00:00Okay, so let's get into the IELTS exam structure. It's really important that you
00:04understand the structure of the exam so that you know how to attack it. Now, in
00:10terms of the format, there are four equally graded parts that are scored from
00:15zero to nine on a rubric. Each part has a rubric. The reading and listening parts
00:22are objective, which means that you either get it right or get it wrong. The
00:28speaking and the writing sections are subjective, which means that another
00:33person or a grader is going to be grading you, and that is subjective,
00:39meaning that is open to a person's interpretation of the rubric or how you
00:44score it against the rubric. Now, these people that are scoring your exam are
00:48experts. They've been trained in how to score the speaking and the writing
00:52sections, but it's still done by a human being. That's what makes it subjective.
00:57The listening, reading, and writing occur on the same day. The speaking might
01:02occur one to five days before your exam date, and in some countries, it may even
01:08occur one or two days after the exam date. Keep in mind that the IELTS exam is a
01:15measurement of your English ability. They are measuring your English ability, not
01:22your intelligence. It's not an intelligence test. They're measuring ability. And finally,
01:29it is standardized testing, which means that everything must be consistent. The
01:35scoring must be consistent. The reading levels must be consistent. There are rules. Now,
01:40what's great about that is when you know the rules, like I know the rules, and you know the
01:46structure, like I know the structure, I can teach you how to really excel on the exam.
01:53Because once you understand the structure and the rules that the examiners are governed by,
02:00you can tell somebody else how to surpass that. You can teach somebody else how to overcome that.
02:08So that's why it's important to have a really good instructor. In terms of the section descriptions,
02:13the listening section is 40 total minutes. There are 40 total questions. We're talking about the paper
02:21exam. There are 30 minutes of the test and 10 minutes to transfer your answers. On the computer-based
02:29exam is 30 minutes of test of answering questions for the listening section, but only two minutes
02:37to check your answers. Because on the computer-based exam, your answers are automatically transferred.
02:43There are four alternating sections. The exam gets progressively more difficult. Section one is really
02:52easy. Basic level English. Section four is much more difficult. Educational and training. You have
03:01conversations, solo presentations, multiple choice, or fill the blank questions. In terms of the reading
03:08section, you have 40 questions you have to complete in 60 minutes. Those 40 questions are divided up over
03:16three sections. Again, progressively more difficult as you go. There are about 14 different question types.
03:24Now, in this course, I go through each and every question type, telling you the strategy and illustrating
03:33for you how to score well on that question type. Some questions go in order. Some questions do not. Again,
03:42we teach you that. With the writing section, you have an academic task one, which can be a chart, a
03:49graph, a process,
03:52a diagram, or if you're doing the general exam, you'll have to write a letter. Now, whether you're doing the
03:59general exam or the academic exam, you have to do a task two standard essay. A task two standard essay.
04:09Finally, the speaking section. Three parts. Three parts, everybody. Section one is basically an interview.
04:16It's face-to-face. Section two is a two-minute presentation where you read some background
04:22information that you have to speak on for two minutes. And then section three are follow-up questions
04:30on the same topic that governs section number two.
04:36Now, very briefly, in terms of the academic exam versus the general exam, because a lot of students
04:43ask this question a lot. The academic has listening, reading, writing task one, writing task two,
04:51speaking section. For the general exam, the listening section is the same as the academic.
04:57For the reading exam, for the general is different. It's much easier in terms of the content and the
05:04level of English that's given. Writing task number one is different on the general exam.
05:10Writing task two is the same, and the speaking section is the same. Now, within this course,
05:16we teach the academic and the general exam. There's certain sections that apply only to the academic,
05:25and certain sections that apply only to the general. Now, if you look at the curriculum,
05:30you can clearly see it divided up by section, so make sure you pay attention to that.
05:38In terms of the paper exam versus the computer exam, it's the same exam, same difficulty level,
05:46same question types. The difference is the results. With the paper exam,
05:51it takes about 13 to 14 days for your results. For the computer exam, about five to seven days,
05:57so that's an advantage of the computer exam is that you get your results much faster.
06:03Now, let's go over some of the specific exam part information. Like I said earlier, in terms of the
06:10listening, you have four parts, four sections. Parts one and two are everyday social situations.
06:18Parts three and four are educational and training situations.
06:21In terms of academic reading, all the topics are of a general interest. General interest means that
06:31common topics, common interests, and they are done at the level of the undergraduate and postgraduate
06:38level. The information can come from a book, from a journal, from a magazine, from something online.
06:47And this is really important. It's for a non-specialist audience. So you don't have to worry about,
06:56well, what if I don't have any, no, it's not for a specialist. This is information is for a non
07:02-specialist
07:03audience. Now, moving on to the general reading. Again, this is less difficult than the academic.
07:12There are three sections. It's still increasing difficulty. Section one is about everyday topics
07:19that you might encounter in a English-speaking country, such as,
07:25you know, filling out a form at a hotel, some information about bicycle renting or renting a
07:34bicycle or joining a club. Really easy information in section one. Section two is going to be on work
07:40topics, job descriptions, information like that. Section three is going to be at the same level
07:46as the academic. So section three is the more difficult part on the general reading. Now, moving
07:53on to academic writing task one. They're going, you're going to have to describe some visual information
07:59based on some graph or chart, line graph diagram process. You only have about 20 minutes to do it,
08:06everybody. 20 minutes. So you have to write really fast. You have to understand how to do it.
08:13We teach you exactly what to do, exactly what to do. General writing task number one,
08:19you have to respond to a situation by writing a letter. We're going to give you a universal format
08:26that you can use. We're going to teach you how to write in a way and in a style that's
08:31going to make
08:32sure it's well developed, that you address each part you need to address so that you can score really,
08:38really well. And then finally, in terms of the writing task number two, you have to write a four
08:44to five paragraph essay that follows the conventions of essay writing. Really important. The conventions of
08:53essay writing. And in our writing section, we teach you how to do that. Thank you so much and I'll
09:01talk to you
09:01soon.
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