Julia Saints' Blog: Tips To Succeed In The IELTS Reading Test

The IELTS reading test is believed to be one of the easiest sections. However, it requires a certain amount of time and preparation from test takers in the same way as other sections do. While reading is easy, there are aspects of the exam that test takers should be familiar about. For instance, they will find the time given to be short or not enough to answer some questions about very complicated texts. One should possess very good reading skills to do well during the exam.

One of the best ways to do well during this section is to simply read academic texts during your free time. Make sure that you get your study materials from journals, textbooks, and specialist magazine. Doing this is especially helpful to individuals who are not familiar with these kinds of texts as it allows them to get acquainted with the types of language and structure that they will eventually meet in the exam.

When practicing to read, make sure that you concentrate on the text before focusing on the questions. Bear in mind that you can only answer the questions if you have a clear understanding about the text. Categorize the specific types of texts you are reading and remember them to help you learn about their structure. There are four types of IELTS texts namely the analytic texts, descriptive texts, discursive texts, and narrative texts. The first one refers to a discussion of the reasons why something took place. It could also be the process of making recommendations or explaining a concept. Descriptive texts pertain to a description of a situation, an explanation of how something is done or categorize. Discursive texts, on the other hand, refer to varying opinions about an issue. If it explains a chronological sequence of events, it is called narrative texts.

Another way to achieve success in the reading section of IELTS is to use the skim and scan techniques. Skimming is the ability to read quickly by skipping some unimportant words such as prepositions. It can also be done by ignoring difficult words that you don’t have to understand. Skimming allows you to get a general idea about a paragraph and to find an answer to a question. Scanning is something that happens when you check out the price of an advertised product or when searching for a name in a telephone directory. While doing this, you don’t need to read the entire text and just move your eyes fast over it. You can do this from left to right or vice versa to spot words like dates, numbers, and names of places.

There are many other things that you can do to increase your chance in succeeding in the reading test. Make sure that you are able to recognize paragraph structure and have an overview of the text before finally dealing with the questions. It can also be helpful when you learn how to spot parallel phrases and you train yourself to avoid panicking when you encounter difficult words. It is similarly important that you are able to manage your time during the entire course of the exam.