English Language/IELTS Preparation

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English Language/IELTS Preparation Hello Everyone. This is for international students who want help with IELTS preparation or who want to improve their English

I have been an English language teacher and IELTS examiner for more than 20 years. I am also highly qualified (MA Applied Linguistics) and a great, fun teacher! Please contact me if you would like some professional one-to-one help with your IELTS preparation which I now do online.

08/06/2017

Words in RED = grammar mistake
Words in BLUE = repetition
Words in GREEN = inappropriate vocabulary
Words in ORANGE = spelling mistake

General comments
Generally this is a very good piece of writing and an improvement on your first one. There are very few grammatical mistakes, you can control quite complex grammatical structures in a sentence very well and this is very impressive. However, there is still need for improvement (see GRA below) and there are errors which prevent this from being an extremely well-written piece of writing but these can be easily put right.....
(+ 4 pages of feedback on how to improve your writing band)

06/06/2017

Hello friends. I am now offering a writing task correction service for feedback and advice for Writing Tasks 1&2. All mistakes are corrected and colour coded (according to the type of mistake) and your witing is given a band according to the 4 criteria (Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource & Grammatical Range and Accuracy). I use my experience as an İELTS examiner to tell you what you need to do to improve your writing and achieve a higher band. Please contact for details and good luck to everyone taking the IELTS test.

03/05/2017

Some people fear that technology is gradually taking over control of our lives, while others think that it has led to many positive developments in all aspects of their lives.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Band 9 model answer
Whilst there is agreement that the technological advances in recent years have largely been beneficial, there are some who feel afraid of what they consider to be a loss of personal control in the name of progress.
The best illustration of this modern day dichotomy is the internet and its accessibility through personal computers, tablets and mobile phones, to even the remotest of communities. There is no doubt that the facilitation of communication between people nowadays through electronic mail, social media and other means such as skype, is mostly welcomed by their users. Moreover, this interaction between individuals and groups can occur at minimal cost, usually only a monthly fee to an internet provider.
However, these changes in our lifestyle and daily routine are resented and even feared by those who see the email or mobile phone call as an intrusion upon life, something which must be replied to or answered within a short time frame. They argue that such instant communication places even greater demands on their already limited time and complain of having to do something rather than choosing to do something.
From my point of view, the internet as a means of communication can only dominate our lives if we permit it to do so. We are in control of who we communicate with, who we give our email address to and which social media we sign up to. Ultimately it is our choice and we decide the extent to which technology intrudes upon us.
To conclude, all of the new technologies, if used wisely, are only taking control of our lives if we allow them to do so.
272 words

14/02/2017

For those who don't know, your writing in IELTS is scored in 4 categories - Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Each category is given a band - 0 to 9 and your final band for that task is the average of the four scores awarded.

All four categories are equally important therefore it is essential that your writing takes this into account. Too many candidates focus on just one (GRA for example) and pay little attention to the others.

Also, too many candidates neglect the R in GRA. The examiner is not only looking at how grammatically accurate your sentences are but also at the variety or range of grammatical structures you can correctly use. It is not difficult to write short, simplistic sentences which contain few if any errors. Such writing, however, will never achieve a higher band.

13/02/2017

Hi everyone
Here is something about Writing Task 2 you might find helpful.
Below is the task and and a response to it. It was written by one of my students who scored band 8 in both the reading and listening tests.
What band do you think this answer achieved and why?
I will upload the answer soon with comments on each of the four categories (TA, LR, GRA, CC) plus a model band 9 answer.
I hope you find it useful.

Some people fear that technology is gradually taking over control of our lives, while others think that it has led to many positive developments in all aspects of their lives.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

During the last few decades, many highly advanced machines have been invented and it goes without saying that people’s dependance on these modern gadgets is increasing. The argument that heavily relying on these advanced machines to perform our daily tasks is a subject supported and refuted by many. Both sides of this argument will be analysed before a conclusion is reached.

On the one hand, many people believe that using high tech machines a lot to run simple errands can affect our health negatively. For example, a Canadian research proved that most people who used their cars on daily bases are not only struggling with weight problems but also developed health issues more than people who choose to walk or cycle to reach their destinations. So it is clear that depending on technology too much can ruin people’s health.

On the other hand, a large number of people feel that the advancement made in the technological feild brought many benefits to our lives. Take computers for instance, computers can solve complicated problems within few seconds, while a normal employee will spend hours to solve the same problem. It is obvious that technology speeds the work process.

In summary, after analysing both sides of the argument, it is felt that in most circumstances relaying on technology brings multiple benefits to our lives. Thus it is hoped that in the future people will not neglect their health and use machines moderately.

27/01/2017

Online help now available from me, a certificated and experienced IELTS examiner and teacher of IELTS preparation courses.
Online help:
1. Written feedback on Writing Tasks 1 & 2
An overall Writing band + comments according to the 4 Writing Test categories and band for that category:
Task Acievement, Cohesion and Coherence, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, Lexical Resource
2. Practice of the Speaking Test with tips and suggestions for improvement
3. Techniques and strategies for improving your Listening and Reading test bands

If interested please contact me here. All online help is via skype except for the Writing Test (via email)

Please note that this is my livelihood so there is a charge for this service but I can provide testimonials and samples of feedback I have given to previous students. (To show I am not an online con man!)

Good luck to all

24/01/2017

Hello everyone ~ I have been helping a student build up his vocab for IELTS and I prepared this sheet for him. They are all very useful words so hopefully they can be of use to you too.

VOCABULARY (1)

The following verbs are from a list of the 1,000 most commonly used verbs in English. Check their meaning in a dictionary. All the verbs are regular – they form the past tense (V2) and the past participle (V3) with ~ ed.

However, remember the spelling rule:

If a word ends in a vowel + consonant then double the final consonant

Examples: occur – occurred - occurred
admit – admitted – admitted

Also remember the pronunciation rules for the past tense of regular verbs:
• /d/ = lived
• /t/ = washed
• /ıd/ = decided

determine/d/ persuade/d/ discover/d/ display/d/ maintain/d/ remind/ıd/ contain/d/ acquire/d/ occur/d/ suppose/d/ appreciate/ıd/ enhance/t/ achieve/d/ convince/t/ react/ıd/ anticipate/ıd/ ignore/d/ solve/d/ vary /d/ install/d/ imply/d/ involve /d/ ensure /d/ assure/d/ insist/ıd/ adapt/ıd/ emphasize/d/ distribute/ıd/ pursue/d/ consult/ıd/ expect/ıd/ retain/d/ accuse/d/ confirm/d/ hesitate/ıd/ justify/d/ commit/ıd/ incorporate /ıd/ admit/ıd/

03/10/2016

The Speaking Test (part 1)

Hello everyone

In the first part of the Speaking Test the examiner is not evaluating your language according to the ST band descriptors - by asking you to talk on a familiar topic, the examiner wants you to feel more at ease so that you can produce your best language in parts 2 and 3.

However, it is important to make a good impression and there are only a limited number of topics the examiner can choose to ask you about. Studies/job, hometown, leisure time etc. So you should really be prepared and able to talk on these topics.

If the examiner says - 'Tell me about your family' - please don't just answer - 'I'm married and have got two children' - then look at the examiner expectantly (as most of my candidates have done!). It is your SPEAKING test so answer at length - as long as you stay more or less on topic, then the examiner is happy to sit back and listen.

I tell my İELTS prep students to think about how to expand their responses to these familiar topics. To demonstrate what I mean, here are some suggestions for - 'Tell me about your family':

Suggestions for extending the Speaking Test (part1) common topics:

Family
• Give names/ages of close family members (spouse, children, parents)
• For spouse and parents talk about their job. Describe them physically
• For spouse talk about how long you have known each other, where you met, why you like each other, what you have in common, what you do together, do you always agree – about what? Do you sometimes disagree? – about what? Do you share the same views, outlook, hobbies, plans?
• For children talk about their likes and dislikes, school, hobbies/games, food, well-haved – when/why? Naughty – when/why? Plans and hopes for the future
• For parents talk about where they are, near or far. How often do you see them? Do you spend much time with them – if yes, what do you do? Talk about your childhood memories – did you have a good relationship with your parents? Etc etc….

These are just a few ideas/suggestions; there are many more which could be added to this list.

20/06/2016

The Listening Test

Remaining explanations:

The correct answer = red or blue
The candidate wrote - red
Wrong because the candidate didn't give the full answer

The correct answer = speaks Chinese
The candidate wrote - speak Chinese
Wrong - grammatically incorrect

The correct answer = some students
The candidate wrote - students
Wrong - some is a quantifier and is necessary

The correct answer = walking
The candidate wrote - on foot
Correct - exact synonyms are acceptable although close ones aren't

The correct answer = London
The candidate wrote - LONDON
Correct - writing all your answers in uppercase is acceptable and a way to avoid making errors with capitalization (but it does take longer to write, so be aware)

The correct answer = B
The candidate wrote - B at the supermarket
Correct but in multiple choice don't waste time writing the full answer when you only have to write A,B,C or D

The correct answer = Climate change
The candidate wrote - climate change
Pay attention to where the missing words are in a gap-fill type of question. Here they were at the start of the sentence hence the capital C for climate and without it you lose a valuable point

Please remember folks I am not the one who decides how the lıstening test is marked - I am just sharing real examples of answers given in tests I have had to mark as right and wrong over my long years as an IELTS examiner. In English we say 'To be forewarned is to be forearmed' - so get your weapons sharpened!

14/06/2016

Please message me with any questions or requests you may have concerning IELTS and I will try to address them...

13/06/2016

Finally, here are the answers/explanations to the listening quiz I gave.

The Listening Test is marked very strictly and I just want to say that although I may not agree with this, this is the way it is. In Turkey, for example, five percent is written - %5 and not 5%. %5 is marked wrong even though the candidate has heard and given the correct figure. It seems unfair but if you make several errors like this, I call them "silly mistakes", you can drop by a couple of bands.

So in the quiz, I gave some examples of the silly but costly mistakes many candidates make.

Correct answer = Five pounds/£5
The candidate wrote 5£ and this is marked wrong

Correct answer = cars
The candidate wrote car and this is marked wrong. In many languages the singular is used when it is clear that the noun is plural - e.g. Some car, 2 car. However, incorrect use of English singular/plural is marked as wrong

The correct answer is Norfolk Street/St
The candidate wrote Norfolk st. There are fixed rules about how we use capital letters in English and if you don't follow them you lose a valuable mark! I am still amazed by how many of my students think using capital letters is a style choice. It's not. Follow the rules or pay the price. Sorry, but that's the way it is.

The correct answer = Calling from Canada
The candidate wrote - He’s calling from Canada. This is marked as wrong - it's FOUR words (five if you don't count the contraction). You DIDN'T follow the instruction - which is usually "no more than three words"
You are so naughty!!!! Seriously though, sometimes you will have to make changes (e.g. make the verb a gerund) in order to follow the word limit restriction. Just make sure your answer is grammatically correct because if it isn't, it will be marked as wrong.

The correct answer = 1.5 metres/1.5m
The candidate wrote 1.5
1.5 - what? Dollars? Kilometres??????

The correct answer = Australian
The candidate wrote - Austrailian
All spelling mistakes are marked as wrong (unless an alternate spelling is given - and that is very rare, in my experience)

If you haven't tried it yet, go ahead and try the rest. Will the candidate's answer be marked as right (1 point) or wrong (0 points)? Answers/explanations later.....

Many thanks to all who like this page. I have more free time now and I will hopefully be more active on here. I know from my many years of experience as an IELTS examiner and teacher of IELTS prep courses, what a life changing event the test can be. So I hope to pass on my knowledge and experience to all of you who will be taking the test. I sincerely hope that what I pass on will be of some use to you and I wish you all the very best.

Also, a very big hello to any of my former students/candidates in Pakistan, Iraq, Ukraine and England who may just come across this page.

WATCH THIS SPACE!

The correct answer = red or blue
The candidate wrote - red

The correct answer = speaks Chinese
The candidate wrote - speak Chinese

The correct answer = some students
The candidate wrote - students

The correct answer = walking
The candidate wrote - on foot

The correct answer = London
The candidate wrote - LONDON

The correct answer = B
The candidate wrote - B at the supermarket

The correct answer = Climate change
The candidate wrote - climate change

24/04/2016

Coming soon - tips for Academic Writing Task 1

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