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My IELTS Blog!

Here you’ll find our posts and podcasts on a wide range of subjects to help you on your IELTS journey! Join us at My IELTS Classroom today for our video courses, marking service, 1-2-1 lessons and so much more…

Our posts & podcasts

• All Posts, 
• Writing, 
• Speaking, 
• Listening, 
• Reading, 
• Grammar, 
• General Advice, 
• Podcast

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  Don’t pause in the IELTS Speaking Exam – paraphrase!

  29 March 2018

  Imagine this. It’s part two of the speaking test. You have been given a cue card that asks you to describe a memorable journey, and you are talking about a road trip you took with some friends across Europe. 🚗 It’s a good story. You have lots to say, and are about to get to the best part of the story – the bit that describes how you got stopped by the police because you ran over a traffic cone….. 🚓. But then you realise, you don’t know the word for “traffic cone” in English…….

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  IELTS True / False / Not Given: The Basics

  22 March 2018

  Are you confused by IELTS True / False / Not Given questions? Well, you are not alone. They really are question that seems to confuse IELTS test-takers most. I mean, what is the difference between False and Not Given? And if you can scan for the answers, why aren’t they easier to find?  Well, in today’s blog, I hope to finally clear up all of the basic questions you might have about True /False / Not Given questions AND look at where you might be going wrong. But first, let’s look at

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  Never write a mixed tone IELTS letter!

  15 March 2018

  OK, you are a IELTS General Training student sitting in the writing exam. The invigilator tells you that you can open your test paper and begin. You look at the prompt for the letter. What are you hoping to see? An informal letter, a formal letter, or a semi-formal letter? In my experience, most test-takers would say informal. I mean, writing a letter to a friend is easy, right? WRONG! 🙅‍♀️ And that’s because 99% of the informal letters that I mark are MIXED TONE.💀

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  Common Words in the IELTS General Training Reading Test

  08 March 2018

  Common Words in the IELTS General Training Reading Test Hey! If you are a General Training test-taker, do you ever get the feeling of deja-vu when you do multiple practice exams? The feeling that even though the texts have changed, the questions you are being asked seem to be the same? Well, if you have, WELL DONE 🎉. You’re right – the same words are used again and again . And, that’s what I want to look at in today’s blog: the words that most commonly tested in Sections 1 and 2.

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  When IELTS Speaking Part 1 gets strange

  01 March 2018

  When IELTS Speaking Part 1 gets strange The first section of the IELTS speaking test should be the easiest for all test-takers because the questions are all about YOU 😎, so hopefully you will never have to struggle to find an answer! However, as many test-takers have discovered over the years, the topics in IELTS Speaking Part 1 can sometimes be, well, strange! So, in today’s blog, I want to talk about how to prepare for the questions you can predict, and then ones that you definitely can’t! But first, let’s start with the the basic information IELTS speaking part 1.

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  How to read faster: Skimming, Scanning and Speed Reading in the IELTS exam

  22 February 2018

  How to read faster: Skimming, Scanning and Speed Reading in the IELTS exam If there was no time limit in the IELTS Reading exam, would you get more answers correct? ⏰ I imagine so. Because if there is one comment I read again and again its that students struggle to finish the 40 questions in 60 minutes. So, what is the key to reading more quickly? Is it scanning and skimming? Is it increasing your vocabulary? Or is it simply being able to process words more quickly in your brain? Well, that’s what we are going to be discussing in today’s blog.

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  IELTS Information Match Questions

  15 February 2018

  IELTS Information Match Questions  Hey. In today’s blog, we will be continuing our in-depth look at the most problematic types of IELTS reading questions. Today, it’s IELTS Information Match Questions. And, although at first glance these questions might seem every different to the Headings Match Questions we looked at last week, as you will soon see, they are actually very similar. Plus, just like Headings Match Questions, the method that is often given to solve these test items is totally wrong. But, before we start looking at technique, let’s start by going through

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  The truth about IELTS Headings Match Questions

  01 February 2018

  Hey. In this week’s blog, we are taking a detailed look at IELTS Headings Match Questions, and it’s a long one! In the first half, I’ll play detective 🕵️‍♀️ to prove why the common “method” people follow to answer these questions is the reason they are failing. Then, in the second half, I’ll put on my teacher’s hat 👩‍🏫to show you a way that DOES work, and TWO techniques that you can use to improve your performance. But first, let’s look at IELTS Headings Match  FACTS 🗂

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  Common IELTS Speaking Part 2 Topics: Your “favourite” things

  25 January 2018

  Hey! One of the most common IELTS speaking Part 2 topics  is talking about your favourite something. On the face of it, it should be easy, so why so many test-takers struggle with these questions? THEY ARE HARD TO CHOOSE!

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  “All sheep are white……. How to avoid over-generalising in an IELTS essay”

  18 January 2018

  In the writing exam, it can be easy to make claims that are generally true, but NOT always true. This can limit your score for Task Response to a 7.0 (which I know for most people won’t be a problem, but for some test-takers an 8.0 in TR can be the difference between a 6.5 and a 7.0!) So, how can you avoid over-generalising in an essay?! IELTS hedging!!! 

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• All Posts, 
• Writing, 
• Speaking, 
• Listening, 
• Reading, 
• Grammar, 
• General Advice, 
• Podcast