Interview with Ben Worthington, Creator of IELTSPodcast [Show Summary]

Ben Worthington is an IELTS master, and he talks in great detail about the various sections of the test and how to prepare for them, as well as what to do if you can’t seem to break out of the score slump you are in. He also shares some details about his IELTS Podcast.

All About the IELTS [Show Notes]

Our guest today is Ben Worthington. Ben hails from northern England, but has lived in different parts of the globe. In 2006, he started teaching English as a second language. In 2012 he launched the IELTS Podcast to help students ace that exam. Today the IELTS Podcast provides free resources and three different levels of paid courses. Let’s learn more about the IELTS Podcast and get some expert tips on how to succeed with the IELTS exam. That score is critical if you are applying to English language universities and graduate programs, and you’re worried that English fluency, or the lack of it, could prevent your acceptance.

How did you get into IELTS prep? [2:00]

I used to be an English tutor in Spain, and then drifted into teaching English there. I started off doing classes with teenagers and then did business students, but eventually I found my niche with IELTS. I enjoy preparing students for that – it’s more of a challenge and there are more motivated students.

Can you give us an overview of the IELTS exam? [3:16]

It stands for the International English Language Testing System and was developed in Australia in the 1970s to test students’ English abilities. The British Council got involved and it became the IELTS test and now is used not only for getting into university in Australia, the UK, and Canada (also being more accepted in the US), but can also be used on visa applications as well.

There are four parts to the IELTS - speaking, listening, reading, and writing. On the listening and reading sections you can get between 0-40 points. There are 40 questions there, and you are either ticking the boxes, completing the sentence, or answering a multiple choice question. The speaking and writing sections are marked by an examiner – the speaking portion is in front of another person in three parts – part 1 is softer questions to get the student relaxed to give the best illustration of their ability. In part 2 you get a cue card with a prompt like, “Describe a childhood friend” - how you met them, what you liked to do with them, etc. You have two minutes to prepare your talk and then you talk about the points on the cue cards. Part 3 is follow up questions from the examiner to that, like, “Why do you think friendship is important?” - more abstract. For writing there is a general test and academic test. For the general portion in task 1 you have to write a letter – maybe a cover letter, letter to a friend, etc. For task 1 in the academic piece you have to describe something like a flow chart. Part 2 for both tests is taking a side or arguing both sides of an issue like democracy or climate change, which can be a real challenge. The test looks at skills beyond just the language.

Who should take the IELTS, the TOEFL or the PTE? [10:41]

Do some practice tests on each one and go for the one that resonates with you the most.

Can you tell us about the scoring? What is a good band? [11:54]

Generally speaking most places are looking for a 7, however if Canada needs a lot of computer engineers they might ...