IELTS Simon

IELTS Listening: gap-fill practice

Listen to the following introduction to a series of lectures about food.

Click here to listen

Fill the gaps below with no more than TWO words.

IELTS Reading: when are the answers in order?

For the following question types, the answers are usually (almost always) in order in the passage:

1. All types of gap-fill (sentences, summaries, diagrams etc.)
2. True, false, not given
3. Yes, no, not given
4. Multiple choice
5. Matching sentence endings
6. 'Short answer' questions

However, answers to the following question types are never in order:

1. Matching paragraph headings
2. Which paragraph contains the information?
3. Matching names with statements or information

IELTS Advice: vocabulary is the key!

As I've said before, there is no 'secret' way to improve your IELTS score. You just need to study hard and keep practising. However, if I had to give one piece of advice, it would be this: work on vocabulary.

If you use a wide range of vocabulary in the speaking and writing exams, you are more likely to get a high score. Vocabulary is also the key to finding the answers in the reading test and understanding the speakers in the listening test.

So, are you writing new words and phrases in a notebook every day? Do you read something in English every day? Do you use a dictionary? Do you use Google or Wikipedia to look up words and phrases? If you don't do these things, start now!

IELTS Advice: smiling won't help your score, but...

Regarding the advice that I gave yesterday (stop and smile), I just want to clarify that there are no marks for body language in the speaking test. The "stop and smile" idea is simply a way to show the examiner that you're ready for the next question in part 1 of the test.

So, smiling won't help your score, but it can help with the "flow" of questions and answers in part 1.

IELTS Speaking Part 1: stop and smile!

In part 1 of the speaking test you need to give short, direct answers. When you've given your answer, you should stop and wait for the next question.

The problem is that many candidates keep speaking, even when they have already given a good answer. Sometimes it's because they feel nervous about leaving a moment of silence. As they keep speaking, they start hesitating and repeating themselves, making the answer sound worse and worse. A further problem is that the examiner has to interrupt the candidate in order to move on to the next question.

The solution that I practise with my students is this: stop and smile! When you've answered the question, stop confidently and smile at the examiner to show that you're ready for the next question. If you can do this, part 1 of the speaking test will go more smoothly.

IELTS Writing Task 1: 'languages' charts

A student asked me to look at the task below. It comes from Cambridge IELTS book 11, and the data was originally shown on two pie charts. I've used tables just to make things really clear.

The charts below show the proportions of British students at one university in England who were able to speak other languages in addition to English, in 2000 and 2010.

Note:
I gave a useful tip for this task in this lesson from back in 2016.

IELTS Writing Task 2: improve the sentences

Here are some sentences that people wrote below last Wednesday's lesson. Each sentence is 'awkward' in some way, so can you rewrite and improve them?

1. It is true that media communication has several types such as books, radio and television.
2. As far as I am concerned, I think that the most advantageous is television.
3. I, however, prefer mostly TV is the best choice of communication's tools.
4. Different types of medium have their own benefits and drawbacks based on their own features for communication of information.
5. It is true that the media plays a major role in communications in recent years.

IELTS Listening: difficult vocabulary

My students found the following two questions difficult, mainly because of some of the vocabulary used by the speaker.

1. Joanna concentrated on women performers because

A) women are more influenced by fashion.
B) women's dress has led to more controversy.
C) women's code of dress is less strict than men's.

2. Frost's article suggests that in popular music, women's dress is affected by

A) their wish to be taken seriously.
B) their tendency to copy each other.
C) their reaction to the masculine nature of the music.

Here's a transcript of the recording:

You only had women performers in your study. Was that because male musicians are less worried about fashion?

I think a lot of the men are very much influenced by fashion, but in social terms the choices they have are more limited... they'd really upset audiences if they strayed away from quite narrow boundaries.

Frost points out that a lot of female singers and musicians in popular music tend to dress down in performances, and wear less feminine clothes, like jeans instead of skirts, and he suggests this is because otherwise they'd just be discounted as trivial.

Tasks:
Which answer would you choose for each question? Can you explain the meaning of the words that I've underlined above?

IELTS Reading: a tricky question

Here's a tricky question from Cambridge IELTS 11 (General test 3). What answer would you choose, and why?

Question statement (true, false or not given?):
Bus drivers do not give change so you must have the correct money for a ticket.

What the passage says:
Buy your bus ticket from the bus driver, with the correct money if possible.

IELTS Advice: the week before your exam

What are the best things to do in the last week before your exam? Here are some tips:

1. Nothing new
It's often best not to study anything new just before an exam. "Revision" means studying what you have already studied to make sure that you know it well. The aim is to be confident about what you do know, rather than worrying about what you don't know.

2. Common topics
It's always a good idea to look again at the most common topics for IELTS writing and speaking. Make sure you have some ideas, opinions and vocabulary for topics like 'education', 'environment' etc.

3. Test practice
If you have never done a full test (e.g. a full one-hour reading test) before, you might get a shock in the real exam! Timing is a big problem, so practise a full test in strict exam conditions. Don't worry about your score; just focus on finishing everything within the time limit.

IELTS Speaking Advice: tell stories

At the end of yesterday's lesson I mentioned that you could prepare some examples or stories to make your descriptions more interesting (for speaking part 2, and maybe part 3).

When speaking in our own languages, we tell stories all the time. For example, you might tell a member of your family about what happened at work today, or you might tell your friends about a film you saw last night.

The ability to tell a story in English is a sign that you are becoming a proficient user of the language. Test yourself: try telling a story in English now. Start with something easy, like "what I did yesterday".

IELTS Speaking Part 2: essential preparation

It's impossible to prepare for every question that you might get in the speaking test, but what are the essential things to prepare for?

Here's my list of essentials:

1. Favourites: Don't go into the test without knowing what your favourites are. Prepare to talk about your favourite book, film, music, and website.
2. People: Be ready to talk about a famous person and a member of your family.
3. Activities: Have you prepared some ideas about a hobby? Can you describe a typical day in your life?
4. Events: Try to remember some special moments in your life, such as birthdays, festivals and weddings.
5. Places: You need to be able to talk about where you live. Also, think about the places you have visited, what you did there, and why you liked or didn't like them.
6. Things: Can you talk about the things you use every day, something you would like to buy, or a present that you received?

Remember that in part 2 you are always asked to "describe". Make sure you prepare some good adjectives for each topic, make sure you can talk about your opinions and feelings, and think about some examples or stories to make your descriptions more interesting.

IELTS Writing Task 1: a grammar question

A student asked me about the following sentence from this lesson:

After heating, the resulting mixture is ground, and cement is produced.

The student asked why I wrote after heating instead of after being heated.

Both phrases are correct, but can anyone explain why? What is the difference, in terms of grammar, between these two alternatives?

IELTS Writing Task 2: a rare 5-paragraph essay

I almost always write 4 paragraphs, but sometimes the question requires a different approach. For example, a student asked me to return to the question below (from Cambridge IELTS 4). I wrote a couple of lessons about this topic back in 2012, but we didn't finish the full essay.

Compare the advantages and disadvantages of three of the following as media for communicating information. State which you consider to be the most effective.

• comics
• books
• radio
• television
• film
• theatre

Here are my three main body paragraphs.
Can you add the introduction and conclusion?

The main advantage of books is that they are usually considered to be reliable sources of information. People tend to refer to books when they want to research a subject in depth, and for this reason they continue to play an important role in education. On the other hand, books quickly go out of date, and therefore they are not the best medium for communicating news stories.

Radio is a much more effective medium than books for the communication of up-to-date information. We can listen to news broadcasts about events as they happen, and a key benefit of radio is that we can listen to it while doing other activities, such as driving or working. The main drawback of radio, when compared to books or television, is that there is no visual element; we cannot see what the broadcaster is describing.

In my opinion, television is the most effective of these three media because it brings us closer to reality than a book or radio programme ever can. For example, we can watch events as they take place on the other side of the world, or we can see the body language of a politician who is being interviewed. The disadvantages of television are that programmes tend to be short and interrupted by advertisements, meaning that information is presented in limited depth.

IELTS Listening Advice: podcasts and audiobooks

Just a quick question today on the topic of study habits: Do you listen to podcasts and/or audiobooks in English? (I'm not asking about IELTS-specific materials)

Think about how much listening you do in your own language each day. Maybe podcasts, audiobooks and other online resources can help you to get closer to this amount of English listening practice.

IELTS Reading Advice: reading aims and habits

Yesterday I gave some advice about having the right aims. When you have an aim, the next step is to think about how to achieve it. You'll need to create work habits that take you in the right direction.

Assuming that your general aim is to get a higher score in the IELTS reading test, here are some questions regarding specific aims and habits:

• How can we break the general aim (improve my reading) into more specific, focused aims?
• What do you do each day to work on your reading?
• How could you improve these daily reading habits?

Students' Questions: too many grammar mistakes

A student wrote the following message:

"My teacher told me that I have to practise grammar because I make too many basic grammar mistakes in my essays."

Here's my advice for this student, or anyone in a similar situation:

First, I hope your teacher helped you to understand your grammar mistakes, instead of just telling you to go away and practise grammar.

Second, maybe the problem is that you are trying too hard to "show off" and use "difficult" language or structures. What will happen when you stop trying to write like this, and start writing in a simple but accurate way instead? The answer to your problem might not be to "practise grammar"; it might just be that you need to adjust your aim.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: I'm going to talk about...

I noticed a comment from someone who didn't like the phrase "I'm going to talk about" (at the beginning of a part 2 description). He/she described "I'm going to talk about" as an old-fashioned template phrase.

Is this true? Is it an old-fashioned template phrase? The answer is no!

I'm going to talk about is neither old-fashioned nor part of a template. It is simply a natural way to begin your description. As a native English speaker, I would use this phrase without thinking twice about it.

Tip: In the speaking and writing tests, it's best to use short, simple phrases for linking and organising your ideas. Stop worrying about these phrases, and focus on what comes after them: your answer and the 'topic vocabulary' that you use to express your ideas.

IELTS Writing Task 1: easy but accurate

If you can use "less common" vocabulary correctly, that's great. However, using "difficult" words or grammar often leads to lots of mistakes. It would be better to choose "easy but accurate" language instead.

For example, here are some students' sentences, with mistakes underlined:

1) The highest number of people residence in Australia are those living in cities.
2) The highest population of birth are those born within Australia.
3) This figure was over 50% of those given birth to outside Australia.

Let's rewrite these sentences in an "easy but accurate" way:

1) The majority of Australians live in cities.
2) Most of the people who live in Australia were born there.
3) This was over 50% higher than the figure for people born outside Australia.

IELTS Writing Task 2: how many ideas per paragraph?

A student asked me this useful question:

In writing task 2, isn't it better to write about just one idea in each main body paragraph? If we put two or three ideas in the same paragraph (e.g. firstly, secondly, finally), we can't explain each idea in as much detail.

Here's my answer to this question:

Some questions require you to put more than one idea in each main paragraph. For example, if the question asks you to explain the advantages, disadvantages, reasons, causes or solutions, you must give more than one. Therefore a "firstly, secondly, finally" paragraph structure is perfect. If the question doesn't contain a plural word, one idea per paragraph is fine.

To learn the two methods that I use for writing paragraphs, study this lesson.

IELTS Listening: gap-fill

Listen to the recording and fill the gaps in the summary below.

Click here to listen

How to listen to people effectively

We can use the word listen to remind ourselves of the key skills of ______ listening.

‘L’ stands for ‘look’. Look at the person as they are speaking to you, and ______ them with good eye contact. ‘I’ stands for ‘inquire’. Use open, ______ questions to show interest in the person and what they are saying. ‘S’ reminds you to ‘______’ your understanding of what the other person is saying.

T’ means ‘take notes’, and ‘E’ means ‘encourage’: smile, ______ and use ______ to encourage them to say more. ‘N’ means ‘neutralise your feelings’: stay ______, avoid ______, and think about the content that the person is trying to ______ ______ to you.

IELTS Reading: another keyword review

Here are some of the keywords from recent exercises here on the blog:

'How to Teach IELTS' newsletters

I've now packaged together all of my "How to Teach IELTS" newsletters and extra materials, and you can buy them through this webpage.

My aim is to encourage more teachers to adopt the kind of teaching / learning approach that I described yesterday (do the basics well), and the feedback has been really good so far!

For more information, have a look at my Newsletter index page.

IELTS Advice: do the basics well

People who become good at things do the basics well, and they only show off occasionally.

For example, native speakers (of any language) spend most of their time using clear and relatively simple language. They might add a 'flourish' here and there, but it's rare to meet a native speaker who tries to make every sentence seem impressive.

I try to persuade students to aim for this 'natural' native-speaker style of writing and speaking. Learn to write and speak in a clear, simple, accurate and coherent way. Leave the rhetorical flourishes to politicians and professional writers!

IELTS Speaking Part 3: 'technology and society' answers

Here are my 3-step (answer, explain, example) answers to the questions that I showed you last Friday:

1. How much has technology improved how we communicate with each other?

I'd say that technology has made communication faster and easier, but I don't think it has improved the quality of communication between people. I mean, it's so easy to send a text message or write a comment on social media these days, but maybe you could say that our conversations are quite superficial compared to the way people communicated in the past. For example, I remember writing long, detailed letters to friends and family members when I was younger, but I tend to just send quick messages from my phone nowadays.

2. Do you agree that there are still many more major technological innovations to be made?

Of course! People are working on all sorts of new technologies as we speak, and I'm sure that there will be technological advances and breakthroughs for as long as human societies exist. Personally, I'm fascinated to see what happens with self-driving cars and other types of artificial intelligence over the next few decades.

3. Could you suggest some reasons why some people are deciding to reduce their use of technology?

Yes, I think the main reasons are that people feel overwhelmed or that their use of technology is becoming unhealthy. Some people have realised that all the devices and applications that they use are making their lives more complicated and stressful than necessary. Others might see themselves becoming addicted to checking their phones, or wasting too much time on their social media pages. I try to limit my own use of my phone and laptop because I want to spend more of my time in the 'real world' than on the Internet.

IELTS Writing Task 1: question types

I received a message from a student who said that she had been surprised to see a diagram question in writing task 1. She had done lots of preparation for graphs and charts, but was unprepared for diagram questions.

So, make sure you have prepared for all of the following question types:

1. Line graph
2. Bar chart
3. Pie chart
4. Table
5. Comparison diagram (a diagram or map that compares things)
6. Process diagram (a diagram or map that shows steps in a process)

If you look through the lessons on this blog, you'll find advice and examples for all six question types. I've also covered each one in detail on my video course.

IELTS Writing Task 2: advice for different scores

Depending on what scores my students are aiming for, I give different advice.

If you are aiming for band 5, 5.5 or 6:

You can reach band 6 with fairly 'easy' language if your essay structure is good, your ideas are relevant to the question topic, and you write at least 250 words. Look through the writing task 2 lessons on this website to learn how to write introductions, main paragraphs and conclusions, and work on writing short, simple sentences to express your ideas.

When people get band 5 or below, it is often because they don't finish their essays, they go off-topic, they have no idea about good essay structure, or they try to use 'difficult' language and therefore make lots of mistakes. For bands 5 to 6, keep your essays simple and clear.

If you are aiming for band 7 or higher:

First, you need to do everything that I mentioned above: you need relevant ideas, a good essay structure, and you must write at least 250 words.

But to reach the higher scores, your essays need more 'depth'. You need to explain your ideas in more detail, using a wider range of vocabulary. At this level, good essay structure is not enough, and memorised linking phrases won't help either. Your focus should be on real content.

IELTS Listening: example using audioscripts

How often do you use the 'audioscripts' at the back of the Cambridge IELTS books to analyse listening test answers in more detail?

Here's an example question from Cambridge IELTS 13:

Which TWO things surprised the students about the traffic-light system for nutritional labels?

A  its widespread use
B  the fact that it is voluntary for supermarkets
C  how little research was done before its introduction
D  its unpopularity with food manufacturers
E  the way that certain colours are used

Here's the relevant section of the audioscript:

What do you think of the traffic-light system?

I think supermarkets like the idea of having a colour-coded system - red, orange or green - for levels of fat, sugar and salt in a product.

But it's not been adopted universally. And not on all products. Why do you suppose that is?

Pressure from the food manufacturers. Hardly surprising that some of them are opposed to flagging up how unhealthy their products are.

I'd have thought it would have been compulsory. It seems ridiculous it isn't.

I know. And what I couldn't get over is the fact that it was brought in without enough consultation - a lot of experts had deep reservations about it.

Tasks:
- Which two answers do you think are correct, and why?
- Which phrases show that the speakers are surprised?

IELTS Reading: two questions about exam technique

1. Should you read the whole passage before looking at the questions?
2. Should you go to the questions first, then skim/scan to find the answers?

My answer to question 1 is no. You don't have time to read the whole passage unless your English is almost 'native speaker' level.

My answer to question 2 is yes and no.
Yes - go to the questions first.
No - don't skim or scan unless the question contains a name or number.

My advice is to do the questions one by one. Instead of skimming or scanning, read the passage carefully. The answers to most question sections will be in order in the passage, so you will gradually read the whole passage as you find the answers.