TartanGary Posted March 3, 2015 Report Share Posted March 3, 2015 Hi guys, Just starting on our journey to get the 189 visa,came up 10 points short so need to sit ielts which I'm pretty worried about!English was never my strongest subject at school.Looking for any advice on passing,bought myself a book so getting stuck into that just now.really gutted I have to sit this damn exam! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikkiwd Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 hi, if you have a search there are a few threads about this subject by others who have done it. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKKL Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 (edited) Hi, I just sat this test, get the results on friday. I found it pretty tough, the reading and writing were the most diffilcult. I had to sit the academic one which is supposed to be slightly harder than the general so you may find it ok. I know when studying I found the general questions alot easier to answer. For studying, I focused mostly on reading and writing, the listening part was really easy, I would study it a little to be aware of how the test will be etc but I would focus most of the studying on the reading and writing. For a native english speaker I dont know how you could fail the speaking part but again just make sure you aware of the types of questions you may get asked and how this part of the test is conducted. I found it diffilcult studying for something that I had no idea what would be asked, I spent some time making myself aware of how each part was structured, had a look at a few mock tests and attempted a few for each section but I found youtube videos the most beneficial, everyone is different I guess. www.ielts-exam.net is very good for example tests and showing model answers. Good luck. Edited March 4, 2015 by GKKL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOOCOW Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Hi Gary, My experiance of ielts, like yourself not good at english and i hate exams and you need 7s to gain 10 points. I did ielts 4 times travaling to liverpool, sheffield, leeds and birmingham. My advice would be to revise everyday, use you tube and several ielts sites that help you get used to the format. Book a test and see how it goes this will become easier as you know what to expect on the day IF you fail. I tried another 2 times before booking an english tutor who assisted with stucture and technics on how to do things quicker and push my marks up as i was always .5 off in one subject each time. Got the marks i needed on the 4th attempt. BEST OF LUCK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TartanGary Posted March 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Hi, All sounds very similar to me,the revision is tough going especially since iv been out of school for nearly 20years!I'll stick with it & try youtube as well,i thought about an English tutor to help me,without sounding nosey,how much does the tutor cost?I will not let this silly exam derail our dreams for Oz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoopyLauren Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 The library have book, so don't buy anymore. Often out though, so keep checking. Think there are some free on line stuff too. Definately practice the listening, it' s worth doing a few, but not hard, just tricky if a miss a question, you get a focused on it and actually need to forget and move on, a tricky thing to do when you are worrying. Having done both Academic and general, the writing is definitely a simpler task on general, that said, i think that throw's folk too. Just be clear, concise, no waffle etc. stick to word count. That said, I did better in my academic writing than I did in my general, due to stressing and new baby and lack of sleep. The speaking if more of a formal chat, a few general topics, like, " Where do you live?, in a city or village?, Do you prefer to live in a city?" " think about a film you recently saw, What type of film was it and do you think that people int he UK should watch more subtitled films?" Poor example, but gives you the jist of the type of stuff they ask etc. Good luck, in a rush now, but if i think of anything else, i write more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gar374 Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Hi Gary, I see you're in Kilmarnock. I was advised by someone who had sat the test both in Edinburgh and Glasgow, that the atmosphere is far better in Glasgow. I never even tried Edinburgh, but Caledonia Uni (I think) were spot on. I had to do it twice (got 10 points first go but migration agents wanted me to get 20 points to take me up to 70), and I found knowing what to expect the second time round was a big help. Practice all the disciplines. You need the points from them all to make up the total. Scoring 6 on any of them means you get nothing - don't risk it. I found their own online stuff to be awful, full of Americanisms and mistakes, so I avoided it. Youtube has some good stuff as has been said. Take you're time - you will have loads. Triple check everything. I rechecked my reading on my first test to discover I'd answered 1 section in the wrong way. For the listening, they do it in small sections, so look at the questions for that section (maybe 5) and know what to answers expect (the first one is a time, the second one is a name, the third one is a phone number, that kinda thing). The answers will come out in order. I didn't know that for the first test and got a bit flustered listening for them all at the same time. They are in the order of the questions, making it a lot easier. The speaking can be odd when you're a native English speaker and they're asking you about typically British traditions. Not really much you can do about the content - My first one was a doddle, dead relaxed and the examiner woman was great. The second, the guy was quite...dry. He wasn't very responsive at all, making conversation very difficult. As a result, I was half a point down. No much you can do to prepare for that one though. Make sure you're NOT under the word count for the writing. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robhelen Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 when we first started to think about emigrating we emailed the .gov websit and were told that the 189 applicant would not need to sit an English test in this case as she is a British citizen, i.e. fully educated in the UK to degree level and lived here all her life...........................................................is this still true? and if so does she automatically get the points??????????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOOCOW Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 The IELTS is a points builder for most 189 visa apps, you get 0 points for being british. if you need 10 points to make the 60 mark you have to sit the IELTS and get 7s, if you need 20 points you need 8s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robhelen Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 we know we might seem a bit thick but finding the immi.gov.au site really userunfriendly, cant find info we need on any of our queries. so the next question is, for a 189 visa, do we need the academic test or the general test. you can score 8 in both and that's the score we need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benj1980 Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 You only need General for points. Some occupations may specifically wish for Academic but that is quite rare. What's the occupation? I gained the dreaded 8's second time round, I definitely felt more comfortable. Frustratingly I missed out by .5 first time round and completed the online material that they have and looked at some example letters from a textbook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristle Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 My OH is a nurse so needed to sit the academic. She needed 8s for the points she needed for the visa and 7s for the nursing side of things. She missed the 8 on one section so used that test for her nursing bit and took the general test to get the 8s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenPen Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 Argh I've got speaking test ina couple hrs and then the rest next Saturday I need to academic and want 8's for visa.....oh please let me get 8's in one go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocolevi Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 Good luck @JenPen x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenPen Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 Thanks lovely xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benj1980 Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 What I would say is people seem to drop their score on the writing element. It is well worth looking at as many examples as possible. First time round I gained a 7.5 for this section and 8.5 in all other sections. I took this as bit of an insult as I am a literacy teacher and have recently finished a MEd, so very much used to writing! On closer inspection I realised I had to play the game, write in the style that is in the example work. Good luck, I am sure you'll be fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robhelen Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 go to http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/ there are free materials here to help, example test papers, test formats and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helenkate Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 How/ Where can I find info on whether I need to sit academic or general...very confused!!! (I'm a nurse if that helps!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenPen Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 You'll need to sit the academic if you're the main visa applicant as part of your skills assessment through ANMAC and will need a 7 in all areas if you need extra for points then aim for an 8 and if you achieve it great. If not you can do the general for points but must have academic for ANMAC at 7 anyway regardless of points required HTH x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helenkate Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Oh that's great, thanks very much!! Aiming for 8's (fingers crossed)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TartanGary Posted May 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) Just logged in & checked my IELTS result & im delighted to say i passed!!! I was honestly expecting another fail as i got mixed up on the last part of the listening but i got the marks so im delighted to get that monkey off my back & it just goes to show practise makes perfect,i studied really hard for around 12 weeks,i never thought i could possibly get through it when i found out i needed the extra points for the 189.Eeeeeeekkkkkk...... So happy right now:jiggy: Edited May 22, 2015 by TartanGary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benj1980 Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 Congratulations! It can be quite a horrendous stage in the visa process for some people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoopyLauren Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 Well done, what a relief! Enjoy this moment, before you hit the next load of crap! Well done again xxxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocolevi Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 We got our results today Failed Gutted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoopyLauren Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 We got our results today Failed Gutted Oh bless ya. Stick at it, it's not easy. You put a lot of pressure on yourself before you go in. Don't give up hun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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