๐ MY IELTS STORY - DAY 1/6
Picture a miserable day - it was raining, I had a day full of classes (some of them - particularly boring), and what served me as home was an old distressed Russian dormitory.
๐ With cockroaches.
3 years ago I lived an ordinary life of a typical student who studies in a common Russian university. But I had never wanted this! The usual life cycle in my country: school - Bachelorโs degree - work for 30 years - poor pension. Such perspective brings regrets and depression, not a bright and exciting lifestyle.
No wonder I desired to change the boring life I was living.
I had no idea that soon I would be sharing a classroom with the Prince of Luxembourg at the best business school of Switzerland! ๐๐คฏ
Curious how this transformation happened to me?
I knew there was more to youth than just sitting in an old dorm, eating cheap noodles and reading textbooks for class. So I started looking for international Masterโs.
And such a surprise for me - the requirement for studying abroad was IELTS - a test I knew nothing about!
To be honest - I procrastinate a lot, so I started preparation only when there were 3.5 weeks left until the test date ๐ Long story short, I had to prepare for the Academic IELTS on my own and then successfully scored the overall band of 8.0!
If you want to know how I did it - click the star button below ๐
Why do you want to take IELTS? Is it for work / university and where? Share with me your story in the @wsecommunity group!
#DarianIELTS
@wsechannel
Picture a miserable day - it was raining, I had a day full of classes (some of them - particularly boring), and what served me as home was an old distressed Russian dormitory.
๐ With cockroaches.
3 years ago I lived an ordinary life of a typical student who studies in a common Russian university. But I had never wanted this! The usual life cycle in my country: school - Bachelorโs degree - work for 30 years - poor pension. Such perspective brings regrets and depression, not a bright and exciting lifestyle.
No wonder I desired to change the boring life I was living.
I had no idea that soon I would be sharing a classroom with the Prince of Luxembourg at the best business school of Switzerland! ๐๐คฏ
Curious how this transformation happened to me?
I knew there was more to youth than just sitting in an old dorm, eating cheap noodles and reading textbooks for class. So I started looking for international Masterโs.
And such a surprise for me - the requirement for studying abroad was IELTS - a test I knew nothing about!
To be honest - I procrastinate a lot, so I started preparation only when there were 3.5 weeks left until the test date ๐ Long story short, I had to prepare for the Academic IELTS on my own and then successfully scored the overall band of 8.0!
If you want to know how I did it - click the star button below ๐
Why do you want to take IELTS? Is it for work / university and where? Share with me your story in the @wsecommunity group!
#DarianIELTS
@wsechannel
๐ MY IELTS STORY - DAY 2/6
So, you already know from my previous post that when I was living a dull life of an average Russian student, I decided to radically change the future ahead of me and go study abroad. Turned out, for that I needed IELTS.
โ
You probably know how nice it is to make such bold decisions! You feel happy and excited and capable of everything! But only a couple of day passes when your confidence drops, you donโt know where to start, you feel demotivated and helpless. I felt exactly the same way.
But then I remembered why I needed to take this test.
โ
๐ต Do you know how many doors does English open? Today, it is virtually impossible to find a high-paying job without knowing English (even if you stay in your country). Thatโs because the majority of leading industry reports, books, articles and media covering innovations are written in English.
โ
๐บ Also, English is a key to many new people and places. Knowing this worldwide language one may get education of much higher quality, a friend network of prominent professionals and travel across the globe!
However just motivation is often not enough for success. Especially when you donโt know what to start with.
Luckly, I figured out that when there is no clear plan ahead of me, I donโt feel comfortable and donโt keep a situation under control. Everything kind of slips through my own fingers. So, this is what happened with me when I decided to get a double Masterโs degree abroad. The decision was there, but I lacked understanding of how I would get there.
If you want to know how I how I planned my preparation - click the balloon button below ๐
โ
What are your current IELTS preparation strategies? Share with me your story in the @wsecommunity group!
#DarianIELTS
@wsechannel
So, you already know from my previous post that when I was living a dull life of an average Russian student, I decided to radically change the future ahead of me and go study abroad. Turned out, for that I needed IELTS.
โ
You probably know how nice it is to make such bold decisions! You feel happy and excited and capable of everything! But only a couple of day passes when your confidence drops, you donโt know where to start, you feel demotivated and helpless. I felt exactly the same way.
But then I remembered why I needed to take this test.
โ
๐ต Do you know how many doors does English open? Today, it is virtually impossible to find a high-paying job without knowing English (even if you stay in your country). Thatโs because the majority of leading industry reports, books, articles and media covering innovations are written in English.
โ
๐บ Also, English is a key to many new people and places. Knowing this worldwide language one may get education of much higher quality, a friend network of prominent professionals and travel across the globe!
However just motivation is often not enough for success. Especially when you donโt know what to start with.
Luckly, I figured out that when there is no clear plan ahead of me, I donโt feel comfortable and donโt keep a situation under control. Everything kind of slips through my own fingers. So, this is what happened with me when I decided to get a double Masterโs degree abroad. The decision was there, but I lacked understanding of how I would get there.
If you want to know how I how I planned my preparation - click the balloon button below ๐
โ
What are your current IELTS preparation strategies? Share with me your story in the @wsecommunity group!
#DarianIELTS
@wsechannel
๐ MY IELTS STORY - DAY 3/6
The last part of my IELTS story finished at the motivation point. I clearly felt that the motivation itself is not enough to keep me going and achieve things, even though there were plenty of reasons to study English seriously.
The golden key to all of my achievements is careful planning. I firmly believe that it is much more difficult and far from effective to try and do things without clearly seeing where you want your actions to lead you.
So, when it came to the IELTS preparation planning I followed these steps:
๐ Identified my current level of English (took placement tests, many are available online)
๐ Took a mock IELTS test to get familiar with its structure and understand which modules were the weakest ones for me
๐ Set the target score I wanted to achieve (this depended on the requirements of chosen universities / countries and my level of English at the time)
๐ Learnt what are IELTS band descriptors (publicly available, they explain what is required for each band score)
๐ Drew a calendar for all the days I had ahead of the test (I had 3.5 weeks) and filled them with IELTS activities
๐ Spent 4-6 hours on preparation every day, using Cambridge IELTS books for mock tests and MacMillan Advanced Grammar in Context for grammar
๐ Used the Pomodoro technique that forces you to stay focused for 4 short periods of time (each around 25 mins) and gives you a short break in-between.
When filling in the calendar I focused on the weakest modules and planned to spend 30% more time on them. I found Speaking and Writing to be much more difficult than Reading and Listening. That helped me to always stay on track with my current progress.
I recreated my daily, weekly and monthly planners for you and made them free to download here. Youโre free to print them, fill in and use at your convenience. Press the ๐ป button if it was useful!
#DarianIELTS
The last part of my IELTS story finished at the motivation point. I clearly felt that the motivation itself is not enough to keep me going and achieve things, even though there were plenty of reasons to study English seriously.
The golden key to all of my achievements is careful planning. I firmly believe that it is much more difficult and far from effective to try and do things without clearly seeing where you want your actions to lead you.
So, when it came to the IELTS preparation planning I followed these steps:
๐ Identified my current level of English (took placement tests, many are available online)
๐ Took a mock IELTS test to get familiar with its structure and understand which modules were the weakest ones for me
๐ Set the target score I wanted to achieve (this depended on the requirements of chosen universities / countries and my level of English at the time)
๐ Learnt what are IELTS band descriptors (publicly available, they explain what is required for each band score)
๐ Drew a calendar for all the days I had ahead of the test (I had 3.5 weeks) and filled them with IELTS activities
๐ Spent 4-6 hours on preparation every day, using Cambridge IELTS books for mock tests and MacMillan Advanced Grammar in Context for grammar
๐ Used the Pomodoro technique that forces you to stay focused for 4 short periods of time (each around 25 mins) and gives you a short break in-between.
When filling in the calendar I focused on the weakest modules and planned to spend 30% more time on them. I found Speaking and Writing to be much more difficult than Reading and Listening. That helped me to always stay on track with my current progress.
I recreated my daily, weekly and monthly planners for you and made them free to download here. Youโre free to print them, fill in and use at your convenience. Press the ๐ป button if it was useful!
#DarianIELTS
YouTube
IELTS Planner | Downloadable
Here are custom planners for IELTS that I designed specifically for you. You can download them for free, print and use in the most convenient way, creating a schedule you like.
Post your filled in planner on social media (preferably, instagram / facebookโฆ
Post your filled in planner on social media (preferably, instagram / facebookโฆ
๐ MY IELTS STORY - DAY 4/6
Last time, in the 3rd part of my IELTS story, I described my preparation planning techniques, and how they became the key to my success. If you havenโt read the last post โ please do it in my profile, youโll also be able to get a free IELTS planner from me there!
When I figured out planning and made it clear how to approach preparation, my days were filled with hours of intensive study. However, i started to see some significant problems that made learning more difficult.
๐ Self-preparation has certain explicit drawbacks. The first is that there wonโt be anyone to check what youโre doing and how correct it is. I felt uncertain about the quality of my work. Since I wanted to save money, at first I tried to ask my friends to correct essays and practice speaking with me. It worked way better with Speaking than Writing, because none of my Russian friends were proficient enough in English to evaluate essays.
๐ The second problem was lack of support. Sometimes I felt completely alone - struggling through days of constant study. I am sure many people who prepare on their own know what I am talking about. Especially when there are more responsibilities that must be fulfilled (work / family / school / college) and no-one cares about your IELTS journey that is far from simple.
This is why in my Rocket Speed IELTS Preparation course I tried to make sure these two pains of self-preparation do not worry test-takers any more. When you join the course, you get a supportive group of fellow learners who have targeted 7+ on IELTS. You become a part of a team what is always there for you and none is left abandoned during preparation.
I'm happy to share with you my personal step-by-step guidelines and a sample to a band 8+ Writing task 2 essay. Text me to @d_sandmartin to get it! ๐
๐ป What are your biggest pains and struggles of self-preparation? Share with me on @wsecommunity and I will offer ways of resolving them!
#DarianIELTS
Last time, in the 3rd part of my IELTS story, I described my preparation planning techniques, and how they became the key to my success. If you havenโt read the last post โ please do it in my profile, youโll also be able to get a free IELTS planner from me there!
When I figured out planning and made it clear how to approach preparation, my days were filled with hours of intensive study. However, i started to see some significant problems that made learning more difficult.
๐ Self-preparation has certain explicit drawbacks. The first is that there wonโt be anyone to check what youโre doing and how correct it is. I felt uncertain about the quality of my work. Since I wanted to save money, at first I tried to ask my friends to correct essays and practice speaking with me. It worked way better with Speaking than Writing, because none of my Russian friends were proficient enough in English to evaluate essays.
๐ The second problem was lack of support. Sometimes I felt completely alone - struggling through days of constant study. I am sure many people who prepare on their own know what I am talking about. Especially when there are more responsibilities that must be fulfilled (work / family / school / college) and no-one cares about your IELTS journey that is far from simple.
This is why in my Rocket Speed IELTS Preparation course I tried to make sure these two pains of self-preparation do not worry test-takers any more. When you join the course, you get a supportive group of fellow learners who have targeted 7+ on IELTS. You become a part of a team what is always there for you and none is left abandoned during preparation.
I'm happy to share with you my personal step-by-step guidelines and a sample to a band 8+ Writing task 2 essay. Text me to @d_sandmartin to get it! ๐
๐ป What are your biggest pains and struggles of self-preparation? Share with me on @wsecommunity and I will offer ways of resolving them!
#DarianIELTS
๐ MY IELTS STORY - DAY 5/6
In the last post about my IELTS journey I talked about the biggest obstacles i faced during preparation. I also shared my step-by-step tutorial to a band 8+ essay for Writing Task 2 - go check the post out if you havenโt already!
So, when I managed to prepare for the test so successfully that I was able to get overall 8.0 on IELTS Academic, I decided to share my experience. To talk about books I used, strategies I applied and approaches I preferred. This is how the World Speaks English community was created.
I canโt judge whether I succeeded or not (in being a helping hand for others), but I keep receiving thank-you messages from all over the world. Swipe my photo right to see some of them. These stories give me hope that all my work is not in vain and truly spark joy in my heart.
I really hope that I was able to assist test-takers through any way - during my courses or just simply in the WSE community. My major motivation was to show them how to avoid difficulties that I personally had to deal with.
If I had such a community back then, I would..
๐ meet fellow students and practice speaking with them.
๐ learn how to write essays correctly and efficiently.
๐ boost my listening using authentic materials.
๐ know how to read fast and understand much more.
Such a blessing it is to have someone who has already cracked the test and is now ready to share their dos and dontโs, someone to rely on, someone to ask for clarification and advice!
And if at the moment when I needed to take IELTS there was an intensive course like the Rocket Speed one, I would definitely opt in.
#DarianIELTS
In the last post about my IELTS journey I talked about the biggest obstacles i faced during preparation. I also shared my step-by-step tutorial to a band 8+ essay for Writing Task 2 - go check the post out if you havenโt already!
So, when I managed to prepare for the test so successfully that I was able to get overall 8.0 on IELTS Academic, I decided to share my experience. To talk about books I used, strategies I applied and approaches I preferred. This is how the World Speaks English community was created.
I canโt judge whether I succeeded or not (in being a helping hand for others), but I keep receiving thank-you messages from all over the world. Swipe my photo right to see some of them. These stories give me hope that all my work is not in vain and truly spark joy in my heart.
I really hope that I was able to assist test-takers through any way - during my courses or just simply in the WSE community. My major motivation was to show them how to avoid difficulties that I personally had to deal with.
If I had such a community back then, I would..
๐ meet fellow students and practice speaking with them.
๐ learn how to write essays correctly and efficiently.
๐ boost my listening using authentic materials.
๐ know how to read fast and understand much more.
Such a blessing it is to have someone who has already cracked the test and is now ready to share their dos and dontโs, someone to rely on, someone to ask for clarification and advice!
And if at the moment when I needed to take IELTS there was an intensive course like the Rocket Speed one, I would definitely opt in.
#DarianIELTS