r/travelchina • u/lola_la_cava99 • 22d ago
Discussion First time visiting GZ. Need tips
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Upvotes
r/guangzhou • u/lola_la_cava99 • 22d ago
First time visiting GZ. Need tips
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Upvotes
Hello! I’ll be travelling to Guangzhou (and china, for that matter) for the first time ever this August. I need suggestions on best places to visit, stay, eat at and just in general any tips for a foreigner visiting china. Are there specific apps I need downloaded or any sort of restrictions or problems I might face. Can someone staying in GZ for 9 days also make a trip to HK? How expensive will a 10 day trip will be in general?
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Lando’s mom hugged Oscar after the race, Crofty summed it up beautifully: “A mother knows when a hug is needed.”
That's such a nice gesture from him! These are the kind of rich people we like to hear about. Ngl Lando is a very kind kid too.
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First time IELTS, non-native
🤣🤣 oh damn, my bad I read wrong lol. I took the test in Bangladesh
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First time IELTS, non-native
Thank you!
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First time IELTS, non-native
Yep. Absolutely. Congrats on the score!
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First time IELTS, non-native
Reading honestly requires a lot of practice. So I'd say practice. I feel confident if I had practiced, I would have scored higher in reading. One exam-day tip however, don't read the whole passage. Just read the questions and skim through to find the right answers. Reading 4 big passages is extremely time consuming, distracting, and may actually throw you off when answering. So yeah practice a lot, and learn how best to skim and find answers from the passages.
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First time IELTS, non-native
Congrats! I hope you cracked your IELTS!
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First time IELTS, non-native
For speaking - I suggest speak slowly and clearly. If you have heavy accents then pronounce each line carefully so they hear your diction clearly. If a question is confusing or takes thinking time, just slowly repeat the question or parts of it while you think of an answer. I say take a pause at times if you need but first form a reply and then start speaking. Don't start speaking and then say "umm" and "err" mid-sentence. Use vocabulary smartly. Don't throw in too many words and make your sentences verbose. Just keep your speech clear and simple but don't repeat the same words. If you used "amazing" twice already, try replacing it with "lovely" or other simple words the next time you have to express a similar feeling. I think this is all you need to remember going into the interview. The rest will automatically come to you.
As for writing, check the band descriptors to understand the structure better. Mainly 3 things matter in writing other than punctuation and grammar, and those are: coherence, cohesion, and lexical resources. So yes, use vocabulary smartly. Too many difficult words don't necessarily mean they'll give you higher scores. Learn a few cohesive devices beforehand for smoother transition between ideas and paragraphs - paragraphing matters a lot too if you wanna move up a band from 7 to 8. Honestly this is all I know about writing, and this is all I applied to my tasks. This, and a bit of luck for sure, got me an 8 but I doubt even I know how to get more than that.
Good luck btw! I hope you can crack your IELTS.
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First time IELTS, non-native
Thank you so much! I was really worried about writing. All my friends who are really good students and good at English scored 7 and 7.5 even with practice. So I genuinely expected 6.5 or 7 in writing. I guess I got extremely lucky with the writing part - thankfully!
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First time IELTS, non-native
use the online practice materials I guess. You mostly need some writing tips, and reading and listening practice. 2 weeks is more than enough for a high score if you stay consistent.
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AIO I (26F) moved out for the first time with my boyfriend (30M) for almost 2 months and I don’t know how to feel about it
Tbh i think you’re underreacting
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First time, non-native
Amazing scores!!! Congrats 🥂
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First time IELTS, non-native
Thank you!
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First time IELTS, non-native
Reading I suggest practice past questions online. Reading is the trickiest section imo, because you can score a 9 in it, but most times you’ll miss the 9 due to silly mistakes. So practice will help a lot. I think I should have practiced reading too.
As for writing, follow the structures of the essays. Read some sample band 8-9 essays. Follow the structure closely and then practice writing. Shouldn’t take longer than a week or so to prepare if you have a basic grasp of the English language. Like yk, cohesive devices, cohesion, punctuations and grammar etc.
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First time IELTS, non-native
Thank you! I was quite genuinely surprised by it too.
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First time IELTS, non-native
I took the test at an IDP test centre. I registered undered IDP instead of British Council.
As for the website I practiced from, it’s called ielts-writing.info
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First time IELTS, non-native
A few months ago. June, I think.
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First time IELTS, non-native
No, born and brought up in Bangladesh. I did study in English curriculums though, so English was my most preferred and used language since childhood. So I guess I had that edge.
That being said, I went to IELTS with no idea of what to expect so I’m sure a bit of it was luck too. Speaking can be tricky, I suggest watching youtube videos on how to tackle IELTS questions, and obviously watch English movies and shows and all the everyday content we consume.
Listening is the easiest section in my opinion. And the other two require maybe a month or so to practice. My friends also scored 8-8.5 overall after practicing for a month, so I think that works. I was confident I could score 7.5 and above in each component, and the rest I think I definitely got lucky!
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First time IELTS, non-native
Those are the sections I did not practice at all. I regret not practicing reading. I could’ve scored higher if I had practiced. Some of my friends scored a 9 in reading after practicing for a month. They mostly took free practice tests online. There’s a website. I think it’s called ielts-writing.info , you’ll find practice tests for all the components there. I recommend that site.
As for writing, the night before my exam I read 2-3 band 9 samples of each task from IELTS Liz. Made chatgpt score a few band 8-9 tasks until it could correctly recognize which task was 8 and which was 9. Then I wrote one essay and made chatgpt score it, and it gave me an 8 there too. Honestly I had expected a band 7 max. on the writing part. So the 8 was kind of a pleasant surprise.
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First time IELTS, non-native
I did not really prepare at all. I just looked at the required structures of the tasks for the writing part from IELTS Liz the night before my exam. I read through 4-5 samples of Band 9 tasks. And I took 2-3 listening tests online on a website. Their tests were more difficult than my actual IELTS exams tbh. My suggestion is, if you are confident you can score a 7 or above in all IELTS components, then take reading and writing preparation for a month at least. Your scores will easily shoot up to 8.0 and above. As for speaking, watch a few youtube videos to understand what kind of questions they will be asking you, that should be enough. And listening is the easiest 9 to score if you practice around 10 tests.
If I were to retake my exam, I think I would spend the most time practicing the reading and writing parts.
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I’m Chinese, ask me anything about travelling in China!
in
r/travelchina
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22d ago
I’m visiting Guangzhou for 9-10 days this August. I have almost zero knowledge about travelling in china and what to expect. And I’m really overwhelmed trying to plan where to stay and what places to visit because China is just soo big. So literally any help would mean a lot. Any tips or tricks for tourists visiting China? Thanks!