On 19th June, 2014, Option is launching a unique IELTS training platform. With classes that are on three days a week round the year students have the freedom to join immediately and plan the pace of their preparation. Someone who wants to go really slow can select to come in once a week, while someone who is up against a deadline can accelerate the preparation by doing 3 classes a week. The fact that the classes are in the evenings on weekdays in the afternoon on the weekend makes for a wonderful offering that suits every category of test taker.
The sessions are meticulously planned and very diligently conducted by trained and experienced faculties that are well apprised with the learning needs of the local students and the large multicultural classes. To start with the trainer generates a class plan and ensures that over every 2 sessions the students cover one full IELTS test. By the time the students have done 6 sessions they have not only finished 3 tests but also acquired test taking strategies that are becoming crucial to handling the IELTS test. This pushes the scores up substantially and the student is more confident to take on a full paper every session. The idea is to make the test taker get rid of inhibitions.
In the course of the 6 sessions the students are also taught how to handle the different types of Writing tasks for both the Academic and the General versions of the test. Most often they need to be given templates that make for quicker learning – execution possibilities. In fact, students are able to compose good essays once they have a frame ready and know the structure they are to follow.
One common weakness with many test takers is the spelling. This is a challenge for the trainers too but we work on improving it by providing students with a list of the typical words that feature on the IELTS. This list is carefully revised in the class and the students are frequently tested on the spellings.
As for the Speaking, we plan a 30 minute speaking and interactive round in each session and grade the students. In the course of this module we advise how better to answer a question and prepare the students for the most frequently asked questions. Listening to others speak is also a great learning tool; students pick up ideas from others and understand why a particular answer is better graded.
The Reading passages are normally covered in a combination of class and home assignments after the different types of questions have been discussed and their strategies explained.Here again the greatest challenge is the vocabulary and the rather long and tedious passages the IELTS throws up. So the real training involves teaching the student how to read smart not too much! Spotting key words, making connections, and what not………!!!!
Last but not the least, the Listening is all about practice, about getting used to accents and knowing the little tricks…. Word limit, key words, article hints, sentence structures etc. We make sure to do a Listening track every session and are able to build up the proficiency level of the student considerably.
So, if you are running out of time or if you have all the time in the world- make the most and the best of it……join up and see how great a difference a good training platform can make to your preparation.