Don't Lose Sight
Google IELTS, and you’ll find nearly 100 million results. It’s crazy. But watch out! A lot of it is bullshit. Some are due to incompetence or superficiality. Some are just downright fraudulent. You are overwhelmed and confused. You feel lost. Don’t worry. There’s a way.
Just like the plethora of videos on YouTube recycling universal truths time and time again, whatever the hell you want to do with this IELTS business, there’s always but this one right thing you can, and must, do: learn the goddam language.
If you’re studying IELTS, here’s a little test: Did you listen to English today? Did you listen to it yesterday? Did you listen to it the day before yesterday? If you said “no”, “no”, and “no”, well, good luck. You’re not learning the language. You’re learning how to deal with a test whose sole purpose is to test your command of the language.
Look, here’s how you get band 8 for IELTS writing: Don’t write “it can create clear financial issues”. Write “trigger manifest financial ramifications”. Except this is bullshit. A ramification is a possible result for sure, but it is an unexpected or not immediately obvious one. So putting “manifest” next to “ramification” is defying logic, much like putting “hot” next to “Mr. Quang”. And please, don’t let me catch you writing about traffic congestion in the contemporary epoch (I swear to god!).
But how do you learn the goddam language again? Listen and repeat after me: do listening every day and build your vocabulary.