I wanted to learn English so that I could enroll in foreign universities for a master’s degree in engineering. At that time, they asked me for IELTS 6.5. Now I want to write my personal experience, how I started from a completely preliminary level and was able to get the required grade in two years.
How did it start?
When I decided to learn the language, I went to an ESL (English as a Second Language) institute and said that I wanted to get a private tutor because I needed to go faster. In the beginning, it was me and the teacher, there were only two of us. Financially, it was even better for me. It is true that the 1:1 classes were more expensive, but the speed of our progress was higher so it compensated for the additional price.
The problem with the completely 1:1 class is that we didn’t have much to say because there were only two of us, me and the teacher. The teacher does not talk much. He would let me talk, but my words would end soon.
Until the institution suggested adding another person to the class and I think it was a very good suggestion, it became cheaper financially. The speed of progress of materials decreased, but we ended up talking more. I passed several preliminary levels with this 1:1 class. I was Satisfied.
Listening practice
From the very beginning, I had a listening problem and I asked the teacher what solution he suggested. His suggestion was to download a podcast and listen a lot. I did this, but unfortunately, I did not understand anything. The teacher’s justification was to keep listening even though you don’t understand because it will make the ears get used to English sounds. I listened to him, I was listening to the podcast all the way from the dormitory to the university, which was about half an hour. The teacher’s interpretation was that it is as if you are listening to the voice of a sparrow, you do not understand what it is saying, but you are introducing your ears to those sounds. This was the case for a long time and I still did not understand anything and it was bothering me. I tried making a change to see what would happen.
I realized that I made a few mistakes. The big mistake was that I downloaded a lot of podcasts and listened to each podcast only once. And the topics I was choosing had nothing to do with each other.
I decided to choose a specific topic first and download podcasts only on that topic. I decided to download only one podcast a week. I chose science. In particular, BBC Science in Action became my favorite podcast, with a new episode coming out every week. I think the podcast still exists. The subject of science was also very necessary for those who want to take the academic IELTS.
On the other hand, the podcast was up-to-date and made me aware of the science news of the day, which was attractive in itself. Because it was usually news that could not be heard from many other places and other people did not know about it. These charms make it easier to continue.
The first step was to go to the paragraph about the podcast that was placed on the download site and I would read and learn all the new words. Then I was listening to this podcast a few times, like twice a day. When I was listening, I was trying to find the words that I know in the podcast. At first, I did not understand even a single sentence. But as soon as I understood a word in it, it became attractive to me. And it made it easier for me to continue. This podcast listening continued until I took the IELTS exam. It continued for two years and it made my listening much better. In my opinion, listening to podcasts is much better than watching movies because podcasts are more natural and closer to daily interactions than movies, the conversations in films are artificial and not real. On the other hand, since podcasts do not have images or subtitles, they force people to concentrate on listening. Also, you can listen to podcasts everywhere and it is much shorter than movies.
I remind you that I started listening to podcasts from the same introductory level. Many people say that this work is heavy for us at the elementary level. This method has benefited from the elementary levels to more advanced levels. Naturally, the type of benefit is different at each level, but your performance is the same.
Summary:
- Find a podcast on your favorite topic that is active and up-to-date. The podcast should be about 15 to 30 minutes. Longer will make you tired. 20 minutes was the best for me.
- Download the latest episode every week.
- Read the paragraph written in that part about what they are talking about and understand it completely and find new words.
- Listen to that podcast several times during the week and try to understand.
Target:
- At the elementary level, the goal is to get familiar with sounds. Listen to it like listening to the chirps of a bird.
- At a higher level, the goal is to practice listening and to comprehend, which is essential for everyday language and conversational exams.
ESL class and conversation practice
During these two years, I always went to an ESL class, and I even took a leave of absence for one semester of my undergraduate course, I studied 5 to 8 hours every day for about four months. I was looking for a special institute for IELTS classes that taught IELTS techniques (I didn’t use many techniques), but I think they were very good at teaching general English. Choosing a class is also very important. You should enjoy the class you are taking. A good ESL course is where you can and are allowed to talk freely. Sometimes I think that if a person goes to a class that is lower than his level, he will have more self-confidence to speak and as a result, he will speak more. For example, I remember in one of the classes I used to attend, the teacher gave us the opportunity to speak about some news. Because I listened to a lot of news, and scientific and up-to-date podcasts, I had something to talk about in every session. And because my talk was full of new words, the teacher always had to translate the new words for others. Which ended up a good feeling and a good grade😁 for me. Your goal from going to ESL class should not be to learn new things in class. Your goal should be to talk and practice the new things you learned outside of the class and show up your new skills 😁 and ask the teacher if you have any questions. You should learn new things in your own time with the books you read, the podcasts you listen to, or other things you do.
Vocabulary and grammar
My advice to retain and increase vocabulary is to use a Leitner system. Enter all the new words you come across into the system. Now later I will tell you where to get new words. Do not use ready-made Leitner cards. Because you cannot relate to them. The fact that you research and write the words yourself will make you learn better.
The method of making Leitner cards is also important. Write the meaning of the words on the card and the word itself on the back of the card. This makes the word more active in your mind. Force yourself to guess the word itself from the meaning. This way, when you want to use it, it will come to your mind more easily. Write the meaning in English and enter it from a valid English-to-English dictionary. Even enter examples related to the word. And enter the sentence in which you saw the word for the first time. Just be careful to use a special character instead of the word itself so that you don’t see the word itself on the card.
Review new words with the Leitner system for at least a quarter to half an hour every day.
There are several different sources you can use to find new words to import into Leitner. For example, the same podcast you listen to and learn new words. Or words you learn in class. Or words you read in other books or words you find in magazines. Where did your magazine come from? good question I will tell you about it later.
One of my instructors introduced two books to me, and I think these two books are the best English books for learning new words and grammar. Grammar for IELTS and Vocabulary for IELTS are my favorite books. Now the same author has given more recent books under the names of
- Cambridge IELTS Vocabulary Up to Band 6.0
- Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS Advanced Band 6.5+
- Cambridge IELTS Grammar For Bands 6.5 and above.
From Cambridge Press by Pauline Cullen.
Many people say that these books are higher than their level because they are written for IELTS, but I suggest that you start at whatever level you are, and in my opinion, they are much better than books like 504 or similar. Whenever I started 504, I couldn’t go more than a few lessons, the book was too boring for me. But these Cambridge books are completely different and they were very interesting to me.
Reading and understanding
English magazines are highly recommended for those who want to learn the language. Especially for academic IELTS tests, New Scientist magazine is highly recommended. It helps a lot in reading and comprehension and is absolutely necessary. The magazine itself is very informative and interesting. A new version of this magazine comes out every week. When I was in the introductory level, I enjoyed the first parts of the magazine a lot because they had short news about one paragraph. When my level went up, the multi-page articles were also attractive to me. I used to enter the new words in my Leitner system and enjoyed the news I was reading. Reading this magazine increased my vocabulary so much that many times I knew many words that even the teacher did not know. But it was very important for me to review these words every day with that Leitner system. Another interesting aspect of reading a scientific magazine was that because I was reading the latest magazine and listening to the latest podcast, they had common news and it made it easier for me to understand. Well, this method is much more interesting than studying textbooks, because you are experiencing something very new in another language.
Conclusion
I continued these methods. The most important thing I hope you understand by now is that you should enjoy the way you learn. If you don’t enjoy it, try other methods so you can continue. Even if you tried any of the above methods for a few weeks and did not enjoy it, change it a little and see how you feel.
If learning English becomes a habit for you, you will get started very quickly. Mr. James Clear says in his famous book Atomic Habits
The less friction associated with the habit, the more likely it is to occur.
If you haven’t read the Atomic Habits, you must read it. I highly recommend it.
Good luck.