IELTS Reading can be difficult for candidates who are struggling with unfamiliar vocabulary in the text. There are several techniques to overcome this problem. Try out the tasks below and see how you do. via Compfight I do not take credit for the following exercise. This is from: Kenji Kitao. 1994. Developing Reading Strategies. Eichosha. […]
Read more "How to guess meaning in IELTS Reading"For my students who are doing the IELTS this weekend, here’s wishing you all the best for your test on 30 May! Don’t forget to go through your past lesson notes and videos, your task feedback, skills and strategies checklists, and useful expressions that we have covered in our lessons. But most importantly, try to […]
Read more "All the best to my IELTS students!"In a recent lesson, my IELTS students and I discussed the importance of thesis statements in essay writing. via Compfight Here are some examples that we looked at. Can you match the statements to the questions? This essay will describe the process of producing petrol from crude oil. This essay examines three renewable sources of […]
Read more "Thesis statements in IELTS Writing Task 2"The topic of technology might come up in certain test questions either in IELTS Writing Task 2 or IELTS Speaking Part 2 or 3. Here is an example of what you may be asked in an essay: Nowadays, the way many people interact with each other has changed because of technology. In what ways has […]
Read more "Discussing children and technology in IELTS Speaking Part 3"From time to time, I meet IELTS students who can be fantastic storytellers in Speaking Part 2, and smooth orators in the Part 3 interview. Occasionally, however, I have found myself in some rather awkward and amusing situations where the student/candidate tries very hard to express themselves fluently, but fails in the end. patries71 via […]
Read more "Embarrassing mistakes in IELTS vocabulary"A student asked me this question during one of our IELTS Writing lessons. He was not sure whether or not using the 1st person or 2nd person would be acceptable in IELTS Writing Task 2. I am sure that many have been told to avoid using these in essay writing. However, in an IELTS essay, […]
Read more "Can I use “I” and “You” in IELTS Writing?"When I listen to my IELTS students practise their speaking, I notice a particular pronunciation feature that is quite common, especially among Japanese speakers. There is an automatic tendency to place stress on the first syllable in words like: prefer event include become consist object (verb) hotel (pronounced ‘hot’ + ‘el’) This could be due […]
Read more "A common pronunciation error in IELTS Speaking"For my students who are doing the IELTS this weekend, here’s wishing you all the best for your test on 16 May! Don’t forget to go through your past lesson notes and videos, your task feedback, skills and strategies checklists, and useful expressions that we have covered in our lessons. But most importantly, try to […]
Read more "All the best to my IELTS students!"This IELTS Task 2 Writing was submitted by one of my students a while ago on the question: It is generally believed that some people are born with certain talents, for instance for sport or music, and others are not. However, it is sometimes claimed that any child can be taught to become a good […]
Read more "IELTS Writing Task 2 – Student Text Analysis"IELTS Speaking Part 2 topics generally require the candidate to give some sort of narrative (or short story) about the subject given. As I often tell my students, there is always a story in everything. It’s up to you to find it! You may be given a topic like: Describe a memorable journey you have […]
Read more "How to keep going in IELTS Speaking Part 2"