IELTS Reading and Writing Preparation Course – Central London

IELTS Teacher

If you are interested in a one day IELTS Reading and Writing course in central London (or know someone who might be) then please read on. I wanted to let you know about something that we're all excited about. IELTS Preparation Course - Central London We're now offering live IELTS preparation courses - with a professional IELTS teacher. We've decided we would now like to meet students face to face and are offering IELTS preparation courses in Central London. The first one was on Saturday February 9th 2013 from 10 a.m. until 3.15 p.m. and looked at Reading Techniques for Band 7+ and … [Read more...]

IELTS Writing – Who’s, Whose, Who, Whom, Its and It’s

IELTS Writing – Who’s, Whose, Who, Whom, Its and It’s

In IELTS writing, good spelling and grammar go almost unnoticed but poor spelling and grammar are immediately apparent – especially to an IELTS examiner! Poor spelling and grammar detracts from the overall quality of a piece of IELTS writing. Repeated errors will result in lower band scores as it suggests; that you don’t know the correct way; or, that you are sloppy and pay little attention to detail. Remember that writing in the IELTS test is by hand – not a computer – so spelling and grammar check tools are not available to pick up a wrongly spelled word or incorrect … [Read more...]

Knowledge of Prepositions Impresses IELTS Examiners

Thumbs up

Most teachers of English as a second or a foreign language consider prepositions as the most difficult to master. It is no wonder why only few books comprehensively discuss them. In this post, I will introduce you to a table of prepositions made by two experts of the field (Murcia and Freeman, 2010). This table will allow learners to familiarize these short yet controversial words in the English lexicon. It is impossible to memorize all their functions, so it is advisable that students get the real experience with these grammatical items through reading a wide range of text and observing … [Read more...]

IELTS Writing – How to Ace the Two Writing Tasks

IELTS Writing

There are many reasons why students do not get the band they require in their IELTS writing. Probably the most obvious reason is that when students practise the IELTS writing task ones and task twos outside of the academic environment, they are not as strict with themselves about the time limits, which under exam conditions are strenuously controlled, so that you have exactly one hour in which to write the two tasks. Prepare wisely and develop your English – but time your writing and stick to it rigidly If you give yourself more than the allotted times when you prepare, you will have … [Read more...]

Better IELTS Writing: Mastering Articles for Higher IELTS Band Scores

Articles - IELTS Writing

One of the most common mistakes in IELTS Writing is incorrect use of articles. Mastering the three articles in English will give your writing a band score boost. There are two categories of article: definite and indefinite. Definite Article – “the” The definite article ‘the’ is used to introduce a certain or particular noun. In short, the noun being talked about is familiar to both the speaker/writer and the listener/reader. See the example below: Susan:   Did you enjoy the party? Nina:     Yes, I did! In the example above, both Susan and Nina refer to a … [Read more...]

How many English words do you need for the IELTS Test?

IELTS_Vocabulary

Your performance in all aspects of the IELTS Test improves more with a broader vocabulary. You understand more and can express yourself better. Key attributes are required if you are to do well in the IELTS Test! It’s obvious really. Isn’t it? Here are some interesting statistical facts, which may surprise you: Just 10 words make up almost a quarter (23.7%) of the ink on any page. These are the repeated words like; a, the and of. 86,741 word families make up 100% of the ink on a page. I should add that there are more words in the English language, so there is a very, very small … [Read more...]

7 Spelling Rules for IELTS Vocabulary

Is spelling Important in the IELTS Test?

Have you ever experienced a situation where you are stuck with the clock ticking because you can’t figure out how to spell a word? You wracked your brain yet nothing came out? This is a universal struggle of both native and non-native speakers of English, let alone IELTS Test candidates. Spelling Most people, in their lives, have experienced this inability to spell correctly. Even professional writers. Why should we spell correctly? Is it really important?      Read this passage: Aoccdrnig to rscheearch by the Lngiusiitc Dptanmeret at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it … [Read more...]

IELTS Task 2 – Job Satisfaction at Work

IELTS Writing Task 2 - Adult Job Satisfaction

Here is another real example of a marked and corrected IELTS Task 2 essay question. I would like to thank the student, Sabina Khadka, for giving me permission to use it for the benefit of others visiting our website. It's one of a series of marked and corrected IELTS Writing Tasks on this website. The question and Sabina's unmarked response is presented and this is followed by our assessor's marked and corrected version.   Question As most people spend a major part of their adult life at work, job satisfaction is an important element of individuals well being. What … [Read more...]

IELTS Task 1 mistakes which annoy the examiner and lose you marks for grammar

IELTS Test - Annoyed Teacher

IELTS Test candidates seeking band score 7 or higher often lose marks needlessly by making elementary mistakes which annoy the examiner. In this short post I've included some examples for you, with the correct answers. You can find more IELTS Test grammar tips here. Can you correct the following? IELTS Task 1 Mistakes A singular noun/expression needs a singular verb: a) The pie diagram give information about tourists. b) The first chart illustrate c) The table below show the consumer durables d) Each durable have e) The process demonstrate f) This increase slightly … [Read more...]

Writing Task for IELTS – Apostrophe Uses and Abuses

write for the IELTS Task - Apostrophe

Nothing grates more for an English grammarian than seeing an apostrophe used incorrectly – abused some would say! This small mark is often used in written English yet many still stumble on its correct use. Is it really necessary to know how to use it correctly? Rumours of its imminent demise are premature and it still forms an important part of English grammar, so - as well as other IELTS Test tips we provide - IELTS Test candidates wanting to get high band scores do need to learn correct usage for use in the writing tasks for IELTS. Even learned people sometimes omit it when it … [Read more...]