Do you believe that I got 7.0 and did not pay anything for my practice sources? It sounds insane, but that did happen.
When I was in my home country, I paid for the TOEFL preparation class. I badly need TOEFL for my university application. However, the university's requirement is so impossible (for me) which is AT LEAST 100/120 + 22 on writing. Even though I learned a lot of advanced vocabularies in the class, TOEFL is still tough. When I moved to Canada, I knew that I had to change my decision, so I chose IELTS. I know this is stupid (cause I have wasted so much money on TOEFL), but I had no choice. Instead of keep going in the same way and know that I can never reach the destination, I change my direction. As an international student, I want to save as much money as I can. I looked up practice source online, but it is very limited. Also, I decided to do a paper-based exam, so I really needed physical practice copies. Well, I could have purchased practice books online, but again, saving is the best.
I decided to visit the library. The library has practice books (Yay!), but some of the pages are filled in (Damn it!). It's okay, I can handle it. I chose Kaplan's and Barron's books, which I believe are the best resources. Right, so here are some of my tips:
1/ Try to find the latest edition practice book. IELTS exam is updated frequently, so its format is altered too. Choosing the latest edited copies helping you expect what is going to be on the real test.
2/ If some pages are filled in, you can make sticky notes to cover them (don't glue or tape anything because you borrow the book). If there is not much filling, you can just simply erase it. (I know it sucks cause that is the other person's fault). Because library's books are public, already filled in books are unavoidable. You want to save money, so using a little effort to erase isn't a big deal.
3/ For the listening practice test, go on YouTube. I usually choose https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIgELCOfrcYA9jWF4TOJUnQ because there are answers at the end of the exam and the practice test is uploaded EVERYDAY.
So, I didn't pay for any practice resources or participating in any preparation class. I got a 7.0 band, so I knew that my "saving is the best" studying pathway works. I can do it, so can you!
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