Big thanks to my IELTS tutor, Grace! I make big breakthroughs in speaking and writing

Exam taker: Yang (prepare IELTS while working)
Goal: Master’s program in United Kingdom
Class duration: 4 months of preparation while working (July 2019 – October 2019)
Exam date: One attempt in November 2019
Exam score: L: 6 S:7.5 W: 6.5 R:6.5 [Overall: 6.5]

To be honest, I had attended two IELTS courses at well-known cram schools before I met Grace. But the reason I turned to a tutor was because I couldn’t make any improvement while. Far too many students sit in a classroom at cram schools. It was difficult to communicate with the teacher and made me fail to master materials. Finally, I decided to try something new because I hadn’t been able to improve my speaking and writing for a long time. I needed to take actions and put efforts in preparing for the exam. 

Thanks to PTT (a BBS system based in Taiwan), I found Grace. She was in San Francisco at that time, so I attended her online tutoring course. Start with a give-it-a-try attitude, I didn’t know that the course would save me a lot of time. Instead of spending time on commuting, I could focus more on studies. Commuting is extremely exhausting for someone who works full-time. Moreover, I felt more confident when practicing English speaking at home.

[Writing]:

Writing is one of my most dreaded subjects. I haven’t written any essay in English after the College Entrance Exam. Grace designed a detailed study plan for me, counting down week by week before the exam date. With a comprehensive schedule of what I needed to focus on each week, I felt more confident and motivated. Grace began the course by explaining English grammar. I think this is very useful because not only did I build a strong foundation, but I also corrected many mistakes. Speaking of the writing structure, Grace has a scientific way of teaching. She marked where I need to add more sentences and how to give clear examples. She looked for the most effective way to guide me step by step. What’s even better is that I can rewrite as many times as I want. She always corrected my grammar and wording errors with great patience. More importantly, she made correction to my “way of thinking” to make my essay logical. I didn’t know why my essay can be so illogical or even incoherent. No wonder every time I wrote, I got stuck and wanted to strangle myself!

[Speaking]:

In terms of speaking, the course is taught in English. With outstanding language skills, Grace served as an interpreter in the U.S. She helped me fill in the silence according to my level. I think my weakness is that I had absolutely no idea what to talk. To be frankly, my brain was blank after hearing a question. It was no doubt a disaster at first. But Grace kept asking me questions to train my organizational skills. I think this is how I improved. In addition, I used to think that I had to use difficult words in order to get a high score. But what Grace did is to alter my answers and modify to a super smooth talk in an instant. Thanks to the online recording, I can listen again and again after the course. I have a memory like a goldfish so I can’t memorize everything in class! That’s why recording is so important for me!

[Reading]:

Before I met Grace, I always surrendered when encountering long and complicated sentences. I am not used to reading English, so I read very slow. That’s one of the reasons that I can’t get high scores. During Grace’s reading class, I started to break down sentences and read them in smaller pieces instead of reading word by word. What’s even more amazing is that she made me understand the topic sentence is crucial in both writing and reading modules. Instead of reading the entire article, I only need to focus on the important parts. To be more clear, you can skip the examples but pay attention to the conclusion. Therefore, you should train yourself to not only read but also analyze the structure.

[Listening]:

Listening has always been my weakness. I could not catch the points and had a hard time concentrating. Grace helped me extend my vocabulary and strengthen my pronunciation. She often said that a good listener always speaks well. That’s true. Grace compared British pronunciation and American pronunciation, so that I could quickly catch the key points. Every lesson was fruitful!

Grace not only helped me with my IELTS, but also offer me a lot of useful advice on my school applications since she has spent a lot of time studying and living in the United Kingdom and the United States. Her class is super fun, and I really enjoy being her student. I am very lucky to have her as my tutor. Thanks to Grace, I crack IELTS in one attempt. I hope my school application will go smoothly as well! I strongly recommend Grace’s distance course!