When you are studying for IELTS, it is sensible to concentrate on language that will be most useful in the test. Here is a suggestion for you: study the language of problems. This is a very important area of language because almost every IELTS essay task will ask you to write about a problem and if you want to get a good band score in lexical
In academic task 1 it is important to learn how to read a chart and a graph. This is because the instructions always tell you to summarise and select and report on the main features of the graphic. Many candidates make the mistake here of including as much detail as possible in their report. This brief tutorial gives you a sample task 1 report and some tips on how to… Continue reading
Here is the next in my series of sample IELTS essays. It is not a perfect essay, it is not meant to be. Rather it is intended to show what is possible. If you wish, please download it. To help you I have also included two vocabulary exercises.
Please note the range of vocabulary used. One common error in IELTS writing is that candidates repeat the same words… Continue reading
This article is about some of the typical problems Chinese speakers have with writing English both in IELTS and general English. The idea is to underline the importance in the checking process in IELTS writing and suggest ways of making that process as efficient as possible. One of the best ways to do this to be aware of the problems you have because of your own language background.
This post looks at how you can improve your listening score by thinking about how to listen for key words. This is an area where many candidates make a basic mistake. To help you understand this mistake, there is a short interactive listening practice.
What do you do in the listening exam before you hear the cassette? You read the questions. Of course. And as you read the questions… Continue reading
This is just to let you know that I have collected the links to some of my interactive IELTS exercises onto one page. For me, the internet and computer work particularly well for this type of exercise. I also like them because they are fun and fun does tend to be good for learning.
I aim to add one or two exercises each week… Continue reading
Is your IELTS target band 7? Or do you want to improve your IELTS listening from band 6 to band 7? Or from band 5 to 6? Here’s some really practical advice – think spelling. Spelling matters not just in the writing paper but in listening and reading too, where if you misspell a word, you get no mark. Indeed, it’s really quite common for candidates to miss as many… Continue reading
Grammar may not be the most important factor in IELTS writing and speaking, but it is certainly an important factor. Stop right there.
This is a complete IELTS writing task 1 lesson. You will find here a quiz on the exam, a sample task 1 question, an interactive quiz guiding you through a possible approach to this part of the paper and then an online timed exercise and finally a sample answer.
The concept here is to get you doing and most importantly thinking. For me… Continue reading
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