IELTS “International English Language Testing System”
I got IELTS “Academic Version”


IELTS is a international test of English language proficiency. It is owned by three reputable, international organizations: University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, The British Council and IDP British Council and IDP Education Australia. It has the highest quality control and security procedures. More than 6000 organisations, including many government departments and universities, rely on IELTS. The IELTS scoring system is recognized globally, giving you a truly international result . There are two versions of the IELTS: the Academic Version and the General Training
I took the Academic format. It is for those who want to study or train in an English-speaking university or Institutions of Higher and Further Education. Admission to undergraduate and postgraduate courses is based on the results of the Academic test.

I took the academic version of the IELTS test on 27 June 2009 at Britanico, which is the official centre to give this international exam in Peru . Before taking this exam I was involved in a training IELTS course at “Universidad del Pacifico” .

I was always curious to take this exam when I passed by Britanico Institute. I said to myself, “someday i will take this test,” but I didn’t know when exactly, so after finishing my specialization in international trade I was motivated to look for further international education and any studies abroad. IELTS is a requirement . I remember that I was looking for some places to be trained in IELTS and here in Lima there are many but not all are reliable, so I signed up at University of the Pacific in its language centre that is well-known in my country. I remember the first day of classes in the listening section the teacher played a CD for 1 hour without stopping, and with different accents from Europe such as Irish, British , Scottish, etc. and also Australian . I hadn’t practiced since I graduated from Sali so for me it was hard to start again and work with my English, especially with these kinds of accents, it was really tough ! The writing section is divided in task 1 and task 2 . The first one had charts; it could be bars, lines or pipes and 1, 2 or 3 charts . You have to write 150 academic words in 20 minutes so I had to learn the structure and use the correct words for each graph. It was kind of complex for me in the beginning .Task 2 you have to write 250 words in 40 minutes. I wrote many essays; it was kind of boring for me, sometimes I had to rewrite some essays . In the Reading section I had to read some topic about medicine, geology ,etc . In class my classmates were stressed and worried all the time talking about the band score that each one needed. Sometimes you can feel nervious thinking about how the exam will be and what will happen next. I think that IELTS is a test with many mysteries; you don’t know what will happen. This is how people involved in it feel . Most people in my class were very focused on it, and the most of them were thinking of studying abroad: Andrea in Finland. Richard in Australia, Lisbeth in Canada . The teacher told us all the time that Ielts is not easy and we have to be serious about it ,she also said that few people pass this test. When you hear that you can feel insecurity about yourself and in this time you have to work with your personality and believe that you can do it !! I don’t know why she said these phrases all the time, maybe to push us to study more .

The day came. I took my speaking test which was divided in 3 sections . It was with a British lady; she was so nice and asked me many things. I remember that when she started the interview she had a recorder and said : It is 11 am and we are in International English Language Testing System with Peruvian candidate Leslye Carol Ponte Roncal. When I heard how she started the interview I felt like I was in a contest because of the way she talked , at first I was kind of nervous and then I was more confident with myself. I was able to talk about many things and we talked for 30 minutes.

My full length test was Saturday 27 June, in the morning, in Britanico’s auditorium. It is a big place. I was surprised because I saw many people taking this test. I said, “Oh my God ! There are so many people in the same boat ! “ There were more than 100 people. I met Richard and Lisbeth there . In the auditorium there were 4 speakers for the listening section . The test started with listening and they gave me 4 sheets that I had to complete following the CDS. My heart started to beat, I breathed deeply and asked God for wisdom. I know that God was with me since the beginning of this story until the end of my test. I praise my lord ! The reading and writing sections were long and I just wanted to finish the IELTS test. When I finished writing I was exhausted . There was a girl that was giving the instructions; she said in the end “ The Britanico wishes you success. “ I think everybody went home to sleep after this. She was funny and sarcastic in some way.


IELTS was for me a challenge with mysteries that now is one of my achievements, and when think about IELTS this phrase comes to my mind:
“ When you are faced with a difficult challenge, you have to see a big opportunity to discover yourself and how much you can do. “