IELTS Simon

IELTS Writing Task 1: the 'word choice' skill

You might assume that mistakes affect only your grammar score. But some mistakes are vocabulary mistakes. For example:

• a spelling mistake
• a word formation mistake (e.g. incorrect formation of a past participle)
• a word choice mistake (e.g. inappropriate or unnatural use of a word)

For me, word choice is the big one. If you want to be a good writer, even in your own language, word choice is the skill that you need to develop. Interestingly, we refer to the greatest writers, like Shakespeare, as 'wordsmiths' due to their mastery of word choice.

So, the next time you're writing in English, try to imagine yourself as a 'wordsmith'. Think about the different vocabulary options that you have, and make word choice your priority as you write.

I'll be going deeper into this aspect of the writing test in the next few video lessons on my member site.

IELTS Writing Task 2: genetic engineering 'essay skeleton'

Let's return to the question below.

Genetic engineering is an important issue in society today. Some people think that it will improve people’s lives in many ways. Others feel that it may be a threat to life on earth. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Here's my 'essay skeleton':

Introduction
It is true that genetic engineering is a key area of modern scientific research, with broad implications for all human societies. While I accept that this field of technology may have its dangers, I believe that the benefits of genetic engineering outweigh the drawbacks.

Topic sentence, paragraph 2
The negative implications of genetic engineering are often discussed in terms of two key areas, which are food production and the cloning of humans.

Topic sentence, paragraph 3
A more optimistic prediction, and one that I favour, is that humans will find ways to mitigate the risks and use genetic technologies in a responsible way.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I am convinced that genetic engineering will have a positive impact on our lives, and that people's fears will be unwarranted.

Tasks:
Can you explain the risks of genetic engineering, in terms of food and cloning?
Can you suggest how we might use genetic engineering responsibly?

IELTS Listening: check your spelling

Here's an easy way to check your spelling for the IELTS listening test:

• Find the listening test answers at the back of one of the Cambridge IELTS books.
• Record yourself reading the answers aloud (e.g. read the list below).
• The next day, listen to the recording and try to write the words down, with correct spelling.
• Check your answers.

For example, here are some of the listening answers from Cambridge IELTS 14. Record yourself reading this list, and then test your spelling tomorrow.

1. furniture
2. museum
3. direction
4. floor
5. predictable
6. fuel
7. shoulder
8. festivals
9. comets
10. instruments
11. thermometer
12. telegraph
13. microphone
14. exhibition
15. carnival
16. parade
17. opera
18. clarinet
19. Olympics
20. speech
21. cabins
22. tools
23. heavy
24. marble
25. camera

Out of 25, how many words did you spell correctly?

IELTS Reading: keywords again!

Here's a table showing the key vocabulary from the four most recent IELTS reading exercises on this blog.

Note: Did you know the word 'introspective'? The noun 'introspection' is a word that I like.

Best of IELTS-Simon?

Yesterday I told you that I've been looking through the last 10 years of lessons here on the blog - there are over 2700 of them.

I'm going to republish the best lessons, with added advice, analysis or explanation, on my member site once a week.

So here's a question:

Do you have any favourites, or particular lessons that changed your approach to the IELTS test in some way? I'd be grateful to read your views on which lessons to include in the 'Best of' series.

Member site update

My member website is now a month old, and I've added a couple of new features for both paying subscribers and people on the free subscription option.

Here's what you get if you pay monthly ($25) or yearly ($200):

• Mondays: a detailed video lesson with related worksheets.
• Wednesdays: an audio Q&A. You'll hear me answering students' questions and giving tips.
• Fridays: a 'Best of IELTS Simon' lesson. I've been going through the last 10 years of this blog looking for my best lessons. I'll republish these and expand on them, with extra analysis or explanation.
• Paying members can also leave comments, ask questions and join discussions on the site.

Here's what you'll get if you choose the free subscription:

• Wednesdays: the audio Q&A (the same as above).
• Fridays: the republished 'Best of IELTS Simon' lesson, but without detailed analysis.

To sign up as a paying or free subscriber, click here.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: ideas for 'describe a book'

In last Friday's lesson I shared a task that asks you to describe a book. To prepare for this description, let's choose a book and 'steal' some ideas from an online summary / review.

I'm currently reading a book called 'Atomic Habits'. I found a summary and a review of this book on Amazon (see below), so I'll steal some ideas and use them in my answer next Friday. Maybe you could prepare ideas, in the same way, for a book that you've read.

Here's a quick summary from Amazon:

People think when you want to change your life, you need to think big. But world-renowned habits expert James Clear has discovered another way. He knows that real change comes from the compound effect of hundreds of small decisions – doing two push-ups a day, waking up five minutes early, or holding a single short phone call. He calls them atomic habits.

In this ground-breaking book, Clear reveals exactly how these minuscule changes can grow into such life-altering outcomes. He uncovers a handful of simple life hacks, and delves into cutting-edge psychology and neuroscience to explain why they matter. Along the way, he tells inspiring stories of Olympic gold medalists, leading CEOs, and distinguished scientists who have used the science of tiny habits to stay productive, motivated, and happy.

And here's a customer review (there are many others on Amazon):

I feel lucky to have found this book. It's the only self-help book that I've thought, afterwards, was worth reading. It's had a dramatic positive impact on my life. It's well researched, well reasoned, and well written. A self-help book that actually makes a significant, and long-lasting difference. I'm going to keep re-reading it.

IELTS Writing Task 1: easy verbs, difficult noun phrases

One feature of many academic task 1 answers is this: the verbs that we use are often 'easy', but the noun phrases that we write are long and relatively difficult.

Look at the following examples from last week's answer:

Verbs are highlighted in green.
Noun phrases are highlighted in blue.

1. The total number of miles travelled by English people using all modes of transport increased significantly.
2. The figures for miles travelled by train, long distance bus, taxi and other modes also increased.
3. There was a fall in the average distances for three forms of transport, namely walking, bicycle and local bus.

We could represent these sentence structures like this:

1. x increased significantly.
2. x also increased.
3. There was a fall in x.

(x = noun / noun phrase)

Have a look at your own task 1 answers. Can you find some 'easy' verbs and long noun phrases?

IELTS Writing Task 2: should you mention both sides?

I often receive questions like this from students:

For 'agree or disagree' questions, my teacher told me that I should mention both sides of the argument, even if I have a strong opinion. Is this true? And how do I do it?

Here's my answer:

• It is not true that you must always mention both sides.
• The way you answer will depend on the particular question and on the ideas that you have.

Let's look at some examples:

1) Look at the strong opinion essay that I shared here. My argument is that we do have too many choices, and I think it would be strange to contradict myself by writing about the opposite view. Why would I want to mention the view that we don't have too many choices?

2) Now look at this essay. You'll see that I express a strong opinion in paragraph two, and then I refute (argue against) some opposite views in paragraph three. In other words, I do mention the other side of the argument, but in a negative way.

3) Finally, if you study this essay, you'll see that I am able to write about both sides of the topic in a balanced way, even though I disagree with the argument given in the question.

Note:
When somebody tells you that you must always answer in a certain way, you should be cautious. If you're confused, just forget all of the advice, and focus instead on what the question is asking you to do.

IELTS Listening: multiple choice exercise

Listen to the following talk about unemployment, then answer the multiple choice questions below. Make sure you read all 3 questions carefully before you start.

Click here to listen

1. A year from now, the unemployment rate will be

A) fairly good
B) not as high in California
C) very high for the country as a whole

2. One problem is that

A) employees cannot work for more than 33 hours per week
B) employers will extend working hours instead of hiring new staff
C) there are too many part-time workers

3. If the economy begins to improve

A) more people will be discouraged from looking for work
B) people will think that there are more job opportunities
C) there will be an expansion of the workforce

IELTS Reading: prove why the answers are correct

In this lesson I suggested a different way to practise: get the correct answers from the back of the book, and try to prove why they are correct.

Here's an example reading passage:

Behaviourism is a systematic approach to understanding the behaviour of humans and other animals. During the first half of the twentieth century, John B. Watson devised methodological behaviourism, which rejected introspective methods and sought to understand behaviour by only measuring observable behaviours and events.

It was not until the 1930s that B. F. Skinner suggested that private events—including thoughts and feelings—should be subjected to the same controlling variables as observable behaviour. This approach became the basis for his philosophy called "radical behaviourism”. While Watson and Ivan Pavlov investigated the stimulus-response procedures of classical conditioning, Skinner assessed the controlling nature of consequences and also their potential effect on the antecedents of behaviour; the technique became known as operant conditioning.

Now look at the 'true, false, not given' statements and correct answers below. Can you explain why each answer is correct?

1. Watson measured both visible behaviour and hidden emotions. (FALSE)
2. Skinner’s approach differed from that of Watson and Pavlov in that he went beyond the strictly observable. (TRUE)

IELTS Vocabulary: usage intead of explanation

A student asked me to explain the difference between the words below:

• trait
• personality
• character
• characteristic

But when we explain vocabulary, we're not getting the full picture. An explanation might help you to understand a meaning, but it won't necessarily help you to use the vocabulary in a natural way.

Instead of explaining, which is a 'grammar mindset' exercise, let's shift to a 'vocabulary mindset' and look at usage.

Fill the gaps below using the word that seems most natural.

1. My client is a person of good ______.
2. My worst ______ is that I am sometimes self-centred.
3. A key ______ of entrepreneurs is that they are action-oriented.
4. She's a little girl with a big ______.

IELTS Grammar: 'sticking points'

In last week's grammar lesson on my member site I highlighted some key mistakes in a student's task 1 answer. The most important mistake involved the student's use of the word 'while'.

The student wrote something like this:

• Spending on salaries rose. While, spending on resources fell.
  (Note: the student used 'while' incorrectly between two simple sentences)

The correct version would be this:

• Spending on salaries rose, while spending on resources fell.
  (Note: the correct version is a complex sentence)

The student made three similar mistakes with the word 'while', and I gave the answer a band 6 for grammar. If the student had written three correct 'while' sentences, I would have given a 7 for grammar.

I call this type of mistake a 'sticking point' because it keeps you stuck on a lower band. In this case, the 'while' mistake is important because the student missed the opportunity to create three complex sentences.

Ask a teacher to help you to look for 'sticking points' in your writing. Getting past these sticking points could be the fastest route to a higher score.

IELTS Speaking Part 2: describe a book

Let's start work on a new task, which comes from Cambridge IELTS 14:

Describe a book that you enjoyed reading because you had to think a lot.
You should say:

- what this book was
- why you decided to read it
- what reading this book made you think about
- and explain why you enjoyed reading this book.

Which book would you choose to talk about? I'll give you my ideas next Friday.

IELTS Writing Task 1: 'modes of travel' answer

The table below gives information about changes in modes of travel in England between 1985 and 2000.
m

Average distance in miles travelled per person per year, by mode of travel

a
Here's my full sample answer. We'll analyse it next week.

The chart shows average distances that people in England travelled using different forms of transport in the years 1985 and 2000.

It is clear that the total number of miles travelled by English people using all modes of transport increased significantly between 1985 and 2000. The car was by far the most used form of transport in both years.

In 1985, the average person travelled 3,199 miles by car, and this rose to 4,806 miles in the year 2000. The figures for miles travelled by train, long distance bus, taxi and other modes also increased from 1985 to 2000. Travel by taxi saw the most significant change, with more than a threefold increase from 13 miles per person per year in 1985 to 42 miles in 2000.

There was a fall in the average distances for three forms of transport, namely walking, bicycle and local bus. In 1985, English people walked an average of 255 miles, but this figure fell by 18 miles in 2000. Bicycle use fell from 51 to 41 miles over the period shown, while the biggest downward change was in the use of local buses, with average miles per person falling from 429 to 274 over the 15-year period.

IELTS Writing Task 2: ignore the word 'academic'

Many people are confused by the idea that they are doing the IELTS academic writing test. They think this means that they need to use "academic" words, or that IELTS writing is similar to university academic writing.

All of this is wrong. Here's why:

• Examiners are not looking for "academic" words. There is nothing in the scoring criteria that tells examiners to do this. Instead, examiners are told to look for a wide range of vocabulary, collocations, and some less common vocabulary.
• IELTS writing (especially task 2) is more like a high school writing task, rather than a university assignment. In a university assignment, for example, you will never see the question "do you agree or disagree?". At university you are expected to use research as the basis of your writing, but in the IELTS test you only have your own ideas and opinions. You are even told that you can use examples from your own personal experience in IELTS writing task 2. This isn't very "academic"!

So, it's best to ignore the word "academic". Ignore any advice that relates to university academic writing; IELTS writing has its own 'rules' and requirements, and I do my best to explain these here on the blog.

IELTS Listening: underlining keywords

Here are the two questions (from Cambridge IELTS 14) that I showed you last week. This time I've underlined the keywords.

21. How will Rosie and Martin introduce their presentation?

A  with a drawing of woolly mammoths in their natural habitat
B  with a timeline showing when woolly mammoths lived
C  with a video clip about woolly mammoths

22. What was surprising about the mammoth tooth found by Russell Graham?

A  It was still embedded in the mammoth's jawbone.
B  It was from an unknown species of mammoth.
C  It was not as old as mammoth remains from elsewhere.

..........

Use the transcript below to answer the following questions:

1. What are the answers to questions 21 and 22 above?
2. Which keywords in the transcript give us the answers?
3. Did my underlining in the question choices help?

Martin: We thought we needed something general about woolly mammoths in our introduction, to establish that they were related to our modern elephant, and they lived thousands of years ago in the last ice age.

Rosie: Maybe we could show a video clip of a cartoon about mammoths. But that’d be a bit childish. Or we could have a diagram, it could be a timeline to show when they lived, with illustrations?

Martin: Or we could just show a drawing of them walking in the ice? No, let’s go with your last suggestion.

Tutor: Good. Then you’re describing the discovery of the mammoth tooth on St Paul’s Island in Alaska, and why it was significant.

Rosie: Yes. The tooth was found by a man called Russell Graham. He picked it up from under a rock in a cave. He knew it was special — for a start it was in really good condition, as if it had been just extracted from the animal’s jawbone. Anyway, they found it was 6,500 years old.

Tutor: So why was that significant?

Rosie: Well the mammoth bones previously found on the North American mainland were much less recent than that. So this was really amazing.

IELTS Reading: paragraph headings

Read the passage below and choose the best heading for each paragraph.

List of headings:

1. A creature of legend
2. The human impact on mammoths
3. Explaining the appearance of mammoth remains
4. Woolly mammoths in ancient art
5. Woolly mammoth habitats
6. How we know so much about the woolly mammoth

A) The woolly mammoth is an extinct species of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the early Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, and its closest living relative is the Asian elephant. The appearance and behaviour of woolly mammoths are among the best studied of any prehistoric animal because of the discovery of frozen carcasses in Siberia and Alaska, as well as skeletons, teeth, stomach contents, dung, and depiction in prehistoric cave paintings.

B) Mammoth remains had long been known in Asia before they became known to Europeans in the 17th century. The origin of these remains was long a matter of debate, and often explained as being remains of legendary creatures. The mammoth was identified as an extinct species of elephant by Georges Cuvier in 1796.

C) The woolly mammoth coexisted with early humans, who used its bones and tusks for making art, tools, and dwellings, and the species was also hunted for food. It disappeared from its mainland range around 10,000 years ago, most likely through climate change and consequent shrinkage of its habitat, hunting by humans, or a combination of the two.

IELTS Vocabulary: the academic word list

I sometimes receive questions from students about the 'academic word list'. Here's what people want to know:

Is this list useful for IELTS preparation?

The short answer (in my opinion) is no. I've never used the academic word list with IELTS students.

Here's a longer answer:

Of course there are lots of useful words on the academic word list, and it would be great if you knew all of them. But remember: understanding is not the same as using. You would need to spend time learning how to use the words correctly in phrases and sentences. Furthermore, the list contains only individual words; you need to build your knowledge of phrases and collocations, and the list doesn't help you with that.

If you're preparing for IELTS, I think you have other priorities: test practice, exam techniques, question types, topic vocabulary, phrases and collocations, reducing grammar mistakes etc. Unless you have a lot of study time, I wouldn't include the academic word list in your study schedule.

IELTS Grammar: using the word 'mere'

Look at the sentence below. Is the word 'mere' used correctly?

6.1% of women in Scotland were unemployed in 2013, and this figure rose by a mere of 0.6% one year later.

IELTS Speaking: vocabulary review

Let's look at some of the useful vocabulary from the answers that I shared in last Friday's lesson:

• I can't see shopping malls disappearing*
  (I can't see... happening = I don't think... will happen)
• any time soon
• attract shoppers
• mainstream = popular / used or done by most people
• packed with people*
• hugely popular
• it offers more than just...
• and naturally they will
• browse the shops
• I'm pretty sure that...*
• no physical presence on the high street
• the way that things are going*

Note:
The phrases with a star (*) are great for the speaking test, but a little too informal for a written essay. Would you have known this?

IELTS Writing Task 1: too much information!

When the graph or chart contains a lot of information, you won't be able to include every number. Here's an example of how you might deal with this problem.

Task: My aim is to write a paragraph about the information highlighted in yellow. I want to write three sentences only!

Average distance in miles travelled per person per year, by mode of travel

Here's my three-sentence paragraph about the 'yellow' data:

In 1985, the average person travelled 3,199 miles by car, and this rose to 4,806 miles in the year 2000. The figures for miles travelled by train, long distance bus, taxi and other modes also increased from 1985 to 2000. Travel by taxi saw the most significant change, with more than a threefold increase from 13 miles per person per year in 1985 to 42 miles in 2000.

Analysis questions:

1. Did I mention every mode of travel highlighted in yellow?
2. How many numbers did I mention specifically?
3. Which modes of travel did I choose to focus on, and why?

IELTS Writing Task 2: writing a conclusion

When writing a conclusion, this is what I do:

1. I check the question again, because I want to make sure that I answer it properly (but briefly) in my conclusion.
2. I also think about key words or phrases from the question that I could reuse or paraphrase.
3. And I look at my introduction again. I want to make sure that the 'position' that I express in my conclusion is consistent with what I wrote in the introduction.
4. I can also paraphrase what I wrote in my introduction when writing the conclusion.

Look at the question and the introduction that I showed you last week. Here are some of my thoughts before I write the conclusion:

• I'm going to start with 'In conclusion', and I want to write one concise sentence only.
• I need to repeat the idea that the benefits of genetic engineering outweigh the drawbacks (using different words).
• In my introduction I used a "while" sentence (while I accept the dangers, I believe the benefits...).
• So I'll start my conclusion with the benefits and then use the phrase "in spite of" to mention the dangers.
• Instead of "threat to life" or "dangers", I could write about the "risks".
• Instead of "improve people's lives", I could write that it will have a "positive impact".

Here's a concise conclusion using the ideas above:

In conclusion, I am convinced that genetic engineering will have a positive impact on our lives, in spite of its potential risks.

IELTS Listening: reading and underlining

Before you hear the recording, you have some time to read the questions and underline key words (the words that you intend to listen for).

Which key words would you underline in the questions below?
(from Cambridge IELTS 14)

..........

21. How will Rosie and Martin introduce their presentation?

A  with a drawing of woolly mammoths in their natural habitat
B  with a timeline showing when woolly mammoths lived
C  with a video clip about woolly mammoths

22. What was surprising about the mammoth tooth found by Russell Graham?

A  It was still embedded in the mammoth's jawbone.
B  It was from an unknown species of mammoth.
C  It was not as old as mammoth remains from elsewhere.

..........

Tip: Don't underline words that are repeated in each choice (e.g. mammoth). Only underline the words that show you the specific differences between each answer choice.

IELTS Reading: a different way to practise

Here's an interesting way to use reading tests from the Cambridge IELTS books:

1. Choose a passage from one of the reading tests.
2. Get the correct answers from the back of the book.
3. Now read the first question, underline keywords, and search for the answer in the passage - you already know the correct answer, so your only aim is to find where it is in the passage.
4. Underline words in the passage that have the same meaning as the keywords in the question.
5. When you have done this for each question, make a keyword table.

This technique forces you to stop testing yourself. Instead, it makes you focus on finding key vocabulary and understanding the reason for each answer. You might be surprised at the improvements you make if you regularly practise in this way.

IELTS Advice: method or language (part 2)

Here's my answer to the task in yesterday's lesson: the method was fine, but the language can be improved.

The method is fine:
The student wrote the introduction in the way that I recommend: the first sentence introduces the topic, and the second sentence answers the question.

But there are some language problems (underlined below):
There are different views regarding on question that should children be punished to learn the discrepancy between wrong and right. From my perspective, some sorts of punishments as well as rewards are necessary to teach children, however, parents and teachers should apply soft and simple forms of punishment.

Here's my improved version:
People have different views with regard to the question of whether children should be punished in order to teach them the difference between right and wrong. In my opinion, simple or 'soft' punishments are a necessary tool for parents and teachers as they raise and educate children.

Note:
Sometimes people make 'mistakes' in their choice of vocabulary. For example, in English we say "the difference between right and wrong", not "the discrepancy between wrong and right". This is not a grammar mistake, it's a collocation mistake.

IELTS Advice: method or language?

I often tell students that there are two things that we need to work on: 1) method i.e. exam techniques 2) improving your English language knowledge.

Let's look at an essay introduction (writing task 2) that a student wrote. The topic is: should children be punished?

There are different views regarding on question that should children be punished to learn the discrepancy between wrong and right. From my perspective, some sorts of punishments as well as rewards are necessary to teach children, however, parents and teachers should apply soft and simple forms of punishment.

Task:
Read the introduction above. What should this student work on: method or language? In other words, is there a problem with the way that the introduction is written, or with the language that it contains? I'll tell you what I think in tomorrow's lesson.

IELTS Speaking Part 3: future 'opinion' answers

Here are two sample answers that include opinions about the future:

Will large shopping malls continue to be popular, despite the growth of internet shopping?

I can’t see shopping malls disappearing any time soon, so yes, I think they will definitely continue to attract shoppers. We already have internet shopping, with websites like Amazon now mainstream, but the large shopping centres in my city are still packed with people. The Trafford Centre near Manchester, for example, is hugely popular, and I think this is because it offers more than just shopping. It’s a place where families go for a day out, to have lunch or to visit attractions like Sea Life or Legoland, and naturally they will browse the shops and buy things there too.

Do you think that some businesses (e.g. banks and travel agents) will only operate online in future?

I’m sure they will, and I think this is already happening. I’m pretty sure that there are online-only savings accounts, and there are travel websites like Airbnb that have no physical presence on the high street. I imagine that more and more services will only be available online; this seems to be the way that things are going.

IELTS Writing Task 1: paragraph 'grouping'

To describe the information in the table below, it would be a good idea to find a way to group it.

I usually try to create two information groups, so that I can write two separate 'details' paragraphs. I've used green and yellow highlighting to suggest a way to create these two paragraph groups.

..........

The table below gives information about changes in modes of travel in England between 1985 and 2000.

Average distance in miles travelled per person per year, by mode of travel

..........

Can you see what connects the data in the green and yellow groups?

IELTS Writing Task 2: normal introduction technique

Here's the question that I showed you last Wednesday:

Genetic engineering is an important issue in society today. Some people think that it will improve people’s lives in many ways. Others feel that it may be a threat to life on earth. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

And here's an introduction, using our normal 2-sentence technique:

It is true that genetic engineering is a key area of modern scientific research, with broad implications for all human societies. While I accept that this field of technology may have its dangers, I believe that the benefits of genetic engineering outweigh the drawbacks.

Note:
The first sentence introduces the topic, using paraphrasing and some extra information. The second sentence covers both views and makes my own opinion clear.

IELTS Listening: tourism numbers

Tourism and tourist information are common topics in the listening test. Here's a short video that I found about the tourist centre in my own city, Manchester:

If you can't see the video, listen to the recording below:

Click here to listen

Quick exercise:
The speaker mentions the numbers below. What do they refer to?

• 77,000
• 5.5 billion
• over 1 million
• 3rd
• over 800,000