Why is my IELTS Reading Score NOT Increasing?

00:14:16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HouS9iKd8io

Résumé

TLDRIn this video, common issues preventing students from improving their IELTS reading scores are analyzed, revealing a four-step approach to overcoming these challenges. Many students struggle despite effort because they often rely on practice tests or strategies alone, which may lead to lower scores if not well-mastered. The video emphasizes mastering and teaching strategies for each question type, approaching practice tests differently, analyzing mistakes to identify patterns, and working on weak areas until they become strengths. Rushed preparation is compared to an ineffective quick fix, while methodical progress promises better results. The approach is likened to a car requiring all four tires to be intact to function, indicating that missing a step can halt progress.

A retenir

  • 🚗 Master the strategy for each question type to improve your scores.
  • 🔍 Practice tests help only if strategies are mastered and mistakes analyzed.
  • 📚 Analyze mistakes to find patterns and understand weak spots.
  • 🛠️ Focus on turning weak areas into strengths through targeted practice.
  • ⏱️ Allocate sufficient time for preparation rather than rushing.
  • 📝 Be able to teach the strategies to prove your mastery.
  • 🧐 Continuous analysis and improvement of skills is needed.
  • 🎯 Use focus like a sniper, not a shotgun, in addressing weak spots.
  • ⏳ Time is necessary for genuine progress; avoid seeking quick fixes.
  • 🎓 Following the complete approach assures better results.

Chronologie

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The video discusses the common frustrations students face when their IELTS reading scores do not improve despite taking multiple courses and practice tests. The speaker addresses the misconception that simply completing courses and practice tests will automatically lead to score improvement. Instead, he emphasizes the importance of mastering strategies for different question types. Students often fail to improve because they might not fully understand or master the strategies, leading to ineffective practice. The speaker uses a car analogy to explain that having one missing element can hinder overall progress, just like a car with a flat tire.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:14:16

    The speaker continues to explain that doing numerous practice tests without a proper strategy won't improve scores. He advises students to take time focusing on understanding and mastering strategies without the pressure of exam conditions. Once comfortable, practice under timed conditions to identify weaknesses. Identifying and analyzing mistakes helps recognize patterns causing low scores, such as spelling or strategy issues. The key is to focus on converting weak areas into strengths through targeted practice. Quick fixes aren’t effective; patience and adherence to a structured process are crucial for success. The speaker uses a pharmacy analogy to illustrate that certain improvements take time, emphasizing mastering strategies, identifying weaknesses, and methodically working on them for effective results.

Carte mentale

Mind Map

Questions fréquemment posées

  • Why is my IELTS reading score not increasing?

    The video explains that merely doing practice tests or following strategies without mastering them can hinder score improvement. It suggests a four-step approach to solve this.

  • What are the four key things to increase IELTS reading score?

    The four key things include mastering strategies for each question type, practicing tests differently, analyzing mistakes for patterns, and working on weak areas.

  • Why are practice tests alone not enough to improve scores?

    Practice tests alone are ineffective unless strategies are mastered and mistakes are analyzed for any patterns.

  • What is meant by mastering strategies?

    Mastering strategies means being able to use them automatically on the test without referring to notes, and possibly teach them to someone else.

  • Why is it important to analyze mistakes?

    Analyzing mistakes helps in identifying patterns and understanding weak areas that need improvement.

  • How can I work on my weak areas effectively?

    Focus specifically on converting weak areas such as vocabulary or certain question types into strengths with targeted practice.

  • What comparison is made between rushing preparation and doing it methodically?

    The video compares rushing preparation to fixing a flat tire inadequately. Methodically following the steps helps in achieving better results.

  • What analogy is used to explain the preparation method?

    The preparation method is compared to a car needing all four tires to function properly, thus requiring all four steps to improve IELTS scores.

  • Why aren't quick tips effective for improving scores?

    Quick tips are ineffective as they don't address the foundational issues like mastering strategies and working on weaknesses.

  • How does the video suggest managing time for preparation?

    The video suggests focusing on a methodical process rather than rushing, implying that proper preparation takes time and there are no quick fixes.

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Sous-titres
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Défilement automatique:
  • 00:00:00
    so today we're going to answer a
  • 00:00:02
    question that we often get which is
  • 00:00:04
    why is my ielts reading score not
  • 00:00:07
    increasing
  • 00:00:08
    and there are four key things that we're
  • 00:00:10
    going to talk about today
  • 00:00:11
    to explain why students no matter how
  • 00:00:14
    much work they do
  • 00:00:16
    they still struggle to increase their
  • 00:00:18
    reading score
  • 00:00:19
    so when students email us and tell us
  • 00:00:22
    my score is not improving they're often
  • 00:00:26
    frustrated for
  • 00:00:27
    one of two reasons normally
  • 00:00:30
    they say that they have done
  • 00:00:34
    some kind of reading course that has
  • 00:00:35
    lots of strategies
  • 00:00:37
    in them so they'll say i have completed
  • 00:00:40
    this course
  • 00:00:40
    or i am following these strategies and
  • 00:00:44
    my score is not increasing also commonly
  • 00:00:48
    we get
  • 00:00:49
    students who say i have done all
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    of the practice tests that i can find
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    i've done all of the cambridge books
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    all of the online tests and my score is
  • 00:01:00
    still
  • 00:01:00
    not increasing and the problem is is
  • 00:01:02
    that if you are just relying
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    on doing lots of practice tests this is
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    not going to help you
  • 00:01:09
    increase your score at all in fact it
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    can lower
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    your score because if you're doing the
  • 00:01:14
    wrong things
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    practicing doing the wrong things is
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    going to lead to you getting
  • 00:01:20
    worse not better also many students
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    have a misconception about
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    learning on a course or learning
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    strategies and thinking that these will
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    automatically increase
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    their score in fact if you do it wrong
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    it will decrease your score so in order
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    to solve this problem
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    we teach our students four simple things
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    so what we do is we explain to them that
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    the strategy that we're going to use is
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    kind of like a car so i
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    know that this is a beautiful drawing of
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    a car
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    i know that my my drawing is amazing so
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    thank you so much for for complimenting
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    me
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    in the comments on that but a car has
  • 00:02:05
    four tires
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    okay so it doesn't matter how good your
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    car is
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    you could have a brand new tesla
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    worth a hundred thousand dollars if one
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    of your
  • 00:02:22
    tires is busted that car
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    is completely useless these
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    four things over here represent the four
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    tires and if one of these things is
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    missing
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    then it doesn't matter how many practice
  • 00:02:38
    tests you do
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    it doesn't matter how many courses you
  • 00:02:40
    do it doesn't matter
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    what you do you will not increase your
  • 00:02:45
    reading score unless you do
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    all four of these things so let's talk
  • 00:02:49
    about what these four things are
  • 00:02:51
    so the first thing you need is you need
  • 00:02:52
    a strategy
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    for each question
  • 00:03:01
    type so for example you might have a
  • 00:03:04
    true false not given question
  • 00:03:07
    or you might have a matching headings
  • 00:03:09
    question
  • 00:03:13
    and these two questions are testing
  • 00:03:17
    different sub skills
  • 00:03:18
    and require a very different strategy
  • 00:03:21
    for each of these
  • 00:03:23
    two different types of questions now the
  • 00:03:25
    problem is
  • 00:03:26
    is that many students will learn a
  • 00:03:29
    strategy
  • 00:03:30
    and then go and do a practice test or
  • 00:03:32
    some practice questions
  • 00:03:34
    and then what they'll say is your
  • 00:03:36
    strategy does not work
  • 00:03:38
    well that is a problem with
  • 00:03:41
    your overall approach not with the
  • 00:03:44
    strategy
  • 00:03:46
    because your goal is not to look at the
  • 00:03:49
    strategy
  • 00:03:50
    once it is to master the strategy
  • 00:03:53
    so the key thing that you need to do at
  • 00:03:56
    this stage
  • 00:03:57
    is master
  • 00:04:00
    the strategy so what does master mean
  • 00:04:04
    master means that you could teach that
  • 00:04:06
    strategy
  • 00:04:07
    to someone else if someone asked you
  • 00:04:10
    what is the strategy for true false not
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    given
  • 00:04:12
    you wouldn't have to look at your notes
  • 00:04:14
    you wouldn't have to check anything
  • 00:04:16
    you would be able to tell them oh step
  • 00:04:18
    one you do this
  • 00:04:19
    step two you do this step three you do
  • 00:04:21
    this step four you do this
  • 00:04:23
    and you can tell someone automatically
  • 00:04:25
    what to do
  • 00:04:26
    in other words on test day you were able
  • 00:04:29
    to look at a true false not given
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    question or a matching headings question
  • 00:04:33
    or multiple choice question
  • 00:04:36
    and do this strategy automatically
  • 00:04:38
    without even
  • 00:04:39
    thinking about it the problem is is that
  • 00:04:42
    if you look at a strategy but you
  • 00:04:44
    haven't really mastered it
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    that strategy is useless your wheel here
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    your tire
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    is broken so that brings us on to the
  • 00:04:53
    second part
  • 00:04:54
    which is practice tests
  • 00:05:01
    so what a lot of students believe is if
  • 00:05:03
    they do more practice tests
  • 00:05:05
    their score will increase well this is
  • 00:05:07
    not true
  • 00:05:08
    so what you need to do is is approach
  • 00:05:10
    practices
  • 00:05:11
    a little bit differently your goal here
  • 00:05:14
    first is just to have a
  • 00:05:18
    first goal which is to master
  • 00:05:22
    the strategies
  • 00:05:25
    so this means that you take a
  • 00:05:26
    step-by-step strategy
  • 00:05:28
    and you take some practice questions and
  • 00:05:31
    you take as long as you want
  • 00:05:33
    time does not matter here what matters
  • 00:05:37
    is you mastering
  • 00:05:38
    the step-by-step strategy so if it takes
  • 00:05:41
    you
  • 00:05:42
    one and a half hours or two hours or
  • 00:05:44
    three hours just to do
  • 00:05:45
    one practice test that is absolutely
  • 00:05:48
    fine
  • 00:05:48
    the mistake that a lot of students make
  • 00:05:50
    is that they look at a strategy
  • 00:05:52
    and then they do a practice test under
  • 00:05:54
    exam conditions
  • 00:05:56
    they don't get the score that they need
  • 00:05:57
    and then they get very frustrated
  • 00:05:59
    and they blame the strategy or they
  • 00:06:01
    blame themselves and they start to think
  • 00:06:03
    i'm not good enough and i'm going to
  • 00:06:05
    fail this test i hate this test
  • 00:06:07
    and then they give up you don't need to
  • 00:06:10
    feel that way
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    so first of all you take the strategy
  • 00:06:14
    and you apply it to practice tests
  • 00:06:16
    and take as much time as you want
  • 00:06:18
    because you're just trying
  • 00:06:19
    to master that strategy take as much
  • 00:06:22
    time as you want
  • 00:06:23
    think about what you're doing and then
  • 00:06:26
    once you are comfortable using the
  • 00:06:28
    strategies
  • 00:06:28
    you can use the practice tests for goal
  • 00:06:31
    number two
  • 00:06:32
    goal number two is do it under exam
  • 00:06:35
    conditions
  • 00:06:37
    because you're just trying to find out
  • 00:06:39
    your
  • 00:06:41
    weakness so you're going to do a
  • 00:06:43
    weakness
  • 00:06:45
    analysis in other words you're looking
  • 00:06:48
    at your mistakes
  • 00:06:50
    what mistakes are you making and are
  • 00:06:52
    there any
  • 00:06:53
    patterns to these so that takes us on to
  • 00:06:56
    the third thing here
  • 00:06:57
    which is mistakes
  • 00:07:01
    or weakness
  • 00:07:04
    analysis so you're going to think deeply
  • 00:07:11
    about each mistake
  • 00:07:17
    and the reason why you're doing this is
  • 00:07:19
    you are trying to establish
  • 00:07:22
    any patterns are there any common
  • 00:07:24
    reasons
  • 00:07:25
    why you are getting a low score
  • 00:07:29
    so for example if we have a look over
  • 00:07:31
    here
  • 00:07:32
    at our mistakes
  • 00:07:36
    let's say you get 10 questions wrong and
  • 00:07:39
    eight of them are spelling
  • 00:07:43
    so you got 8 out of 10 wrong just
  • 00:07:45
    because of
  • 00:07:46
    spelling errors or you might find that
  • 00:07:49
    you got confused
  • 00:07:51
    about the strategy for a particular
  • 00:07:53
    question
  • 00:07:54
    or you might have worked out that
  • 00:07:57
    you couldn't find the correct answer
  • 00:07:59
    because you didn't understand some of
  • 00:08:00
    the words
  • 00:08:01
    it was a vocabulary issue or it could be
  • 00:08:04
    a skills issue for example you find it
  • 00:08:07
    difficult to find the location of the
  • 00:08:09
    correct word
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    that would be a scanning issue or you
  • 00:08:13
    find it very difficult to understand
  • 00:08:15
    general meaning that would be a skimming
  • 00:08:18
    issue
  • 00:08:19
    or it could be a particular type of
  • 00:08:20
    question for example
  • 00:08:22
    every time you do a true false not given
  • 00:08:25
    question
  • 00:08:26
    you really struggle with that particular
  • 00:08:28
    type of question or
  • 00:08:29
    every time you do multiple choice
  • 00:08:32
    questions
  • 00:08:32
    you really struggle with that particular
  • 00:08:34
    type of question and if you never
  • 00:08:36
    do this again you will have a
  • 00:08:40
    busted tire and it doesn't matter how
  • 00:08:42
    good everything else is it doesn't
  • 00:08:44
    matter how good of a car you have
  • 00:08:46
    if you have one busted tire you are not
  • 00:08:49
    going anywhere
  • 00:08:50
    that car is completely useless you will
  • 00:08:53
    not go anywhere
  • 00:08:54
    your score will not increase until
  • 00:08:57
    you follow this system but that is not
  • 00:09:01
    the end of it
  • 00:09:02
    once we understand what our weaknesses
  • 00:09:05
    are what our
  • 00:09:05
    common mistakes are let's say you look
  • 00:09:08
    and you see
  • 00:09:09
    that vocabulary is an issue and true
  • 00:09:12
    false not given questions
  • 00:09:14
    are an issue you cannot just stop there
  • 00:09:17
    you wouldn't believe the number of
  • 00:09:18
    students that we work with even we work
  • 00:09:20
    with one-on-one and we tell them
  • 00:09:23
    the only reason why your reading score
  • 00:09:25
    is not increasing
  • 00:09:26
    is because of vocabulary and this
  • 00:09:29
    particular type of question
  • 00:09:30
    and then they do nothing they go and do
  • 00:09:33
    the test
  • 00:09:33
    and then they fail you don't want to be
  • 00:09:36
    one of these students
  • 00:09:37
    what you want to do next is work
  • 00:09:40
    on your
  • 00:09:44
    weak areas
  • 00:09:48
    so we want to take our weak area and we
  • 00:09:51
    want to convert that weak area
  • 00:09:53
    into a strength so for example we want
  • 00:09:55
    to
  • 00:09:56
    improve our vocabulary or improve our
  • 00:09:59
    ability to answer
  • 00:10:00
    true false not given questions so we're
  • 00:10:02
    acting more
  • 00:10:03
    like a sniper than with a
  • 00:10:06
    shotgun it's a sniper approach we're not
  • 00:10:09
    focusing on
  • 00:10:10
    everything we're just focusing on one or
  • 00:10:13
    two
  • 00:10:13
    weaknesses but you must use these four
  • 00:10:16
    things and you must use
  • 00:10:18
    them in order and then that brings us on
  • 00:10:20
    to
  • 00:10:21
    our last part whoops which is
  • 00:10:24
    all about time so every time i explain
  • 00:10:29
    this
  • 00:10:29
    to a student what the student will
  • 00:10:32
    normally say
  • 00:10:33
    is i don't have time to do all of this
  • 00:10:36
    chris can you not just give me some
  • 00:10:38
    quick tips
  • 00:10:39
    and that's going to really increase my
  • 00:10:41
    score no because there are no quick tips
  • 00:10:44
    that are going to increase your score so
  • 00:10:46
    i had a
  • 00:10:46
    recent student a vip student and she
  • 00:10:50
    was a pharmacist
  • 00:10:53
    all right so i said imagine i come into
  • 00:10:56
    your pharmacy
  • 00:10:57
    with a headache so this is me with
  • 00:11:01
    my headache i'm not very happy because
  • 00:11:03
    i've got a headache
  • 00:11:04
    and i say can you give me some drugs can
  • 00:11:07
    you give me some medicine
  • 00:11:08
    to cure my headache and she is a great
  • 00:11:11
    pharmacist so she gives me
  • 00:11:13
    some paracetamol to improve my headache
  • 00:11:16
    imagine i come back five minutes later
  • 00:11:19
    and say
  • 00:11:20
    your paracetamol your medicine doesn't
  • 00:11:22
    work because i still
  • 00:11:24
    have a headache what would you say and
  • 00:11:26
    she said i would think
  • 00:11:28
    that you were being very unreasonable
  • 00:11:30
    and very difficult
  • 00:11:32
    yes certain things take time
  • 00:11:35
    all right so if you have two students
  • 00:11:40
    imagine we have two students and one
  • 00:11:43
    student
  • 00:11:44
    let's say today is june 1st and they
  • 00:11:48
    book their test for
  • 00:11:49
    july 1st and they want to get everything
  • 00:11:52
    done
  • 00:11:53
    as quickly as possible in 30 days
  • 00:11:56
    then we have another student so today is
  • 00:11:59
    june 1st
  • 00:12:00
    and instead of thinking about booking
  • 00:12:02
    the test
  • 00:12:03
    what they do is they just focus
  • 00:12:07
    on the process
  • 00:12:12
    they just focus on doing step one and
  • 00:12:14
    then step two
  • 00:12:15
    and then step three and then step four
  • 00:12:18
    this student is going to get the scores
  • 00:12:20
    they need
  • 00:12:21
    in the quickest possible time this
  • 00:12:23
    student will probably
  • 00:12:24
    fail because they're trying to do
  • 00:12:26
    everything as quickly as possible
  • 00:12:28
    and to go back to our car analogy this
  • 00:12:31
    person
  • 00:12:32
    if they have a flat tire it is probably
  • 00:12:35
    going to take them
  • 00:12:36
    you know like 30 minutes to
  • 00:12:39
    change the tire but if they want to get
  • 00:12:42
    everything done
  • 00:12:43
    in five minutes then their car is going
  • 00:12:46
    nowhere and they're just going
  • 00:12:48
    to be very very frustrated this is what
  • 00:12:51
    happens with students who fail the test
  • 00:12:54
    over and over and over again because
  • 00:12:56
    they're trying to do everything as
  • 00:12:57
    quickly as possible
  • 00:12:59
    instead of doing things the right way if
  • 00:13:02
    you follow this system
  • 00:13:03
    you are going to see great results
  • 00:13:06
    but if you miss one of these steps
  • 00:13:10
    and you don't master the strategies you
  • 00:13:13
    don't find out what your weaknesses are
  • 00:13:15
    and you don't work on your weaknesses
  • 00:13:17
    then you are going to fail so just to
  • 00:13:20
    recap
  • 00:13:22
    get some strategies that actually work
  • 00:13:24
    that have been proven to work
  • 00:13:25
    and master them so that you can use them
  • 00:13:28
    automatically on the test
  • 00:13:30
    master means that you could teach
  • 00:13:31
    someone what those strategies are
  • 00:13:33
    without looking at any notes
  • 00:13:36
    then do a weakness analysis on your
  • 00:13:38
    practice test
  • 00:13:39
    and then work on those weaknesses find
  • 00:13:42
    out
  • 00:13:43
    why you are getting a low score and then
  • 00:13:45
    turn those
  • 00:13:46
    weaknesses into strength
  • 00:14:03
    [Music]
  • 00:14:15
    bye
Tags
  • IELTS
  • reading score
  • practice tests
  • strategies
  • mastery
  • weakness analysis
  • improvement
  • test preparation