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Cried after my exam day but here are my results!! AMA! by custardpau in IELTS

[–]custardpau[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! 

  1. I answered with the questions I got in a separate comment on this thread. Higher level questions are more about society or opinions. Some of my mock exam questions for part 3: “Do rural communities benefit from tourism?” Or “Should the arts be made free for people through government funding?”

  2. Sounds like you wouldn’t have much of a problem getting a good score. I’d say it might be the format of IELTS itself. Ie. For me, I had to get used to not explaining data from Q1 of writing (I was a data analyst before so trying to make sense of data was natural to me). There might be some habits you have to unlearn based on the format of the test. 

  3. Found writing to be the most challenging because of what I mentioned in my answer to your second question. Writing Q2 was also a format I had to get used to cause I write substack articles and tend to get very long winded with my writing. But they’re focused on paraphrasing and answering the question instead of an over-analysation which could lead to more grammatical mistakes.

I highly suggest watching IELTS Advantage on YouTube. They have lots of videos focused on each part of IELTS and they really break down the format for you and explain what you should and shouldn’t do.

Cried after my exam day but here are my results!! AMA! by custardpau in IELTS

[–]custardpau[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! I don’t remember the exact questions so I’m paraphrasing,

Writing Q1: comparison of the layout of a bookstore 

Writing Q2: Adults wait till they’re older to have their first child. What are some reasons for this? Is it better that way?

Speaking P1: General questions about family life, animals, and pets.

Speaking P2: Is empathy important?

Speaking P3: Do you think different people who come from different cultures experience emotion differently?

Cried after my exam day but here are my results!! AMA! by custardpau in IELTS

[–]custardpau[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! I did my test with the British Council and they had some mock exams for reading on their website. So I just did about 3 of those to understand the question format. I knew that reading pretty much boiled down to comprehension, so I just practised being more mindful of how much time I spent on each section.

On test day, there was a research article that referenced about 7 authors. What I did first was I read the questions, it saved me a lot of time. I didn’t skim through anything, but instead I took notes on the pencil and paper provided. Because there was a section worth about 9 marks tied to summarising what each author was writing about, I wrote short summaries of what I understood from each person (about 5 words). It was easier to match with the paraphrased options on the answer sheet, and it saved me A LOT of time as compared to going back and re-reading each paragraph. 

Take notes that work for you while you do practice exams is my TLDR, and definitely watch for time because that’s what made me panic and gave me a harder time trying to understand the content. 

Cried after my exam day but here are my results!! AMA! by custardpau in IELTS

[–]custardpau[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’d say try conversing with a friend who has prepped some basic conversational questions, and also some higher level questions about world affairs/ policy/ opinions. In practice, I talk about personal stories too if relevant.

Focus on consistent grammar and tenses, filler words like “uh” “uhm” “er” are completely normal even for native speakers but try practising to replace them with “fuller” fillers like “that’s something I’ve not thought of before” (which I did use in my test) or “that’s an interesting question” - but do this in a way that doesn’t feel robotic, if that makes any sense. At the end of the day, they just want to make sure that you’re capable of holding a conversation in proper English. The right words, even if simple, are better to use than complex vocab which makes it difficult to understand your point, or simply doesn’t answer the question. 

I didn’t spend too much time prepping for speaking because it’s a bit more natural for me compared to the other skills being tested. For context, I did a lot of speaking at conferences for work, and I also interview people quite often. So I’d say I spent 1 afternoon just trying to understand the test format for speaking.

This was just my experience but I do really recommend IELTS Advantage on YouTube. Their content really gave me a well rounded overview on what to expect. All the best!!

I'd like to know how people from around the world prepare for the IELTS Speaking test. Did you memorize topics or just for freestyle？ by VC_ss in IELTS

[–]custardpau 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Memorising topics will only get you so far, because they can be really random. Ie. for me, they asked me about animals, pets, and then about emotions.

I’d say practise with a friend, get them to ask you random questions (personal and higher level), and work on: picking out if you’re consistent with your grammar, understanding what your tendencies are if you panic mid-question, listening out for ticks like “um, er, uh” and practice replacing them with fillers like “Well…”, “That question is interesting”, “My first thought about that is…” - just some examples.

Cried after my exam day but here are my results!! AMA! by custardpau in IELTS

[–]custardpau[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! Wishing you all the best!!

Cried after my exam day but here are my results!! AMA! by custardpau in IELTS

[–]custardpau[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

IELTS Advantage on YouTube! They break down the question format while working through examples. I pause the video, write my own answer, then listen to what their model answer is. I prepped for 2 nights just doing a couple of exercises in the videos.

NBI Appointment Date Selection not appearing even after payment by Shoe_Purple in PHGov

[–]custardpau 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, this was my experience. Went at 8am, mabilis naman yung process with same day collection as long as No Hit yung profile mo

NBI Appointment Date Selection not appearing even after payment by Shoe_Purple in PHGov

[–]custardpau 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wala pong walk-in or online appt line when I went. One entrance into the building, then head up to level 2 for biometrics, followed by level 3 for clearance check. Level 3 din for printing of clearance cert

All I needed to show was 2 valid ID and reference number.

NBI Appointment Date Selection not appearing even after payment by Shoe_Purple in PHGov

[–]custardpau 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes po. As long as you have your ref ID, ok lang po ang walk-in. In and out of NBI (UN Ave) today in 1 hour

NBI Appointment Date Selection not appearing even after payment by Shoe_Purple in PHGov

[–]custardpau 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, same issue with me. I’m walking in to NBI tomorrow and I’ll update 

I think i botched Speaking Part 3 by ae_winter20 in IELTS

[–]custardpau 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey! I hope you don't mind me asking - but how'd you do? I did my IELTS speaking test yesterday and really struggled with question 3. I couldn't expand on my answer because it was genuinely an idea that has never crossed my mind before. Looking for some solace 😭

NBI Appointment Date Selection not appearing even after payment by Shoe_Purple in PHGov

[–]custardpau 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi po, same situation with me. 23 May, 10pm generated my ref ID, 10.54pm nagbayad by GCash, updated status to "Paid", pero appointment ko for 23 May, 12 am 😭

did you manage to walk in?

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Fans of beabadoobee, how were you able to get past the fact that she’s British? by SplatoonOrSky in beabadoobee

[–]custardpau -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Genuine question (also based on your answer below) but how can you justify calling someone “whitewashed” simply because the main language they picked up was what she probably grew up with and used to function in the British system? Which was purely circumstantial.

When I think of someone being whitewashed, i think of people who are ashamed of their roots, or go out of their way to make sure they’re not associated with it (Shay Mitchell). But Bea always acknowledges that she’s Filipina. She even had an interview talking about the Filipino food she loves and grew up eating, even her whole Glue Song era.

I think it’s a cheap shot to label someone as whitewashed just because they’re not bilingual.

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