IELTS Premier with 8 Practice Tests: Online + Book + CD (Kaplan Test Prep)

Description

Kaplan's IELTS Premier with 8 Practice Tests provides in-depth review, test-taking strategies, and test-like practice for all four sections of the Academic and General Training IELTS tests. Our guide includes audio tracks to help you practice your speaking and listening skills, as well as personalized score reports to help you focus your study and master the IELTS. The Best Review Eight full-length practice tests: six Academic IELTS and two General Training IELTS to prepare for both versions of the exam Practice questions with detailed answer explanations In-depth review of the content and abilities tested on each section of the test, along with Kaplan's proven methods and skill-building strategies CD with audio tracks for test-like listening and speaking practice New and exclusive interactive online centre with score reports, mock interviews, and audio tracks Content is fully updated and revised so you know you have the most up-to-date test information Expert Guidance Kaplan's expert psychometricians ensure our practice questions and study materials are true to the test. We invented test prep—Kaplan (www.kaptest.com) has been helping students for almost 80 years. Our proven strategies have helped legions of students achieve their dreams. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people in over 140 countries worldwide take the IELTS exam in order to demonstrate English-language proficiency. The exam, which tests listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills, is used for entrance into universities, nonacademic business settings, and as a part of immigration applications for permanent residence or citizenship in several English-speaking countries. The IELTS is an approved English-language test for U.S. and UK naturalization and visa applications. Review: Perfect book for the IELTS - I used this book and the online platform to study for the IELTS and it was the best decision ever. The font is a comfortable read and the chapters are easily comprehensible. The online platform offers a unique avenue to practice the tests on the go. I highly recommend this purchase. I was also successful in my exams with a score of 8.0 and all I used was this Book and Online portal. Review: Format, Strategy, and Content are great. The errors need to be addressed. - General Test Preparation Review (the book covers both General and Academic). The main reason I got this book was the Kaplan name (good memories from preparing for GRE 12yrs ago). I am writing this review right after I got the results. The information available online (blogs, youtube etc), while enough, don't satisfy the following needs: 1. Attention to accuracy (general lack of attention in this regard because there is no editor) 2. Dated nature of material (I cannot email someone to confirm if I am looking at the latest test format questions or prep material) This is not to say that this book is perfect on both counts. Just that it does a better job. This book covers strategy in the form of a walkthrough. It tries to inculcate some of these strategies such as timekeeping, skimming etc as relevant to each section by forcing you to solve timed practice sessions. I believe the practice sections are, by design, tougher than the actual exam. The main reason I give this a 4 star is the number of errors on both the practice tests and the prep sections. By this, I mean that the answer key has about 1/8th or so wrong or ambiguous answers (blame the questions if you want). I would not normally ding anyone for such a small portion of errors. But this is a test prep book. It affects the candidate's morale and confidence. Not that I am a victim here (I don't take tests or results to heart) but it could still be a decider on the life choices for some. I am not exaggerating here (think Immigration or Study). You want the candidate going in confident to the exam. How I used the book: I started with Reading. This is where I needed to score most for CIC express entry. I went through most of the chapters focusing mainly on timekeeping since I am a slow reader (but with a good memory - not very useful on the exam). I then picked up Listening and did something similar (timekeeping is not an issue). I have a problem with day-dreaming. So, when you hit sections of the text where the tape is playing something not yet relevant, I used to phase out a bit. I continued having this problem on and off until exam day. So, if you're like me, don't worry. You are much more attentive during the exam. Only after this did I attempt the 2 practice tests in the book. Listening and Speaking are the same for General and Academic. So, I took the Listening sections of all the tests in the book since I had nothing better to do during the Thanksgiving weekend :) I bought a portable DVD player (one with a screen & battery) to use for the listening test cd provided in the book. You could make do with your phone/ipod if you convert the disc. I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to exams. Writing and Speaking: I practiced the essays on the 2 practice tests and quickly read through the chapters in this book. I am not sure this helped beyond knowing that I should count words etc (basic strategies). I am used to writing essays but I recommend practicing these because I realized I hadn't written as much on paper in the last few years. My hand hurt. Like crazy. It hurt during the exam as well but at least I knew it was coming. This is one place I could have practiced more. Try looking for writing samples/questions online from blogs etc. For Speaking, all I did was read the section with sample questions and strategies. I did not go through speaking the topics on the practice test etc. I did take a couple of random topics from the prep section and spoke on those topics. I recorded them and listening back to see if I could cut down on 'umms' etc. For all of the exams I practiced with, I got the IELTS official test answer sheet templates printed out. I used this book and the single official practice test from IELTS to prepare. That was all. In all, I would have spent about 40hrs preparing. In fact, the exam was very reasonable. I would say that the book had tougher passages and listening sections, which I always welcome. Good luck on the exam. My Score. R:9, L:8.5, S:8, W:7.5.