Listen to my conversation with Farhan, an IELTS student who scored 8.5 in the listening section of his exam

Recently, I started a little project called IELTSCast.  It is a podcast where I talk to successful IELTS students and ask them to explain how they managed to score so well on the exam.  For those of you with iTunes, you can subscribe by clicking here.  If you do not have iTunes, you can access all of the conversations at www.ieltscast.com.

So, in the latest episode, I talk with Farhan about how he managed to score 8.5 in the listening section.  To listen to the entire interview, click here.

If you have achieved an overall band of 7 or higher, please consider talking with me for 20 minutes on Skype about your experience.  Your study advice is both useful and inspirational to other students.  Contact me at ryan@ieltsielts.com.

(As always, please provide me with feedback on how I can improve.  Are these interviews helpful?  How could they be better?  Any and all comments to this post greatly appreciated!)

(For those of you waiting for more model essays and videos, they are coming.  I’m having a few small technical issues, but these should be sorted within the next few days.)

The Australian immigration process is going to change within the next couple of days

Barry Johnson of Immistay.com has kindly written this article for ieltsielts.com to help explain what is happening:

SkillSelect commences 1^st July 2012: Act now!

As at of the 1^st of July 2012 SkillSelect (http://www.immi.gov.au/skills/skillselect/) will be introduced in Australia.  This will be a major change in the Australian migration process.  These changes are designed to limit the successful visa applicants to only the very best.  It will involve in the applicant lodging an expression of interest online to the Australian department of immigration and citizenship.  These expressions of interests are reviewed via a computer system that looks for the finest applicants who meet the selection criteria.   This will involve looking at the applicants with the strongest English language ability, the most work experience and the highest qualifications.  It is these successful applicants who will be issued with an invitation to apply.  The SkillSelect program will also be subject to a quota system for each occupation.  The department of immigration and citizenship has provided an FAQ regarding SkillSelect, which you may be interested in accessing (http://www.immi.gov.au/skills/skillselect/index/faqs/).  I suggest you have a good look at this to get an idea of the implications of these changes and their impact upon your circumstances.

There are some advantages to this system.  Under the current system, there is a waiting period of twelve to eighteen months or more for your skills point visa to be granted.  This is due to the backlog of applications.  With SkillSelect, you effectively jump the cue.  It is designed to eliminate any backlog due to the highly selective nature of the system.  The department of immigration and citizenship will control very carefully who is invited to apply.  After the 1^st of July 2012, if invited to apply you will move quickly through the system, much more so than under the system currently in place.

After reviewing the information from migration agents it is highly recommended to lodge your application before midnight on the 30^th of June 2012.  This is before SkillSelect commences.  If you have a passing score in the skills, migration points test or know that you are eligible, act now.   The future of the points tested skilled migration looks bleak.  Have a look at the following pulled from the department of immigration and citizenship information pdf (full document link below):

From the 1^st July 2012 intending migrants, both in and outside of Australia may submit an expression of interest (EOI) for a 189, 190 or 489 visa.  From the 1^st of July 2012, points tested skilled migration visas granted outside of Australia (subclass 175, 176 and 475) will be closed for all new applicants.  From the 1^st of January 2013, points tested skilled migration visas granted in Australia (subclass 885, 886 and 487) will be closed for all new applications.  http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/points-tested-visas.pdf

There is also speculation that under SkillSelect that there will be new visa categories and possibly the elimination of the sub visa categories.  The reason for this is that not all the SkillSelect changes have been announced.  In other words, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Because of the limited time before the 1^st of July 2012, I would recommend that you contact your migration agent and lodge.  If you do not have a migration agent, I would highly recommend ACACIA.  To receive a discount on the initial consultation just mention Immistay and the 10% discount when you call.   http://www.acacia-au.com/ or call +061 0292300888.

I will not have Internet access from 12 June 2012 to 22 June 2012

Hi everyone,

I hope your studies are going well.

Please excuse the lack of updates recently.  This coming week, I will be saying ‘farewell’ to China and returning to my native land for a period of time.  This of course involves lots of packing and preparing and has not left me with much time for anything else!

As my current online students already know, I will be without Internet access for about 10 days until I get myself resettled in Canada.  This means I won’t be available to answer your emails, update my blog or correct your Task 1 and 2 submissions.  Please rest assured that all will return to normal come the 22nd of June.  I’ll try my best to pop into an Internet cafe sometime during this hiatus, but no promises.

Have a productive month!

Ryan

Academic Task 1 model response to a question seen in the UK on 19 May 2012

The following tables depict the reliability of print and non-print academic materials as voiced by undergraduates and postgraduates at 3 different British universities.

Write a 150 word report for a university lecturer summarizing the information given.

The two charts illustrate the views of undergraduate and postgraduate students from 3 different British schools on the reliability of print and non-print academic resources.  Across all spectrums, students feel printed materials to be more reliable than their non-print counterparts.

75% of undergraduate students at Cambridge and 81% of undergraduate students at both Oxford and Leeds gauge printed material ‘reliable’.  These 3 figures are all lower than their postgraduate equivalents, who support printed materials in strengths of 92% at Oxford, 87% at Cambridge and 96% at Leeds. Thus, postgraduates are more likely to label printed material reliable than undergraduates at these 3 schools.

However, this trend is reversed when looking at backing for non-print academic sources.  The second chart depicts much weaker support for these resource types among undergraduates, namely 59% at Oxford, 63% at Cambridge and 61% at Leeds.  Even more astonishing are the numbers of postgraduates who feel positive about non-printed academic items.  These values are 50%, 54% and 47% for the same 3 schools.

The charts depict a trend in which positive opinions regarding the reliability of printed material move in tandem with academic level of study.