Transcript of AE 479 REPLAY – Interview: How to Prepare for IELTs with Kit Perry

G'day guys. Welcome to this episode of Aussie English. So today I have an interview episode with you all about IELTS. And we do mention the PTE and some of the other tests as well. But yeah, I thought I would get on my fiance's old English teacher from Townsville, Kit, and he is from the Townsville International English School, and Kel had been harassing me for a while to get him on the podcast and saying he was an amazing guy, a really good teacher, has a lot to say, a lot of knowledge about IELTS and some of these other exams as well. And so I thought it would be awesome to get him on and just chat to him about how to prepare for the IELTS, what to expect, how to do well on the IELTS, and hopefully put a few of your concerns at ease. Anyway, without any further ado, let's just get into this interview today with Kit from the Townsville International English School.

G'day guys. Welcome to this video. Welcome to this interview of Aussie English. Today I have kit from Townsville International English School with me and he is my fiance's old English teacher. So Kit, welcome to the podcast. Thanks so much for coming on.

Thanks for having me!

So I guess, first of all, how did Kel get so good at English? What's was her secret?

There's a few different things, I guess, to answer that question. That's Kel herself and her propensity or ability to pick up the language. But, yeah, hopefully. I think there was an element of the school and what we do up here, in her success, as well. So I think, yeah, there's a few things involved in that.

That's what I'm always saying when I hear, like she told me when she got here, she spoke no English. At least. I have no idea. But she said she spoke none. Very limited.

Very, very limited. I remember when she first came in. We're doing our placement test, and we happen to have tablet chairs in the classroom that she was doing the test. And I remember asking her just a simple question. Are you left handed or right handed? And I was just met with this complete blank sort of expression. And from that point it was sort of obvious. Okay, well, she's going to be pretty low. So and yeah, no, she tested at a beginner level when she started. And we had her for, I don't know how long it was, but by the end, by now like, she's- Yeah, she's brilliant, she speaks very much like a native speaker. I would say with her vocab is incredible. And yeah. So I don't know, I think Raquel is a bit of an exception in some ways. Like I think she's naturally talented at languages, which really helped a lot. And she has a great memory. I was, I always think that when I have students with a really good memory that goes such a long way in learning a language so that also helped. But, yeah, hopefully, we played a part in her progression and where she's at now, too.

Yeah, definitely. And I just think it's so good that you can see how much someone can attain in just two years if they work their ass off. She was saying she read 30 books in a year or something and was just constantly studying. So it's good to know that, obviously talent is part of it, but hard work is a massive part of it as well.

Absolutely agree. And she was really a very hard working student. So, she really sort of, put her best foot forward in everything that she did. She was always doing homework, always asking for extra stuff to do. So, yeah. No, it definitely goes a long way. I think the attitude and the mentality for wanting to improve as well was there with Raquel. So yeah. No, definitely.

I know she's a bit of a champ, but well, less about her, more about you, Kit. How did you end up doing what you're doing? Where are you doing it? Can you tell me the story of how you ended up in Townsville teaching English in a school?

Absolutely. Yeah. So I spent most of my, my younger years in Townsville. I actually I grew up in Townsville. I was born in Papua New Guinea, but then came back and lived in Townsville with my parents. So, grew up here, went to university down in Brisbane and then landed a dream sort of job, up here in Townsville at a local high school and did that for about five years. And I loved it, like, I had a great job. I had lovely students, beautiful, sort of facilities and a great place to teach. However, I sort of felt over that time that my personal idea of what a good education is was a little bit divergent to what was going on at the school. That the focus of the school was very much on students getting A's and producing results that maybe look good on paper. But I think in reality doesn't necessarily go with what I would consider a good or an effective education. So I sort of, in many ways I sort of thought, okay, well, if I can't achieve what I want to achieve as an educator within that system, that we would branch out and start our own school. One of the things that sort of the final straw that broke the camel's back was I had 18 classes that I taught. I was a middle school teacher, so 18 separate classes of students.

Yeah.

Yes. It was ridiculous. And I sort of, I went to the principal actually the year before I left, and I said, listen, it's just it's too many, I was capable of teaching that many students. But- and knowing individuals for that many students. But it was just too much, you know.

And how can you connect, too, though? I mean, you might be able to remember the name, but how much time can you give them?

Yeah, totally. And that's what it was. It was about sort of like, yeah, I knew the students, but did I could I really connect and could I really make a difference for them. No, it was too much. And so I said, give me a couple less classes or one less class next year. And I'm- guarantee you we can do more with these students. But I came back the next year and I think I had one extra class. So I sort of I said at the start of that year, that's enough.

It didn't really sort of match with my philosophy of education. So, my wife is also a teacher. And so we basically had a discussion at the start of that year and said, well, if this is not- if this doesn't reflect who we are as educators, then let's create a school that does. So yeah, we opened TIES in about ten years ago now and we've been going ever since. And we basically created everything from what we wanted to reflect as educators and what we thought was a great education. So, we have small class sizes with a maximum of 18 students. But typically, we have between maybe 12 or 14 students in the class. We have a lot of individualised focus within the class, a lot of attention directly with our students. And maybe, going back to Raquel's example, maybe that is one of the reasons why she, for example, improved so much is that we're really able to make a difference in our students lives and in their, obviously their English ability. So, yeah. And everything we do here works from that, that philosophy and that core driving principle that we started the school with.

So what kind of advice would you have for people thinking about getting into schools and working out whether a school is going to be good, whether it's in general or just for them. Like, are there things- are there warning signs? Are there things that they can find out about different schools, or are you, it's just a crapshoot where you have to just hope?

I mean, if at the end of the day, if you can talk to a teacher who has been in that particular school for a period of time and you can get honest feedback from them, I think that's a good place to start. But it's not always easy to do that. I think a lot of schools on the outside look incredible, in this particular school that I was at, it was incredible and beautiful school, beautiful facilities and everything. But I don't think you can really get a sense of the true culture, or the underlying culture of an education establishment, until you're actually there teaching. So, yeah, it's a hard one.

That's funny. That's kind of like an anecdote I know about. One of my friends is really into cars. He loves Ferraris. And I remember he was with a friend looking for a Ferrari for him. He's not rich, but the friend was. And they test drove Shane Warne's old Ferrari. Shane Warne's a cricketer in Australia and it looked amazing. And then they got in it and there were cigarette burns in the leather. It had been thrashed, it had been destroyed. But it was like they had no idea until they got in the car that it was a piece of junk. So it's a bit like that, unfortunately. Is it that you sort of have to show up and do it and then you'll find out. So what would you say? What are the key things that your school does or focuses on that enable students to sort of flourish?

Yeah, sure. So one of our key principles, is to understand the needs, interests and motivations of every student and then to use that within the classroom. I always think if you can really sort of tailor your classroom to what your students need. What their interests are, what their motivations are. You can teach them anything and everything, like, whatever. If you're interested in cars, and you're teaching comparatives and superlatives. Obviously some comparison between different models, or different aspects of a car, you're going to get that person's attention. And I think it's not something that's, you can't really say there's a generic way, I guess, of teaching a particular topic. But if you understand each individual student and their needs, interests and motivations, I think you can teach them anything.

That's so true. I think you do. I- like, thinking back to high school. The teachers that I really admired and enjoyed learning from were those who could connect with me on a personal level, as opposed to just 'this is how I teach and the students need to adjust to my methods'.

Yeah, absolutely.

And so, Townsville, how do you get students in Townsville? Like, I would have- before meeting Raquel, I would have thought, no one's going to Townsville. It's so far north in Queensland. What are the reasons for people to obviously go to Townsville and to think about it as a location to get work or to learn English? What are the benefits of going to Townsville?

Absolutely. Well, I mean, it's a hard one because we aren't really well known internationally. But I think in many ways that's it's a benefit for our students. If you compare the cost of living, for example, amongst bigger, larger cities in Australia like Brisbane or Sydney or Melbourne, the cost of living in Townsville is significantly cheaper. So I think that's a huge advantage. There's- so we're sort of big enough that we have a variety of different industries where students can work, yet we don't have the high level of competition that some of the bigger cities have as well.

So there's a lot of jobs. The biggest hurdle for us, I guess, is the fact that we're relatively unknown globally. Like you're sort of talk to anyone from overseas about Australia and they'll mention Sydney, of course, and Melbourne and I guess Brisbane and Cairns and other centres. But not a lot of them know about Townsville. So, a lot of our students come from word of mouth. So ex-students that have recommended friends or family members to come and study. We also work with education agents both in Australia and abroad who recommend our school to students from overseas. But yeah, it's probably the, the most difficult thing for us is the fact that yeah, Townsville is so unknown.

Yeah.

Globally. So yeah.

Does that make it easier to get to, though, if it's because it's unknown, and there are fewer people there, is it easier for students to get visas, or to get positions at schools and stuff like that there, or..?

Yeah, it's not that. I mean, the visa regulations are the same regardless of where you're located for, in terms of the student visa.

Ah, okay. Gotcha. Because I was thinking rural areas, but is that work related more?

Yeah, that's more work related. But there are I mean, we, there's a lot of students that have moved to Townsville to get points for visas and things like that. But no, for a student visa, it's exactly the same. Yeah, I guess it's, we're sort of like we talk about Townsville as being a small city or a large country town, so it's sort of it doesn't match every student. Like, some students really want, the night life of a big city, they want their huge shopping centres and things like that. And we don't offer that, we're more for students that really want that sort of Australian experience and really immersive in the culture and serious about improving. And I think Raquel's probably, as a student is probably one of the best ones to sort of ask about that. Like, what was her experience of living in a small..

I think she said it was the deep end of the pool. She got chucked in the deep end and was like, My God, all these people speak with the strongest accent. And you, it's sink or swim. You either learn that accent. Yeah. And now her listening comprehension is off the charts.

Yeah, it is totally! And I think there's a lot more opportunities in a sort of a regional or more rural, although I wouldn't say we're rural. But a regional area like Townsville, there's more opportunities to to get to know the locals to have that one on one with people and connect with the local community, which, like you do, get in a big city, don't get me wrong, but I just think that there's more opportunities for it in a smaller place.

And so, I guess moving on to the different kinds of exams and things that you're preparing students for, can you talk about which ones exist and the pros and cons of doing each one. Which are the, which are the ones that your students focus on mainly?

Yeah. So we're- our main focus is IELTS. IELTS preparation. We have an IELTS testing centre in Townsville. We don't actually have a PTE test centre at the moment. So students, if they choose PTE, they have to travel to Brisbane or Sydney, which adds a bit of an expense to it. But yeah, that's the other option. So your IELTS and you've got PTE. Then you've got a few other tests that are more sort of job related, like you have OET, the Occupational English Test for nurses and doctors and health care professionals. And obviously, TOEFL and TOEIC, and all the rest of them. But yeah, our main focus is on IELTS preparation, specifically. But in terms of like the two big comparable ones, it would be PTE and IELTS.

And what are the benefits? What are the, what are the reasons you would pick one over the other?

Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, they're both a test of a student's English language ability. So, a lot of students come to me and say, which one's easier, which one should I sort of choose to do? And to be honest, it's in my opinion, it's a much of a muchness. There might be slight benefits for some students to do PTE. For example, if they're good at keyboards and good at typing and their writing isn't very good. Yeah, that's definitely going to be a slight advantage for PTE. However, in saying that, I think that the advantage is so small that it's, I wouldn't even worry about it, you know what I mean? So at the end of the day, for me, it's not about necessarily which test is easier, but about preparing your general English ability or language ability to pass either test, if you know what I mean.

That's it. And I think it was one of those things that I didn't, I hadn't really had that much experience with understanding how it exactly worked, either the PTE or the IELTS, but you actually need to be studying not just English, but the specific exams, right? So that's a key thing that a lot of English learning students don't realise when they're trying to prepare for these exams. They don't realise that learning English is one part, right. But you need to also be focusing on what do I need to be able to do in this exam to get a good score?

Absolutely. And I mean, obviously the difference between the two with IELTS being paper based and PTE being computer based. However, in saying that, IELTS also does have computer based versions, I think in Melbourne and Sydney and perhaps Brisbane. I'm not 100% sure, but there is a computer based version as well. I guess another benefit of PTE is the time that it takes to get the results. It's quicker than IELTS and things like that. But I mean, at the end of the day, they're both a test of your English language ability. So, I think either or is an option if you had both.

Do you know the rough prices for each of them and how long. They're about the same?

Yeah, exactly. In terms of price, I mean, in some areas, IELTS is more expensive if it's administered at a location that is in a principal location. But, generally speaking, they're both, 330-ish dollars. So, yeah, no real difference in price point. Just the fact that PTE, the results come out quicker than IELTS. Although I think IELTS is probably going to up their game and change that soon with, having a computer based version as well. What else? PTE, you can choose different times to do the test. And there's more frequent tests. Yeah. I mean, yeah, they're pretty much apart from that they're both a test of reading, writing, listening and speaking. Your vocab needs to be really good. So, yeah, I would say both are much of a muchness, in my opinion.

Oh, brilliant. And so with IELTS, what different kinds of exams for IELTS exist and what are the benefits? Or what are the reasons that you would do one over the other?

Sure. So you've got the general and the academic module. The academic module is primarily used for gaining entry to TAFE like vocational education or universities, or for recognition to work in particular jobs. Like as a teacher, for example, you have to do an academic IELTS test for teacher registration, or as a nurse, or a doctor, or another health care professional. That's where academic is, the one that you need to do.

The general module is more commonly used for migration purposes, to prove the level of English that a person has, and to get different points, they get different levels within the nine-band score for IELTS. Having said that, it's interesting. I find some students actually get higher scores in the academic module, than they do in the general module. So, in some ways it's actually a benefit for some students to do the academic for PR, for residency purposes. Just depending on the student, you know. Like if I have, let's say, for example, someone that has studied at university in Australia and they've done accounting or whatever it is, I often would recommend to them do the academic version because of the different scale for reading in particular. It's a lot easier in a sense. Or you can make more mistakes to get a higher score in the academic than the general.

Yeah. And so how do they differ exactly? Is it different kinds of language? I mean, obviously it's academic language, but I mean, how foreign is that from the general one, if you're just say, learning English generally, are you going to be able to do the academic one if you wanted or you would need to sort of have some kind of experience in academic English at university or something?

Yeah, sure. Absolutely. So I mean, I guess at the end of the day, it's like when I look at a student and if they have the option of doing the academic or general, it's about sort of identifying that student's past experience of English and then which one is going to better suit suit them and what they need to do. So yeah. So if I have a student that studied at university level in Australia, for example, then I often recommend to them to do the academic version of the test just because I often find that they get a higher score actually, than the general. So yeah, I guess it depends on the student. And a sort of case by case basis.

Oh, brilliant. And so how are the exams scored and what are the kinds of scores and what do they mean, I guess, what do you sort of what's the minimum to say be able to do, whatever it is that you need to do in Australia, whether it's studying or residency or whatever.

Sure. So it's scored on a nine band scale, 9.0 being the equivalent of a native speaker. And then each level going down has a different sort of a descriptor as to the language ability of the student. Different levels are required for different things. So if you have, for example, as a teacher, if someone comes from abroad who wants to teach in Australia, in most cases they need an 8.0 in each. So out of the listening, reading, writing and speaking, they'll need an 8.0 minimum in each, which is really quite a high level to get their teacher registration.

I always wonder if I'd score that if I just went in blind and did the test.

Yeah, I mean, I'm sure you would. I have had a few cases over the years where I've had native speakers actually come to me because they've failed the test, but in most cases, it's just because they didn't really understand the format or what was being asked of the test rather than their ability.

Which emphasises the importance in studying how to actually complete the exam, right.

Absolutely. 100%. Like, it's sort of, I guess it's a tricky one. Most of my students, when they come in with doing IELTS preparation, they want to know straight away: what are the tips, what are the tricks, what are the techniques. And that's important. Don't get me wrong. Like it's it's quite a specific test and written in a particular way. And actually there's a benefit to that in my opinion, because if you understand the test, you can answer the questions much more effectively. However, in saying that if a student doesn't have the general English language level or ability, right, I can talk about tips and tricks and techniques till I'm blue in the face and it's not going to make any difference.

So you need that ability to be able to improvise right on the spot. You're not necessarily going to get the exact questions you've been studying, but you need to be able to know, 'okay, how do I respond to this? What's needed?

100%. Going back to the different levels required for different things. For nurses, for example, in Australia, they have to do, if they do the IELTS test for their registration, they have to do the academic module, and they have to get a 7.0 in each band with nothing lower than a seven. Some courses at university ask for a 6.0 overall, some ask for a 6.5, some ask for a 7.0. It just depends on the university and the particular course. But for any of those examples, it has to be an academic test. For more for migration purposes, students have the choice of general or academic and the level that students get helps them with different points with applying for residency. So if they can score higher, for example, on academic, then I often say, 'well, you'd be crazy not to do it'. You know what I mean?

And it's the good thing with academic that it obviously applies it. It covers what general covers and more.

It does to some extent. Yeah. I mean, the only sort of issue, I guess sometimes with IELTS is that the results are only valid for two years. So you sort of yeah, you have to sort of think about time frames and- like I've got a student at the moment, for example, who has recently passed to get into university to study nursing. And she got a 7.0 in each and a couple of higher results, which was high enough for her to get into university, but because it's only valid for two years, unfortunately, at the end, to get her, qualifications recognised and her registration as a nurse, she'll have to do the test again, which is a bit frustrating. Of course it is. Absolutely. Yeah.

But I mean, I can sort of I can understand aside from obviously wanting more people to do the test more often to get money. I can imagine, like your if you were to do the IELTS and then straight away leave and not speak English for two years, I can imagine that your English can deteriorate as my- my French has, for example, since not speaking it for the last two or so years. But..

Yeah. But it's yeah, it's frustrating as well for a lot of students that they have to do it again if they need it for registration purposes or something.

Far out! So what would you say is the best way to prepare for IELTS? Is it that you definitely need to go to a school? Is it that you don't need a school? Like if you were to give advice to someone who has obviously organised getting a visa and coming to Australia to study whatever it is, what's the best way to go about studying for IELTS?

Sure, absolutely. So it's a tricky one, I mean. I think, most people can attain a certain level of language ability on their own, in isolation. But I think when you sort of, you're talking about reaching that next level, like, a lot of students improve really quickly from sort of a beginner to an intermediate level of language ability. But then they reach that plateau and they get really stuck there. And I think any sort of preparation for any test like IELTS, sort of in the same way as a student reaching a plateau, they need to have someone that's looking at the their level of English or the good things they're doing or the mistakes that they're making. A coach, a trainer, someone that can look at them and say, 'well, yeah, okay, you do this, great. But, if you want to attain that next level, you need to focus on your articles' or 'you need to focus on your pronunciation of this particular sound'. I think in isolation, it's really difficult for most students to attain a 7.0, for example, or higher. It's not impossible, like there's a lot of self-study materials out there, but I really do feel like you need that feedback. And that continual feedback, right?

Pushing you and giving you, as you say, feedback on the things you're screwing up, which you can't necessarily get yourself, you know.

Absolutely. Yeah. So yeah. So I think, yeah, having someone that knows the test, and is able to sort of, identify your weaknesses and where you need to work on and then to give you continual sort of feedback to reach that next level. I think that's really, really important. And there's obviously face to face classes, there's online providers, there's lots of different options. But I think so long as you have someone, a coach, a mentor, a teacher, someone giving you that feedback, that's really, really important.

And so how long does it normally take people to prepare for the exam? For, say, someone like Raquel who had zero experience, it obviously took a year or two. And can you compare her to, say, someone who does have, say, an intermediate level before they arrive in Australia and what each person would need to do to apply for, or get a good score on the IELTS.

Yeah, it's a hard question to answer. It's sort of like the how long is a piece of string, but, because it all comes down to individual aptitude and how much they apply themselves and a lot of different factors. And also it comes down to the level. Like, once you're talking about a 7.0 or an 8.0, those high levels, the differences between them and those subtleties of the language and getting a student to reach that level takes a lot more work. It's almost like that last 10% takes 90% of the effort to achieve it. So it depends on the level of the student when they start, I guess, and how high they want to get. And obviously the aptitude and the attitude and all those sorts of things as well. But generally speaking, we get lots of students that perhaps come in at an intermediate level, and maybe need to get a 7.0, for example. In most cases, I would sort of recommend 1 or 2 terms to sort of to get to that level. No, no, for us, it's 11 weeks. So yeah, four 11-week terms during the year. So yeah, generally speaking probably. Yeah. 1 to 2 terms to get to that level.

But it depends on the student. I mean, I've had some that have done brilliantly, like I had a French student last year who, before studying with us, did an IELTS test and got a 6.0 overall. Studied with us for six months, and by the end of the year, or the six months, she got like an 8.0 overall, with a couple of 8.5 and 7.5. So, which is, that's a really, really high level. And that's not uncommon too, I actually, I had a girl from Colombia who recently did the test and again passed it an 8.0 overall. So, I mean, those high levels are harder to get to because of the subtleties and, the complexities of getting there. But, generally speaking, one term, most students go up by one level. So if I have a student starts at a 5.0 at the start of a term, generally speaking, they should be up to a 6.0 by the end of the term. But it depends on every student. Some are quicker, some are slower.

And so what's normally the most difficult part to for people? I've heard that writing and speaking tend to be the most difficult parts where you've got to produce. You're not reading and you're not listening. Is that true?

Yes and no. I think it depends on the individual so much. And it depends on, to some extent, the first language, the country, the culture, so many different things. Like, I might find, for example, maybe an Italian might struggle with the reading part, whereas a Brazilian student might struggle with the writing. I think it depends too much on the individual. I think that there is definitely within IELTS, there's a level that a lot of students get stuck at in academic, which is 6.5. You get a lot of students that are achieving sevens or higher in speaking and reading and listening, but that writing of a 6.5, they really get stuck on that.

That's the story that I've heard of the writing, constantly bringing the overall score down. And that's what's screwing them over.

Absolutely. And you know that 7.0 in academic is a real sort of gateway mark for a lot of different things. So but in saying that, I think if you have a teacher who is very familiar with the writing criteria and how it's marked, and they give you very specific feedback on your task response, on your grammar, on your coherence and cohesion, on your spelling, your vocab, for example. And they say to you, okay, well, based on this task response, this is bringing you down to a 6.5 or based on maybe you're making the same grammatical errors too many times or whatever it is. I think if you have that direct feedback and you can identify those mistakes, then it's not really that hard.

It's just that you need someone to give that feedback. And I think a lot of students miss that, unfortunately. And, I think if you're studying in a really large classroom, it's really difficult for a teacher to provide that as well. I think having that sort of individualised and one on one sort of attention within a smaller class or a smaller school for me anyway, I think that makes the biggest difference. Like, yeah, I think that that's that's what makes the difference.

So awesome. And so okay, so you're, you're preparing for an exam. What is instead of asking you for, the tricks and tips, what are things that people who fail do too much of? What is the kind of person or what are the kinds of habits or things that someone who is going to not score very high, even if they have the ability? What are the kinds of things that they're doing with regards to, say, study outside of class and then when they're in the exam themselves? Are there any things that you would say, look, that's a no no, you need to not do that. You need to avoid this.

Yes and no. I mean, I think again, it comes back to the individual, and being able to sort of identify with that student and help them to sort of understand where they're making their mistakes. And I don't know if there's like a generalised, if I can generalise about that, if you know what I mean. Like, it just it really depends on each individual. But I mean, so long as the student has an awareness of where they're making mistakes and why they're not achieving a particular level that they need. And then a given constructive feedback as to how to fix that. And that continual process, I think that's at the end of the day, that's the most important thing.

Is there a trick to fostering that? Because I always get questions about building confidence and how do I speak English more confidently? And it is it feels like quite often the answer is just do it, which isn't necessarily a very productive and actionable piece of advice, but is it just a case of you just need to start trying and it's only going to get easier with regards to building confidence for these exams or for just speaking in general?

Yeah, I think building confidence is again comes down to the individual. Like, I think there are some, some nationalities I could say that are naturally or generally quite confident. And that's, yeah, having said that, not all Brazilians are out there and extroverts, like the stereotype, you know? So I think it's easy sometimes a little bit to stereotype in that way. But yeah, okay. If I, if I generalise there are, there are some student nationalities that I teach that are naturally more extrovert. And I think that that that does help them in some ways to pick up the language quicker. However, in other ways, I think it's also a burden to their language learning ability. Because quite often that confidence, unfortunately can equate also with continually making the same mistakes and not really working on it and focusing on it.

I always think if I could take, maybe a South American brain and an Asian brain and put them together, you'd have the perfect language learner. But unfortunately we're not like that, and that's it's not necessarily a bad thing too. Like, we all bring our own baggage, if you like, to learning a second language. And I think that if you, if you're able to identify those areas of your language and your language learning ability and then work on the ones that you're weak at, then yeah, you're going to improve in the end. So yeah. So if you have a student who's typically, maybe more shy than other students, I guess for me, it's about building that confidence within the classroom. It's about, as a teacher, for example, if I have a, like when I ask students questions, I try as much as I can to ask a question that I know they're capable of answering.

Like, I don't want to put a student on the spot, and make them nervous about not knowing it. So I guess a lot of it comes down to your the students experience of learning the language as well. I think a great teacher can make an amazing difference for a student. But then I think as well, unfortunately, a poor teacher can also have the opposite effect. So yeah, if I have a student that's a little bit more introvert and nervous about the language, then for me it's about identifying. Like, I said at the start, their needs, interests and motivations. So, if I find that they're particularly interested in sport or music or, some particular topic and I use that in the classroom, that's immediately going to start building that confidence. I think for them, in being able to use the language. So yeah, I guess once again it comes back to the individual. And I guess as a teacher, being able to understand that that person and incorporate as much of them into the classroom as you possibly can.

What advice would you have for someone on not. Well, if you have any advice left over for doing well on the IELTS, but also just doing well with regards to their experience learning English in Australia, are there any things that you would suggest students try and focus on or keep in mind when they come to Australia and study English or think about doing the IELTS?

Absolutely. Well, I mean, apart from from coming to Townsville to study English at Townsville International English School. No, but honestly, I think do your research, find a school that sort of matches, or find a location in a school that matches what you want to get out of the experience. And yeah, I guess, take an interest as well. Like, I find students that take an interest in the learning process do a lot better than those students that are a little bit disinterested. So it's a two way street, I think teachers can do a lot to help that. But I also think, at the end of the day, it's about that student's attitude towards learning as well. And I mean, for Raquel, for example, that's one thing that is really in her favour, she, I think very much had a thirst for knowledge and a passion for learning the language. And I think that shows in how quickly and how effectively she picked up the language. So yeah, I guess, advice to people probably. Yeah.

Do your research before you come. Try to choose a place that matches your, what you want to get out of the experience. And then once you actually arrive and get in the classroom, try to sort of immerse yourself. Like, when the school does outings or excursions, get involved with it when they do, offer conversation classes in the afternoons or whatever, get involved in it, and try to take an interest in everything. Ask questions. I think that goes a long way.

Awesome. Well, Kit, thank you so much again. Kit is from Townsville International English School. Guys, I think Kel would say definitely go to Townsville. If you're thinking about coming to Australia and you haven't picked a city yet. So thanks again so much for joining me, Kit.

My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

All right guys, so I hope you enjoyed that episode today. Thanks again, Kit from the Townsville International English School for coming on the podcast and sharing all of your knowledge about the IELTS exam. Guys, I hope this helps. I hope that if you are planning to do the IELTS exam in the future, or if you've done it in the past and may need to do it again sometime soon, I hope that this episode helps. I would love to know what you think, so make sure you leave a comment below on the website and I will chat to you guys soon. Catch you guys!