You want a band 7 or 8 on the IELTS.
One simple technique can get you that score faster than any other framework, strategy, or method.
Today we’ll show you how to use this technique to get the score you need and get your dream life.
On the IELTS Energy podcast, Lindsay and I often talk about creating and promoting a “culture of thinking”.
This idea came to us as we heard more and more students saying they just felt they didn’t have ideas for the Speaking and Writing answers, or they were faced with topics in Listening and Reading that they had never been exposed to before.
I would define a culture of thinking as the notion of an educated and open-minded society.
A group of people who are thirsty for new ideas and information which can give them insights into themselves and the world around them.
As Lindsay and I talked about this more and more, we realized that encouraging students in this endeavor had a much larger scope than the IELTS exam.
What are the other ways in which a “culture of thinking” can help you reach your dreams?
Find out in this article!
It can help you before the exam
Keeping this goal in the back of your mind while you prepare for IELTS will help inform and guide your study plan.
Searching for information which pertains to a culture of thinking will lead you to resources such as NPR (www.npr.org), a non-profit media outlet in America, and high-level newspapers such as the New York Times (www.nytimes.com).
Both of these example resources contain such a wide scope of shows and articles that you cannot help but be exposed to topics and information that you never would have come across before.
Plus, spending time with these native speaker resources will push you out of your comfort zone in your preparation, and force you to learn complicated vocabulary items that you can reproduce on exam day.
It can help you during the exam
Firstly, you never know what topics will be on the Reading exam, or Listening Sections 3 and 4.
Material for the Reading exam can be drawn from newspapers, magazines or journals, and the last two sections of the Listening are more ‘academic’, according to IELTS.
So, the more exposure you have to a plethora of topics, the better prepared you will be.
Plus, on the Speaking and Writing, when you are asked for your opinions on topics you, honestly, probably don’t even talk about in your native language, let alone English, you will now have something to say and write.
Furthermore, you will be able to support your opinions and ideas with very specific examples and details that you have read or heard, impressing the examiner with your high-level resources.
It can help you after the exam
On a fundamental level, gaining new information and ideas helps you to gain new perspective on your own life, culture and society.
You become a more well-rounded individual who can be a more productive member of the community, and a person who can share and teach valuable information to friends, family and neighbors.
Plus, when you do get your high IELTS score and enter into an English-speaking university or immigrate to an English-speaking country, you will be able to carry on conversations in groups of Americans, or Canadians, or Brits.
You will be an interesting person that people want to talk to.
So, for numerous reasons, you should seek to create a culture of thinking: for yourself, and the world around you.
So go now and start creating your culture of thinking!
It’s not as hard as you think.
It also helps to surround yourself with the right people, who are also interesting in being in this culture.
Leave a comment below and let us know how it goes.
