IELTS Preparation Guide, Tips, Sample Tests and much more…: August 2007

Writing practice

IELTS Writing practice
o NEW! Sample Essays & Graphs
o NEW! Sample Letters
o Writing test # 1

Speaking practice

IELTS Speaking practice
o Speaking test # 1

Reading practice

IELTS Reading practice

o New! Full IELTS test
o New! Many Reading tests
o Reading test # 01
o Reading test # 02
o Reading test # 03
o Reading test # 04
o Reading test # 05
o Reading test # 06
o Reading test # 07
o Reading test # 08
o Reading test # 09
Reading test # 10

Listening practice

· Listening practice
o IELTS sample tests by AApress
o Listening test # 1
o Listening test # 2
o Listening test # 3
o Listening test # 4
o Listening test # 5
o Listening test # 6
o Listening test # 7
o Many Listening tests
o NEW! Listening tests from Parapal

IELTS Around the Globe

IELTS exam in Germany
IELTS exam in Hong Kong
IELTS exam in India
IELTS exam in Italy
IELTS exam in Peru
IELTS exam in Saudi Arabia
IELTS exam in Sri Lanka
IELTS exam in Vietnam

Update from General IELTS exam, Hungary

This awesome report came from a Hungarian guy right after he was done with IELTS and it was very fresh in his memory. Thank you very much, Tamas, for providing this study case - well done!

Listening
The first part was a phone conversation of a tour reservation, and you needed to collect names, phone numbers, and such factual data. Then, I still don’t remember the next two parts.
There were single choice and multiple choice tasks involved. Then in the last part there was a text about water shortages, the history of dams, and a comparison of water dams and water banks. This was a fill-the-gaps task, with synonyms often used.

One question I couldn’t figure out with multiple choice questions: the leaflet said “questions 12-14″ and then 5 options from which I had to pick 3.The answer sheet however, clearly asked for question 12, 13, and 14 separately. Let’s assume the answers are A, B and E. In which order do you mark these on the answer sheet? Which is the answer for question 12/13/14 exactly?

To explain this one: in such cases the order doesn’t matter. Make sure you select the right choices, write them on Answer sheet in any order, they will be all accepted. (Simone)

Reading
With the skimming technique I managed to save so much time that I had more than 10 minutes at the end to re-check every answer (to correct two obvious mistakes in my case), which were already copied to the test sheet.

There were four parts:

1) A table comparing 3 lodging packages

2) A travel insurance leaflet

3) A one-page text about retraining courses

4) A 7 paragraphs text about the advantages of wind turbines as alternative energysources.

I tried not to over think some of the T/F/NG tasks, but still I’m not sure in two cases:

1) The travel insurance leaflet contained a clause something like“laptops and other electronic equipments are covered (if their model and id were registered previously)”, and the question was whether the insurance covers/doesn’t cover/or covers in some cases. I’ve chosen “covers in some cases” here, thinking that the condition applies only if…
Well done! (Simone)

2) The retraining told something about apprenticeship (with a footnote that it means studying and working at the same time, and one of the courses told it is for apprenticeship, trainees, and other general studies (or something like that, unfortunately I can’t recall), and there was a question whether this course usually includes part-time work. I chose NG, as I felt that the fact that it USUALLY includes part-time work (that is apprenticeship and trainees in my reading) was not emphasized in the text.

Writing

Task1 Your friend will be staying at your home, but you can’t be there. Write a letter in which you explain:1. How the keys will get to him/her2. How to use the electrical appliances3. Recommend some interesting places to visit

Task2 Some people say subjects like arts, music, drama and creative writing are more beneficial to children, and therefore they need more of these subjects to be included in their timetable. Do you agree or disagree?

I was sort of winding down by the end of the test, dehydrated and was not creative enough in the second task, so I wrote only in general (despite the fact that they asked for personal experiences to be mentioned), and too short. (235 words total, and no time left to extend that. At least I kept the essay structure, so knowing that was a great help.

Speaking
There was an hour break before interviews started. There were 2 examiners for the 16 candidates, and each interview took about 15 minutes, so that means something like 2-3 hours waiting for the last candidates.

Generally, the examiners are very kind; they (of course) let you speak when they see you have something to say. It is up to you, though to answer their questions in the meantime.

About tape recording: the interview starts with a short tape-recording test, which tests the physical condition of the tape-recorder, but be prepared to hear your voice back from a tape: if you haven’t heard it before, you might be surprised how different it sounds (to you), and don’t let it distract you (this was a case for one of my fellow candidates).

Update from General IELTS exam, Canada

This summary came from a couple of very happy Canadian students. Both of them used IELTS-Blog materials, got 7 in General IELTS and felt like helping others. Thank you, guys!

Writing
Task 1 Imagine your going to an English speaking country; write to a rental agency,a) the type of house you want.b) its size.c) the surroundings.
Task 2 Discuss your opinion about how modernism can affect our health. What can the government do to overcome such circumstances?

Speaking
Interview1. Give me your name?(Asked my passport- identity)2. Tell us about your work/job?
Little speechWhat is your opinion about working in shifts. Give examples: doctors, hotel staff, etc.

Discussion Different jobs demand shift work, in my opinion should the choice be given to the candidate to work in shifts or not.

Update from Academic IELTS exam, Canada

Thanks to Ann from Canada I can post these topics from recent Academic IELTS exam. Good job, Ann, thanks for caring - your help is most appreciated!

Reading Reading was really difficult, topics were about1) Co-education and Single-education2) Penology3) Telepathy

Writing
Task 1 Line graph Number of inquiries received by tourist receptionist (by phone, by email/mail and in person) from January to June 2004
Something like this: As the richer people grow richer, the poor people are getting poorer. What problem rise in this situation and how can we cope with them.

Speaking
InterviewAre you working or studying?What do you like the most about your job?What kinds of weather do you like most and why?Why nowadays people are getting married older than they used to. Why do you think our grandparents were getting married at early age?

Little speech Describe something that I made by myself

Discussion

What is the difference between things that are made in bulk and the one you’ve made? What can you say about globalization? What are the effects of globalization?

Update from General IELTS, Spain

Do you remember this beautiful tradition we used to have, when you shared your IELTS experiences with me and I made sure they are available for many other students just like you?
I’d like to invite you all once again - let’s keep doing that, because people write and tell me it’s really helping them. Take some time to put a little email together, let me know what country you’re from - I’ll take care of all the rest.

And now to the latest news - we have an update from Spain (thanks, Gino).

Reading
Reading included 10 advertisements and the questions were about which ad says they want the userto provide transport, which ad says user can get a better bargain, so you have to read carefully,because some of the adds had same ad as answer (at least I thought that way, don’t know till the result comes.

Writing Task 1
Write a letter to neighbor about the garbage problem you have
· Introduce yourself
· Explain the problem
· Provide appropriate solution

Writing Task 2
Small shops in town and villages are closing and replaced by big stores. Explain your opinion, do you think it is good or bad.

Speaking
They asked about my school, what I did on last weekend, and then went to ask about jobs in shifts, advantages & disadvantages. Well I messed up a little bit as I got a bit nervous. I suggest to everyone to stay in a relaxed mood.

Update from General IELTS exam, India

Thanks to Chikur from India I can give you this update, enjoy!

Listening:
The only thing I remember - it was too fast. I had to sneeze and missed 2 answers!

Reading:
Reading was a bit tough this time. In General Training IELTS, thefirst 20 questions are usually easy. But this time I found first 10questions about a long passage. Actually that passage was“answers” and we were supposed to match the “questions”to them, so it took longer. Two more reading passagecame with questions of True , False, Not Given typeand I had to fill up the gaps in the summary.

Writing:

Writing Task 1:Write a letter to a college Principal, where you attended one day computer course and are unhappy about the way it was conducted. Explain the type of course, what happened and what can be done that it never happen again

Writing Task 2:In Many countries, children are getting fatter and less fit day by day. What is your opinion about it?

Speaking:
Interview Questions about my hometown, I was asked to describe it.
Speech Describe 2 people from the same family, their similarities.
Discussion Change in trends of the family types and about respect of elders in my family and my country.

Update from Academic IELTS exam, Argentina

This incredible material was brought by IELTS candidate who wished to remain anonymous.

Listening:
1. Phone call with representative of “Mobility Company”. A man asked directions to their showroom, and made some inquiries about the products he couldget or install for his father, who had a weak back.

2. Recorded message on the phone, giving tourist information about some caves in Great Britain. (At the end there’s a quite long phone number, out of 15 people taking the exam, I couldn’t find anyone who was sure about the numbers he/she had written.There were too many numbers, no repetitions, too fast.

3. Girl talking to student adviser. She asked about Science and Biology oriented undergraduate courses, if those were part time, full time or flexible; if there were any scholarships available or not.

4. Students giving a lecture about white rite, a mineral, which is source of barium, and main natural resource of their town.

Reading:
1. Math classes in Japan2. About penology and amateur contributions to scientific research3. About archeology on Easter Island.

Writing:

Writing Task 1:Line Graph: Production of vehicles 1998-2002. Amount of hours required to manufacture a vehicle in four US based factories: Nissan, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler.

Writing Task 2:Some people think that there are benefits in going to private secondary schools. Others feel that private secondary school can have negative effect on the society as a whole. What is your opinion? Justify and give examples according to your knowledge or experience.

Speaking:

Interview
· Greeting, Name and ID
· Do you live in a village, town or city?
· Is it a nice place to live?
· Why do you like living there?
· Is it a good place to live for young people?
· Do you like flowers?
· Do flowers have a particular meaning in your country?
· Do people give flowers to each other as a present?
· Do you know any other languages?
· What other language would you like to learn?
· What do you like about learning different languages?
· Why is it important?

Speech
Card about helping someone. (I’m sure I’ve seen it somewhere, either online or in some book)
Discussion

· Do you like helping people out? Why?
· Do you think people help each other more now or before?
· Is it usual in your country that people help others, strangers?
· Does your government help poor people, or people in need? How?
· Do you think it had to provide more help before than it has to provide now?

Update from Academic IELTS exam, Australia

This brief update is from latest Academic IELTS in Melbourne, Australia
Listening topics:

1) Tickets’ booking over the phone

2) Seaside walk

3) Lecture on village life

Reading topics:

1) Bananas

2) Photography

3) Flavor sense

Writing :

Writing Task 1: Compare postgraduate project work in a UK university in 80s,90s and 2000s on the basis of either they complete it on time, late, rewrote orfailed to write at all

Writing Task 2: Multicultural societies bring more benefit to the countrythan drawbacks, discuss.

Speaking:

Interview questions - nothing special
Speech - long talk about a photograph

Recent Academic IELTS exam

Thanks to our friends from Vietnam, I can give you this update from recent Academic IELTS test.

Writing :

Part 1: Two line graph, which shows percentages of employment amongst men and women in England from 1993 to 2000.

Part 2: In order to learn a new language well, you should also get to know the culture and the lifestyle. To what extent do you agree with this idea?

Speaking:

Interview questions
· Greeting and show ID?
· Student or working?
· Where are you studying?
· Do you like it? In what way?
· Have many friends? How about close friends?
· What do you do to express you ‘re a good friend?

Speech

Topic:

Your favorite story as a child

Discussion
· How does the above story affect you?
· Differences between a person in a story/film and in a real life?
· What is the character of an actor/actress in a film that people in your country like?
· What could people study after watching a film / reading a book?

IELTS exam - update from Vietnam

As you may have noticed, there is a new category in IELTS-Blog - Recent IELTS exams. You can find there everything my students tell about their IELTS exams : topics, tasks, stories.
This post is also about recent IELTS - our friend D. P. Hieu from Vietnam brings an update from an Academic IELTS test he took on 29/7/06.

Listening :
Part 1: Complete Table about Recyled process.

Part 2: About Orientation Day.Part 3: Foods for children.

Part 4: A lecture about a successful company run by a woman in India.

Reading :
Very, very hard.Part 1 & 3: too complex to describe.Part 2: About fishing in Alaska (US).

Writing :

Part 1: A normal bar chart shows (and compares) the number of employed workers in 7 sectors (trading, tourism, manufacturing….) in New Zealand in percentages between 1990 and 2000.

Part 2: Earlier developments in technology are bigger than recent ones? Discuss. Give your own ideas.

Speaking:
Quite a lot of questions. Lasted for exact 22 min (too long, isn’t it?). Yes, that’s true. Phew….Examiner ’s name : Peter Braigtain (or something that sounds like that)

Interview questions
· Greeting and show ID…
· Student or working?
· Where are you studying?
· Do you like it? In what way?
· Have many friends? How about close friends?
· How can you use time with your friends?
· According to you, how is a good friend?
· Spending time with family?
· Eating at home VS going out for meals.
· Advantages of cooking at home.
· Who cooks in your family?

Speech
Topic: your dream vehicle!!!

Discussion
· Vehicle ’s effect to society in general?
· Are car ads on TV, radio effective?
· Private vehicle VS Public Transport?
· Advantages of Public Transport? What you love best?
· Disadvantages of Public Transport? What you dislike the most?
· Should Government play the main role in developing public transport? How to improve it?

More Fresh IELTS Tasks And Topics

Thanks to my thoughtful students, Kimunn (Cambodia) and Huma (Pakistan), I can share with you more IELTS exam tasks and topics, all from Academic IELTS.This is what Huma told us about her IELTS exam:

Writing Task 1:
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The bar chart shows the percentage of internet users and non-users in Australia in 2001 in different age groups. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information shown below..

Download the bar chart here
You should write at least 150 words.
Writing Task 2:
You are advised to spend the maximum of 40 minutes on this task.
What are the possible effects of living long on an individual and on the whole society?Give some examples for and against according to your knowledge.
You should write at least 250 words.

Speaking Sections
Interview What is your name, student or employee, what is your job? If a guest suddenly comes to your home, what do you do? What you will show to a visitor?

Card Questions about favorite shopping center

· Where it is?
· What kind of shops are there?
· Why do you like it?
· What influences you mostly to shop there?

Discussion Related to shopping
· Online marketing, its advantages and disadvantages
· Comparison of cheap shopping center and branded shopping center

And this is what Kimunn remembered:

Writing Task 1 - describe the process of making cement and concrete

Writing Task 2 - discuss the advantages and disadvantages of private secondary school.Speaking section - they asked about what is the meaning of flowers in my country.

Fresh IELTS topics from yesterday’s exam

Writing

Writing Task 1 (Letter) - Write a letter to publisher in a newspaper, asking to advertise a meeting of people from different countries you are organizing. Explain where, when and why.

Writing Task 2 (Essay) - Nowadays for many people Internet is replacing regular books. What do you think will happen in the future and what is your opinion.

Speaking

Interview - the interview was completely ordinary, questions : name, student or employee, what is your job, describe your regular day.

Card - questions about public transportation in your country.

Discussion - ecological consequences of public transportation and what can be done to improve the situation.

Today’s IELTS - live report

1) Listening was difficult, in one task they gave us a diagram and I had to understand directions on it. The easiest part was about archeological excavations of some sort of bones. I didn’t do too great.

2) Reading was much better, I even had 7 minutes in the end to check myself. I remember 2 passages. There was a really long passage (2.5 pages) divided into 3 sub-sections and I had to be careful not to mix questions of different sub-sections. Its topic was distant learning, its advantages and disadvantages. The last passage was about traveling in Australia, how much money it brings to Australian government, how much different kinds of travelers (single men, couples, etc) spend on vacations of different types.I wrote my answers on the Answer Sheet and in the booklet - it really saved me time when I had to check myself in the end of Reading section.

3) Writing:

Letter topic - Write a letter to a book shop manager about a book you’re looking for, ask him to find the book and send it to you. I finished it in 17 minutes and managed to check myself in the remaining 3.

Essay topic - Today majority of children are raised by their grand parents, due to the fact that their parents are busy working. To what extent do you think it affects the whole family? I wrote essay with 5 paragraphs - Introduction, 1 paragraph against and 2 paragraphs in favor of grandparents raising the children and, of course, the conclusion paragraph with my own opinion. I managed to finish it in 35 minutes and 5 left to correct spelling errors.

4) Speaking:

I messed up and gave my passport to the examiner before she asked for it. She returned it to me, switched the tape on, asked for it so tape would record the question and then I gave it to her again, saying: “Here is my passport, please”. The whole process has to be recorded on tape.

Interview questions: Name, job, current place of living, describe apartment.Card - Describe apartment where you lived in the past, when, where, with whom, what did it look like.

Discussion : What has changed in our living arrangements today compared to the past.

5) That’s all, I hope it helps!

IELTS Essay Writing Samples

IELTS Essay Samples of Band 8
Here you can find IELTS Essay samples of Band 8, written by students and graded by IELTS teacher. Every essay is checked, marked, has remarks and suggestions. The topic of essay appears when you hold mouse over the link. All the essays are in PDF format.

IELTS Essay, topic: Computers instead of teachers

As computers are being used more and more in education, there will be soon no role for teachers in the classroom.

There is no doubt that education and the learning process has changed since the introduction of computers: The search for information has become easier and amusing, and connectivity has expedited the data availability. Though experts systems have made computers more intelligent, they have not yet become a substitute of the human interaction in the learning process. In my opinion; what can be expected, is a change of the teachers’ role but not their disappearance from the classroom.
Nobody can argue that the acquisition of knowledge is more fun and easier with computers. The mere activity of touching and exploring this device constitutes an enjoyable task for a kid. This, accompanied with the relaxing attitude and software interactivity, usually conduce to a better grasping of new knowledge. At a higher educational level; the availability of digital books, simulator and other academic materials, provide the student with an ever accessible source of information, that otherwise would not be at hand.
But, besides the increasing complexity and behavior of intelligent software, which is usually embedded in the academic digital material, the need of human interaction in the learning process will always be present, at least in the foreseeable future. There is the necessity for a human being to be able to determine what the specifics needs of each individual are. The expertise of a teacher in how to explain and adapt complex concepts to different individuals can hardly be mimicked by a computer, no matter how sophisticated its software is.
As computers are becoming a common tool for teaching, teachers should be more aware of their role as guides in the acquisition of knowledge rather than transmitters of facts. They have to be open minded to the changes that are taking places, keep updated and serve as a problem solvers in the learning process, thus allowing students to discover the fact for themselves.
To summarize, in my personal view, teachers play and will() play an important role in the classroom, especially at the primary level. No matter how complex computers become, there will be no replacement for the human interaction, but in the way haw this interaction takes place.

Excellent essay! Are you a native English speaker? Well done. The only problem: too long, 365 words instead of 250-265 maximum.

IELTS Essay, topic: Events bringing people together

Popular events like the football World Cup and other international sporting occasions are essential in easing international tensions and releasing patriotic emotions in a safe way.

Every four years, the whole world stops to watch international sporting events such as the Olympics and the Football World Cup in which athletes show their best performance to make their country proud of them. These sporting occasions have proved to be helpful in easing international tensions in difficult times when powerful leaders were trying to control the world’s economy and other governments were fighting over land.
The Olympic Games are one of the best examples which prove how sporting events can bring nations together, at least temporarily. From ancient History, when Greeks and Romans would interrupt battles to participate in the games, to the more recent international disputes, when athletes from Palestine and Israel would forget their differences, compete pacifically and even embrace each other after an event. Moreover, these popular events have called the world’s attention to the terrible consequences of wars; thus some leaders have tried to accept agreements to end their dispute and live peacefully.
Similarly, international sporting events show benefits in some developing countries which live in a daily internal civil war. For example, Brazil has a high rate of unemployment, lack of education, hunger, crime, poverty and corruption which leads to an immense embarrassment of being Brazilian and a low self-esteem. However, when the Football World Cup starts, the Brazilian squad, which is considered the best team in the world, provokes an amazing feeling of pride in their country. Most people seem to forget all their problems and even the criminal activity decreases. They paint roads with the national colors, use wear the Brazilian team shirt and buy national flags. Moreover, the competition brings families and neighbors together and even rival gangs watch the games and celebrate peacefully.
In conclusion, popular sporting events play an important role in decreasing international tensions and liberating patriotic feelings as History has shown.

This is a great essay, the ideas, language, structure of paragraphs and sentences, grammar show high level of English. In my opinion it is Band 8. Keep up the good work.

IELTS Essay, topic: Rich countries should help the poor

Improvements in health, education and trade are essential for the development of poorer nations. However, the governments of richer nations should take more responsibility for helping the poorer nations in such areas.

Today’s world has been divided into developing and industrialised countrieswhich the main difference between them is the amount of money that governments apply in important sectors such as education, health and commerce. Most of the poorer nations are buried in debts as a result of their unbalanced finances which are reflect in a failed health care, an unstructured education system and a weak international trade. This vicious cycle will continue indefinitely unless wealthier nations show interest in minimizing the worldwide economic differences, as well as taking more responsibility for assisting unfortunate countries.
Most of the African countries live in sub-human conditions because of the extreme poverty, upheaval, hunger, disease, unemployment, lack of education and both inexperienced and corrupt administrations. The devastating consequences of the AIDS epidemic in those countries could improve if the infected populations receive free drugs to control the disease, have access to health professionals and get information on how to prevent its spread. But this can only be achieved through international help programs in which leaders of the world’s richest countries donate medicine and also send doctors and nurses to treat and educate those in need.
Moreover, most of the poor countries rely on selling agricultural products and raw material to rich nations and buying industrialized products from them resulting in a huge financial deficit. Consequently,they borrow a significant amount of money from the World Bank to try to improve their broken economies, but sometimes the money disappears with no significant changes and they cannot even pay the interest to the bank. Regarding this issue, last year the G8, which is comprised of leaders of the eight richest nations, decided to forgive billions of dollars worth of debt owed by the world’s poorest nations. In addition, they developed adequate loan programs to financially assist those countries.
In conclusion, leaders of the industrialised countries play an indispensable role in assisting developing nations deal with essential areas such as health, education and trade. Also, their aid is the key to breaking the vicious cycle, which results in poverty and death.

This is an amazing essay, looks like Band 8 to me, nothing to improve here.

IELTS Essay, topic: Computers replacing teachers

As computers are being used more and more in education, there will be soon no role for teachers in the classroom.

There have been immense advances in technology in most aspects of people’s lives, especially in the field of education. Nowadays, an increasing number of students rely on computers for research and to produce a perfect paper for school purposes. Others have decided to leave the original way of learning and to get knowledge through online schools. These changes in the learning process have brought a special concern regarding the possible decrease of importance of teachers in the classroom.
Some people believe the role of teachers started to fade because computers have been helping some students to progress in their studies quicker than when compared with an original classroom. For example, in the same classroom, students have different intellectual capacities, thus some would be tied to a slow advance in their studies because of others’ incapacity of understanding. In this way, pupils could progress in their acquisition of knowledge at their own pace using computers instead of learning from teachers.
However, the presence of a teacher is essential for students because the human contact influences them in positive ways. Firstly, students realize that they are not dealing with a machine but with a human being who deserves attention and respect. They also learn the importance of studying in group and respect other students, which helps them to improve their social skills.
Moreover, teachers are required in the learning process because they acknowledge some student’s deficiencies and help them to solve their problems by repeating the same explanation, giving extra exercises or even suggesting a private tutor. Hence, students can have a bigger chance not to fail in a subject.
In conclusion, the role for teachers in the learning process is still very important and it will continue to be in the future because no machine can replace the human interaction and its consequences.

This is a great essay. Looks like Band 8 to me. No improvements are necessary, Keep up the good job!

Note: the essays are checked by IELTS teacher, not IELTS examiner or examiner trainer.

IELTS Essay Samples of Band 7

Here you can find IELTS Essay samples of Band 7, written by students and graded by IELTS teacher. Every essay is checked, marked, has remarks and suggestions. The topic of essay appears when you hold mouse over the link. All the essays are in PDF format.

[coming soon in pdf format]

IELTS Essay Samples of Band 6
Here you can find IELTS Essay samples of Band 6, written by students and graded by IELTS teacher. Every essay is checked, marked, has remarks and suggestions. The topic of essay appears when you hold mouse over the link. All the essays are in PDF format.
[coming soon in pdf format]

IELTS Essay Samples of Band 5
Here you can find IELTS Essay samples of Band 5, written by students and graded by IELTS teacher.

The topic of essay appears when you hold mouse over the link. Every essay is checked, marked, has comments and suggestions. Hold the mouse over underlined words in blue to see suggested corrections. Teacher’s summary is at the bottom of each essay.

IELTS Essay, topic: Capital Punishment

Without capital punishment our lives are less secure and crimes or violence increase. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Committing serious crimes need capital punishment so that the offender unable to involved in the crime in the future. However, If they want to stop the violated act in the future then it would better to forget him and judge him for a change .Overall, I agree with the fact that punishment is the way to avoid the crime to be increased and hence our lives become more secure. If the wrongdoer wants to be a good man and there is some financial or personal problem that led him to the wrong way, then it would be the nice option to forgive him and try to solve the problem he have. Although by this way, some bad man may become effective part of the society but some do not bring themselves to the right path because they are very much used to of it. The person that _ involved in the crime and never try to stop the law-breaking act should be punished in the extremely serious way. However, it totally depends on the nature of crime. Some crime led to capital punishment and some may require small penalty. The law-making institutions are responsible to bring the bad man to the right level of punishment that he deserves. If there is weak legislation to properly handle the offender, it may become our society less secure for the good man. The government should be responsible authority to provide secure and better state to live. Laws should be implemented and executed in the most proper way that do not allow the offender to commit violence act or to break the law in any way or extent. To sum up, it is the responsibility of the state runner to stop people to involved in crime. It may be done through solving the problems of the people that led them to commit violence act or by the punishment accordingly.

Where are the paragraphs? This is a very good essay; however there are many small mistakes that will cost you dearly. There are also several unclear expressions and grammatical errors.
You should rewrite it, giving more thought to what is required, eg. paragraphs.

IELTS Essay, topic: Education with or without a teacher

Some people think that they can learn better by themselves than with a teacher. Others think that it is always better to have a teacher. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons to develop your essay.

It is certainly said that learning is an ongoing process .Every person learn something new according to their age, experience knowledge and education. According to my point of view it is always better to have _teacher or guide for study.
One teacher has adequate knowledge to teach their student. He knows all the possible ways to make subject easier for the students, even he teaches them in effective manner. For example, some students are weak in some subjects but a teacher always guides them according to their mental capacity. He teaches them as fun. Some people can learn better in group by discuss the topics with others. In class people can know the other’s views, even they know how we can learn effectively. Where the teacher always give easy direction to learn.
In the today’s competitive world, everbody is busy, some people think that rather to waste their time to go for classes they can learn better regarding their subject _. They can attend online classes by using internet at home. They can get relevant information from internet regarding their topic. There is not specific time, age limit to learn something new. Some thing new which we always learn only with the experience such as atequates, knowledge, new habits and so on.
In sum up, I would like to say that it is always better for the people to have teacher because one teacher has good knowledge, experience and education to teach others. They can take learn easy from him rather by themselves.

Where are the paragraphs in this essay? You must be very careful using definitive words like “always” and making statements of fact. The essay is for you to provide an opinion and to provide supporting arguments. Also, the other side of the argument about teachers that have limited knowledge or people that learn better on their own is not presented here.

IELTS Essay, topic: Popular hobby rather than favorite passtime

Nowadays people like to change their day by day activities into the latest trends and also they are following popular things what their surrounding peoples make them popular in their area. This essay will explain the reason why the peoples are spending more timefor popular hobbies rather than their individual activities spending time.

Hobbies and interest are different for every one; this is human nature,which is given by god. The current generations peoples are very much interest in the latest trend which makes them happy and also help them to make more money. For example, the cricket is the most famous games in many of the country, the children and teen ages are starts playing when ever they have free time in their daily life. This makes them will become a star in this game when they reach certain age in their life. In addition, this popularity will help them to make huge money in their life. Beside this, there are many hobby changes the peoples entire life into different way.
Those are from poor family aiming to spend more time to make money rather than their own interest. However, some of them are not worry about the popular hobbies and interests. For instance, drinking alcohol is one of the popular hobbies between low level and high level budget peoples interest.
In conclusion, _spending more time for popular hobbies and interests really depends on their surrounding people’s activity and environments. It may be a helpful for them to become a star in their life or spending time with many friends.

Avoid statements such as “This essay will explain the reason”, your essay should present a point of view including supporting information and examples. The essay needs to be easy to follow plus the English should be accurate and appropriate.

I suggest you read many essays that have been awarded high band marks and really think about how the writer has structured their essay.

IELTS Essay, topic: University money better spent on libraries or sports

University should give same amount of money to their sport activities as they give to their liabrary. Do you agree or disagree?

Yes, I do feel that universities should have equal budget for their liabraries as well as _ sport activities. It is our general belief that good player can not be _ good student and hence we restrict our children’s sport activities at college level. Moreover, academic degree has much more value than sport activities which naturally compels students to focus more on their studies than their sport interest.
Most of the universities keep sport at last number of their priority list, because of which good players do not get enough facilities and equipments to improve thier skills and eventually they loose their interest.Universities can play _ substantial role in shaping this upcoming talent by providing them with good trainers and equipments which is otherwise expensive to afford. Also it will attract other students towards sports and inculcate importance of physical fitness in them.
Universities should produce genious in all fields rather than only concentrating on progress of scholars. Hence, I feel that universities should allot equal money to liabrary as well as sport activities.
Your essay too short, the introduction is good, as is the first paragraph but you must offer more arguments regarding why you agree or disagree. There are many spelling, punctuation and article errors. The essay is easy to follow but has the appearance of the writer running short of time.

IELTS Essay, topic: Modern medicine helps to live longer

Modern medicine helps to live long life. Do you agree?

The modern medicine is very important for living long life. It is depend on new technology. People take very easy and quickly. Also modern medicine is very quick absorbing to human body. It is helps to back to normal for people health condition. Therefore I agree with this statement the modern medicine is helps to live long life.
First of all, the modern medicine can prevent incurable diseases. Doctors can find some diseases very early. Then doctors can give suitable medicines for patient. New modern equipments are helps doctors is going to correct way. Also intelligent people in the world live long life on helps from modern medicine. That is very important in the human society because their creative things are coming with them and they can help to others long time when they are living in long life with comfortably.
Beside, old population is increasing in the country. It is badly effect in country economy and especially for third world countries. But old people are very important in human society because their experience definitely helps to living safely and planning to new project. “Experience is better than qualifications” However, old people are living long life; it is helps others to live long life because we can get advice from them and they are covering our culture and society.
Moreover, modern medicine is being addictive for some people, so that they can not live without medicine. They should take medicine all their lives. Also modern medicine is very expensive. Therefore most of poor countries couldn’t take modern medicine and it has taken commercial shape also it is depending on money. In the modern medicine have not facts of human kindness. People who they have money they can take modern medicine. But indigenous medicine has well human friendly shape. It has not depended on money.
To summarize; in my personal view, modern medicine is helping live long life with comfortably. Modern technologies are being supported to find unburnable diseases very early. So doctors can take correct path immediately. Therefore, may I not hesitate to agreed the above mention statement.

Your essay has confusing sentences, where your meaning is unclear.
You mix advantages and disadvantages of modern medicine in one paragraph when you should divide them – put advantages in one and disadvantages in another.
If you agree with the statement, you should have 2 paragraphs supporting your opinion and one supporting the opposite opinion, in your essay it is 2 against and 1 for.
The structure of sentences and the grammar are not very good. Try to read more essays of Bands 6 and 7 to see how you can improve your writing.

Reading Tips

IELTS Reading test: how to practice smarter

Well, IELTS is getting closer and you are practicing harder, solving more IELTS exams, reading passages, etc. But is it the most efficient way of practicing?

The best tip I can share with you is this: when you check your answers versus the correct ones, pay special attention to those you did WRONG. There always will be a chance to congratulate yourself later for those you’ve got right.

When you are going over the wrong questions one by one, try to understand why your answer is wrong, why the answer from the answer key is correct, and most importantly - why you made that mistake. Remember it and make sure you never make it again.

See what trap you walked in, what are your “weaknesses”, what type of task is the hardest for you. If, for instance, most of your mistakes are in “True/False/Not Given” task - double-check your answers there. Or may be your problem is “Matching heading” task? Then pay extra attention to that kind of questions.

IELTS Reading tips: True, False, Not Given
Every IELTS Reading test, no matter Academic or General has tasks of this kind. Lots of students tell me (and I agree) that this is a very confusing task.

For those who has no idea what I am talking about, I’ll explain - this task has a statement, and your job is to say is it True, False or Not Given in the reading passage.

How do you “attack” it? First learn the rule:

· If the statement clearly appears in text - it is True
· If the text clearly says the opposite of statement - it is False
· If you didn’t find the statement to be True or False - it is Not Given
For example:“Smoking is dangerous and can lead to cancer” - T, F, NG

1) If the text clearly says that “smoking is dangerous and leads to cancer” than the answer is T.
2) If the text says that “No research showed evidence that smoking is dangerous and leads to cancer” than the answer is F.
3) If the text says “The research included smoking people of both genders of ages 30 to 45″ and nothing else about smoking - your answer is NG.

Don’t make these mistakes:

· Don’t assume anything based on your knowledge and experience, read the text! It is the oldest trick in the book and they use it a lot in IELTS.
· Don’t “over think” your answer - you could start building long logical sequences that will take you to the wrong answer.

A few Academic Reading tips
Academic Reading module is a little bit different from General Training - instead of 4 or 5 it has only 3 passages (more difficult ones). Actually the first passage is usually the easiest and then they become more and more difficult. With that said, here come the tips:

First of all - don’t read the whole passage. Train yourself to scan and notice only the important information. After you go over the text for the first time, you should know what each paragraph is about, what its main idea. This way of “reading” saves you a lot of priceless time.

Second, watch your time closely. Don’t divide the 60 minutes you have into 3 equal parts of 20 minute. Why? Because the last passage is the hardest and you are going to need more than 20 minutes to crack it. So I suggest 15 - 20 - 25, but feel free to look for any other timing that works for you.

Third, don’t forget to copy your answers to Answer Sheet. You can write them in the booklet as you read the passage, but you get your score based on what is written in the Answer Sheet.

Forth, if you can’t find an answer to certain question - mark it with big fat ??? so you can easily see it later and move on to the next one, don’t get stuck. Later you can get back and try it again if you have time left.

Fifth, count your words - if instructions say “answer in 3 words” - you need to answer in EXACTLY 3 WORDS, when even “a” and “the” count as a word!

When you practice, read your passage, answer the questions, compare your answers to the Answer Sheet and pay special attention to the wrong answers. You need to understand WHY you made those mistakes and remember them so you won’t make them again.

Speaking tips

IELTS Speaking tips

If your goal is Band 6, you don’t have to speak complex English - just don’t make mistakes in simple English.

Don’t experiment with new words during your interview - it is not the time. Use only words and phrases you are sure about. For example, if you were reading a newspaper yesterday and saw a new word, but you’re not sure what it means or when people use it - forget about using it in IELTS.

No one will judge you on your ideas, only on your English. If there is a movie you can’t describe (your favorite) and there’s a movie can describe (that you have recently seen) - choose the second one. They are not interested in the truth, only in your English.

You have to think about what and HOW you are going to say.

Expose yourself to as much English as you can. Not just to learn new words and phrases, but to also practice until you master them.

If you make mistake - that’s bad, if you correct yourself - it’s not that bad. Examiner doesn’t count your mistakes, and it makes a good impression when you show that mistake you have made was not intentional.

If you say “economic” instead of “economy” and make more mistakes like that - its band 5. If you make a couple of such mistakes - it could be band 6. If examiner can’t understand you - it’s band 4.

Band 7 people should show they can use a little of special vocabulary. Explain ideas very well, very clearly, and use not just simple words, but more special words, like “economic environment”, “favorable conditions” etc.

IELTS Speaking - interview tips
Speak until they stop you, don’t just answer the question and stop. Display you best English. Behave as if it was a driving test - keep going straight until told to turn right, left or park.

It is quite possible that you have to speak about something you have never heard of, or have no opinion of. If you don’t know the subject - tell the examiner immediately, so he could ask you another question. If you don’t tell him and start trying to speak, he might think that it is not a knowledge problem, but a language problem.

IELTS speaking: what else to expect
In Reading or Listening sections it is quite easy to predict what will be your IELTS score. You do some tests at home, count how many questions you answered correctly, do the math - for example 34 out of 40 equals Band 7.5.

But how do you measure yourself when it comes to Speaking - that’s the question!And here comes answer: using the same criteria your examiner is going to use.I was looking for those and found them in to IELTS official site (of all places )

So basically this is what they say:

You belong to Band 5 if you
· Keep sentences coming slowly (without pauses), repeat words and correct yourself
· Can use simple sentences easily, but complex are difficult for you and it shows (you stop, get confused or start to repeat yourself)
· Can not say the same thing in a different way (rephrase) or use a synonym for a word
· Use grammatically correct simple sentences most of the time. It is rare that you use more complex sentences and when you do - you make grammatical errors or it is difficult to understand what you’re saying

You belong to Band 6 if you
· Can speak for some time keeping the right speed (like your first language), with little difficulties when you repeat words, correct yourself or get lost in words and stop making sense.
· Use some connective words, even if it is not always appropriate
· Can discuss topics (familiar or not) for a long time, using wide vocabulary and making yourself clear.
· Successfully rephrase and use synonyms
· Mix simple and complex sentences when you speak, but the in complex ones you mistake a lot. Mistakes are mostly grammatical and examiner can still understand you.

You belong to Band 7 if you
· Have no problem speaking for some time keeping the right speed (like your first language), your speech is smooth and easy to understand, it is rare that you pause and look for a word to say, repeat or correct yourself.
· Can discuss any topic using a lot of smart words, use English expressions correctly.
· Use complex sentences without a lot of grammatical errors. There are much more correct sentences in your speech than incorrect.

I gave you here description of Band 5,6 and 7 because these are the IELTS bands most people want to know about, but you can see the full description of all bands here.

IELTS Speaking - what to expect (Discussion)
Its topic will be related to the topic of second part (Speech), but the difference is that here you should EXPRESS AN OPINION and explain why it is what it is. This is the part where you should compare two opinions, present several points of view, say what your perception is, what future developments might follow, etc.It usually takes 4-5 minutes.

Just for you to get a feeling of what it’s like, click here to listen to recorded session , and here is the transcript, all from official IELTS site.

This is really the part where you’ve got to have an opinion on anything and everything.Any topic you get - you must have something to say about it. So here is a good idea - go over this list of topics here and think about them a little bit, see what vocabulary you are going to need, try to discuss them with a partner or just talk to yourself.

Here is an example of such card from IELTS official site:

Describe a teacher who has greatly influenced you in your education.You should say:
· where you met them;
· what subject they taught;
· what was special about them;
· and explain why this person influenced you so much.

As you can see, your main task here is to DESCRIBE things. So try to do that as well as you can.It is very important that you say something about EVERY question that is on the card.The best thing is to say 2-3 sentences about every bullet. This way your speech will take at least one minute - the minimal time you have to speak.

A good way to practice (requires 2 people) is to give someone a copy of your card and to start speaking. Ask him/her to put V on bullets you’ve talked about. Then look how many bullets you’ve missed in your speech. If you study alone, you can record yourself and then listen and check for missing bullets.

Practicing with a clock is a very good idea. You need to get a feeling of “how long is 2 minutes”. When you will speak in front of real examiner, it is best that you don’t look at your watch and if you have practiced enough - you won’t have to.

And at last, for you to get a complete picture of Speaking part 2 - here is a sample question, a recording and a transcript (all thanks to official IELTS site). Enjoy!

IELTS Speaking - what to expect (Interview)
I’ve neglected the Speaking tips for a long time, so this post is about how to do well in IELTS Speaking. It doesn’t matter what kind of IELTS you are taking, General or Academic - Speaking part is the same in both.

As you know, there are 3 parts in the Speaking sub-test : Interview, Speech and Discussion.
Now to the Interview: you can and should be prepared to questions they will ask you.The questions are predictable, look at this great list I found in one of IELTS forums - click here.

If you speak well, just go over it and prepare an answer in you head for every question. If you have someone to practice with - do it, if you don’t - I suggest that you record yourself. You can do that using your PC or voice recorder or even one of those MP3 players that can tape you as well.

To get the feeling of real IELTS Speaking test you can listen to sample of test here, look at the questions here and the transcript of the tape is here.

Best advice to those who speak not so well:

1) Write your answers on a piece of paper.
2) Memorize them.
3) Speak to yourself - ask questions and answer with whatever you wrote. It will improve your pronunciation and make you more confident. This is how you overcome the initial shock of speaking English.
4) Practice a lot with you wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend, at first you may look at your paperand then don’t - test your memory.

I prepared my students this way and it helped them a lot.

One more important thing - in Speaking you can not receive half band, like 5.5 or 6.5.Your score will be full band, like 5 or 6.

I will continue with more Reading tips in my next post.

Speaking at a glance
This is the fun part of the test, for many reasons. You get to rest before it, you are a little tired from previous 3 parts and it makes you more relaxed. The examiners are trained to smile no matter what, so you feel as if you were speaking to your best friend.

First sub-part of Speaking test is an interview, which means that the examiner asks you questions about yourself, your work, studies, parents, brothers/sisters, pets, etc. This is an easy task to prepare for.

In the second sub-part of Speaking test you receive a card with 3-4 questions. After one minute, that you have to think about something to say, you should give a little speech for one to two minutes, which answers those questions. In the end the examiner might ask you a couple of additional questions.

In the third sub-part of the test you have a discussion with examiner. The topic is somehow related to the one from section two, but it is about more abstract ideas. You have to express and justify an opinion.The examiner will record your session on tape. Don’t worry about it; the tape is to test the examiner and not you.

Writing tips

IELTS Writing tips
It is better to write in regular, not very sophisticated English, than to use phrases or structures you don’t fully understand.If you need Band 6 - no need for complex sentence structure. If your goal is Band 7 - then show advanced sentence structure, language and vocabulary.

Don’t write more than 260-265 words in IELTS Writing 2 task. Why? Not because you will get lower mark, but because of these 2 reasons:

1) It takes more time

2) More words = more mistakes

If you are told to cover specific points in your essay/letter - cover every point, examiners actually count them.

Don’t overuse connecting words (like However, Furthermore, Moreover, etc) - examiners are watching for you to do that.

IELTS Speaking - interview tips
Speak until they stop you, don’t just answer the question and stop. Display you best English. Behave as if it was a driving test - keep going straight until told to turn right, left or park.

IELTS Writing 2 Task explained
This is how they grade your essay: you receive points for Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Looks heavy? Never mind, here comes the simple English version:

“Task Response” means that your essay shows that you understood and covered the topic from all its sides, aspects, etc. Let’s take this topic for example - “Internet: connecting or isolating people?”. Those who chose to write about how Internet connects people - loose marks, those who chose to write about how Internet isolates people - loose marks, those who compare and contrast both sides of the Internet and give arguments for and against - gain marks.

“Coherence and Cohesion” means how well you connected the paragraphs and sentences inside each paragraph. You see, all of your paragraphs need to be logically connected. For example, if paragraph 1 explains the advantages of the Internet, and paragraph 2 explains its disadvantages, then paragraph 1 should have last sentence saying something like this: “In spite of Internet being such a help in communication, its drawbacks can not be overlooked”. This sentence creates the connection between 1st and 2nd paragraphs. If it wasn’t there, examiner could think that you jumped from advantages to disadvantages without a reason. The same rule applies to sentences inside the paragraph. Every sentence should lead to the next one.

“Lexical Resource” means vocabulary and different types of sentences, simple and complex. You should be able to use words and their synonyms.

“Grammatical Range and Accuracy” means spelling and grammar of sentences. You should be able to spell the words correctly, do not forget articles “a” and “the”, punctuations is also important, etc - you get the picture, don’t you?

One more important thing to know: the four criteria are equally weighted. It means that if you forgot about “Coherence and Cohesion” in your essay, you will loose 1/4 of your essay points.

Tips for Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic test
As I promised many of you, this is what you need to know about Academic IELTS test Writing Task 1.

The task here is to describe a graph in a report. The report is intended for university lecturer, so the language you use should be appropriate.

There are several different figures you could see in Writing 1 Task:

· Single line graph - see example
· Double line graph
· Bar graph (Single, Double or Triple bar graph) - see example
· Pie chart - see example
· Table - see example
· Process

Click here to see fantastic examples of all possible figures in IELTS Writing 1 test.

No matter what figure you are describing, you shouldn’t break these rules:

· Report must be of at least 150 words written in 20 minutes
· You shouldn’t write your opinion or copy words from graph - rephrase and use synonyms instead.
· Never use bullets, write as if you were writing essay or letter.

When your Academic Writing 1 Task is graded by IELTS examiners, they look for this structure:

Introduction

Body

Conclusion

Introduction should describe the purpose of report and say what overall trends you see.For example, if the graph is climbing up or dropping down, you should mention that.You need to remember that you are describing a graph to someone who doesn’t see it. Write what the graph is about, its dates and location.

Body should describe the most important trends, while all information is summarized to avoid unnecessary details. For example, if there is a graph that has 2 peaks, you should mention them; tell when those peaks appeared and what the peak values are.Notice how many distinctive features diagram has and divide information into paragraphs, one paragraph for one feature. You should link the paragraphs by sentences that logically connect them to one another.
Important! You need to write about all the periods of time and all the subjects of graph.If it shows several years (1992, 1993, 1994) - write about all of them, if it is about men and women - write about both. Remember, summarizing doesn’t mean throwing away information. The secret here is to select what’s important, organize it, compare and contrast.

Conclusion should sum up the global trends shown on the figure and compare them if possible.

More Writing tips for IELTS General module
In Writing Task 2 you receive a topic and you have to write an essay of 250 words.This task has more weight than Writing 1. It also takes longer - 40 minutes, when Writing 1 takes only 20 minutes.

The topic of essay can be one of 3 possible types: description of opinion, argument or social problem.

Any essay you write on any topic must have structure - you receive (or loose ) points for it. Structure means at least 4 paragraphs (5 is better). First paragraph is introductory, the next two or three is the actual essay - its body, and the last one for conclusion.

The first thing to do is to understand what kind of topic is before you.

· for argument - you need to explain both sides and agree with one of them
· for opinion - you need to present another point of view and say which one you agree with and why
· for problem - you need to explain it, discuss and offer solution and discuss it too.

No matter what type of essay you are writing, you must provide some facts, evidence and information. When you explain the problem - evaluate it; say when/where/who for it is especially difficult. If you present an idea of solution - discuss it; say what its good and bad sides are. Add examples from your own experience to support what you’re saying.

In any essay logical sequence of information is very important. Jumping from one idea to another it is very bad for you score, all ideas must be connected logically. Another important thing is “smart” words - try to use them as much as you can, it is also affects your score. Punctuation is important too. Take a look at some Examples Of Writing Task 1 and Writing Task 2 here. This file is from IELTS official site - it can be trusted.

As you know there are 2 parts, Writing 1 and Writing 2.

In Writing 1 you receive a “scenario” and you have to write a letter. Not many people know that there are 4 types of letters in IELTS:

· Complaint / Request (of information) letter
· Formal business letter
· Job application letter
· Personal letter

In any letter you write IELTS examiners are looking for these 3 important components: structure, vocabulary and fluency of language.

Structure means that your letter must have paragraphs, at least 3 of them. Every paragraph has its job.

· First one must define the purpose of your letter in one - two sentences.
· Second one must explain more about why you are writing this letter.
· Third must say what kind of answer you expect.

Vocabulary means that you better use some “smart” words. In case you are writing Complaint, Business or Job application letter you must use formal language, but not for Personal letter.

Fluency of language means phrases people usually use in letters. The best advice I can give you here is to read every IELTS Sample Letter you can get. This way you develop proper language for any type of letter.

Don’t write more than 260-265 words in IELTS Writing 2 task. Why? Not because you will get lower mark, but because of these 2 reasons:

1) It takes more time

2) More words = more mistakes

If you are told to cover specific points in your essay/letter - cover every point, examiners actually count them.

Don’t overuse connecting words (like However, Furthermore, Moreover, etc) - examiners are watching for you to do that.

Listening Tip

Listening Tip # 1 - use transcript.
Use an IELTS Listening test - just choose from all the links in the right sidebar. You need a test that has transcript, so I suggest Listening test # 1 (be patient, their site is slow).First try just listening, to get used to the accent. Then start working with a recording and a transcript: go over the recording, stop it every sentence and use transcript to make sure that you understand every word.

Listening Tip # 2 - repeat phrases
You can use any recording. First, listen, remember what you heard and stop the recording after each phrase. Even if you didn’t understand the phrase, play it in your head a couple of times, like a broken record “Tonight we have a special guest”, “Tonight we have a special guest”, “Tonight we have a special guest”.Then say it out loud. If you understood that phrase at first, this exercise will improve your pronunciation. If you didn’t understand the phrase for the first time, this repetition will give you more time to hear it better, break it into words and make sense out of them. And if it is still difficult, you can always rewind and hear the phrase again.

Listening Tip # 3 - don’t let them distract you

In Listening section of IELTS the recording “speaks” several different voices - of younger and older people, men and women. You may also hear different accents - Australian, British, American, Japanese, etc. The background noise is also different. It can be of airport, cafe-shop, street, University lecture hall, you name it. Be ready for it and don’t let it distract you - because that is exactly what they want. Ignore the noises and listen for the answers.
Of course, the accent you hear the most is British. Suggestion: when you are studying for IELTS, listen to as much British accent as you can. Where can you get it? I liked what BBC have - visit BBC site by clicking here. You can listen there to news (and read the transcript), learn the news vocabulary, learn the pronunciation, etc. Try it, you might like it.
A very good site to use for listening exercises in American English is VOA News - click here to visit it. This is how they recommend using their site:“The short sentences, limited vocabulary and slow pace of speaking make it easy to understand. It succeeds in helping people learn English in a non-traditional way. People around the world practice their listening and speaking skills by recording the programs and playing them repeatedly. Internet users can also listen to programs on the Special English Web site while reading the text.”
Hang in there, people, more tips are coming!
Listening: The right way to answer

Listening Tip # 4 - Answer as you listen

What I mean here is that you need to listen and write the answer at the same time.Make no mistake - it is not a very natural thing for you, so you have to practice a lot in it.The reason you have to “answer as you listen” is that you immediately forget the sentences after you have heard them. This is what stress, foreign language, constant flow of information does - it makes you forget. After hearing the third sentence you won’t be able to repeat the first. It means that when any part of Listening is over - you won’t be able to remember any of answers. So write them as you hear them, leave nothing for later.

Listening tip # 5
Lately I was thinking a lot of IELTS-Blog and what I should add to it. So far, I’ve decided to continue posting Listening tips, but if you, guys, have better ideas - please let me know.
Know your clues
The answer is usually pronounced louder and clearer, it is easier to hear and understand. If you can’t hear something clearly (because the speaker swallows words or whispers), then probably the answer is not there. Practice and you’ll learn to tell the difference.
A good clue to answer is when you hear a repetition of a word, a word being spelled out (G A R F U N K E L) or a number dictated.
The following conversation is a classic example of repetition:
Mary-Joe: “These days there are many changes in our company policy”
Kathy:”Oh, what kind of changes?”
It is clear that the word “changes” is a clue of answer.

Listening - a skill, not a gift!

Listening is very often your biggest problem. I know it because almost all my IELTS-taking friends had trouble there. Your Listening ability in many cases is not developed enough. But the good news is that Listening is a skill, not a gift, which means anyone can learn how to listen and understand (almost ) every word. My friends and I came up with this technique that worked for us.

What usually happens:
You listen and hear “Blablablablabla”, which you can’t to break into words, and for that reason it makes no sense to you. There is a big difference between seeing a word printed on paper when you read and hearing it. If you saw a word, it doesn’t mean you will recognize it when you hear it. Every word you have read, you need to hear at least once.

What can be done about it:
You need to teach yourself the words

How do you do it:
When training, take a recording of the news, lecture, television program movie or an actual IELTS Listening test and work with it.

IELTS Introduction

As you all know, IELTS score consists of 4 parts: scores for Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking modules. Until now you could get half scores in Listening and Reading, but for Writing and Speaking you could only get whole bands (such as 6 or 7, but never 6.5).
From 1 July 2007, as IELTS official site www.ielts.org announced, Writing and Speaking will also be graded using half-scores, just like Reading and Listening. The reason for this change is to give students more accurate information on their skills. They also mentioned that students shouldn’t change a thing in the way they study.
What you are about to read originally came to me as a comment, but I thought that it deserves more attention, so to make sure no one misses it I am posting it here:
“Hi all,Just appeared for my IELTS exams this weekend (Academic Module). I am specially posting this for every one who’s either preparing or planning to appear for their IELTS test.Trust me guys it does seem extremely easy at times, it being just an English language test, but that’s not the case.I don’t mean to scare you guys off. But the thing is at least a months proper and full fledged practice is a must if you plan to get yourself a higher band score of, say, 7.5 plus.

I hardly studied though Listening,writing & speaking was great, but trust me READING is the one which is the most difficult part.I don’t know would this be the best way to reach out to the exam authorities, or at least if someone could help me do the same, it would be great.
I would definitely like to ask them a few things, rather bring this to their notice, suggesting changes in the way the tests taken.Firstly, IELTS being an English language test, checks your capacity to understand, listen and respond to spoken and written English, at a much higher level, then why is it that the READING test, had so much of technical stuff
The test for which I just appeared, the reading part was really difficult. I mean having studied in English all my life and calling myself a voracious reader, I was surprised I couldn’t crack the QA in the reading tests, I just couldn’t make head or tail of what the paragraphs were all about, forget answering them in the given time span.
Instead had the paragraphs been purely based on a common or a social topic with increasing level of difficulty, would solve the purpose of testing a persons reasoning as well as logical skills along with understanding of English as medium of instruction. Why is it that the paragraphs are so subject specific?
Concluding, I would suggest all the aspiring IELTS students to really practice hard for your reading tests. ”

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