Making an outline when writing and using chatGPT to find more ideas for the Speaking test is how Minh Duc achieved 9.0 IELTS.
Dang Minh Duc, 28 years old, achieved 9.0 IELTS, including 9 in Reading and Listening, 8.5 in Writing and Speaking, in the computer-based test in Hanoi on November 21.
According to statistics on the IELTS homepage, in 2022, about 1% of IELTS test takers in Vietnam achieved a score of 8.5 or higher. Only a dozen people achieved the 9.0 mark.
Dang Minh Duc. Photo: Character provided
Minh Duc studied Spanish Language and Economics at Grinnell College, Iowa, USA. After graduating in 2019, he returned home and tried his hand at teaching IELTS. Thanks to his knowledge and experience living abroad, Duc easily achieved 8.5 in all six previous exams.
In this exam, Duc said the biggest change was in Writing skills. Duc made an outline, focused on building logic, and allocated time according to the rule of thirds, 15 minutes for describing the graph (Part 1) and 45 minutes for writing an essay (Part 2).
In part 1, the questions have many different formats such as line graphs, columns, tables, maps, processes... with a lot of data. To get a high score, according to Duc, you must learn how to group data into paragraphs, instead of just describing the data. In addition, candidates need to remember the specific vocabulary and structures used for each type of question to write fluent sentences.
In the essay writing section, Duc discovered that his weakness in previous exams was choosing the wrong thesis to focus on the question, making the thesis disjointed, unconnected and unsupportive. Therefore, Duc improved by spending 10 minutes to make a detailed outline, think and arrange the thesis according to the chain of cause and effect before writing.
"This method is very effective because we have to think more carefully and logically about the arguments we present," Duc said. He often asks many questions when writing such as: Do I really believe in this argument?, Is what I am saying here really true in all cases?.
To have quality arguments, the key lies in social understanding. Duc often sets a goal of reading three articles a day from Times or Vnexpress International because the writing style and topics of these two newspapers are quite similar to high-score IELTS essays.
"It helps me achieve dual goals: gaining more knowledge and learning a lot of good vocabulary and effective writing techniques," Duc said.
In addition, Duc recommends looking at an issue from many different perspectives such as economics, education, society or looking at the issue from the perspective of the individual, family, community, nation and international. From there, IELTS learners and test takers can enrich their arguments.
Duc prefers to write sentences of moderate length, avoiding writing sentences that are too long (more than 4 clauses) or using too much advanced vocabulary, which makes the sentences cumbersome and unnatural.
According to Duc, writing practice takes a lot of time, making many students reluctant to review. Duc's tip is to "break down" the essay, spending 15-20 minutes practicing writing a body paragraph instead of writing the whole essay, then gradually shortening this practice time.
For the Speaking test, Duc recognized that the examiner highly appreciated the candidate's naturalness when answering. Therefore, before worrying about expressing in English, learners can practice answering questions in Vietnamese first, especially with difficult social discussion questions in the third part of this skill.
To avoid running out of ideas, Duc often listens to sample answers or finds answers using chatGPT, then practices rephrasing these sentences in his own words.
"Using this method will save time thinking and practice new vocabulary and expressions that you learn in sample answers," according to Duc.
In the Listening skill, the key to getting a high score is to understand each sentence in the conversation, instead of just catching the key words. Duc explained that the test makers often set traps by mentioning words in the wrong answers, making the candidates think that they are the correct answers.
"If you only hear a few words but don't understand the whole sentence, it's easy to be fooled," Minh said.
To practice this skill, Duc listens to audio in the IELTS Cambridge series. In addition, candidates can combine listening to other sources according to their preferences, practice summarizing information to check whether they really understand the content or not.
Finally, with Reading skills, Duc believes that analyzing the problem after doing the test is more important than just marking and looking at the answers. Duc often asks why this answer is correct, how did he think when he chose the wrong answer at first, and what was wrong with this way of thinking.
When reading, candidates must deduce the idea the author wants to convey, determine the writing flow of the article and summarize the main idea of each paragraph.
"This will help test takers pay attention to the details embedded in the test and not continuously make the same mistakes," Duc analyzed.
Doan Hung
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