bgpower wrote:
Have you applied one to one the recommendations from notefull's YT videos? I mean, in Barrons & Cambridge prep materials there are sometimes totally different tasks, wchih make those structures inapplicable.
Regards,
Nope, I tried that initially with 2 speaking tests but didn't work out well. What I liked was the approach, points to concentrate on, how to break it down and get the gist of the conversations. Once I understood how it needs to be broken down, it was easy.
Just a suggestion, try not to go through too much material, just concentrate on
the Official Guide, that is the only book I referred to. And then I did the Kaplan's 4 tests that come along with the Kaplan book. And to improve on your speaking, redo the the same speaking tests 2-3 times, and you would understand how easy it is the break down the passage and conversations to give a good response. Take notes when while you listen, it really helps. The 2 sections on the speaking were tough for me, because not being a native speaker you cannot be fluent and quickly respond to the topics. On the rest, the content is already there, you just need to present it, which I thought is easier.
And the last part is the essays, read at least 25 sample essays on each section to get an idea of how to present an essay. Good opening, structure, vocabulary, examples and a impressive conclusion will earn you very good points. Don't worry too much about the grammar, your content should be understood when read. (the last one is for non-natives)
I was however a little disappointed with my speaking and writing score, I had expected at least 28 on each. And again, don't let your performance on the Kaplan tests disappoint you, just practice them again and again, you will do very good on the real one.