last night was my first meeting of this IELTS private class. one on one intensive preparation program to help me get my desire score of IELTS as a mandatory requirement to reach my dream.

i have been told you before, that i  got a scholarship for this program. so, let me tell you again. this program consist of 12 meetings. one for pre test, another is post test. eight intensives rich content of fundamental IELTS. and two reserved meetings for sharpening aspect which i am struggling for, or for additional meeting to improve some aspect that might be better based on my coach (Betari) perspective. each meeting has 2 hours duration.

this first meeting is about forming perception between me and my coach. like class rules, my target, strategic IELTS overview, and so on.

but, one point that i highlighted from last night meeting is :

wow, i had not expected before. so Betari, has a psychology education background for her undergraduate. and reseach method in social science (qualitative research) for her Master in University of Bristol (United Kingdom).

i really not expected that Betari use her knowledge and skill as a brilliant technique to my classes. she asked me many questions to encourage me to speak all the time. really, i just a little bit surprised that our duration is over and i have additional time for13 minutes. haha.

firstly, Betari learned me that comfortable in English is the basic foundation for a good IELTS score. she tears down my paradigm since i was in senior high school that teach me English as Second Language. i changed my mindset from English as my second language to English is my way to communicate in an English speaking country, and IELTS is about language acquisition. is the same way like when i was continuing my junior high school to Jombang. i must comfortable to speak Javanese language, even though i am a Banjarnese girl.  because it is the only way to communicate to my school and room mates. 

same like what i did in 2006, i acquisi Javanese language as my survival kit to communicate. in 2021, i must acquisi English language as my survival kit too.

every part of IELTS exam is about structure. including speaking part. is not kind of lingua franca session. it exam session. the examiner measures how deep your capability in structural yet substantive way. i agree with that. the speaking practice is so challenging because it's more like the elevator pitch rather than  informal discussion. so many people getting trapped in this part because they only focus on how speak fluently rather than have a unique, multifaceted lens about social issues that usually occur in the speaking test. so, their mentality is drop facing this type of question. so, Betari vanguard me to aware with social issue.

related to speaking part, is about listening part. many people are getting fear with this part. Alhamdulillah beside of them, i really love the IELTS listening part. because the way they speak is clearer than the national geographic channel narrator. my favorite television channel. but, it does not mean that my IELTS listening part is on the right way. i still have a homework to answering 5 more questions correctly while maintaining my listening score right know in order to reach my target score. but yes, Betari's suggestion to encourage me more aware with what content that i am listening to. my homework for the next meeting is to resume every content (podcast, film, video, and other audio related content) to improve my listening part. her astonishing suggestion is so better than my strategic to practice IELTS listening everyday. she told me that sometimes i must make a distance from the test itself. to reflect, evaluate, and continuing my journey of IELTS.

the reading one is so interesting part of me. i told Betari that the cheating so cold tips and trick is no work for me, at all. because my reading score is stuck. and when i changed my reading strategy from cheating to read all the sentences accurately and make some resume beside every paragraph in one to three words. when answering the question, i just need to look at my resume of the paragraph to find the right answer. so, yeah. for me,  the key of IELTS reading is about fundamental. how far you understand the content comprehensively.

another part is my fearful part of the IELTS exam. writing task. again, I got astonish moment. my principles of English academic writing have totally been transformed. before i enter this class. i thought that English writing is about translating my idea in Indonesian to English language. later i know that i was wrong. IELTS writing specifically and English writing generally is about mindset. i must reset my perspective and the way i write. for example, in Indonesia we usually write with so much additional sentence for wider our content. but, in English we must strictly follow the instruction. like IELTS writing task 1. it is about interpreting visual data (chart, table, diagram) into narrative explanation. we do not need to input our opinion as a writer. just focus on the data. deliver the fact without repetition. on the other hand, in IELTS writing task 2. we must answer a question with our honest opinion. thinking clearly, and write an answer in strict limitation. this is so challenging. it measured how deep we respond the question holistically and give exactly what the examiner wants.

so, that's my experience on my first meeting. please pray for me, i wish to write my experience in every meeting to this platform. as the witness of my overseas journey.

thank you for reading, have a nice day !

Balikpapan, 28 of August 2021

Riffat Akhsan -- who write this post while attending Indonesia Mengglobal Anniversary.