IELTS/OET top tips
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If you’re preparing for your English proficiency exams, like IELTS or OET, you already know how extensive and specific it can be. There’s a number of details you need remember and skills you need to master in order to obtain the minimum score the GMC requires. Even if you’re a fluent English speaker, this is a timed test which makes it really important to have the proper preparation so you don’t waste time and know exactly what and how to do each section. So, in this article I’ll share some top tips for your IELTS and OET exams so you can be prepared for those tricky aspects.
1. When doing the reading portion, try skimming your text looking for key words instead of reading the whole thing. Focus on important meaningful words and circle all numbers, dates, names and titles. That'll make your reading faster and more effective so you can easily access information to answer a question later on.
2. Time is your worst enemy. When practicing, ALWAYS make sure you have a timer by your side so you can be more comfortable with being timed and so you can improve your ability to do things precisely and fast.
3. Knowing how to and taking notes is extremely important. Try dividing points into major and minor. Major are usually key information the text/audio/prompt is telling you and minor points are usually support factors that expand on Major points. Separate them into columns to help you stay organized. And then when it's time to answer questions and prompts, you have the ideas written down and just have to expand on them.
4. When writing an essay, you want to make sure you know how to use connect points clearly. Knowing a good variety of connectives helps you with that. You can find a list with 100 most commonly used connectives in English on the link below: https://www.google.com/search?q=connectives+list&rlz=1C1RXQR_enGB1018GB1018&sxsrf=ALiCzsa4FaK6xiuQGlZOCSPOR7q5t-K29Q:1665405737807&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBq6Lr19X6AhUDsaQKHZYbDlEQ_AUoAXoECAIQAw&cshid=1665405758748671&biw=1366&bih=657&dpr=1#imgrc=wZFfDE26z5wduM
5. The speaking session can be tricky. You want to make sure you're precise yet concise in what you say, plus being clear in your pronunciation. To practice that, try recording yourself when you do speaking exercises and listening to it afterwards. That'll help you find which points of pronunciation you need to work on, if you stuttered at all and if there was anything about the information in general that you could change. Did you leave something out? Did you over explain? Was it clear? Things like that.
6. Being a pro at the listening portion is a matter of practice. Yes, you want to make sure you can grasp the information being said and take effective notes. But that's of no use if your ear is not trained to hear and assimilate information effectively and clearly in English. To stimulate your ear to do that, try listening to podcasts. Preferably about the healthcare sector. That will help you with your vocabulary, pronunciation and will help to train you ear to understand and assimilate information in English. You can also watch TV shows in English to help. Grey's anatomy, Dr. House are just a few of the many options you have of medical TV shows that'll help you with your listening. Try without subtitles if you can.
Here at IELTS medical we offer specialized IELTS and OET courses with a qualified native-speaking tutor who will fully prepare you for every aspect of your English proficiency test with the most up to date material and equipment. If you’d like our help to pass your exam with flying colours on your first try, you can give us a call on +44 2036376722, send us a WhatsApp text on +44 7511441874 or drop us an email on doctors@iemedical.co.uk . We’d be more than happy to assist you on your journey!
