AIBU?
to think the IELTS is too hard?
manicinsomniac · 12/07/2015 19:10
Is anyone familiar with this test?
I'd never heard of it till 15 minutes ago when I rashly told a friend in South America I would help her pass this. Her English isn't far off fluent and I'm a teacher so I, rather arrogantly, assumed it would be a piece of piss for both of us.
Downloaded the practice reading test and ... ouch! I could give this to my year 7 or 8 classes and am fairly sure they wouldn't find it easy going at all. For a non native English speaker it's really hard - the first word is chronobiology!
I don't get it - there are immigrants in this country who speak far less English than this test demands yet my friend can't even apply for a visa till she's passed it. And if she fails she can't try again for 2 years.
Is it a new test? I've been telling her not to worry about it, it will be easy, there are people in this country who hardly speak any English it all etc - and now I feel really stupid! 
Do we really need to make it so hard that a good proportion of English people would probably fail it?!
gallicgirl · 12/07/2015 19:14
Ielts has been around for years and is a higher level paper. It's aimed at university applicants so a higher than standard level of English is required.
What's the reason she has to take it? No offence to your abilities but a qualified ELTtutor might be a better idea if a pass is critical.
TattieHowkerz · 12/07/2015 19:15
It isn't a new test.
It isn't a pass of fail, it grades your English to a certain point. So it has to cover high level academic English, and also ability to derive meaning of unfamiliar words from context.
What score does your friend need? 5 or 6 should be straightforward from what you describe. 8 or above is essentially native speaker level.
littlebeps · 12/07/2015 19:16
I taught IELTS recently. It's not new but I agree, it is difficult. What level does she need to get? Is it the general or academic? It's the same test for everyone but the marks they get give them a level. It's really not easy and as well as plenty of EFL input she'll really need to practice as well as learn strategies
LemonySmithit · 12/07/2015 19:20
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Lweji · 12/07/2015 19:30
I took IELTS about 20 years ago. I'd assume it was pretty much still the same, though.
My English then was good, but not really fluent.
It was to register for a PhD, which required a 7 or so, IIRC. I scored comfortably in the 7-8 interval. I must have taken an academic version.
Oh, chronobiology may not be as difficult for a non-English speaker as you'd think. :) It should be recognisable by speakers of latin base languages that have completed secondary school education.
steppemum · 12/07/2015 19:39
When you take it you get a level (4, 5, 6, 7, etc). Level 9 is near to native speaker.
As I understand it the online test self adusts making the words harder or easier as you go according to your answers, then it gives you a level.
I help Ukrainian friend with this, they also have to pass it for their visas. It is quite hard
LemonySmithit · 12/07/2015 19:40
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FishWithABicycle · 12/07/2015 19:51
IELTS has been around for years and the great thing about it is that there is no pass mark - different opportunities need different standards of English obviously. People often have a much higher standard of foreign language mastery in text than in voice so I am not at all surprised that the written test is hard. I have worked a lot with students who think they have excellent English because their IELTS score of 6.5 was sufficient to get them a place at an English university - and indeed this level is sufficient to be able to comprehend a lecture and answer questions on its topic. However at that level they still have plenty of mistakes in their English. We set a required score of 8 or 8.5 when what we needed was true fluency but that's not a blanket "pass mark" - there are just different opportunities open to people with a score less than that.
gallicgirl · 12/07/2015 20:00
They average out the scores from the different areas so a strong performance in one area can raise a mediocre score.
I knew a student whose written English was quite poor but his spoken fluency pulled him a sufficiently high score to commence his undergraduate degree.
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