Is IELTS 5.5 difficult? How long does it take to get IELTS 5.5?

How to design an effective IELTS 5.5 learning route ? Is it difficult to get 5.5 IELTS ? Learn how to achieve IELTS 5.5 with DOL through the article below! 

1. IELTS 5.5

To achieve IELTS 5.5, it is necessary to rely on the following criteria to evaluate:

IELTS is an English language proficiency test consisting of 4 skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Currently, only with IELTS 5.5 , you can communicate at a basic level. So, how many questions must a candidate answer correctly to achieve this score?

• Listening: 18/40 questions
• Reading: 19/40 questions
• Writing: with this skill, you have to complete both tasks and use appropriate vocabulary and clear sentences. The article must present a personal opinion and not be off topic.
• Speaking: You must be able to use simple and complex sentence structures. In addition, you must also have the correct pronunciation, coherent answers.

2. Detailed IELTS 5.5 learning route

Detailed roadmap to achieve IELTS 5.5 . goal

2.1. Determine your own level

Before learning the IELTS 5.5 learning curve, you can take the time to test your English level to know your English ability.

Test results from DOL not only help you clearly see where your level is currently on the IELTS scale, but also "alarm" you to know which skills need to be improved, as well as your weaknesses. From there, you can plan your IELTS 5.5 learning route more effectively.

2.2 Review the basic knowledge

2.2.1 Grammar (with documents)

In band 5.5, candidates need to have a solid knowledge of grammar to serve the Writing and Speaking test, including: 

• Grammar of tenses in English:
  • Present Simple Tense
  • Present Continuous Tense
  • Present Perfect Tense
  • Present Perfect Continuous Tense
  • Past Simple Tense
  • Past Continuous Tense
  • Past Perfect Continuous Tense
  • Future Simple Tense
  • Future Continuous Tense
  • Future Perfect Tense
  • Future Perfect Continuous Tense
• Sentence types:
  • Passive sentence
  • Reported speech
  • Tag question
  • Conditional sentences
  • Relative clause
• Classify words and their functions in sentences such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions,...
• Study materials:
  • Cambridge Grammar for IELTS: Cambridge Grammar for IELTS was first published in 2007 by Cambridge University Press - a major publisher of the University of Cambridge. Cambridge Grammar for IELTS is divided into 25 key grammar topics corresponding to 25 lessons. In it, each lesson consists of 4 parts. 
  • Essential Grammar for IELTS: is a short course that helps equip learners with basic knowledge of grammar to be able to apply well in the IELTS test, especially in Reading skill.    
  • Collins Grammar for IELTS:Written by Fiona Aish and Jo Tomlinson, first published February 1, 2012 by Collins Corpus. The book covers grammar points and guides to apply the grammar structure of skills needed for all 4 parts of the IELTS test: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.

2.2.2 Vocabulary (with documents)

The addition of vocabulary at this level is extremely important for all candidates. To be able to achieve the desired score in 4 skills, you should spend time every day learning vocabulary - from 10 to 20 words.

When learning words, you should also pay attention to learning in clusters or topics, so it will be easier to remember words, and at the same time know how to use words better, not just learn the meaning.

Study materials:

• Vocabulary for IELTS Collins: is a book from Collins Publishing House - one of the world's leading IELTS document research units. The book helps improve vocabulary for those who are preparing to take the IELTS exam. 
• Check Your English Vocabulary for IELTSThe book has a variety of exercises to help learners build a comprehensive enough vocabulary for skills in the IELTS exam. In addition, the book also contains exercises related to other language skills such as grammar, language usage, reading comprehension and spelling.
• Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS: divided into 25 lessons (unit), with the first 20 lessons around 20 common topics in the IELTS exam. The following 5 lessons introduce aspects of language and functional languages.

2.2.3 Pronunciation (with documents)

A lot of people at this level focus on practicing skills but forget about small parts like improving their pronunciation. You should remember that pronunciation is one of the main criteria for the examiner to mark IELTS Speaking.

So remember to practice pronunciation according to IPA phonetic transcription. At the same time, practice the shadowing technique - imitate the voice of native speakers so that you can practice pronunciation every day. In addition, you should also note that it doesn't matter whether it's British or American; What matters is that you have to pronounce it correctly. 

Study materials:

• English Pronunciation in use elementary: The content of the book begins with basic knowledge such as monophonic sounds, consonants, and stress and will gradually develop into intonation in sentences. Of course, this knowledge is not enough for you to be able to speak English fluently, but here are the foundations for it. The knowledge is also arranged in separate lessons to help you focus on solving each problem one by one. 
• LearrnEnglish Sounds Right: This is an application that provides you with an IPA table, how to read each sound and example words for that sound. The operation is very simple, you just need to click on each sound on the board to be able to listen and learn to read new sounds and vocabulary at the same time.
• ELSA Speak: It can be said that ELSA Speak is the most famous and prestigious pronunciation training application today. You can practice each sound or pronunciation according to your own level and ability. For the basic level, the app only scans the pronunciation of a word in a word or a word in a sentence. For the advanced level, ELSA Speak scans the pronunciation of a word or entire sentence. Users will learn how to pronounce according to the progress of each day to achieve IELTS 5.5.

2.3. Practice 4 skills

You can refer to the IELTS 5.5 learning route from DOL as follows:

3.2.1. Review Reading skills

To score 5.5. then you should get 40/60 correct. However, Passage 1 and 2 are usually easier so you can try to complete these 2 sections with 19-20 correct sentences. To prepare well for this skill, you need to understand the structure of IELTS Reading and choose the appropriate study method.

Many of you choose the Skimming & Scanning method but in fact this is a method developed by native speakers and it is not too suitable for Vietnamese people. Therefore, the teaching staff at DOL English has developed the Linearthinking method with the following preeminent benefits:

For low-level students (from 6.0 and below), the biggest benefit of Linearthinking is to help students build a good foundation. Specifically, Linearthinking helps students at this level:

• Reduce dependence on vocab for Reading/Listening: Know how to analyze the structure of a sentence when listening/reading, know how to read the relationship between sentences to guess vocabulary and immediately summarize the content of the paragraph after reading.
• Understand the structure of a sentence and know how to write and say a sentence that is always correct: Know what components a sentence is composed of, and how to combine those components to form a sentence that is always correct.
• Increase logical thinking ability when learning English: Understand the essence of English learning where to start and follow a specific and clear route.

Test takers often score lower than expected on the Reading test because they spend so much time completing some exercises that they fail to complete the entire test. Completing the entire test is important. Remember, there is not much time to do homework. So practice with the possible question types in the test and find the answer to each type as quickly as possible.

3.2.2. Practice Listening skills

Listening is a relatively easy skill in the IELTS test. However, to achieve 5.5 IELTS , you need to do 18-22 sentences correctly in the IELTS Listening test. Therefore, this skill should not be "ignored". 

If you are a person with a strong English background or often listen to music, watch English movies, this skill will develop more. However, for those of you who need to learn quickly or lose the original English, just starting out, entertainment in English is not enough. You should also apply the method of listening to dictation because this is a method that has been applied by many IELTS candidates successfully and effectively!

Some notes before practicing dictation is that when you are just starting out, you should choose a listening lesson that is suitable for your level from a standard English speaking source. Do not try to force yourself to listen to the news immediately or choose too unfamiliar topics with many difficult words (space, space, science, ...) Most importantly, the listening must have subtitles or transcripts to help you find the answer. So, where are good sources of dictation?

• No need to look far, DOL has a super "genuine" dictation feature already! The dictation listening lessons are diverse according to many topics (Education, Travel, Work, Business,...) and the difficulty of the listening test. (Please visit the website www.dolenglish.vn to learn more!)
• Besides, each DOL listening lesson also includes both English and Vietnamese transcripts to help learners easily check their answers and know their mistakes to improve.

At the same time, you can also learn new words during the lullaby process. In addition, DOL also teaches effective dictation methods. When you are new to practice, you can start with easy exercises on familiar and familiar topics. After a while, you can gradually raise the level to Medium and then gradually to Hard. 

Besides, after a while of practicing listening and dictation skills, maybe now your Listening ability is more solid. This is the right time for you to test your Listening ability, you can see it here: https://tuhocielts.dolenglish.vn/luyen-thi-ielts/ielts-listening-practice . It's too convenient, isn't it!

See also: Is it difficult to get 6.5 ielts ?

Link to the article: https://www.dolenglish.vn/blog/lo-trinh-hoc-ielts-6-5#ielts_6.5_easy_or_difficult

Practice IELTS Listening skills

3.2.3. Review Writing skills

Writing is the "difficult" skill of all four skills because learners must master the use of grammatical structures and have a rich vocabulary. So, in order to write 150 words describing the graph and 250 words for social commentary, you need to prepare well for this part of the test. Especially those who want to achieve IELTS 5.5. 

For Task 1, you should carefully study the chart types before learning how to write for each. In addition, Task 1 is a specialized writing section, requiring specific vocabulary, so you have to memorize a large number of words as well as grasp a lot of grammar knowledge.

For Task 2, you have to add your social knowledge to be able to brainstorm many different arguments when doing the test, and also add vocabulary and grammar for yourself so that you can use it in many different situations. Different format of IELTS Writing Task 2. 

According to DOL, the most effective way is to review each type of topic and refer to the standard 8.0+ standard "genuine" samples for each form to draw a general formula for and from there to develop your article. This will save you a lot of time and you will understand the layout and reasoning so that it is reasonable and coherent.

Writing is one of the important skills in the test

3.2.4. Practice Speaking skills

Unlike Writing, Speaking skill does not require high academics. However, for those of you who set a goal of 5.5, completing the 11-14 minute speaking test is not an easy task. Especially in Part 2 when candidates have to speak continuously for 2 minutes, it is easy to get stuck with ideas and do not know how to deploy them long enough, logically and naturally. 

In addition, pronunciation also plays a very important role. To actively improve this skill, you can try shadowing - imitating native speakers' voices by re-reading their words from videos or audio in stories, books or TV shows. 

Besides, you should also join social activities or clubs to communicate with foreigners regularly. Or if you do not have the conditions to participate in those activities, you can also refer to the Speaking samples from DOL here , with transcripts and audio files included for you to re-read and learn how to implement ideas. !

Candidates also need to pay attention to practice IELTS Speaking skills

Please watch one more band 5.5 speaking interview here:

3.3. Practice test questions

After spending quite a bit of time reviewing each skill, now it's time to take the test again to see how you have improved and your IELTS 5.5 is within reach. Here are some websites where you can take the test online:

• IELTS Online Test : This is a website that summarizes tests that are quite close to the real question, the exercises are divided into different types and skills, so it is very convenient for those who are self-studying at home.
• IELTS for free : the materials posted on this website are completely free with all the categories to help you find study materials easier. Besides, the website's materials and exercises are also divided by skill, making it easier for learners to consolidate and improve that skill.
• dol.vn : this is a website with exams with question format and designed to be no different from the real test on the computer to help candidates get used to the exam interface and thus be less surprised when taking the official exam. In addition, dol.vn also provides super detailed explanations to help learners understand and fix mistakes to avoid being repeated next time.

Experience in preparing for band 5.5 IELTS effectively:

4. Where to practice for IELTS 5.5?

Self-studying IELTS for those who aim 5.5 is very difficult because this is inherently a mid-level level, not yet aware of what they need to improve. Therefore, the advice from DOL is that you should go to reputable educational institutions for advice and study the most suitable courses. 

With the exclusive Linearthinking method, DOL currently has IELTS 5.5 classes suitable for students of different entry levels. IELTS 5.5 course at DOL will help students: 

• Forming the right learning mindset.
• Quit thinking of reading and translating, writing and translating, and translating.
• Consolidate and open vocabulary and grammar
• Know how to speak and write two simple sentences fluently
• Know how to express and develop your ideas.
• Read quickly, accurately understand a complete text to answer questions.
• Have a basic knowledge of the structure and approach of the IELTS test types.

Besides, with a specific and fixed schedule of study, students will follow a well-researched route. In addition, besides the teacher, the academic team is always on hand to solve the problems or questions of the students in a timely manner. What are you waiting for without registering to study IELTS 5.5 at DOL!

IELTS 5.5 preparation course at DOL is trusted by many students

6. Frequently Asked Questions

Is 5.5 IELTS score high?

An IELTS score of 5.5 is considered average in most universities. Although this score is not too high, it is not too bad either. However, if you want to win a scholarship or the opportunity to study abroad, a good IELTS score of 6.5 or higher will be much better for you.

What does IELTS 5.5 mean?

With an IELTS score of 5.5, learners can use English at a basic level in most everyday situations, even though they still make a lot of mistakes.

Is it easy to get 5.5 IELTS?

Getting 5.5 IELTS is not too difficult. As long as learners spend enough time to practice and hone all 4 skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing diligently, it is possible to pass IELTS 5.5.

Is IELTS 5.5 acceptable in Canada?

The answer is yes! You can study in Canada with IELTS 5.5. Accordingly, international students can enter one of the colleges and universities that accept IELTS 5.5 in Canada such as the University of Alberta, Charles Sturt University, Camosun College.

Through the article, DOL has compiled the necessary information for the IELTS 5.5 learning path. Good luck with your study! Do not forget to regularly follow the website www.dolenglish.vn to update more interesting and useful articles!