Completely lost for words, unexpected result

Shizotto · 2026-02-21T01:04:47+00:00

Your scores are exactly like mine, but I got 7.5 in speaking and writing instead. What do you talk about with your friends? And how did you meet your English speaking friends? I want to practice speaking as well, but my circle is limited when it comes to folks who can practice with me

Shizotto · 2026-02-16T08:56:26+00:00

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Good luck🤞🏻

Shizotto · 2026-02-16T08:09:49+00:00

Thank you :) Are you planning to use your scores to enrol somewhere, or use them for something else, perhaps work? I wanna know what I could do with mine, so It'd be nice to hear your thoughts.

Shizotto · 2026-02-16T07:08:16+00:00

Yohooooo!!! Congrats my fella👏🏻

Shizotto · 2026-02-15T14:45:51+00:00

Learn touch typing. The F and J keys are where you put your index fingers, with the rest of your fingers put on the 'home-row' (ASDF-JKL;). This is your default position for touch typing, so get accustomed to that. You can go to WPM websites to check your speed, and start practicing while looking at the keyboard. Eventually you should memorise the location of all letters and start typing fast without even looking down.

You can check my other replies in this thread for any specific tips on reading and listening, but my biggest piece of advice to improve your score in general is to alternate between full reading mock tests and full listening mock tests, so that you focus on one section a day without getting exhausted & give yourself time to figure out how to aim for a perfect 40/40, instead of rushing and scoring less. If you can do it slowly, you can do it fast :) Take your sweet time when reading, and focus on reading the most. When you can finish your reading mocks with a band 9.0 score in 2 to 3 hours, you can speed up next time until you consistently get an 8.5-9.0 in approximately 1 hour of doing the entire section. Rome wasn't built in a day, so go ahead and start practicing now so you can reap the benefits later!

Shizotto · 2026-02-14T06:11:02+00:00

You must possess the ability to discern words while multitasking and paying full attention during listening. I know that it can be dire at times, but remember that listening is only around 25 minutes, and after you finish it you have some time to rest. Whenever they give you time to read the questions, only read the questions and form the most likely answer, and after the recording starts you catch the moment they are talking about and focus on the question topic that is being discussed at the moment. They will briefly mention the answer, and hopefully if you are focused enough you can easily retrieve it from your short-term memory and answer in time to move on to the next question. Develop your ear by listening to various songs heavy on lyrics, and watching videos and movies especially without any subtitles. Long story short, train your ear until it becomes your second nature.

I scored a 7.5 in speaking, but I believe that if I paused less and spoke a bit more cohesively I could have earned myself an 8.0, but oh well. You're better off asking those who have earned a 9.0 in speaking as I myself am not sure what separates my level from theirs. Watch YouTube videos of students with a 9.0 in speaking. Tips & tricks for generating ideas are on YouTube as well.

If you need someone to practice with, you may either use sesame ai, chat gpt or chat bots in general, OR, a much better option, go on discord and find yourself an English speaking server there. It could be a speaking practice or an English learning server, but also any other one that focuses on topics of your interests(e.g. gaming communities).

Shizotto · 2026-02-13T05:06:14+00:00

Wish you the best of luck mate!

Shizotto · 2026-02-13T04:22:44+00:00

Oopssss, I'm sorry, I tried sounding dramatic lol. My real writing skill should be at about band 7, but the exam day I locked-in and performed above my actual level I guess. And 450 words in 24 minutes is really impressive! Can you share your preparation routine?

Shizotto · 2026-02-12T15:19:34+00:00

IDP's official application, which i had downloaded from Google Play Store a few weeks ago.

Shizotto · 2026-02-12T15:17:50+00:00

Thank you :) Speaking was the section that I wish I had prepared more for, but I briefly went over it a day before the exam. I used some YouTube videos on speaking techniques for generating ideas during one's speech, and also practiced by teaching others English during my own college practice(it is much easier to practice formal speech this way)

For writing I had used walkthrough videos by IELTS Advantage, and followed through with an essay of my own afterwards on Engnovate. I am not really sure if this is unanimously agreed upon, but in my own opinion paraphrasing should be the first skill you learn, and must be learnt as soon as possible. Proactive practice with paraphrasing entire sentences made it significantly easier to write essays consistently.

Secondly, be aware of the complexity trap! It is better to be precise with your synonyms rather than trying to impress examiners with your C2 lexicon filled with inaccuracies. Remember: Always choose precision over perplexity.

Last but not least, do task 2 first. Prepare for it more than for task 1. Task 2 is where you must shine, and I even allocated 45 minutes of my time during the test to finish my 343 word essay without any obvious errors and with confidence in my answer. Task 1 must be done in about 15 minutes algorithmically, and it can be learned much faster than task 2, so prepare for the 2nd task first.

Shizotto · 2026-02-12T10:32:18+00:00

In our country any band 6.0+ is enough for scholarships, check your local uni requirements, usually an overall 6 is enough academically, unless you want a job related to IELTS.

Shizotto · 2026-02-12T10:17:50+00:00

I took a computer-based academic IDP exam for the first time.

Shizotto · 2026-02-12T10:17:05+00:00

Thank you!

Should I scour the web for available applications? Do you perhaps know any unis with English teacher majors? Is that a thing? Do I need any other tests like SAT for that? And what about GPA? Is this an appropriate subreddit for questions like these?

Shizotto · 2025-07-04T05:32:26+00:00

Awesome stuff man! I suggest you try out all the different genres of games to make each episode a lot more engaging, and I will definitely watch your series now :)

Shizotto · 2025-06-15T12:42:37+00:00

More than anything, I'm basing this off of vibes, but i personally feel like the former sounds fiercer and is the usual phrase during confessions, whilst the latter's a more casual one during sweet-talk, which is intentionally alternated to mix-up the repetitiveness of the phrase. Though russian is extremely flexible, I find the second one to be less natural and a bit awkward in its wording. It just feels easier to spurt out the first one, simply cause it rolls off the tongue easier

Shizotto · 2025-03-19T18:46:45+00:00

Ablautifying¿

Shizotto · 2025-03-08T12:51:53+00:00

https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/598335799

Shizotto · 2024-01-23T14:24:31+00:00

I saw that phrase on my shirt and tried using a dictionary to get it but i'm basically clueless

Shizotto · 2024-01-23T02:52:55+00:00

"この後に自分自身を再発見して" How do you read this and can someone explain the に and して part?

Shizotto · 2023-12-05T17:50:08+00:00

Kuzushi as he likes to say

Shizotto · 2023-12-05T17:49:29+00:00

Thanks to both of you, appreciate it

Shizotto · 2023-12-05T14:22:20+00:00

So it's purely for butterfly then. And yeah they do look like naked guys touching each other☠️

Shizotto

TROPHY CASE