The Journey (One draft from 2016)

Many a time rejections are considered as failures. Indeed it is as per definition but if you learn your life experiences from these, they could be proved a milestone in your journey. When you will be lost in distant future then you can see those stones in your proceeding path and can say to yourself that if you have crossed those hurdles then you must have that ability to get over of the next hurdle too. Of course, it hurts, these bitches hurt like hell. I can't claim that my journey throughout my life was quite smooth, but at the same time I had an awesome life and a height of 6'2"... ok now I am bragging... So, what if faced some rejections in schools, college, personal, or professional life. Each one looked like they would take the life out of me. I survived and when I look back I see myself as a different person. Worst or Best they are my own earned experiences. I can take pride in claiming them even though I failed miserably several times but I have no regret so ever of not taking the chances. I at least don't have this question in my conscious of what if? I lost people, sometimes people lost me. But this is what I am. I learned there is only one thing in life, and that is the journey. Sometimes you lose your hope, sometimes you can't even see the end of the tunnel and it would feel like this journey would never end or would suck you out of it. But I survived. I will survive and I want my state to be a sovereign country, okay now kidding :D

Right now, I am completely writing this impulsively, so language structure doesn't fucking matter right now to me, fix it later baby.  Perhaps, another rejection is waiting for me around the corner... perhaps an unexpected miracle might be waiting too, who knows but I am sure whatever it will be, I will kick its ass, or it will kick my ass... One thing is for sure, someone's ass is going to be kicked...lol.. Cool, so as of now, my examination results are out and I performed exceptionally well even according to my standard, ya failed one subject also, but the degree is almost won, nonetheless my master is nw killing me. Anyway let's chill I should give myself a treat, It's celebration time and I am going to buy myself an awesome gift - a mac :) bravo manu!

Draft date: 28 Aug 2016

IELTS Listening Time Strategy For 8-9

In my previous post, I had mentioned that if you find yourself consistently scoring 7 with Official Cambridge IELTS listening practice materials, then the only technique that you might need is reading ahead. You really do not need to be an advanced English speaker to excel in this examination.

Let me first explain, why/how did I make my own timing strategy. While doing the practise tests in the strict examination conditions, I used to scan questions in the same order as recording, which used to make me lose a few marks in Section 3 and 4. In my opinion, it was due to a lot of information to read but having comparatively little time to soak all of them. Afterwards, I tried a different approach and first allowed myself to read all the texts without any recording and then also noted down my own scanning time for each section. I then tried the same questions with recording. This made me feel at more ease and I felt almost no hurry when the recording was playing. I was astonished to see that I was able to score 9. Moreover, I let a whole recording play and just noted down the time gap between sections and subsections. Thereupon, based on my scanning speed and time gaps, I made my own timing strategy [See below figure].

My Timing Strategy for IELTS Listening

In summary, you should try to use the time gaps wisely. Below was my timing strategy:

• At the beginning of Section 1:
• Scan questions 1-7 (Section 1) in 30 seconds
• Scan questions 31-37 (or 31- 35 questions, Section 4) in 1 minute
• Scan questions 21-23 (Section 3) in 30 seconds
• At the mid of Section 1: Scan questions 7-10 in 30 seconds
• At the beginning of Section 2:
• Scan questions 11-17 (Section 2) in 50 seconds
• Scan questions 24-28 (Section 3) in 1 minute
• At the mid of Section 2: Scan questions 18-20 in 50 seconds
• In Section 3:
• At the beginning itself, scan the rest of the questions (Q 29-30)
• Again scan questions 21-26 (in the first half of recording)
• Again scan questions 27-30 (in the second half of recording)
• In Section 4:
• At the beginning itself, scan the rest of the questions (Q 36/38 - 40)
• Again scan questions 31- 36/38

Remember, reading ahead is one of the imperative techniques to get the highest band. Use the breaks to read the next section of questions before the recording starts. Based on your scanning speed, make a timing strategy for yourself. If Cambridge does not change the examination pattern, I hope to use this strategy again when I will be taking my next IELTS in 2022. But as of now, I must wait patiently for Tomorrow's sunrise where the Canadian ITA along with a new life would be awaiting at dawn.

तेरी कोशिश, चुप हो जाना,

मेरी ज़िद है, शंख बजाना ...

IELTS Listening Preparation Tips For 8-9

This post is suitable for those candidates who could consistently score at least 7 with Official Cambridge IELTS practice materials and would like to make their score in listening module 8 or perhaps 9. Moreover, this post identifies the areas where a 7 scorer might need to improve and provides some tips and strategies. However, I strongly advise you to not be fooled by the simplicity of the exam pattern. Although the examination may appear straightforward, you should practice and start scoring continuously the desired marks in your practice tests before you can apply for the exam. In my opinion, if you cannot continuously score 8 or 9 in official Cambridge IELTS practice tests, then it is highly unlikely that you could score the same on the examination day.

Let's get started. First thing first, get thoroughly familiar with the format of the listening test and then take 2 or 3 listening test from the official Cambridge IELTS practice materials to gauge your skill level. Be brutally honest while checking your answers. If it does not exactly match with provided answer keys, consider your answer wrong.

Description of Band 7 Scorer As Per Cambridge:

"You have an operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings in some situations. Generally you handle complex language well and understand detailed reasoning."

Possible Strengths of a Candidate With Score 7:

1. A wide range of daily use vocabulary,
2. Knowledge of synonyms and paraphrasing, 
3. Can understand connected, fast, and natural speech, and 
4. Lastly, can understand different accents, namely, British, Scottish, Irish, American, Canadian, and Australian (For me, I was comfortable with all these accents except Australian and Scottish. I listened to few talks in those two accents during my commute time over mobile app Stitcher).

Probable Weak Points of a Candidate With Score 7:

1. Lose of attention,
2. Not following word/number count instructions thoroughly, 
3. Unaware of IELTS traps, such as usage of distractors (e.g; but, however), unexpected turns, and generalization, and 
4. Most importantly, the candidate might not have a strategy to manage time. Remember, for the listening test, timing is the key!

Be mindful of the fact that only doing practice test would not be enough, as it will not really improve your examination skill that much and besides this is a very boring way to prepare. You first need to figure out the reason behind your missing answers and fix those areas. So, let's move forward to identify the traps that IELTS employs to check your attention to details and address the tips and strategies for different sections.