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 Reading: another 'true, false, not given' | Main | New website »
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
The comments to this entry are closed.
I really admire your work and I'll stay tuned. Wish you luck with all of your projects!
Posted by: Tom Lellson | March 03, 2020 at 21:45
sir, please continue this daily site .We always appreciate what you have done so far for us.Continue more than a decade by putting lessons regularly is not joke , it needs passionate, dedication and generous. IELTS is a challenging exam.So , if possible, you can do it on an alternate day or you can just post your previous best lessons.Thank you so much.
Posted by: Pachu | March 04, 2020 at 01:32
dear Simon,
though i'm not a IELTS taker, i've been kind of following this flog for years. one things i've learned here that learning a language is so much fun.
do whatever you think you need to do :))
Best wishes,
dana
Posted by: dana | March 04, 2020 at 04:32
Dear Mr. Simon,
We respect your decision and very thankful for the valuable lessons you left here on the blog. Wish you all the best sir.
Posted by: Ehssan | March 04, 2020 at 05:03
thank you and Wishing you all the best
Posted by: [email protected] | March 04, 2020 at 07:10
Dear Simon,
Millions of thanks for all the lessons you shared for free here. I have been following your website for many years and I appreciate all the efforts you made to help us learn something new every day.
Wish you all the best in your Life
Posted by: Arash | March 04, 2020 at 09:40
FROM SIMON:
Thanks guys. I still love making IELTS and English lessons, but I need a change. Ten years of free lessons is enough for now I think!
I also need time to create better lessons for my paying subscribers, who are like my 'class' of students. They deserve my best efforts.
Posted by: Simon | March 04, 2020 at 14:30
Take care, Simon.
It's been a long but memorable journey since I followed your blog. Thank you for your devotion to this website which not only teaches us how to overcome IELTS exam but inspires us to love learning English. I believe we'll meet again, and maybe it is in a different teaching way.
All the best, and catch you later!
Posted by: BoXiangWang | March 04, 2020 at 15:44
Hi Simon ,
Sad to hear that . Honestly speaking your regular presence in your blog inspires us lots . So please don't deprived us of your important lessons, teachings , advice and guidance on the IELTS preparation. We realise it is hard for you to manage the different sites of your projects .We would be very grateful if you could carry blogging at least 3 days a week .
Best Regards.
Posted by: Sajan | March 04, 2020 at 17:06
Sir, please rethink about us.Many of us do not have access good education facility , we have no good teacher to teach us , we have no school where we can learn precise and accurate IELTS lessons.I almost spend 7 years viewing each lesson everyday whenever you posted here.I am so connected with your lesson and I always started my day with your lesson.So,my humble request is that you think how to carry such daily lesson in different way .Thank you and God Bless YOU.
Posted by: Pachu | March 05, 2020 at 01:23
Dear Simon.
Thank you very much for posting this blog for a long time. You did an absolutely fantastic job for me and all English learners. I have been following your blog for nearly 5-6 years, and my IELTS skills have definitely improved a lot from 5.0 to 6.5 over the years, and I sometimes reach above 7 in some sections. Now I start studying a health care course, and your IETLS writing strategies apply my assignments so well. I will miss you and I will contact you once I score IELTS overall 7 in the future;)
Kind Regards
Posted by: Tae | March 05, 2020 at 04:35
thank you a lot. Simon
I will still explore this site
Posted by: xiuxiu | March 05, 2020 at 05:30
We should respect Simon's decision. Thank you so much and good luck to you.
Posted by: Rose | March 05, 2020 at 09:38
thank you Simon, I have learned a lot from your website. good luck for you :)
Posted by: Miftah | March 06, 2020 at 01:21
Hi Simon,
I understand your decision and really appreciate what you've done for all of us. Good luck with your new projects.
Best wishes,
A silent reader.
Posted by: Nhi | March 06, 2020 at 04:18
Thank you Simon
Posted by: Orhan | March 06, 2020 at 10:51
Dear Simon
İt is more than enough providing free lessons for a long time
I personally can not say enough thank you for your huge and worthwhile contribution
Good luck with the new projects
Hopefully, see you again
Posted by: AKBAR | March 06, 2020 at 12:00
Thank you Simon. I have learned a lot from you and I will continue improving my English. Good luck for you.
Posted by: Yujian | March 06, 2020 at 12:34
Dear Simon,
it has been a while since last time i was here.
the first news on this site was the message you sent about your moving to another blog.All i want to say is thank you for your selfish sharing these years by updating your posting, I really learnt a lot from you. Best wishes!
Posted by: lori | March 06, 2020 at 16:41
Assalam alaykum Professor
Can you make public your daily challenge flashcards with its answers, because it is very interesting and informative. I always try to find it's answer but I have been struggling to find it. When I browse on Google I don't always find appropriate answers. So can you give us FREELY? And I don't think you will lose anything. It will be as a advertisement for your website, but I know you don't have to advertise you because everyone knows that you are the FATHER OF IELTS!!!
Best wishes
Hamid (from Uzbekistan).
Posted by: Hamid | March 06, 2020 at 17:28
Although many students will be disappointed, everyone will respect your decision. And of course there is now the new members site to follow.
Thanks for helping so many students for so many years. It has been an amazing effort.
Posted by: Pete Walton | March 07, 2020 at 10:23
ohh this is shame:( I've started to follow you for 2 weeks and you decided to take a break. I have seen that there are plenty exam to practise and improve as well. I hope that you are ok. My teacher said that you are AMAZING teaching english I agree with that. Good luck
Posted by: maria | March 07, 2020 at 11:35
Hi everyone, this is James Z, a past IELTS candidate as well as an ongoing English learner. My name probably rings a bell to some of you.
Like you all, I was saddened to learn of the announcement but I know this day will eventually come.
In all fairness, creating new study material on a daily basis is by no means an easy job, not to say keeping up the work for a decade! I always show my utmost respect to Simon for keeping running a website free of charge for years whilst striving to maintain its quality.
Basically, the guidance from this website is aiming to enable you to channel your efforts properly for the exam. As much as I enjoy the daily lessons from Simon, there are also loads of invaluable advice from other excellent IELTS teachers such as sjm and Pete Walton which I hope you can take on board.
My advice for you is to study the contents by category/module i.e. Listening, Reading, Speaking, Writing Task 1, and Writing Task 2, and find an experienced teacher to correct your mistakes. Depending on background, some people progress faster while some may need a bit more time, but please do not give up. If you do not believe in yourself, who will?!
Hats off to Simon for all the marvellous dedication!
Best wishes and take care,
James Z.
Posted by: James Z. | March 08, 2020 at 17:24
FROM SIMON:
Thanks again for your comments. I'm happy to see a few old names above too!
Posted by: Simon | March 09, 2020 at 10:43
Tanks a lot for what you have done. It's surely meaningful to us. Hope to see you back soon.
Posted by: Dylan Wang | March 09, 2020 at 15:07
Dear Simon,
Thank you very much for your blog you created. It helps me to prepare for my test effectively.
You do meaningful works.
I wish all the best for you,
Posted by: Hao Nguyen | March 11, 2020 at 09:51
You are the best!
Posted by: BEHI | March 11, 2020 at 16:47
Dear Simon,
It's a great decision, I must say. No one can ever do such great work for this long at free of cost. Make things chargeable, and hire some good teachers to teach people your concepts. I think this will give you more time and the ability to serve more people.
From the bottom of my heart, I wish you all the success in your new goal.
Posted by: Vishaal | March 12, 2020 at 04:54
Dear Simon
Much I have learnt from this site, and from your good self and Mr sjm.
I used to comment quite often (using pseudonyms such as Kata to avoid overwhelming your site) as there used to be so many students asking for help left unanswered. But also for my own behoof of course. (There's a long list of my pseudonyms, but basically any comment over the last few years which references ngrams).
Cheers to you Simon, with glasses raised on high... I still quote your site as the first port of call for anyone preparing for IELTS. Still far and away the best by a country mile.
Wishing you well in your newer ventures (and hoping you escape COVID-19).
Posted by: Me | March 13, 2020 at 03:08
Dear Simon,
Good day!
I perfectly understand. You do not know the tremendous help that you've given me. I read all your suggestions, tips, and sample answers from 2009 to 2020 for 2 straight days and compiled most of them because I had to prepare for my IELTS examination last Sunday (March 08, 2020).
Reviewing all of them was such an overwhelming task to do given that I am teaching 5 different subjects. Thus, I sympathize and understand you when you said that you want to spend some time doing one thing and doing it better. All of your previous blogs are all enough to help us get our desired band scores and usher us into our success.
You do not know how instrumental this site is in my own success. Yesterday, I received my IELTS results. I only hoped to get at least an overall band score of 6.5 for IELTS-Academic Module. But through this site, I received an overall band score of 8.0 (R = 9, L = 8.5, W = 7.0, S = 8.0).I never went astray when I sat the IELTS exam because I knew that I strictly followed most of your tips and advice.
Thank you very much, Simon! Your passion and efforts are all profoundly appreciated. Take care always. God speed!
Best regards,
Ran
Posted by: Ran | March 14, 2020 at 01:29
I started reading this blog in 2015, now I have migrated into NZ and have lived here for 4 years.
Thank you so much for all you have done here! Much appreciated.
Posted by: Chandler | March 14, 2020 at 20:45
take an easy and feel free to take a break
Posted by: jackie liu | March 15, 2020 at 03:19
Dear Mr. Simon,
Thank you so much for such an amazing site for all IELTS learners all around the world.
Wish you all the best!
Posted by: Min | March 15, 2020 at 08:38
Dear Simon,
Thanks so much for offering free lessons for so long and I'd like to leave my first comment under this post.
Wish you all the very best in the future and take care!
Posted by: Josh | March 15, 2020 at 16:49
Thanks for the help, I gained a lot of English skills and knowledge from you.
I wish you a good luck for the future and may you have a wonderful life with no worries.
Posted by: Joe | March 17, 2020 at 22:41
I don't know what to say! Thank you so much!!!!!! That's very kind of you to dedicate helpful knowledge during 10 years. I am one of the thousands of English learners who can enter your blog free and use it to get better. I'm grateful to you. Wish you all the best!
Posted by: Lisa | March 20, 2020 at 03:47
Many thanks for your hardworking for 10 years. I will be able to take a test on tomorrow. The ielts is not easy for me. Nevertheless, I couldn’t give up to my success in the future. Thank you again. Take care of your lovely life.
Posted by: Choung Park | March 24, 2020 at 04:33
Thank you Simon! I passed my IELTS exam because of you. I’m working now here in the UK.
Posted by: Nina Ramos | March 30, 2020 at 10:06
I've been following your blog since 2012.
Thank you for everything sir.
Looking forward to your return.
Hessam
Posted by: Syd | March 31, 2020 at 11:56
FROM SIMON:
Thanks again for the positive comments above. As the coronavirus crisis continues, I hope you're all ok.
Posted by: Simon | April 07, 2020 at 09:41
Hi Simon,
I hope you, your loved ones and the people in the UK stay well through the pandemic. Thank you for all the lessons you have made on this site, which have helped so many students including me achieve the required IELTS targets. Please take good care! From an old student of the site.
Posted by: Evan | April 07, 2020 at 12:45
I just want to thank you so much for this blog - it has given me help with how to teach IELTS, and at times, confidence that another teacher agrees with my instincts about how best to approach certain things! I have been directing my students to it for a long time. Thank you for leaving the materials up for us to share. I also have free teaching materials available to share on my website - they are not IELTS related (mostly songs and a few speaking activities) so I don't know if you will be able to use them, but please do so if you want. (The comment form asks for my website URL so I hope you will be able to see it. If not, search for my name and you won't have far to look.) Very best wishes to you!
Posted by: Gabrielle Lambrick | April 08, 2020 at 14:36
Hello Mr. Simon.
This is Nazmul Haque. I am a Medical Person , i work at a hospital that,s i can't enjoy lock down. really lock down doesn't for us. i would like to prepare for IELTS. how can i improve my English skill. i would like to go UK that;s why i have to IELTS.
Posted by: Nazmul Haque | April 17, 2020 at 19:35
Dear the beloved Simon,
I am a bit shocked to see such a decision.
I am a big fan and follower of ur blog since 2015.
I stopped taking the Ielts for the last 2 yrs,nonetheless, I still look at ur blog every once in a while. In short, it is one of the links that people ,like me, regularly look for the updates,it is not only for Ielts seekers. Man, you are a TREND now. God bless all ur work.
Keep safe.
Posted by: David | April 26, 2020 at 00:52
I'm just recently joining this website, and am really appreciate your efforts.
good luck
Posted by: Wail | June 23, 2020 at 21:23
Thank you for sharing your experiences, I am currently preparing for the IELTS, it is very helpful. regards
Posted by: ANGELA | August 15, 2020 at 13:52