The Free Magpie

IELTS Academic vs IELTS General Training : How Different Are They?

The IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is a globally recognized English proficiency test used for study, work, and migration. It assesses four key language skills: listening, reading, writing, and speaking.

It comes in two formats – IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. I have covered before how IELTS Academic works and how I prepared for it to achieve a good score. However, that was a part of my preparation for applying to Canadian universities. After completing my Masters degree from Lakehead University, I sat for IELTS General Training in June 2024 in preparation for my OINP application and achieved another good score of 8.5.

Since some of you have asked me to dive deeper into the contrast between these two formats of the same test, that is exactly what I am here to do!

How I got Bangladesh PCC from non-GTA Ontario, Canada

Getting the Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) from your home country is a crucial step to applying for Permanent Residency (PR). Besides, you also need PCC from any country where you have lived for 6 months or longer. Since this process takes such a long time (around 2-5 weeks), many aspiring applicants start preparing for it beforehand.

The PCC is usually valid for 6 months since it is provided. So the PCC you came to Canada with is not usually valid anymore at the time of your PR application.

Being from Bangladesh, I had to get my PCC from there. Even though it is easy to get by creating an account and applying online on their website, the additional documents required to apply from outside Bangladesh made the process much longer.

Since I couldn’t find a properly detailed description online to help me throughout this process and I struggled to piece together how to do any of these properly, I am here to share the steps I took with newer applicants like you!

How I got PGWP & TRV from within Canada

I came into Canada as an international student in the Fall of 2022 to pursue an M.Sc. degree at Lakehead University. I completed it by the end of April 2024 and applied for PGWP (Post Graduation Work Permit) on May 8th. My application got approved exactly 3 months after that – on August 8th.

Here’s a short summary of all the steps I took for the PGWP and then the TRV (Temporary Resident Visa) afterwards.

Laapataa Ladies: A Sweet AF Movie for All Brown Girls

I first got to learn about this movie from a review of the YouTube channel Tried & Refused Productions. Almost always, I’m up for a Bollywood movie set in a small town, because these stories just hit me the right way, especially in their simple yet interesting storylines.

This movie was no different. In fact, it has earned a place in my all-time favorite feel-good movies’ list. Why exactly? Let me tell ya right now!

Baby Reindeer: A Surprisingly Heartbreaking Saga

I didn’t even know about the existence of this series, let alone making any plan to watch it. I was just browsing Netflix on a lazy Sunday and I stumbled upon it, after thinking the first few seconds of the trailer was quite interesting.

I was ready for it to be a hit or a miss. So I clicked on it and started the show.

At first, I thought it will be a comedic show about this annoying crazy lady who just keeps stalking this random guy in London. I was sure that the whole series will end by her being punished for it in some hilarious way, we the audience laughing at it, and the protagonist guy smirking or rolling his eyes.

But wow, did not see any of what came coming.