Shadowing Practice: Get Better at IELTS Reading in 13 Minutes - Learn English Speaking with Video

There is a way to get better at IELTS reading almost instantly.

It's not a hack, it really works.

Building your vocabulary and reading speed will give you the biggest improvements, but those take months.

What I want to show you today are five things about the test itself that you can understand right now.

And once you do, you'll manage your time better, feel less overwhelmed and start answering more questions with the English you already have.

Let's start with the official instructions and one thing written there which you should ignore.

Let's open an official Cambridge practice test.

The very first line reads, you should spend about 20 minutes on questions 1 to 13.

Basically 20 minutes on the first section, 20 on the second and 20 on the third.

Sounds fair, right?

Three sections one hour divided equally.

But here's the thing, it doesn't work.

One of my students, Maria, followed this advice to the letter.

She breathed through section 1, felt super confident, still had time left over to double check her answers,

Section 2 was fine and then she hit section 3,

the hardest one, packed with tricky vocabulary where you really need to read the most to answer each question.

And suddenly she was struggling.

She left several questions blank just because time ran out, which meant she didn't return to a couple of questions she skipped in section 2.

And all this resulted in a 6.5 from someone with great English skills.

And that's the story I see again and again.

The problem is, section 1 is always easier, section 3 is always harder.

And if you treat them equally, you're actually setting yourself up to run out of time just when you need it most.

So here is the smarter way to think about it.

Spend about 15 minutes on section 1, 20 on section 2 and 25 on section 3.

I call this the 15-20-25 rule.

And if you're quite advanced and are aiming for band 8 or 9, try this version.

12 minutes, 18, 23.

And see if you can handle this pace without making extra mistakes.

Because this change can potentially free up up to 7 minutes at the end of the test

so you can go back and fix those I'll come back to this later questions.

So the real win isn't just speed, it's control.

And trust me, when the pressure kicks in, those last few minutes can make the difference to your score.

So once you've sorted your timing with the 15-20-25 rule, there is another decision that can completely change your score.

Do you actually read the passage first or skip straight to the questions?

Many students and teachers think there is only one right way, but over the years I've seen top scorers use different strategies.

Take one of my students, Ahmed.

For months he was stuck at a band 6.

And every practice test looked the same.

He'd start by reading the entire passage carefully,

word by word, because he was taught he needed to understand the ideas in the passage before touching the questions.

And by the time he got halfway through he was stressed,

clock was ticking down, he'd start panicking and one day I told him forget the passage, start with the questions.

And at first he didn't believe me.

But after a few practice runs something started happening.

He started locating answers directly, saving 4 or 5 minutes in every section.

And within weeks his score jumped from a band 6 to a band 8 in practice tests

and a 7.5 in his real exam.

So here's the lesson.

If you can skim a passage comfortably in 3-4 minutes, reading first can give you useful context.

If that slows you down or feels overwhelming, skip it, go straight to the questions.

Plenty of band 8 or even 9 students do.

And starting with the questions when you know what you're looking for can save you a lot of time for another reason.

Let me show you something.

Here is a full passage and my question is

how much of each IELTS reading passage do you actually need to answer the questions?

Do you need every sentence?

Half of them?

Well, let me show you.

I've highlighted all the sentences we really need to answer the questions and the rest is just context.

Sometimes a whole paragraph is context.

This is part two, in part three there will be more highlighted parts, but the point still stands.

Not every sentence answers a question.

And of course you don't know which sentences you need and which you don't unless you know which question you're answering.

So the next skill I'm gonna teach you is really powerful

because it helps you spot exactly where the answers are hiding without wasting your time on the sentences

that don't matter and without jumping from one paragraph to another and back looking for those answers.

You'll be able to find your answers one after another calmly and in an orderly manner.

Believe it or not, IELTS test writers aren't trying to trick you.

In fact, they actually make the answers appear in the most logical order possible.

And once you understand the logic, the test feels a lot less overwhelming.

So here is how it works.

Many question types follow the order of the passage.

This means you read question one, skim until you hit the answer, lock it in, then you move to question two,

which will be further down in the text.

And the simple rhythm, question, skim, answer, repeat, can save you huge amounts of time.

Now I'm going to show you which questions are going to appear in order briefly

and if you want to learn more in depth there is a separate video I'll link it below.

So tasks that usually appear in order are true false not given,

yes no not given, multiple choice with one or two answers,

matching sentence endings, and most filling the gaps tasks like notes,

tables, diagrams or summaries, although occasionally a few answers may be swapped around.

So not everything is that neat.

Some question types break this pattern and need a different approach.

But even here the answers are not random.

The tasks that are usually not in order are matching headings,

matching information when you read which section contains,

and matching features like match names, researchers or professions.

For these the best strategy is to read the passage section by section

and try matching each part as you go so instead of reading the first question

you start with reading the first section you match it you read the next section you match it

and so on and usually you finish the task

and then you return to those parts you couldn't match the first time round

and you go through the task again and finally by the second round you probably match everything.

And one final catch.

Near the very end of the reading test questions 38 to 40 can sometimes ignore the rules

so be prepared that those last few may jump around.

So the key idea is this.

If you know which tasks are in order and which aren't you can stop wasting time flipping back and forth

and start reading with purpose.

100

And now, before we move to the last technique which every IELTS student should apply in their preparation,

101

let me share with you three seemingly small habits that can really help you in your test.

102

First, imagine you're almost done with the text and the question suddenly asks.

103

According to Professor Smith, or in 1953, if you haven't marked anything,

104

you're forced to scan the whole page from scratch under pressure with the clock ticking.

105

But if you've been highlighting as you read, you've already left little signposts in the text and you can jump straight there,

106

saving your precious minutes.

107

That's why highlighting isn't optional it's one of the best time-saving habits you can build highlight names dates theories

108

and places even

109

if you take your test on computer you can use highlights

110

select the word right click highlight i normally don't highlight much on computer

111

because it's quite distracting and it's taking more effort than on paper

112

but for these keywords i'd make an exception to illustrate the second habit, let me tell you a short story.

113

I still remember it vividly from one of my own exams.

114

It was paper-based and when the reading section finished the invigilator announced your time is up, put your pants down.

115

But the girl next to me was frantically transferring her answers and the invigilator ran over shouting pants down,

116

pants down and crossed out her probably five answers or so right on the spot.

117

Can you imagine?

118

To find the answers but not get the points.

119

So never ever save transferring for the end.

120

Do it neatly after each section so you don't lose marks you've already earned.

121

And keep an eye on your time.

122

On computer there is a time at the top, no problem and no need to transfer any answers anywhere but

123

if you take your exam on paper write down

124

when your section begins to remember

125

when it ends invigilators will only tell you how much time is left two

126

or three times throughout the test and in the test i took they only announced

127

when we had 10 minutes left and five minutes but it may differ from center to center.

128

And the third useful habit concerns your practice tests.

129

It's tempting to grab any practice test you find online for free.

130

Some even come with the official label.

131

But here is the truth.

132

The real IELTS exam papers are produced by Cambridge English.

133

And that's what you get in Cambridge IELTS books.

134

Even the other co-owners of IELTS like IDP or British Council don't write the actual exams, they just deliver them.

135

So their practice tests online can be slightly different to the real tests.

136

And those three random tests you see online are way off most often.

137

Too easy, too hard or sometimes just plain wrong.

138

And if you want your practice to pay off on exam day, use Cambridge tests.

139

Now what's this last technique every student needs.

140

You know, whenever I post a video where we work on a particular type of reading questions and practice together,

141

I always get some comments saying this answer is wrong, it should be B.

142

I love the energy but there is a missed opportunity here.

143

First, you won't win an argument with Cambridge English.

144

Second, you're not learning the lesson.

145

What you should do after each practice test is go back and analyze your every mistake.

146

Figure out why you chose the wrong answer.

147

If you didn't know some words, translate them.

148

If you didn't read carefully enough, do.

149

But get to the point where you understand why a certain answer is correct with every question.

150

The next time you won't make the same mistake.

151

Oh yes, and learn more about the different types of tasks and how to approach them.

152

Remember the questions in order and not in order?

153

Here is a video that can help you master this technique and get clarity and confidence taking your reading test.

154

Thank you so much for watching me today.

155

Good luck with your preparation and your exam.

156

Bye!

📺 Aynı Kanal

✨ Video Öner

206 cümleler

Get Band 9 After Using These Reading Strategies

IELTS PrepUniversity Students+2

665 cümleler

Complete IELTS Bands 5 6 5 Workbook Mark Harrison

IELTS PrepUniversity Students+2

175 cümleler

Improve your IELTS Speaking Part 1 Answers

IELTS PrepUniversity Students+2

121 cümleler

Full IELTS Speaking TEST band score 7

IELTS PrepUniversity Students+2

215 cümleler

PTE SWT: One-Sentence Formula for 79+

TOEFL PrepUniversity Students+2

37 cümleler

Luyện nghe tiếng anh để đạt 9 IELTS Reading cùng imleafsun | English Corner

IELTS PrepUniversity Students+2

245 cümleler

How This One Simple Method Helped Me Get Band 9 Twice in IELTS Reading

IELTS PrepUniversity Students+1

171 cümleler

How Anyone Can Jump from Band 6 to 8.5 in ONE Month

IELTS PrepUniversity Students+2

177 cümleler

IELTS Reading: Where Your Marks Are Actually Leaking

IELTS PrepUniversity Students+1

231 cümleler

IELTS CAMBRIDGE LISTENING BOOK 18 TEST 3 WITH ANSWERS

IELTS PrepUniversity Students+2

62 cümleler

Use Adverbs to Increase your IELTS Writing and Speaking scores!

IELTS PrepUniversity Students+2

Gölgeleme Tekniği Nedir?

Gölgeleme, başlangıçta profesyonel tercüman eğitimi için geliştirilen ve çok dilli Dr. Alexander Arguelles tarafından popüler hale getirilen, bilim destekli bir dil öğrenme tekniğidir. Yöntem basit ama güçlüdür: ana dili İngilizce olan bir sesi dinler ve hemen yüksek sesle tekrar edersiniz — konuşmacıyı 1-2 saniye gecikmeyle takip eden bir gölge gibi. Pasif dinleme veya dilbilgisi alıştırmalarının aksine, gölgeleme beyninizi ve ağız kaslarınızı gerçek konuşma kalıplarını eşzamanlı olarak işlemeye ve yeniden üretmeye zorlar. Araştırmalar, telaffuz doğruluğu, tonlama, ritim, bağlı konuşma, dinleme anlama ve konuşma akıcılığını önemli ölçüde geliştirdiğini göstermektedir — bu da onu IELTS Konuşma hazırlığı ve gerçek dünya İngilizce iletişimi için en etkili yöntemlerden biri yapar.

Shadowing tekniği: adım adım eksiksiz rehberi okuyun →

Shadowing Practice: Get Better at IELTS Reading in 13 Minutes - Learn English Speaking with Video

Band 9 IELTS Speaking SAMPLE ANSWERS | HOME

How to start your IELTS preparation [for beginners]

3 IELTS Listening Techniques to Understand EVERYTHING

IELTS Speaking Part 1 SAMPLE ANSWERS | Hometown

IELTS Speaking Part 3 | Questions & Answers

Get Band 9 After Using These Reading Strategies

Complete IELTS Bands 5 6 5 Workbook Mark Harrison

Improve your IELTS Speaking Part 1 Answers

Full IELTS Speaking TEST band score 7

PTE SWT: One-Sentence Formula for 79+

Luyện nghe tiếng anh để đạt 9 IELTS Reading cùng imleafsun | English Corner

How This One Simple Method Helped Me Get Band 9 Twice in IELTS Reading

How Anyone Can Jump from Band 6 to 8.5 in ONE Month

IELTS Reading: Where Your Marks Are Actually Leaking

IELTS CAMBRIDGE LISTENING BOOK 18 TEST 3 WITH ANSWERS

Use Adverbs to Increase your IELTS Writing and Speaking scores!

Master IELTS Reading & Boost English Skills: Real-Life Strategies That Work

Useful Chunks & Collocations to Elevate Your English

Your Shadowing Challenge: Practice Like a Pro

Gölgeleme Tekniği Nedir?