I had
registered myself for the IELTS and there was no apparent reason for doing so.
I just wanted to appear and see for myself what the IELTS thing was all about.
Every Tom, Dick and Harry nowadays talks about the IELTS and how they underwent
the test. IELTS was a language test on four different strands. Language
interested me and after convincing and nagging my other half I had it
registered. Of course, this test doesn’t come free. A hefty ten thousand six
hundred must be paid to undergo the test. I hear from the British Council
people here in Thimphu that this fee is going to be revised from next month. I
am writing this for those people who are thinking of appearing the IELTS in
future. Oh IELTS is the abbreviation for International English Language Testing
System.
A
registration form must be filled firstly and it’s available on the RIM website.
There is another centre that conducts the same test-IMS (Institute for
Management Studies). After filling in
the details, a copy of CID must be enclosed as a proof of identity. This form
along with a copy of your CID must be e-mailed back to the address inscribed on
the form. Within half a day, an e-mail will come confirming your registration.
After receiving the email, you have three working days to process a demand
draft amounting to ten thousand six hundred on behalf of the British Council,
New Delhi. That demand draft has to be given to RIM.
You will
receive another e-mail confirming your test Date. You will be given two
different dates. One is for Speaking and the other for Listening, Reading and
Writing. For the speaking test, you just need to take your CID and see a person
who will interview you and test your fluency, vocabulary and your command over
the English language. This test just takes about 15-20 minutes.
For
listening, reading and writing you need to take pens, pencils, sharpeners and
erasers. Now I will mention how this test is conducted and how strictly one
must mange time.
Listening: You will be provided with a
head phone and you need to listen carefully. That’s why teachers tell us to
listen to the BBC English. As you listen you must write the answers in the
question booklet itself. Remember to use only pencil in this test. Later you
will be provided with ten minutes to transfer your answer to your answer sheet.
Listen carefully and it won’t be a problem but remember the recording will be
played only once. You have only 40 minutes for this. Please manage your time.
Reading: Your will be provided with the
reading question booklet and an answer sheet. It has three essays; informative,
descriptive and an argumentative essay. You must read the essays one at a time
and write the answers in the answer sheet. No additional time is given to
transfer your answer. For most Bhutanese, I included, reading is difficult. You
will get 60 minutes for this test. Here too, use only pencil...and manage your
time as well.
Writing: Here, you will again get 60
minutes for the Writing test. There are two tasks in this test. Task one gets
20 minutes and task two-40 minutes. Here there is an option whether to use a
pen or a pencil. I suggest you use pencil for the entire test. Task one
requires a candidate to write a report on 150 words on a situation provided.
There are no choices for situations here. You must write what is asked. Task
two requires a candidate to write an argumentative essay in not less than 250
words on a topic provided. No choices provided here.
If you get
hold of a guide book on IELTS, please acquaint yourself with the format of the
questions and how the answers must be written. It is not a very difficult
ordeal to sit for the test and time management is the mantra here. Now, I know
why every Tom, Dick and Harry I have met talk about IELTS.
Good Luck
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