UNLOCK YOUR MIND—THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF IELTS PREPARATION

TL;DR Not everyone's ready to delve beneath the surface.

PROLOGUE

While surfing the infinite abyss of online content for the notorious IELTS, I felt nothing but intense overwhelm.

From the marketing agencies to the dedicated vloggers to the biggest gurus and the up-and-coming creators who just made their dreams come true, everyone and anyone had readily available materials.

I was unsure where to start, and I had an endless list of requirements to process alongside that.

The most crucial thing I wanted to do was assess my English level to tailor my review sessions to my goals, and just start.

Time wasn't a luxury. I wasn’t looking for a review center, a tutor, or a special class. Neither was I looking for tips and tricks to ace the test.

But the internet has given us a lot in the past decades. And it has left us with so much psychological, social, and emotional exhaustion.

It's the paradox of choice. Too many people talking about too many components and offering too many options. You are left paralyzed.

I needed to step back and uncomplicate things for my poor brain. So if you're drowning in information right now, breathe.

This is (more information but let it be your reading practice) for you.

CHAPTER I: THE THING IS

Our collective approach is the problem. When considering something as difficult as the IELTS, we focus on the fact that it's scary.

Unsurprisingly, many of these companies bank on it and offer magic solutions to help people get the scores they need.

They reinforce the common path we resort to when face-to-face with fear—to run and find the easiest way out.

In this case, we want to be fed the answers without putting in the effort or acknowledging our limitations.

Teaching exposed me to these patterns of behavior. Yes, there are psychological explanations for our coping mechanisms.

It’s simply human nature to avoid pain. Think evolution. Survival. Or our pleasure-seeking behaviors. All of this comes into play in our daily lives, so we have to pay attention to them.

Why wouldn't we be interested in figuring out what directly affects our emotions, decisions, and well-being?

I think the best thing we can do for ourselves is to keep expanding our knowledge about life and the world.

Okay, whatever. You're getting bored. But let me focus on your psyche going into this journey.

Before you face the worksheets, mock tests, and everything else out there—start with this. Why?

Perspective matters. Your tolerance for failure matters. You have to have the proper mindset before, during, and even after you sit the test.

And you honestly need to read more.

If that's cool with you, let's unravel this shit.

CHAPTER II: THE DUNNING-KRUGER EFFECT

How much do you actually know about the things you claim to be an expert on?

Would you believe that we overestimate ourselves most of the time? I bet you won't. That's why this cognitive bias is funny.

We likely only see it in others, but it impacts everyone even in the most subtle of ways.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect is simply us being noobs about something yet feeling overconfident about it.

Someone with limited competence thinks they're a genius. Classic example of that annoying co-worker who thinks they can outperform everyone all the damn time.

Some of you may be going into this preparation thinking you already know enough to attain your dream scores.

Well, maybe you don't. And before you start whinging, this isn't a jab at your ego. It's simply a possibility.

I thought I would be just fine. Of course, I was wrong. When I did my pre-test, everything became clear to me:

It is as much about knowing how to take the test as it is about understanding complex grammar rules.

To some extent, I would even say that others get away with only average expertise in the language by knowing the ins and outs of the exam.

Your knowledge will be rendered useless if you do not understand what exactly it is asking of you.

You'll end up frustrated when you haven't got a single clue about simultaneously managing your time and making sure you comprehend whatever's on the paper.

Rephrasing it again—as much as we want to think we are, we're no experts on this.

This is your reminder to be humble and take the time to study things you think you already know.

How may the Dunning-Kruger Effect affect your preparation?

• If you don't recognize your weaknesses, you won't have direction.
• If you can't see your knowledge gaps, you won't know what to focus on.
• If you think you're smarter than everyone, you won't entertain feedback.

CHAPTER III: THE ATTRIBUTION ERROR

As if the first cognitive bias isn't enough, we also have this to consider.

This is when we attribute the causes of someone's behavior to internal factors.

When we observe their actions, we tend to overemphasize their personal traits and characteristics.

They got amazing results? They're simply born intelligent and hardworking.

But then, we attribute our own behavior to external factors.

When we fail to be successful in the same way, it's because the test was weirdly more difficult. There were distractions. Something felt off that day.

You get the point. And by now you should know not to let this take over.

Because this journey will require your tolerance for failure to be at least above average.

You're gonna be wrong about 13 million things, 13 thousand times.

Don't waste any more time vomiting excuses as soon as you feel attacked by how complicated it actually is.

How may the Attribution Error affect your preparation?

• It messes with your ability to explore new strategies when your methods stop working.
• It makes you resist constructive feedback.
• It keeps you from learning from your mistakes (hint: excuses).

EPILOGUE

Here are ways to ensure these biases don't get the better of you:

1. Be realistic about your self-assessment - acknowledge your weaknesses and target them for improvement.
2. Embrace failure - accept and learn from your mistakes, you won't know the right answer until you recognize the mistake.
3. Explore different perspectives - just because something is viral doesn't mean it's gonna work for you.
4. Problem awareness - we all can learn from T Swift.

FRIENDLY REMINDER

I don't know if you've noticed this but something about the plethora of resources out there just screams outdated.

Not that they're not helpful. It's just that it's 2024.

Everything else around us is changing and evolving. The systems for this should be too.

The test is standardized and very technical, but our approach doesn't necessarily have to be as rigid.

It could be helpful to first consider the many other factors that can hinder us from reaching our goals, before drowning ourselves in new vocabulary and complex sentence structures.

Take a step back, regroup, and reflect.

Oh, and. Since you've reached the end, here are my results:

Congratulations on consuming unorthodox content for your reading practice.

Talk to you next week,

Jopaz