IELTS Simon

Important news from Simon

New website:

On the 3rd of March 2020, I stopped posting daily lessons on this blog and I began working on a new website. The new site is called ielts-simon.study and I now publish my daily lessons there. I have also started doing live 'Zoom' lessons for members.
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Free email list:

Please fill in this form if you'd like to join my email list. You can also contact me here: [email protected]
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This blog:

Although I'm no longer updating it, this blog is still alive and it contains a few thousand IELTS lessons. Have a look around and I'm sure you'll find some advice, language or exam practice that helps you to improve.

Message from Simon

Today I'm making a difficult decision: I'm taking a break from this blog for a while.

There are over 2800 lessons here on the blog, so there's plenty for you to read. My other IELTS resources are also still available.

IELTS Grammar: adjectives after nouns?

As I'm sure you know, we normally place the adjective in front of the noun in English e.g. "the red car" instead of "the car red".

However, English is a crazy language, and rules are there to be broken!

If you read yesterday's lesson (and clicked on this link), you may have seen the following examples of noun + adjective:

• someone important
• somewhere nice
• the best room available
• the only decision possible
• the worst choice imaginable
• the person responsible

Remember: The 'rules' that you find in an intermediate (or even 'advanced') grammar book are probably a simplification. There are deeper levels to be discovered!

IELTS Grammar: 'any product imaginable'

There was an interesting discussion in the comments below Wednesday's lesson about the phrase "I can buy any product imaginable".

Here's a summary of the questions in that discussion:

1) Why did I write any product imaginable instead of any imaginable product?
2) Would any imaginable product also be correct?
3) Is there a difference in meaning between the two phrases?

I'll try to answer without going deep into grammar, but if you really like the grammar side of things, have a look at this page (especially the part about 'the only decision possible' and 'the worst choice imaginable').

1. The simple answer is that "any product imaginable" sounds better to me as a native speaker. This phrase isn't my own original creation; I've probably heard or read it many times in similar contexts, so it's the instinctive phrase to use.
   Note: There are 14,300 Google search results for this collocation.
2. While "any imaginable product" is also grammatically correct, it seems just a little less natural to me. The emphasis is slightly different, and the meaning could also be understood in a slightly different way.
   Note: There are only 905 Google search results for this collocation.
3. This is debatable. If I had to give you my view, I would say that an "imaginable product" could include products that don't currently exist (e.g. a flying car), whereas my phrase "any product imaginable" tends to refer to products that currently exist.

In the end, the Google results and my instinct as a native speaker are probably your best guide. In normal English usage, "any product imaginable" is the typical collocation.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: 'day out' topic

Let's look at a new speaking topic:

Describe a day out that you enjoyed recently. You should say

- where you went
- whom you went with
- what you did that day
- and why you enjoyed the day out.

Note: When we talk about a "day out", it means that you went somewhere for leisure purposes. I wouldn't talk about anything related to work or studies here.

IELTS Writing Task 1: notice real examples

I was reading The Economist yesterday, and I noticed these sentences:

America's total student debt, at over $1.5trn, is larger than the national borrowing of most countries. It has quintupled in size since 2004, overtaking both borrowing on credit cards and car finance.

I've highlighted a few useful features in the two sentences:

1. adding a statistic between two commas using "at"
2. a comparative: larger than
3. cohesion (referencing) using the pronoun "it"
4. quintupled = increased fivefold
5. overtaking: you may be able to use this word when describing a graph
6. comparing and contrasting using "both... and..."

If you're reading articles in English, look out for real examples of the types of description that you might use for an IELTS task.

IELTS Writing Task 2: from plan to paragraph

When you have written a plan, you then need to turn your notes into full sentences. Let's try this using the paragraph plan below.

Paragraph plan:

- High street shops are disappearing because of online stores.
- Online shopping is faster, cheaper and more convenient.
- People can sit at home, search for deals, receive delivery the next day.
- It is impossible for normal stores to compete with the range of choice.
- Personal example: recent purchases on Amazon.

Full paragraph:

In my opinion, high street shops are disappearing due to competition from online shopping websites, which are cheaper and more convenient. Web-based stores allow customers to search for the best deals, make purchases from the comfort of their homes, and receive delivery of their purchased items the next day. Furthermore, it is impossible for traditional bricks-and-mortar stores to compete with the range of choice that can be found online. For example, I recently used the website Amazon to buy some fairly rare academic textbooks that were not stocked at my local bookshop. As a customer, the fact that I can find any product imaginable online makes it almost pointless for me to make a trip to my local high street.

IELTS Listening: video lesson

Have you seen the video lesson that I published here a few years ago?

Check it out and feel free to ask any questions about the lesson in the comments area below.

IELTS Advice: "I only improved by 0.5"

I often hear from students who are disappointed because their scores have only improved by half a band. For example: "I've been studying for 3 months but my score has only improved by 0.5".

My reply is always this: You should be happy! An improvement of half a band is great, and it shows that you are on the right track.

Remember: small, gradual improvements are signposts on the path to success!

IELTS Writing Task 2: three aspects of an essay plan

There are three things that you need to think about when planning an essay:

1. How you will answer the question (your position / opinion)
2. How you will structure your essay to communicate your answer
3. The ideas that you will include in your main paragraphs

For example, let's do an essay plan for the question below.

Many high street shops have gone out of business in recent years. Why do you think this has happened? Is it a positive or negative development?

1. My answer

Online shopping is the main reason. The trend is both positive and negative.

2. Structure: four paragraphs

- Introduce the topic, and give a brief answer to both questions
- Main paragraph about online shopping
- Main paragraph about the positive and negative impacts
- Conclude by summarising the overall answer

3. Ideas for the main paragraphs

• Online shopping is faster, cheaper and more convenient. People can sit at home, search for the best deal, pay, and receive a delivery the next day. Impossible for stores to compete. Personal example: recent purchases on Amazon.
• Positives: a world of choice, a solution for busy people or those who can't leave the house. Negatives: rising unemployment, loss of community as high streets become deserted.

IELTS Reading: paraphrasing practice

Let's look at some examples of paraphrasing, using the text below.

What is an 'elevator pitch'?

An “elevator pitch” is an overview of a product, service, person, group, organisation or project, and is often part of a fund-raising, marketing, brand or public relations program. The name "elevator pitch" reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver a short but effective presentation in the time span of an elevator ride from the ground floor to the directors’ boardroom on the top floor of a building.

An elevator pitch is often used by an entrepreneur pitching an idea to an investor to receive funding. Venture capitalists often ask entrepreneurs to give an elevator pitch in order to quickly weed out bad ideas and weak teams. Other uses include job interviewing, dating and professional services. Proposals for books, screenplays, blogs and other forms of publishing are often delivered via an elevator pitch, which may be presented in oral, written or video formats.

Which words or phrases in the passage are similar to those below?

1. a summary
2. succinct
3. gain financial backing
4. eliminate
5. spoken

Student testimonial

The best kind of testimonial (positive feedback) is when a student tells me that he or she has passed the IELTS test and no longer needs my help.

For example, here's a message that I received earlier today from someone who unsubscribed from my member site:

"It is a wonderful resource, Simon. I have to leave the membership as I cleared* my Academic IELTS and got the required scores. Thank you for all the support!"

*Instead of saying "I cleared", it would be better to say "I passed the IELTS test".

IELTS Writing Task 1: the opposite of 'doubled'?

You probably know how to describe a 'double' increase. For example:

• The number of x doubled.
• There was a twofold increase in x.

But how do we express the opposite e.g. a decrease from 10 to 5?

IELTS Writing Task 2: 'high street shops' topic

This was one of my recent 'daily IELTS challenge' flashcards:

This is a good topic for a writing task 2, so let's work on the question below. If you have any ideas, please share them in the form of a plan rather than a full essay. I'll write a full essay eventually, but we need ideas first.

Many high street shops have gone out of business in recent years. Why do you think this has happened? Is it a positive or negative development?

Note: If you haven't seen the daily challenge flashcards, sign up here.

IELTS topic month!

Over on my member site I'm doing something different this month. I'm recording an audio version of my ebook "Ideas for IELTS Topics".

The ebook contains 24 of the most common IELTS writing topics, and I'm recording a chapter every day for my subscribers. I'm also giving subscribers a daily task to encourage them to prepare each topic in more detail. By the end of the month, everyone who participates should feel more confident and prepared in terms of key IELTS topics.

If you would like to become a subscriber, click here to get started. You can join for just one month if that's all you need, and you can unsubscribe any time.

IELTS Grammar: mixed conditional

Yesterday I asked you to look at the sentence below.

• There would be no computer programmers if the computer hadn't been invented.

This sentence contains a mixed conditional: would + infinitive (2nd conditional) with if + past perfect (3rd conditional).

Notice that I'm imagining the present result of an imagined event in the past.

To learn more about this type of construction, visit this web page.

IELTS Speaking / Grammar: a mixed conditional

Somebody asked me about this sentence from last Friday's speaking lesson:

• There would be no computer programmers if the computer hadn't been invented.

The student asked me why I didn't follow the normal third conditional 'rule' and write "there would have been" instead of "there would be"? Did I make a mistake?

The answer is no, I didn't make a mistake. I wrote a mixed conditional sentence on purpose. Can you see why? I'll explain in tomorrow's lesson.

IELTS Writing Task 2: vocabulary review

Here's a list of topic vocabulary from the essay that I shared last week.

• the power to unite and connect people
• regardless of their cultural backgrounds
• reach across cultural and national boundaries
• concerts that took place
• back in the 1980s
• were broadcast to a global audience
• two events were held simultaneously
• to raise funds for
• famine relief
• a huge success
• international public awareness
• the planet's common / shared language
• music transcends cultures
• different generations
• a memorable melody
• a strong rhythm
• a beautiful singing voice
• have a magical effect on us
• popular prime-time shows
• attract incredibly broad audiences
• appeal to children, parents and grandparents alike
• form of entertainment
• bring families together
• is unique in its capacity to
• create shared experiences
• irrespective of culture and age

IELTS Listening: are you 'putting in the hours'?

If you want to get a better score in IELTS listening, the most important thing is to do lots of listening practice. You need to put in the hours!

To "put in the hours" means "to do the necessary amount of hard work". But let's use this phrase more literally by considering how many practice hours you are actually doing every day or every week. Do you know how many hours you spent listening to English yesterday, or last week?

Maybe you could keep a record of the time you spend listening to English this week, and maybe you can try to increase this listening time next week. A person who listens to 10 hours of English per week is probably going to improve much faster than a person who only manages 30 minutes.

IELTS Reading: vocabulary review

Let's review some vocabulary from the last few reading exercises that I've published here on the blog.

Would you have been able to match the keywords below?

IELTS Vocabulary: editing and improving

You won't have time to do this in your test, but it's a good idea to edit and improve the essays that you write at home.

For example, in the music essay that I shared on Wednesday, there's a phrase that we could improve: "the planet's global language".

While this phrase is fine and wouldn't affect the essay's score, you could argue that it contains repetition because 'planet' and 'global' communicate similar meanings. Note: We could simply write "the planet's language" or "the global language", but I wanted to use this structure: noun + adjective + language.

So let's think about some possible alternatives:

1. the planet's shared language
2. the planet's common language
3. humanity's global language
4. our global language

Notice that I changed the adjective 'global' in the first two examples, I used a different noun (humanity) in example 3, and I used a pronoun instead of the noun 'planet' in example 4. Which alternative do you prefer?