May - 2016

IELTS Listening Checklist for self-study

Listening can be the easiest skill to teach but also the hardest skill to learn. In fact, it isn't really an easy skill to teach many ESL courses are not designed to really help students effectively. This is especially true in IELTS classes where teachers may focus only on the test questions and not on how to improve listening skills in general. However, IELTS listening exams are useful to help you identify the ways you can improve your listening. In today's blog, I do not

The POWER of Parallel Structure , part 2

As i said before, PARALLEL STRUCTURE is a POWERFUL TOOL to use for both Speaking and Writing. If you can master the skill of using parallel structure, it will help increase your score in grammar and also make your writing and speaking more professional. When making a list of things you should use the same grammatical form in each part of the list…. This is PARALLEL STRUCTURE. For example: adjective, adj and adj verb, verb and verb. noun phrase, noun phrase, and noun phrase

Writing task 1 - How Reading can help your Writing score

HI... Today I am going to talk about something i encourage my students to do: READ THE NEWS! In fact, I have often given my students a homework assignment in which they have to find an article and analyze it for class. One important thing about reading is that when students read, they should always have a goal in mind. Goals could include: learning vocabulary understanding a topic analyzing the text and even: learning vocabulary and grammar for writing task 1. Therefore

Who do YOU practice speaking English with?

Who do YOU practice speaking English with? a friend? someone in your family? someone at work or school? It's important to practice speaking as much as you can. However, it's also important to practice speaking about interesting topics - current events, the news or even the latest movies you have seen. Try to find time every day to practice speaking English with someone. In any case, I am interested: Who do YOU practice Speaking English with? If you want to speak with me onlin

IELTS WRITING - Which is more difficult: task 1 or task 2?

In your opinion, which is more difficult, WRITING TASK 1 or TASK 2? PLEASE VOTE. LET ME KNOW. To see IELTS writing questions, click here: WRITING TASK 1 QUESTIONS WRITING TASK 2 QUESTIONS Can you tell me WHY you think task 1 or task 2 is more difficult? Please leave a comment below: If you want a GREAT example of how IELTS examiners score writing task 1, click here: FREE SAMPLE If you want me to send you a sample of a task 2 analysis, please contact me. I need your email as

IELTS reading - Matching Headings and Evil Tricks!

IELTS READING - MATCHING HEADINGS Why do students find this difficult? Well, let’s face it. The main reason is that these questions may involve more reading and analyzing than some of the other IELTS question types. This can be a problem for students who are struggling with vocabulary. Are IELTS reading and listening questions truly EVIL??? Yes and No. It depends how you look it. Some people might call the questions tough but fair. Other people might call them tricky,

Which part of the IELTS exam is most difficult for YOU?

You can choose more than one answer. CLICK here for a FREE IELTS SPEAKING CLASS Just like the real exam. CLICK here for a FREE WRITING DOWNLOAD This pdf file has important information on how IELTS examiners score your writing!