IELTS Simon

Simon is on holiday

I'm taking a week off for my summer holiday, so the next blog lesson will be on Wednesday 6th of June.

My ebook and video lessons are still available while I'm away.

IELTS Reading: paragraph headings

Read the following paragraph and choose the best heading.

‘Phonics’ refers to a method for teaching speakers of English to read and write that language. Young learners are taught to associate the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of letters. For example, they might be taught that the sound /k/ can be represented by the spellings c, k, ck, ch, or q. Using phonics, the teacher shows the learners how to blend the sounds of letters together to produce approximate pronunciations of unknown words. Phonics is a widely used method of teaching children to read and decode words. Children begin learning to read using phonics usually around the age of 5 or 6.

A) A new method for language learning
B) How phonics benefits children in the UK
C) Children learn to link sounds with spellings
D) Children learn the rules of spelling

IELTS Advice: why I teach using a blog

Someone asked me this question the other day: Why do you use a blog to teach IELTS?

Here's my answer:

The advantage of a blog is that it can keep going and going (unlike a book or a course). Over the years, this blog has evolved as I've learnt more about students' problems, and as I've gradually refined my IELTS preparation methods.

The disadvantage of the blog is that the lessons aren't in a particular order, so there isn't a starting point or a step-by-step progression. However, I find this lack of structure interesting. I don't think we always need to study in a perfectly organised way. Perhaps the act of searching through the lessons and reading them in your own unique order makes the study process more engaging and creative.

IELTS Advice: from a student who passed

I'd like to share a comment that a student called Sana wrote below yesterday's lesson here on the blog:

..........

Dear Simon,

I just checked my IELTS result now and found out that finally I got the results I always wanted.

I got 7.5 for reading this time and 8 and 7.5 for the rest. And without your clear guidelines and methods I could never achieve this!

Thank you so much!

..........

If you're struggling with the IELTS test and you feel frustrated, I hope Sana's success inspires you to keep going. If you work hard and use this blog well, I'm confident that you'll pass in the end.

IELTS Speaking: how to prepare

Here's a quick summary of my advice for IELTS speaking preparation.

Part 1

Make yourself a list of part 1 questions. Practise going through the full list, giving a simple one-sentence answer for each question. Record yourself and listen to your answers. Aim to answer without hesitation to demonstrate fluency. If you repeat this process every day, you should see improvements.

Part 2

Prepare sample answers in written form for the six main topic areas. Ask a teacher or native English speaker to help you to improve your descriptions, by correcting mistakes and adding better vocabulary ideas. Practise those six descriptions until you can 'perform' them without needing to read your notes. Record yourself, analyse your performance and keep practising and perfecting until you have really mastered the six topics. Then move on to other less common topics and try to do the same.

Part 3

Make yourself a list of part 3 questions. Practise going through the list, giving 3-step answers. Force yourself to give a direct answer, explanation and example every time. When this way of answering starts to feel easy and natural, because you've created a habit, you can experiment with 4-step answers. Record yourself, analyse your answers and repeat the process. Don't move on to any new questions until you feel that you've 'mastered' your original list.

IELTS Writing Task 1: answer analysis

Let's look at a few useful things in last week's sample answer.

1) Phrases to begin main paragraphs

These phrases aid coherence by telling us what each paragraph is about:

• It is clear that... (overview)
• Looking first at the older age groups,...
• At the other end of the age scale,...

2) Paraphrasing of "attendances at hospital emergency care departments"

• visits made to hospital emergency wards
• visitors to A&E (accident and emergency) departments
• emergency care attendances
• attended A&E wards
• require emergency treatment
• figures for A&E visits

3) Language for comparisons

• the most frequent visitors
• less than half as likely to
• made the fewest visits
• almost no difference in the figures for

4) Language for describing changes

• there was a slight increase in
• and this rose to almost... one year later
• rose marginally from... to...

5) Giving the figures

• roughly 65 out of every 1000 people
• almost 70 attendances per 1000-population
• around 30 attendances per 1000-population
• from around 50 to approximately 52 per 1000-population
• just over 20 per 1000-population

6) Easy verbs, but 'big' noun phrases

If you look closely at the answer, you'll see that the verbs are easy (e.g. were, was, rose, attended, made). However, there are lots of big noun phrases (e.g. hospital emergency wards, emergency care attendances, those aged 65 to 74). This is quite typical in IELTS writing task 1 answers.

IELTS Writing Task 2: rewriting

Instead of writing five different essays, have you considered rewriting one essay five times?

Most people don't like rewriting essays because it seems boring. And the people who do rewrite essays usually only do this because they need to correct grammar mistakes.

But good rewriting is about more than just grammar corrections; there are many other things that you could improve, such as:

• how well you address the question
• clarity of your position
• sentences or phrases that are vague or irrelevant
• level of detail in your explanations
• overall paragraph structure
• paragraph movement
• coherence between neighbouring sentences
• repetition and variety of vocabulary
• use of connectives to link sentence clauses
• anything else that 'tightens up' your writing

Imagine how much you could learn if you rewrote one essay five times (or more!) to address all of these areas.

Warning 1:
You'll need help from a teacher to do this properly. Show him or her this lesson so that you both understand what you're aiming to do.

Warning 2:
This is the kind of hard work that most people aren't prepared to do. But it's the kind of work that yields real results!

IELTS Listening: spelling practice

If you click on the recording below, you'll hear me read ten words from the listening tests in Cambridge IELTS book 12. Can you spell all ten words correctly?

Click here to listen

IELTS Reading: multiple choice about 'times tables'

Read the following passage about the teaching of multiplication tables in Britain.

Children will now have to know their 12 times tables by the age of nine, but it's not about rote learning, it's about revelling in the profusion of patterns, writes Rob Eastaway, maths writer and dad.

There was a time - several decades ago now - when the reason for learning the 12 times table was obvious. As a country using imperial measurements, we were all measuring in feet and inches and paying in shillings and pence, so multiplying by 12 was a common, everyday experience.

But for today's children this is all ancient history. Yes, we do still count eggs in dozens, and a lot of people - including most Americans - do still work in inches, but that's hardly justification for spending hours swotting those extra tables.

And yet, there's still a case for learning your "twelves", but the reason is to do with discovering patterns and building a confidence in handling numbers. Once children begin to get comfortable multiplying numbers larger than 10, they start to get a feel for big multiplications. Knowing your 11 and 12 times tables can introduce intriguing patterns that might be missed if you stop at 10.

(Source: www.bbc.co.uk/news)

Choose the correct answer to complete the two statements below.

1. In the past, British children learnt the 12 times table because

A)  rote learning was the traditional teaching method.
B)  it exposed them to new mathematical patterns.
C)  we used a different system of measurements and money.

2. The author believes that these days

A)  there is no justification for teaching the 12 times table.
B)  children should still learn to multiply numbers bigger than 10.
C)  children lack confidence when handling large numbers.

IELTS Vocabulary: from speaking part 2

Here's a list of the good phrases from Friday's speaking lesson. See if you can use them in your own description of a maths lesson.

• multiplication tables
• times tables (informal)
• the penultimate year
• as far as I remember
• we gradually worked our way through
• learnt the answers by heart
• learn by rote
• keen to get good marks
• ingrained into my mind
• do quick calculations without having to think
• the answer just popped into my head
• another instance that I can think of
• bill payments, earnings and savings over a 12-month period
• teachers were so insistent about

IELTS Vocabulary: from this week's essay

Here's a list of the good 'topic vocabulary' from Wednesday's essay:

• in the modern workplace
• dress codes
• should be seen as irrelevant
• in many work contexts
• certain professions
• technology giants like Google and Facebook
• create relaxed office environments
• encouraged to dress casually
• are rarely seen wearing anything other than...
• produce work of outstanding quality
• global dominance
• in the technology sector
• a practical or safety function
• identify the person's position or role in society
• to portray an image of
• authority, trustworthiness and diligence
• smart, formal attire
• not applicable to all occupations
• sectors of the economy

IELTS Speaking Part 2: 'maths lesson' answer

Here's the task that I showed you last week:

Describe something important that you learned in a maths lesson at primary school.

And here's my sample answer:

• I’m going to talk about learning the multiplication tables for the numbers 1 to 12, which I remember doing in the penultimate year of primary school, when I was maybe 9 years old. As children, we called these the ‘times tables’.
• As far as I remember, we started with the number 2, and we learnt to multiply this number by each of the numbers from 1 to 12. Our teacher taught us to go through the tables speaking aloud; for example: 1 times 2 is 2, 2 times 2 is 4, 3 times 2 is 6 etc. We gradually worked our way through the tables for all of the numbers, and we learnt the answers by heart. I think the teacher also gave us regular tests to make sure that we had learnt the tables properly.
• I’m not sure whether I really understood at the time why it was important to learn the ‘times tables’ by rote. But I think I enjoyed the challenge, and I was keen to get good marks in our tests. I also liked my teacher and wanted to do well for her.
• Many years later I realise how important it is to have the basic multiplication tables ingrained in my mind. It’s useful to be able to do quick calculations without having to think. Recently, for example, I needed to multiply 6 by 7 for some reason - I can’t even remember why - and the answer 42 just popped into my head. Another instance that I can think of is when I’m calculating bill payments, earnings and savings over a 12-month period, and I find myself using the ‘12 times table’. In these situations, I’m glad that my primary school teachers were so insistent about learning to multiply by heart.

Note:
I didn't have the full question, so I decided to tell a story in my own way. Did you learn any useful words or phrases from my description?

IELTS Writing Task 1: 'hospital attendances' answer

This is my sample description of the bar chart that you can see here:

The bar chart compares the number of visits made by people in six age categories to hospital emergency wards in Northern Ireland in the December of 2016 and 2017.

It is clear that elderly people and the youngest children were the most frequent visitors to A&E (accident and emergency) departments. Also, there was a slight increase in the rate of emergency care attendances among all six age groups from December 2016 to December 2017.

Looking first at the older age groups, roughly 65 people, per 1000 population, aged 75 and over attended A&E wards in December 2016, and this rose to almost 70 attendances per 1000-population one year later. Interestingly, those aged 65 to 74 were less than half as likely to require emergency treatment, with around 30 attendances per 1000-population in both months.

At the other end of the age scale, the figures for A&E visits by under-5s rose marginally from around 50 to approximately 52 per 1000-population over the one-year period. Children aged 5 to 15 made the fewest visits, at just over 20 per 1000-population in both months. Finally, there was almost no difference in the figures for emergency care attendances among people aged 16 to 44, 45 to 64 and 65 to 74.

(217 words, band 9)

Note:
This answer is a little longer than necessary. We could probably remove a few phrases without affecting the score.

IELTS Writing Task 2: 'dress code' essay

Here's my full essay for the question that we looked at a couple of weeks ago.

Some people think that employers should not care about the way their employees dress, because what matters is the quality of their work. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

In the modern workplace, dress codes are changing as employers focus more on results than on the rules that employees must follow. While I agree that the way people dress should be seen as irrelevant in many work contexts, I believe that dress codes still exist for good reason in certain professions.

On the one hand, many employers have stopped telling their staff how to dress, and I see this as a positive trend. Some of the most successful companies in the world, including technology giants like Google and Facebook, are famous for the relaxed office environments that they try to create. Employees are encouraged to dress casually, and even the company executives and leaders are rarely seen wearing anything other than T-shirts and jeans. However, while managers and programmers are free to dress how they like, they are expected to produce work of outstanding quality. It is clear from the performance and global dominance of such companies that strict dress codes are completely unnecessary in the technology sector.

However, I would also argue that rules regarding employees' clothing are still relevant in other work situations. We expect certain professionals, such as nurses, police officers and airline pilots, to wear uniforms. These uniforms may have a practical or safety function, but perhaps more importantly they identify the person’s position or role in society. Similarly, a lawyer, politician or school principal may choose to wear formal clothing in order to portray an image of authority, trustworthiness and diligence. I believe that most of us prefer to see these professionals in smart, formal attire, even if it is not strictly necessary.

In conclusion, I support the trend towards relaxed dress codes for workers, but I do not see it as applicable to all occupations or sectors of the economy.

(298 words, band 9)

IELTS Listening: 1882 or 1892?

Someone recently asked me about test 2, question 27 in Cambridge IELTS 7. The answer to this question is "1882 to 1883", but the student thought he heard "1892 to 1893". Students in my classes have often made the same mistake.

So, why do people hear 1892 when the speaker says 1882?

The reason is that you hear the letter 'n' at the end of '18' e.g. eightee-n-eighty-two. If the speaker is talking quickly, it might sound like the 'n' is the first letter of the number that comes after 18.

However, you should ignore this 'n' because it is simply the last letter in the word "eighteen". Instead, you need to hear the "ei" vowel sound in "eighty" instead of the "ai" sound in "ninety". For me, the difference between 1882 and 1892 is very clear, because I hear a completely different vowel sound.

IELTS Reading: start with the 'general' test

I recently spoke to a student who was completely new to the IELTS test. He had never tried or even seen an IELTS reading test before, and he asked me how and where to begin. My advice to the student was this: start by doing a 'general' IELTS reading test.

There are three reasons why I tell new students to start with the general test:

1. because it's easier
2. because the question types are the same as those in the academic test (gap-fill, multiple choice, T/F/NG etc.)
3. because you can practise exam techniques that you'll be able to use when doing the academic test

IELTS Advice: more about clear thinking

With yesterday's advice in mind, let's look at some reasons why students don't write clear, coherent essays:

1. They don't have a mental picture of what they are aiming to produce.
2. They don't take the time to think about the question before they start writing.
3. They don't spend enough time planning. A few ideas are not enough; a good essay plan should be detailed and organised. Do some "clear thinking" before you start writing!
4. They are thinking about the big words, complex grammar and memorised phrases that they hope to use in the essay, instead of thinking about how to answer the question. You can't think clearly about the question if your brain is focused on these other things.
5. They are thinking clearly in their own languages, but they are not able to translate these ideas into 'natural' English.

Can you see how important 'clear thinking' is? Everything that you write is a manifestation of the thoughts in your head. In other words, your writing demonstrates exactly how clear your thinking is.

IELTS Advice: clear thinking = clear writing

On Tuesday I used part of a very interesting speech by a university professor. I could sum up his message in this way:

There's no difference between thinking and writing. We should teach people to write well so that they learn to think well.

Of course, the opposite must also be true: If you want to write clearly and coherently, you need to think clearly and coherently.

Ask yourself this: When I'm writing an IELTS essay, does my thinking feel clear, coherent and organised? Or do I feel confused and disorganised?

IELTS Speaking Part 2: 'maths lesson' topic

A student wrote to me this week to tell me that he was given the following part 2 task in his IELTS speaking test:

Describe something important that you learned in a maths lesson at primary school.

The student who wrote to me found this task difficult. What do you think? Has anyone else had this task in a recent exam?

IELTS Writing Task 1: introduction and overview

Let's write the first two paragraphs of our description of this bar chart.

Introduction: paraphrase the question statement

The bar chart compares the number of visits made by people in six age categories to hospital emergency wards in Northern Ireland in the December of 2016 and 2017.

Overview: describe two main / general features

It is clear that there was a slight increase in the rate of hospital emergency care attendances among all six age groups from December 2016 to December 2017. In both of those months, elderly people and young children were the most frequent visitors to Northern Irish emergency care departments.

IELTS Writing Task 2: both sides or one side?

Can you see the difference between the two tasks / questions below?

A) Explain the positives and negatives of this development.
B) Is this a positive or negative development?

and these two questions:

A) What are the advantages and disadvantages?
B) Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

and these two questions:

A) Discuss both views and give your opinion.
B) To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Answer:
The difference is that for all of the (A) questions you must explain both sides of the argument, whereas the (B) questions can be answered by giving both sides or by supporting only one side, depending on the view that you express in your introduction.

This is still the most common confusion that students ask me about. Make sure you understand the difference between the questions above; if you're still unsure, look through all of my task 2 lessons to see further advice and examples.

IELTS Listening: gap-fill about writing

Listen to the following excerpt from a recording of a university professor who is speaking about the importance of learning to write well.

Click here to listen

Fill the gaps to complete the summary below.

Teaching people to write is extremely _____ _____. Marking a good essay is easy, but in a bad essay, the words are wrong, the phrases are wrong, the sentences are wrong, the sentence _____ is wrong, the paragraphs aren’t _____, and the whole thing _____ no sense. Students should learn to write well because there is no _____ between writing and thinking. Thinking makes you _____ effectively in the world and win the battles you _____.

(If you would like to see the full video of the professor's speech, click here)

IELTS Reading: match names with statements

Today I'm attaching a reading exercise that requires you to match names with statements. For this type of question, I'm going to recommend 3 things that contradict my normal advice:

1. First, scan the whole passage and underline the names. I don't normally recommend scanning, because students often miss the answers when they scan too quickly. However, scanning for names of people should be easy.
2. Second, underline keywords in all of the questions. I usually recommend doing just one question at a time, but I break this 'rule' for any type of question that involves matching.
3. Finally, instead of reading from the beginning of the passage (my usual approach), I recommend starting with the name that is accompanied by the smallest amount of information. In today's exercise, for example, I would start by reading the part about Karl Marx - only one sentence! Read that sentence and compare it with the question statements, looking for similar keywords as usual.

Try following these 3 steps to do the exercise attached below.

Click here to download the exercise

IELTS Advice: memorised 'show-off' phrases

On Wednesday I wrote a lesson about irrelevant information. Here's a writing tip that I gave in the comments area below the lesson:

Look at the phrases you use, and ask yourself this:

Am I writing this phrase because it really expresses my ideas in response to the question, or am I just writing this phrase because I memorised it and because I want to 'show it off'?

I believe you'll get a better score if you stop memorising 'show-off' phrases. Instead, work on building your knowledge of 'topic vocabulary', and focus on answering the question with relevant ideas.

IELTS Grammar / Vocabulary: correct or improve

The following sentences (and parts of sentences) come from the 'comments' area below Thursday's lesson. Can you correct the mistake(s) in each one?

1. The number of participants at hospital emergency care departments...
   
2. People in the age of 75 and over were the most visitors’ emergency care.
3. In overall, there was an increase in the proportion of patients.
4. ...proportion of patients who went for a visit in the ER department...
5. The infants and elderlies suffered delicately illness than the other groups.
6. Obviously, a period of one year from December 2016 until December 2017 is observed upward trend in the need for hospital service.

IELTS Speaking Part 3: conditional questions

There's only one conditional question among the part 3 discussion topics in Cambridge IELTS book 12:

What would life be like if people didn't have to work?

This question is asking you to imagine a different reality. Some teachers call this type of sentence a 'second conditional' (if + past simple + would + infinitive).

Can you answer the question with at least one correct conditional sentence?

IELTS Writing Task 1: the overview is key

Look at the writing task 1 band descriptors for "task achievement", and you'll see the following points:

Band 5 = no clear overview
Band 6 = presents an overview
Band 7 = presents a clear overview

So, if you want a high score, your overview needs to be good. This is why I recommend a separate overview paragraph with two sentences.

Look at the bar chart below, and try writing a 2-sentence overview:
- One sentence that compares the two months (the blue and green bars).
- One sentence describing the overall trend by age group.
mm

The chart below shows figures for attendances at hospital emergency care departments in Northern Ireland by age group in December 2016 and December 2017.

Attendances at emergency care departments per 1000-population

mm

IELTS Writing Task 2: irrelevant information

Read the following question and the introduction paragraph below it. I would argue that part of the introduction is irrelevant.

Question:
Governments should make people responsible for looking after their own local environment. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Introduction:
In the midst of a booming economy, environmental protection has always been an issue of public concern. While I agree that people should be made accountable for their local areas, governments also have an essential role to play in preserving the environment.

Task:
Can you see which part of the introduction is irrelevant or off-topic? What changes could we make to correct this problem?

IELTS Listening: multiple choice practice

Last Tuesday I wrote a long list of tips for multiple choice questions. But the most important tip is this: do lots of practice. Here's a quick exercise:

Listen to the following short talk about cave paintings.

Click here to listen

1. In which continent are the cave paintings that the speaker is describing?

A) Africa
B) Europe
C) Asia

2. How were the painted caves discovered?

A) By children
B) By artists
C) By tourists

3. How can visitors experience the cave paintings nowadays?

A) They can’t see any paintings because the caves are closed
B) They can go on a tour of the original cave
C) They can visit a reproduction of the original cave