If the student enters IELTS training with their focus on the “exam” as being their goal, they may not have the correct attitude. We at Learning Education Center approach this problem in a different light. Certainly we train the students in ALL aspects of the IELTS examination. However we also stress “learning for life.” The concept is to educate for IELTS and beyond. We stress the development of the learning skills, not brute memorization. By engaging the student in day to day situational activities the process will enable the students to learn how to cope with any question, not just an exam question. We highly recommend that “AFTER” the student successfully passes their IELTS exam that they continue their language studies to further prepare them for university life or for that matter any life abroad. It is the author’s personal belief that the IELTS exam is a static way of evaluating a persons communication skills. It is designed to take place over a specific period of time, on a specific day and in a sterile environment. No talking, no laughing etc. just take the test and good-bye. Where and when the student enters the real world of Western education this concept is useless. They will be in a dynamic environment. Day to day situations will change; no one will ask them to describe their hometown. They will be put into a learning environment which is totally foreign to them. Not only will they be expected to learn a specific subject they will be expected to do this learning in English. The professors have little concern that the English level of the student is poor. Their only concern is to teach the subject NOT English. They will not slow down their speech because the students can not understand. In the university in the Western world it is either sink or swim, be the shark or be the bait. No one cares.

Having spoken to numerous students who have passed IELTS with flying colors and are now attending schools abroad, I hear the same thing again and again. “I should have continued studying after my IELTS exam. I came to this school and due to my lack of English skills; I was required to attend language school here. The costs were considerably higher and my real education has been delayed due to my inability to listen and learn in a dynamic environment. Classes that I would like to attend are not offered to me because I can not understand the professor in a class room environment. No one is here to help me, I must work twice as hard and still I can not cope with some of the materials that I am required to learn.”

So with this in mind Learning Education Center highly recommends an IELTS plus program. The program utilizes a teaching methodology that teaches “how” not “what”. Western teachers are more fully utilized in this program to enable the students to continue learning after the exam. Post IELTS students are encouraged to develop their communication skills through more interactive situational conversations. The students are subjected to more complex levels of subject matters that they may encounter while being abroad. This program has a twofold purpose. It prepares the student for life abroad, but also enables them to save money in the process.

So in conclusion Test or Life. Still your choice, but the logical choice is the latter. Being prepared is far better than failure. Ask anyone who has failed, they will certainly say.. “IF only I had known I would have done…” It’s you choice!!