IELTS Reading: 3 study tips

Here are 3 study tips to help you improve your reading:

1. The best way to get better at the reading test is by doing more reading. Do as many practice tests as you can, and read other things e.g. books, newspapers and online articles.
2. Try doing a reading test without a time limit, and with a dictionary. If you still can't get the score you need, you'll need to look carefully at what you are doing wrong.
3. Spend time analysing your mistakes and the correct answers. If you don't understand why an answer was right or wrong, ask a teacher to help you. You'll improve more quickly if you learn from your mistakes.

Comments

[Fazliddin]

Hi Simon!
Thanks for your relentless efforts to teach english and particularly IELTS. Now almost 4 years since I passed my IELTS test and I have been working in NHS as a doctor. I am still frequent visitor of your website even I don’t have any test to take but just to improve my english by following your tips. May you have long happy healthy life and You keep on teaching, we really appreciate your work.

[Oleg]

Hi Fazliddin

I am still a frequent visitor

have a long happy healthy life

Always hard to remember when your own language does not have an indefinite article. Singular countable nouns usually need some kind of article or determiner unless they are in a set phrase.

"At a university" = it doesn't matter which, maybe I don't know.

"At university" = enrolled in or attending a course at tertiary level.

"At the university" = you know which one I mean, the main university in town, or I have already mentioned which one.

[Hanna]

hi Simon

the villagers still retain an attachment to their traditional customs.

Is the expression 'retain an attachment to 'natural here? my English teacher used this phrase verb, but I don't think it is common.

I am very confused.hope you can give me some help.Thank you.

[Hanna]

hi Simon

the villagers still retain attachment to their traditional customs.

Is the expression 'retain attachment to 'natural here? my English teacher used this phrase verb, but I don't think it is common.

I am very confused.hope you can give me some help.and Thank you.

I corrected the articles. There are no articles before attachment in my teacher’s sentence.

[Sandi]

Hanna

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=retain+an+attachment+to%2Cretain+attachment+to%2C*_VERB++attachment%2C+*_VERB+an+attachment&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cretain%20an%20attachment%20to%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cretain%20attachment%20to%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2C%2A_VERB%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bgives_VERB%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bgrowing_VERB%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bgive_VERB%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bknown_VERB%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Baffords_VERB%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bgiving_VERB%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bdecided_VERB%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bis_VERB%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bsaid_VERB%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bincreasing_VERB%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2C%2A_VERB%20an%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bformed_VERB%20an%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bis_VERB%20an%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhave_VERB%20an%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bform_VERB%20an%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bwas_VERB%20an%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhad_VERB%20an%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bgrant_VERB%20an%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bissue_VERB%20an%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bfeel_VERB%20an%20attachment%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bconceived_VERB%20an%20attachment%3B%2Cc0

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22retain+an+attachment+to%22&lr=lang_en&tbs=lr:lang_1en&tbm=bks&ei=HHDhW9e2KtG6rQHkooz4Cg&start=10&sa=N&ved=0ahUKEwjXtMfHyr_eAhVRXSsKHWQRA684HhDy0wMIYQ&biw=1252&bih=958&dpr=1

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22retain+attachment+to%22&lr=lang_en&tbs=lr:lang_1en&tbm=bks&ei=em_hW5HZL9Kv9QOt25SABQ&start=10&sa=N&ved=0ahUKEwiR_qz6yb_eAhXSV30KHa0tBVAQ8tMDCGQ&biw=1252&bih=958&dpr=1

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=still+attached+to+their+*%2Cattached+to+their+customs%2Cattached+to+their+traditional%2Cattached+to+their+traditions%2C+attached+to+their+traditional+*&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t2%3B%2Cstill%20attached%20to%20their%20%2A%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bstill%20attached%20to%20their%20duty%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bstill%20attached%20to%20their%20ancient%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bstill%20attached%20to%20their%20interest%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bstill%20attached%20to%20their%20roots%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bstill%20attached%20to%20their%20old%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bstill%20attached%20to%20their%20parent%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bstill%20attached%20to%20their%20stems%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bstill%20attached%20to%20their%20bodies%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bstill%20attached%20to%20their%20own%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bstill%20attached%20to%20their%20original%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cattached%20to%20their%20customs%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cattached%20to%20their%20traditional%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cattached%20to%20their%20traditions%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2Cattached%20to%20their%20traditional%20%2A%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Battached%20to%20their%20traditional%20religion%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Battached%20to%20their%20traditional%20ways%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Battached%20to%20their%20traditional%20culture%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Battached%20to%20their%20traditional%20way%3B%2Cc0

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22retain+their+attachment+to%22&lr=lang_en&tbs=lr:lang_1en&tbm=bks&ei=9HHhW7axOZao9QPGsI7QBg&start=10&sa=N&ved=0ahUKEwi2-96ozL_eAhUWVH0KHUaYA2oQ8tMDCGM&biw=1252&bih=958&dpr=1

Both are possible.

[Hanna]

Thanks Sandi

[Laura]

Whenever i read a book, of course there are many words that I don't know. If I keep reading with looking up those words in the dictionary, reading can be extremely boring and if i leave those words later, I can't improve my vocabulary.
Can anybody understand my situation. Help me

[NuhaNaser]

Hi Simon
I tried to practice the reading exam today but I couldn’t find the answers to the question complete the sentence with the correct ending.

I spent an hour looking for the answers to this question then i tried to guess based on my understanding and i got 3 correct answers out of 5

I was so disappointed because I spent a lot of time practicing reading but i never faced such a question so please help how to find the answers for this question?????

[Mona]

Laura

Try and find material on a topic that really interests you. Otherwise it is too boring. I read short stories, environmental and world news articles, historical novels, detective stories. There are indeed many new words, and I struggle to learn even one tenth of them, but just keep going. After all, how did we learn our own language, if not through reading lots of books and stuff, and gradually building a bigger vocabulary? Do not forget the listening too.