Sunday, February 19, 2017

IELTS General Task I-General Training (GT) - CEFR C1-IELTS Band 8



IELTS General Task I-General Training (GT) - CEFR C1-IELTS Band 8
 
You have seen an advertisement for an evening course to study a foreign language. Write a letter to the institution offering the course. In your letter ask for details of the course, ask if the course teachers are qualified native speakers, request that the institute sends you their brochure.

Write at least 150 words.

Dear Sir,

I came across an advertisement in the morning newspaper about your language center and the courses offered. From the adverts, I could see that your language school is going to start an evening class for English language learners. Being a working professional, your course seems to fit my requirements. Therefore, I am writing you to get additional information about the course.

As mentioned, I am very keen to improve my English language skills as I intent to go abroad for higher education. You may see from this letter that I have some sort of knowledge of English language but I need to get a good score in IELTS exam. Therefore, I would like to improve my language with a native speaker.

I therefore, request you to provide me further details about the course. I would appreciate if you could write me in my email the duration of the course, applicable fees and the date of commencement of the course. Could you please also send me an electronic copy of information booklet in my email? 

I look forward to receiving information at the earliest.

Regards,
A

Essay topics: IELTS General Writing - Writing Task I - CEFR C1-IELTS Band 7.5

Essay topics: IELTS General Writing - Writing Task I
You saw an advert asking for volunteers to run a charity event:

1. Explain why you are interested in helping
2. give details suitable past experience
3. suggest ways you might help with the event

Write at least 150 words.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I came across your advertisement regarding the fund raising event to support environment protection. I am keen in charity events and always try to participate and provide my help where needed. I have a can do attitude and a passion for protecting the environment. Therefore, I would like to apply for the post.

I am a student of Science University and I am studying ecology. I believe I have the right skills and expertise to qualify for the role. I have a profound understanding of environmental challenges as well as relevant experience in conducting the charity events. I have been engaged as a volunteer in a number of fund raising activities arranged by both international and local NGOs.

My experience entails analysis of the requirements, planning of events, estimating the budget, and promoting events. I’m keen to offer my help with any of these work streams and beyond. I would be happy to meet and discuss the support I can provide to you with the event.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards,
A

Essay topics: Letter of Advice - IELTS Writing Task - I, General Test - CEFR C1-IELTS Band 7.5

 Essay topics: Letter of Advice - IELTS Writing Task - I, General Test - CEFR C1-IELTS Band 7.5

A friend has written to you asking for advice about a problem at work. You have had a similar problem in the past. Write a reply to your friend. In your letter: tell your friend you understand the problem, explain what happened to you in the past, suggest possible solutions to the problem. Write at least 150 words.

Dear R,

I fully appreciate the challenges of working in a corporate world. Unfortunately, hard work and discipline do not always help to get a promotion. Instead, one should be really smart in building and expanding internal and external networks.

Few years ago, I had the same issue with self-promotion and visibility. In other words, irrespective of the hard labour and efforts to meet work deadline, my contributions remained unnoticed. On the contrary, colleagues and employees who were more vocal, visible and well-connected scored excellent performance ratings and received the laurels. Clearly, I had to change my behaviour and working style in order to promote my contributions in the firm. I had a few coaching sessions with senior leadership team member who shared some tips to succeed in workplace. A couple of months later, my natural modesty were replaced by assertive and confident behaviour.

So, let me give you some advice.

First of all, you should not shy away from sending an email to your supervisor and leadership team stating your achievements in a particular task or project. Secondly, it is likely that people notice you easily when you start writing articles in internal and external journals. Finally, I would suggest you not to miss any opportunity to make presentations at town-hall and meetings.

I hope you will find these suggestions helpful and wish all the very best in your life.

Regards,
A

IELTS General Training-Writing Task I- For band 7, CEFR C1

Essay topic for IELTS General Test Writing Task - I

You are planning to take leave from office because of study reasons. Write a leave application to your manager asking to grant one month leave. In your letter, tell the reason of leave, who will replace you and how you are planning to keep up to date while away.

Write at least 150 words.


Sample Essay:

Dear J,

I am writing to request one month leave, which is required for me to better prepare for my IELTS exam. The exam is scheduled for March 2017 and I am conscious that I am not yet at the level I aspire to. I find it challenging to balance between the work and study. Therefore, I need a break from office.

To keep abreast of the developments at work, I will check my office emails on a weekly basis. In addition, I would be available for our bi-weekly team meetings.

As for my temporary replacement, I think Jane has the required level of experience and knowledge of my project. I am confident that she is the right person to keep the momentum and make the project a success.

We have been working together for a number of years and you know that I always did my best to meet the business requirements. I would appreciate your understanding of my personal situation. I am happy to discuss what support I can give to ensure we keep the ball rolling while I am away.

Regards,
A

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

IELTS Essays-C1 CEFR Level- Essay for IELTS Band 8

A well-known magazine for English language learners has asked for reviews from readers about useful resources for learning English.

You have recently discovered Write and Improve, a new writing tool for learners of English. Write a review for the magazine describing the main features of the tool and why it is/isn’t helpful. Include details about what you like about the tool and about any difficulties you had with it, and finish by giving your recommendation for other readers.

Write your review.


****************

I have encountered a website called "Write & Improve - a language improvement tool" developed by Cambridge University Press. I was directed to the website when I was looking for some information on resources for learning English few days ago. I found it to be quite useful even though I that that there are areas for improvement on this website. I would like to review the main features and attributes of this website in my article. Additionally, I would also provide some feedback and recommendations for future improvement.

To begin with, it is easy to navigate within the site. I could locate the resources easily. Since the website is designed by reputed University center, the materials provided were of exceptionally high quality. Without much hassle, I was able to submit my article. As per the instructions, I was told that “submit button” needs to be clicked after writing the article and I meticulously followed the instructions. On submission of my article, I was promptly taken to the next page where I could see the result and feedback on my essay. Overall, I had the pleasant experience. The website did the checking of language, grammar and spelling swiftly.

Despite being easy to make use of the resources in the website, it also suffers from some avoidable drawbacks. First of all, the feedback were system generated, without intervention of human beings, which sometimes, make them unreliable and unbelievable. Unless the student has high speed internet, it slows down the generation of reviews. The designers need to look at it at the earliest. 

Monday, February 13, 2017

IELTS Essays-B2 CEFR Level- Essays for band 6.5

Should computers and tablets completely replace books in schools and universities?

Write an essay giving your opinion.

Computers, tablets and other modern advanced devices can be used in addition to textbooks in schools and universities as I do not believe that these modern tools can completely replace the traditional means of teaching.

First of all, tablets and computers may be ubiquitous but still are very expensive. Not all the students can afford it especially if they are from poor families. On the other hand, printed copy of text books, and references materials are much cheaper in comparison to computers and accessories.

Another drawback of having gadgets is that students may not be able to focus on a single task. There might be a temptation to play games online, or to watch videos instead of doing homework or revising lessons. Frequent shifting of tasks does not help in learning.

To conclude, the purpose of learning is not met unless the students have a good internet connection to make effective use of these gadgets. Unfortunately, high speed internet is beyond reach of many families in remote villages and in developing countries. Hence, instructions in a classroom should be based on printed books and articles.


How do you feel about birthdays? Do you think they are important? How would you choose to celebrate your birthday if you could do anything you wanted?

Write your autobiographical essay.


Birthdays are important milestone in our life as it reminds us an important day and event. Since a baby is born after a painful labor and a lot of care and love of a mother goes into it, I feel it is naturally significant day not only in a person's life whose birthday we celebrate but also in lives of close relatives. The birth of someone in a family is a moment of joy and happiness and it makes it even more significant to celebrate it.

I am no different than many others who would consider birthday as an important event. Since I have been brought in that environment where birthdays are regarded as sacred day, I think I am conditioned to think in this way.

For a minute, I would like to detach myself from the society and would like to give a serious thought on the necessity of celebration of birthday. On one hand, it is a customary practice to mark this day with dinner with close family and relatives. On the other, we sometimes need to question its purpose.

As I am not a natural extrovert, I feel that I would spend this day quietly and away from hustle and bustle of city life if were able to decide myself. Additionally, I would go on a long trip somewhere near to seashore and would love to feel the serene life in order to recharge my batteries. Such moments also provide ample opportunities to re-energize ourselves. I hate spending money on liquor and parties.

****************

Курсы английского в Астане. Подготовка к TOEFL, подготовка к IELTS в Астане
Повысим Ваш уровень английского языка. С нашей подготовкой нет границ в познании галактики. записаться на пробный урок.

IELTS (International English Language Testing System) – это самая востребованная международная система тестирования на знание английского языка. Ежегодно IELTS сдают более 2 миллионов человек.

IELTS открывает перед вами новые возможности. Если вы успешно сдали экзамен, это поможет в учебе или работе за границей или в переезде в другую страну на постоянное место жительства. Более 9 000 организаций в 140 странах мира, включая правительственные учреждения, учебные заведения и агентства по трудоустройству, признают результаты IELTS.

Фактически, IELTS – единственный тест по английскому языку, который требуется сдать для иммиграции в страны, где требуется подтверждение знания английского языка.

Вам необходимо подтвердить уровень знания английского языка для подачи заявления в Иммиграционную и визовую службу Великобритании (UKVI)? IELTS входит в список тестов на знание английского языка (Secure English Language Tests; SELT), утвержденных UKVI.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

IELTS Academic WRITING TASK 1 - IELTS in Astana, Kazakhstan

IELTS Academic WRITING TASK 1 - IELTS in Astana, Kazakhstan

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The graph below shows the amount in grams of potatoes, pasta and rice eaten in a European country between 1976 and 2006.


Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.


Write at least 150 words.





Model Answer:


The graph chart shows the consumption quantity of potatoes, pasta and rice in a European state during the period of 30 years from 1976 to 2006. Overall, it is seen that the proportion of potatoes in a weekly diet has greatly reduced in the span of 30 years whereas intake of pasta has substantially increased during the same time period.

In 1976, the consumption of potatoes stood at the highest among the three food items. More than 400 grams of potatoes were consumed by a person in a week. Pasta was the least eaten product in that year (About 270 grams per person per week).
Initially until around 1986, potatoes were the most sought after food products. However, this trend got reversed and people started eating less amounts of potatoes thereafter. Especially after 1991, there was a steep decline of quantity of potatoes forming part of diet and in 2006; it was at the bottom position (little more than 100 grams per person per week).

In contrast to this trend, people started consuming more quantity of pasta and its quantity on weekly meals continued to increase until 1996 (reaching 500 grams per human per week) and thereafter, it has stabilised.

It can also be seen that the consumption of rice was declining until 2000 and thereafter it slightly peaked up. However, its consumption in 2006 (around 200 grams per person per week) was much less than in 1976 (little more than 300 grams per person per week).

IELTS Academic Writing Task - 2: Sample Answer

IELTS Academic Writing Task in Astana, Kazakhstan

WRITING TASK 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

In the past, when students did a university degree, they tended to study in their own country. Nowadays, they have more opportunity to study abroad. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this development? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

*******

It is a worldwide phenomenon that many people travel to different countries for the purpose of higher education. This was not possible and less occurring in the past mainly due to lack of knowledge about foreign countries, and expensive travel and cost of studies. However, the globalisation and the revolution in information technology has made it possible today that many people are benefitting from the quality education from universities.

Arguments can be made in favour of study in foreign countries. However, we need to be mindful that there are many critics to such patterns. First of all, opportunity to receive quality education is one of the most important benefits of going to foreign university. This is so true in case of students from poor and developing nations where there is hardly any infrastructure and investment in good universities, colleges, and research centres. Secondly, when students enrol in the foreign universities, they can use their time in understanding cultures, customs and traditions of another country and of other students. It augurs well when young students learn to respect other cultures and languages.

As said before, there are plenty of negative consequences of joining foreign universities. A country which is already poor loses a lot of foreign currency reserves when a student travels to another country. Prospective graduate and undergraduate candidate has to spend a lot of money for his college admission, for hostel, for books in another country and this could be detrimental to poor country’s economy. The second disadvantage of studying in international universities for anyone is that he or she is not able to gain the required amount of knowledge of his home country and there could be some difficulty to work in his or her country when they return.


Therefore, in my conclusion, I would like to state that education in foreign country is not without demerits and each individual should make his own assessment with regard to what is best for him.  

IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 - Sample Question and Answer

IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The chart below shows the number of men and women in further education in Britain in three periods and whether they were studying full-time or part-time.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.



Sample Answer:

The bar charts provide the information about number of men and women in tertiary education in Britain in three different periods from 1970/71 to 1990/91 and also show the data pertaining to full time and part time enrolment for further study. Overall, it can be observed that the number of men and women opting for full time study gradually increased in the given period whereas the choice of women in part time education was seen gradually increasing in contrast to the choice of men which did not follow any particular discernible pattern.

During the period 1970/71, men outnumbered women in part-time education (1,000,000 men versus about 700,000 women). By the time of 1990/91, this trend was reversed. In 1990/91, the number of women participating in part-time study was significantly higher than men (1,100,000 women versus 900,000 men). The selection of part-time education by women went up steadily in all the periods, i.e. in 1970/71, in 1980/81, and in 1990/91 (700,000, more than 850,000, and 1,100,000 consecutively).

With respect to full-time education among males, marginal increment in numbers could be seen after each decade. In case of female students, the rate of rise in number of full-time students was much more striking in 1980/81, and 1990/91 in comparison to 1970/71.

Comment by IELTS Teacher: The above essay will get 7 in IELTS Exam.

The comment below is from eRater/eGrader of Testbig.com

Grammar and spelling errors:

Line 1, column 191, Rule ID: EN_COMPOUNDS
Message: This word is normally spelled as one.
Suggestion: fulltime
...91 and also show the data pertaining to full time and part time enrolment for further stu...
^^^^^^^^^
Line 1, column 205, Rule ID: EN_COMPOUNDS
Message: This word is normally spelled with hyphen.
Suggestion: part-time
...ow the data pertaining to full time and part time enrolment for further study. Overall, i...
^^^^^^^^^
Line 1, column 316, Rule ID: EN_COMPOUNDS
Message: This word is normally spelled as one.
Suggestion: fulltime
... the number of men and women opting for full time study gradually increased in the given ...
^^^^^^^^^
Line 1, column 403, Rule ID: EN_COMPOUNDS
Message: This word is normally spelled with hyphen.
Suggestion: part-time
...n period whereas the choice of women in part time education was seen gradually increasing...
^^^^^^^^^
Line 4, column 262, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
..., and 1990/91 in comparison to 1970/71.
^^^^

Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, if, so, whereas, in contrast, in contrast to, with respect to

Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments

Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 6.0 7.0 86% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 2.0 1.00243902439 200% => OK
Conjunction : 7.0 6.8 103% => OK
Relative clauses : 2.0 3.15609756098 63% => OK
Pronoun: 3.0 5.60731707317 54% => OK
Preposition: 43.0 33.7804878049 127% => OK
Nominalization: 9.0 3.97073170732 227% => Less nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.

Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1085.0 965.302439024 112% => OK
No of words: 209.0 196.424390244 106% => OK
Chars per words: 5.19138755981 4.92477711251 105% => OK
Fourth root words length: 3.80221413058 3.73543355544 102% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.71721472796 2.65546596893 102% => OK
Unique words: 113.0 106.607317073 106% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.540669856459 0.547539520022 99% => OK
syllable_count: 302.4 283.868780488 107% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.4 1.45097560976 96% => OK

A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 2.0 1.53170731707 131% => OK
Interrogative: 0.0 0.114634146341 0% => OK
Article: 4.0 4.33902439024 92% => OK
Subordination: 0.0 1.07073170732 0% => More adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 3.0 0.482926829268 621% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning.
Preposition: 7.0 3.36585365854 208% => Less preposition wanted as sentence beginnings.

Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 8.0 8.94146341463 89% => OK
Sentence length: 26.0 22.4926829268 116% => OK
Sentence length SD: 74.370272959 43.030603864 173% => OK
Chars per sentence: 135.625 112.824112599 120% => OK
Words per sentence: 26.125 22.9334400587 114% => OK
Discourse Markers: 8.375 5.23603664747 160% => OK
Paragraphs: 3.0 3.83414634146 78% => More paragraphs wanted.
Language errors: 5.0 1.69756097561 295% => Less language errors wanted.
Sentences with positive sentiment : 5.0 3.70975609756 135% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 0.0 1.13902439024 0% => More negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 3.0 4.09268292683 73% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?

Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.323223211291 0.215688989381 150% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.165704791841 0.103423049105 160% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0821434524584 0.0843802449381 97% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.226778267028 0.15604864568 145% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0902626395604 0.0819641961636 110% => OK

Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 16.1 13.2329268293 122% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 62.01 61.2550243902 101% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 6.51609756098 135% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 11.1 10.3012195122 108% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 13.12 11.4140731707 115% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.48 8.06136585366 105% => OK
difficult_words: 47.0 40.7170731707 115% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 19.0 11.4329268293 166% => OK
gunning_fog: 12.4 10.9970731707 113% => OK
text_standard: 9.0 11.0658536585 81% => OK
What are above readability scores?

---------------------

Rates: 78.6516853933 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 7.0 Out of 9
---------------------
Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.

IELTS General Writing Task - 1: Sample Writing and Comments from Examiner

WRITING TASK 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

You are applying for a job and need a letter of reference from someone who knew you when you were at school. Write a letter to one of your old teachers asking for a reference. In your letter:

-say what job you have applied for
-explain why you want this job
-suggest what information the teacher should include

Write at least 150 words.
**************
Dear Peter,

I hope this letter finds you well.

I am applying for a new job and would like to ask you to provide a reference letter to support my application. This is a project manager role which will focus on improving the interface between HR business partners and HR service desks. The project manager will lead the group of subject matter experts from different areas of HR. This will be a short term international assignment in London.
I am excited about this role as it affords a wonderful opportunity to put research findings on change management in practice. This project will set a base for future changes in the way HR function operates in the company. I think I will get a valuable experience from this opportunity.
It would be great if you could mention the research projects I have done and the experience I have had in change management and in HR operating models in the reference letter.

I appreciate your support.

Regards, 
Aida

**************

Examiner's Comments/My Comments/Rajib's Comments:

The letter is simple and well written. It has enough words (more than 150 words as required) and gives answers to all the questions asked. It is a writing sample for band of 7-7.5

Suggestion for improvements: Need to use more complex words and wide range of grammar should be used for better score.


This essay (Writing sample) was submitted to eRater site (testbig.com) and it suggested that the essay may get almost 8 in IELTS. Your IELTS teacher does not believe this but we are sharing the comments/feedback received from testbig.com as it will give you an idea on how this writing sample can be improved. Please have a look below and ask us if you have any questions. 


Transition Words or Phrases used:
if, well, i think
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 3.0 7.48453608247 40% => More to be verbs wanted.
Auxiliary verbs: 8.0 4.92783505155 162% => OK
Conjunction : 4.0 5.05154639175 79% => OK
Relative clauses : 1.0 3.03092783505 33% => OK
Pronoun: 21.0 32.9175257732 64% => OK
Preposition: 20.0 26.3917525773 76% => OK
Nominalization: 10.0 3.85567010309 259% => Less nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 801.0 937.175257732 85% => OK
No of words: 166.0 206.0 81% => More content wanted.
Chars per words: 4.82530120482 4.54256449028 106% => OK
Fourth root words length: 3.58944267634 3.78020617076 95% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.78126077987 2.54303337028 109% => OK
Unique words: 101.0 127.690721649 79% => More unique words wanted.
Unique words percentage: 0.60843373494 0.622605031667 98% => OK
syllable_count: 246.6 290.88556701 85% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.41237113402 106% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 9.0 9.13402061856 99% => OK
Interrogative: 0.0 0.360824742268 0% => OK
Article: 1.0 0.824742268041 121% => OK
Subordination: 0.0 1.83505154639 0% => More adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 0.0 0.463917525773 0% => OK
Preposition: 0.0 1.44329896907 0% => More preposition wanted as sentence beginning.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 10.0 12.6804123711 79% => Need more sentences. Double check the format of sentences, make sure there is a space between two sentences, or have enough periods. And also check the lengths of sentences, maybe they are too long.
Sentence length: 16.0 16.3608247423 98% => OK
Sentence length SD: 45.8356748713 44.8134815571 102% => OK
Chars per sentence: 80.1 76.5299724578 105% => OK
Words per sentence: 16.6 16.8248392259 99% => OK
Discourse Markers: 1.7 4.34317383033 39% => More transition words/phrases wanted.
Paragraphs: 5.0 4.29896907216 116% => OK
Language errors: 0.0 2.54639175258 0% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 8.0 7.41237113402 108% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 0.0 1.49484536082 0% => More negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 3.0 3.94845360825 76% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.199950679304 0.216113520407 93% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0790339044926 0.0766984524023 103% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0799032048056 0.0603063233224 132% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.131468715158 0.12726935374 103% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.058680264071 0.0580467560999 101% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 9.6 8.37731958763 115% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 63.7 70.7449484536 90% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 3.82989690722 81% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 8.4 7.45979381443 113% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 10.44 8.71597938144 120% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.14 7.59969072165 107% => OK
difficult_words: 39.0 41.2886597938 94% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 8.0 8.62886597938 93% => OK
gunning_fog: 8.4 8.54432989691 98% => OK
text_standard: 8.0 8.15463917526 98% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Rates: 87.0786516854 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 7.75 Out of 9
---------------------
Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Important language points in IELTS Exam, in IELTS Test

There was a question at FUTURELEARN Forum, and the question was:

What have you identified as the most important language points you need to work on to help improve your IELTS score?

First of all, FutureLearn is a Forum which conducts/organises many free courses in English Language. I was attending a course on IELTS. For example, the course on IELTS which I am attending at the moment is: INSIDE IELTS CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT. You can get the more ideas about IELTS and this free course by visiting this link:

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/cambridge-english-ielts/2/study-group

Now, let us talk about IELTS. IELTS is one of the toughest exams if you have not studied in English medium, or if you have not studied enough English. I have seen that many people in Kazakhstan and especially in Astana - the new capital of Kazakhstan - dream of "passing" IELTS though there is no such concepts as pass or fail in IELTS. What they mean is that they want to receive a good score in IELTS so that they can prove their English language skills, or apply to foreign Universities.

I am always ready to help you in case you need any help from me to crack IELTS examinations in Kazakhstan. I will be able to help you in reading, writing, listening and speaking part of IELTS. You can contact me through this blog to realise your dreams of getting good IELTS score. If you are based in Astana, Kazakhstan, we can meet face to face and talk about IELTS in Kazakhstan, and if you are located in other cities, you can learn via SKYPE.

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What have you identified as the most important language points you need to work on to help improve your IELTS score?

I think it is difficult to pinpoint to only one language skill to get good scores in IELTS. Vocabulary is very important in reading, writing and speaking. If you know a lot of multi-syllable words, good collocations and compound words, you can read the text easily, quickly and can understand it without much efforts. It will enhance your confidence and helps to save a lot of time.

In writing and speaking, vocabulary plays a good role but I think examiners are not only looking for your word lists. You need to be able to exhibit multiple skills when it comes to writing and speaking exams. In writing, a good grammar is very important and use of complex grammar without mistakes is highly desirable. Similarly, coherence in expression of ideas, use of suitable collocation is extremely important.

When it comes to speaking, you need to speak like a native speaker. That means we need to use correct grammar, varieties of colloquial expressions, diverse words but not necessarily complex ones.

Now, in listening, ability to understand different accents and dialects of English is important and it comes only through practice. So, the students start from reading different texts on variety of topics. 

Writing and Reading in IELTS-Is 60 minutes enough?

There was a question at FUTURELEARN Forum, and the question was:

Some people struggle to finish the reading and writing tests in the time limit. How does the time limit affect the way that you read and write? What can you do to improve this?

First of all, FutureLearn is a Forum which conducts/organises many free courses in English Language. I was attending a course on IELTS. For example, the course on IELTS which I am attending at the moment is: INSIDE IELTS CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT. You can get the more ideas about IELTS and this free course by visiting this link: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/cambridge-english-ielts/2/study-group


Now, let us talk about IELTS. IELTS is one of the toughest exams if you have not studied in English medium, or if you have not studied enough English. I have seen that many people in Kazakhstan dream of "passing" IELTS though there is no such concepts as pass or fail in IELTS. What they mean is that they want to receive a good score in IELTS so that they can prove their English language skills, or apply to foreign Universities.

I am always ready to help you in case you need any help from me to crack IELTS examinations. I will be able to help you in reading, writing, listening and speaking part of IELTS. You can contact me through this blog to realise your dreams of getting good IELTS score.

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Please look below my advice on how you can manage your time in IELTS examination.

Some people struggle to finish the reading and writing tests in the time limit. How does the time limit affect the way that you read and write? What can you do to improve this?



First of all, if you want to get a good score in IELTS reading, you should have a good reading skills. That means you have to be able to read any text on any topics quickly, you have to have the ability to understand any sentence with ease. Having a good knowledge of vocabulary is definitely an asset.

In reading, different tricks, tactics and strategies work for different people. IELTS teachers have their own views on how to master the reading part of the IELTS. Some will say that you have to read the question first, some will say that you have to read the topic sentence or find the keyword. For me, these tricks do not work. I need to read the text completely and try to understand everything quickly. If I have a difficulty over a word or phrase (s), I will highlight that part and come back to it again later. As I consider myself good reader with decent knowledge of vocabulary, I am not afraid of reading text.

I advise students to read modern literature from day to day print. Reading The Economist, The Guardian and The New York Times help you a lot. The start will not be easy but you need to make an attempt everyday, learn new words, new complex sentence structures and you will find the rhythm.
In writing, 60 minutes is a lot of time. I had sufficient time to do both the Academic writing tasks. I had the difficulty to keep the essays within the word limit.

I always tend to write a lot and I think I got penalised there. Of course, my score was low not because IELTS examiners penalise you because of long essay but long essays tend to have more mistakes, obscure ideas, conflicting or repetitive views. If you have practiced writing few times at home before exam, you should not be scared of time issue. It is better to focus on meaningful ideas and their presentation. I hope my comments help you.