15, but i'm not really sure where, anyone knows?

This post has been edited by mooze: Oct 20 2007, 06:59 PM

I took the exam in 2005. Its not that hard IMHO. Even me who only finish circa 95% of my essay (due to time constrain) and doing extremely bad in oral (due to nonsense topic for me to give my opinion on) where i am practically dead when the examiner reveal the stupid topic. And still (reading and listening is peanut though), i managed to get 7.0.

My advice is, don't be scared. Its not as tough as you think it is.

---

Added on October 20, 2007, 7:44 pmBased on the way you write in this forum. You must be doing very good. Say, no less than 8.0? Good to know we have one sifu here. anyway, do you have experience/knowledge in TOEFL? What are the similarities and deferences? Would be great if you can share.

Regards,
naktt.

---

Added on October 20, 2007, 7:48 pmI heard that the test for education/student is quite different from immigrant. Anyone can verify?

Thanks.

This post has been edited by nakTT: Oct 20 2007, 07:48 PM

IMHO, it's not very different from MUET. i took both. format is the same, only different degree of language, in which IELTS is harder of coz.
one thing to be aware of is not to stop talking in speaking component. i rmbered i had nothing much to say during my oral and the examiner just look and me and said,
"that's it?" well i did not do that bad after all with 7.5. More than enuf to do my PR application . And mine was just the general one, not the academic. Academic IELTS is harder though.

there are 2 categories, general (for migration, etc) and academic (for uni entry).......and of course the content is different, and in general, the academic one is more difficult, obviously..........

hi , little confused here...
IELTS compulsory for UK universities application,
just like MUET is compulsory for Malaysian U?

not exactly.

all english based universities like in the UK, australia, new zealand and the US require those whose english is not their first language or was not formally educated in english to sit for an english test to prove their proficiency. mainly they do this using either one of the two exams: IELTS or TOEFL. it is not compulsory if u can prove that english is ur first language, or u've been formally educated in english schools.

MUET is basically a pre-requisite for malaysian universities, regardless whether u're a native speaker or not.

i thought MUET is usually for public universities such as UM, UIA, UTP, etc..
colleges such as sunway college, taylors, etc. need?

usually not for local colleges. they c ur SPM english result. if i'm not mistaken, anything lower than credit they'll just ask u to take up english as an extra subject. that was in taylors. not sure about others though. and regarding IELTS, if you're doing twinning or any stuffs like credit transfer, they usually don't require IELTS coz it's an accredited program to their uni. again, not sure about other courses but i did not sit for my IELTS when i was in taylors nor for my uni in OZ.

to graduate, all students in local unis, (both ipta and ipts) need to show they have SAT for the muet............

there is however, no minimum grade for entry,or graduating............you can get a band 1 and still enter a local uni and graduate............

which makes it a bit of a farce..........serves little purpose, excepts indicate to potential employers, the level of english competency, and hence whether to bother to call for interview or not...........

just took mine early august. pretty simple, 4 components and its quite fun especially the reading and listening part. I got 8/9 for listening, I lapsed and didnt catch the sentence on the radio. and 9/9 for reading. however i screwed my writing and i got a score of 6.5 only. as for speaking i didnt do as well as expected , 7.5! giving me a band score of 8. =)

if english is your main medium of communicating you wont have any problems with the exam.

writing is what format? writing a letter,report,summary,etc? based on facts from passages or own ideas?

writing is divided into several parts (i think 3 parts, but cant remember). 1st part is where u do a summary or ulasan of a data given in tables, graphs or diagrams.

the last part is usually argumentative. meaning they present a problem, issue or a scenario, u argumentatively write a ur hujah and present a standing or opinion at the conclusion. for example, "malaysia angkasawan program is a waste of money and time. what do u think about it?"

i cant remember if there is another part in between the two. aiyaaah getting old already!

pretty much sounds like SPM format to me... lol

so there are 3 parts,eh?

do IDP provide classes before the IELTS or just straight come and get on with it

Remember, they want academic English in the writing component. No personal statements, no bias in giving arguments, proper academic register, no over generalization...etc

It is unlike SPM where you can simply bullshit your way through and still obtain an A1 for 1119.

I didn't take IELTS, I took the TOEFL...which is basically the same thing. Only difference was that when I took it, they didn't have the Speaking aspect of it. Now they do