Stay ConnectedJoin me for a weekly talk-through of IELTS topics to help you learn about the issues, vocabulary, tips and strategies you need to prepare.
Find all my tips on my website ieltsetc.com and join the Members Academy for all the downloads, step-by-step online courses, and support to get you a Band 7+ in the #ielts test.
Copyright: © Fiona Wattam
This IELTS Listening Part 4 is about research into microscopic animals called tardigrades or ‘water bears’.
The speaker explains their extreme survival abilities - a topic that we covered in the previous Reading Podcast ('The secret of staying young').
This is an essential topic in IELTS, so don't miss this chance to review the vocabulary related to ageing and longevity.
You'll also pick up lots of tips related to gapfill questions.
Get the full lesson on my website:
https://ieltsetc.com/2026/01/ielts-vocabulary-topic-ageing/
#ielts #ieltslistening
Useful Vocabulary
In this podcast, you'll work through an IELTS Academic Reading Passage 1 about ageing ('The secret of staying young') in a clear, guided way.
I will take you step by step through gap fill and True False Not Given questions, so you can see how to find key information quickly. The episode helps you improve skimming, scanning, and careful reading skills. You can get the full lesson, with the video, extra practice and support on my website, IELTS with Fiona.
The Vocabulary Topic for this episode is all about ageing - the website lesson includes everything you need to discuss this topic in the Speaking Test and IELTS Writing Part 2.
🐜 Reading Summary
Ysabel Giraldo studied Pheidole dentata ants to see how aging affects them. She tested ants of different ages on tasks like caring for young, following scent trails, reacting to light, and hunting prey. She also examined their brains for dying cells and important chemicals. Surprisingly, older ants performed as well as younger ones, showing no decline. Giraldo’s research suggests these social ants stay healthy with age, which could help scientists understand aging in humans and other social animals.
Key vocabulary
aging ⏳ – getting older
an ant 🐜 – a small insect
an experiment 🧪 – a test to discover something
the brain 🧠 – the part of the body that controls thinking and movement
to care for ❤️ – to look after someone or something
healthy 💪 – strong and well
in good shape 💯 – healthy and strong physically or mentally
social 🤝 – living in groups
to stay fit 🏋️ – to remain healthy and strong
a scientist 👩🔬 – a person who studies nature or science
a worker 🐝 – an ant that does tasks in the colony
a trail 🛤️ – a path marked by scent (smell)
prey 🐞 – an animal that is hunted for food
a colony 🏘️ – a group of ants or insects living together
behavior 🐾 – the way someone or something acts
to reproduce 🍼 – to have babies or make new life
to deteriorate 💀 – to become worse with age
to decline 📉 – to become worse
How Plants Sense Temperature – IELTS Reading Made Easy
This episode breaks down a challenging IELTS Reading Passage about how plants use light and temperature to grow.
I’ll guide you through the key ideas, explain tricky vocabulary, and help you answer the questions with confidence. Perfect for Band 6–8 students who want to improve comprehension, build science-related vocabulary, and boost their IELTS Reading score.
In this lesson, you'll learn how to use the words you DON'T KNOW to get the right answers!
It's a difficult Academic Reading Part 3, which contains several scientific terms that might cause confusion.
But I will show you how IELTS uses these words for gapfills, and you'll learn the 6 'triggers' that indicate the answer.
Get the full video lesson in the Bronze Membership on my website, and in the full Members Academy.
https://ieltsetc.com/ielts-tips-and-tricks/
Reading Summary
Music is a powerful force that affects our emotions. When we listen to music we love, our body reacts—our heartbeat increases, and our muscles receive more blood. Scientists have found that music directly influences the brain, especially by releasing dopamine, a chemical that makes us feel pleasure.
A study in Canada used brain scans to examine why music has such a strong effect. Researchers found that dopamine is released both when we hear a beautiful part of a song and before it happens. This suggests that our brain enjoys the feeling of anticipation, or waiting for something exciting.
The way music is structured also plays a role. If a song is too predictable, it is boring. Great composers, like Beethoven, create patterns in their music and then delay repeating them to build suspense. This delay makes the final moment of resolution much more emotional.
A famous music expert,Leonard Meyer, explained that the emotions in music do not come from its connection to real-life experiences but from how it plays with our expectations. Our brain enjoys the mix of predictability and surprise, which keeps us engaged and emotionally connected to the music.
Keywords:
This month, we've been exploring the huge topic of MONEY in the Members Academy.
It comes up in ALL parts of the test, so in this lesson, we examine two very similar General Training Texts in order to learn more about the topic of government benefit systems and the allowances that you might be entitled to.
Each country's benefit system is different, so it's really worth a listen as you'll learn valuable information and keywords.
Get the video and full text with vocabulary list in the Bronze Academy on my website.
https://ieltsetc.com/ielts-tips-and-tricks/
This is a lovely reading about forced rhubarb: its history and how it is grown and harvested.
There are 3 question sets:
In this lesson you'll learn more about the general topic of FOOD and how this topic is tested in all parts of the IELTS test.
Get the full lesson in the Bronze Academy on my website.
https://ieltsetc.com/2024/12/ielts-vocabulary-of-food-cooking-and-eating/
Always check the title of a pie chart to make sure you're providing an accurate summary of the data. Pie charts show percentage and proportion, not numbers. Here's an example of a mistake that is very easy to make when you're under pressure. So practise plenty of pie charts before the test and get ready to use the language related to pie charts - listen till the end to find the 'marc' verbs that will help you. Get the full lesson on my website and in the Members Academy Study Programme. https://beacons.ai/ieltswithfiona #ielts #ieltstask1 #ieltspiechart
In this lesson, we'll analyse a Part 1 Reading text with the purpose of improving our understanding and use of prepositions.
First, we go through the True, False and Not Given questions, followed by the Gapfill questions and then we go back to the first paragraph to analyse the prepositions.
This is something that I recommend you do regularly - spend 5-10 minutes 'noticing' language from real contexts like the Reading and Listening tests.
In the lesson you'll learn how to do this yourself and build up your independent learning skills. The vocabulary from the lesson will also help you with Writing Task 1 (Describing a Natural Cycle).
Get more help with Prepositions, and find my Preposition Workbook on my website:
https://ieltsetc.com/ielts-grammar-complete-guide/prepositions/
Did you know that uou can use "a/an + adjective" before a statistic to express your reaction to the number?
This technique adds emphasis and helps the listener or reader understand your perspective on the data.
Examples:
Listen to find out how to use this structure in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 reports.
Get the full document from my daily tip (31st October 2024).
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/halloween-grammar
In this lesson you'll learn 5 IELTS Listening Tips that (I'm guessing) nobody told you about.
Get the full lesson with bonus materials in the Bronze Academy on my website.
https://ieltsetc.com/2024/10/5-ielts-listening-tips-nobody-told-you-about/
Get the free lesson on my blog: How to use personal pronouns in IELTS Writing.
In this lesson, we look at ways of USING and AVOIDING personal pronouns in Writing Task 2 essays.
You'll learn when to use "I", "we" and "you", and you'll get examples of how to avoid personal pronouns by using plurals, the passive voice, and more general language.
https://ieltsetc.com/personal-pronouns-in-ielts-writing/
If you really want to make a difference to your test score, stop practising grammar with useless examples that you'll never use in the IELTS test!
In this grammar review we look at how to use few, a few, little and a little SPECIFICALLY FOR the IELTS test.
You'll learn useful expressions that you can use in the Writing and Speaking Tests, and you'll find out how to avoid common mistakes with these quantifiers in the Reading and Listening Tests.
Get the full lesson in the Bronze Academy, starting at just $4 per month.
The full lesson includes:
https://ieltsetc.com/2024/09/quantifiers-few-a-few-little-a-little/
In this lesson, you'll practise 3 reading question types while learning essential IELTS animal-related vocabulary items such as 'hibernation' and 'migration'.
I also discuss differences between two summaries, which will help you use more formal language in the writing test e.g. to maintain fitness vs to stay fit.
For example:
(Advanced Summary)
The article explores how animals maintain fitness differently from humans. Unlike humans, who need consistent training to prepare for endurance challenges like marathons, many animals maintain or even enhance their fitness without deliberate exercise.
(Intermediate Summary)
The article discusses how animals stay fit in different ways compared to humans. While humans need to exercise regularly to prepare for challenges like running a marathon, many animals stay fit without needing to train.
Get the full lesson on my website (Bronze Academy) and in the Members Academy.
https://ieltsetc.com/ielts-tips-and-tricks/
https://ieltsetc.com/courses
#ielts #ieltstestpreparation #ieltscourse
In this lesson we look at direct and indirect ways of asking for help.
You will learn fixed expressions that you can use in any letter of request letter, and you'll also learn how to demonstrate flexibility with a variety of tenses when you 'give details of your musical activities'.
Find the full lesson with models and interactive practice on my website (Bronze Academy).
https://ieltsetc.com/2024/09/ielts-general-training-letter-of-request/
You recently went to a concert and thought one of the singers was very good. You want to tell him/her how you feel.
Write a letter to the singer. In your letter:
In this lesson, we look at how you can use Listening Test maps to improve the way you describe maps and plans in the Writing Test.
In this lesson we'll cover
We also review map prepositions, and we look at a model answer. The lesson ends with a list of map expressions collated from 4 real Listening Tests.
Members get the full lesson on my website:
https://ieltsetc.com/2024/08/ielts-maps-plans-changes-future/
Get the FREE Maps and Plans Listening lesson on my website:
https://ieltsetc.com/ielts-listening-maps/
This is a talk-through of a General Training Reading Passage 3.
The text tells the story of the 'Fosbury Flop', which is a high-jump technique developed by a 21 year-old university student from the USA called Dick Fosbury in the late 1960s.
In this lesson, you'll practise Matching Information, Multiple Choice and gapfill questions.
Get all my lessons on my website ieltsetc.com and follow my courses in the Members Academy.
In this Listening Section 2 about tips for runners, you'll learn how to spot distractors in different question types such as matching people and multiple choice.
Get the full lesson with 180+ more lessons in the Bronze Academy
https://ieltsetc.com/2024/07/ielts-listening-matching-people-distractors/
Get the list of phrasal verbs to talk about hobbies (Free)
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/phrasal-verbs-hobbies-and-new-skills
This is a talk-through of a Passage 1 Academic Reading text about tennis rackets (Book 19 Test 1).
It covers 2 sets of questions (True, False, Not Given and Gapfill Summary).
Full lesson notes and video available on my website and Members Academy.
In this lesson, you'll see why so many model essays are NOT model essays.
For each of the points I mention, you'll learn a better alternative so that you can make changes to your own writing.
Here's the question:
Some people believe that charities should help people in need no matter where those people are in the world. Others feel that these organizations should only serve the people living in the country where they are based.
Discuss both sides and give your own view.
Find the full lesson on my website:
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/03/ielts-band-9-sample-essay-charity/
Watch my YouTube video here:
My tips about Coherence and Cohesion (avoiding mechanical linking words) are here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/01/ielts-writing-coherence-cohesion/
Find more Band 9 essays and tips on my website.
Join the Bronze Membership for full access.
https://ieltsetc.com/2019/04/band-9-essay/
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/03/ielts-task-2-band-9-essay-ceos/
https://ieltsetc.com/2019/09/ielts-writing-task-2-topics-and-models-crime/
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/05/ielts-writing-task-2-how-to-write-an-introduction/
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/03/to-what-extent-do-you-agree/
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/11/ielts-formal-writing/
#ielts #ieltswriting #ieltstask2 #ieltsband9
lCGmdgSdFMRaveqtPUv8
A quick look at TFNG and a less common type of Matching Headings.
Get the full text here https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/03/ielts-gt-reading-passports-and-airports/
Quick tips to help you with the Speaking Challenge followed by a Reading Passage 2 about the tool-making abilities of crows (and what we have in common with them). True/False/Not Given. Get the full reading here https://www.ieltsetc.com/2018/11/ielts-reading-two-wings-toolkit/
This is my walkthrough of an Academic Passage 1 about Stonehenge. Keyword before you listen: ‘Winter solstice’ - the shortest day of the year (December 21st) Meaning: to stand still The solstice (combining the Latin words sol for “sun” and ‘sistere’ for “stand still”) is the point where the Sun appears to reach either its highest or lowest point in the sky for the year and thus ancient astronomers came to know the day as one where the sun appeared to stand still. Become a member to get the full tapescript, wordlist and video. ieltsetc.com
This listening about a research project contains several examples of ‘academic’ language (language related to studying at university) that you need to understand Listening Part 3.
It's about a volcanic eruption, and is adapted from a Cambridge Past Paper (Book 18).
Get the full lesson notes and video in the Bronze Membership on my website ieltsetc.com and the Listening Course in the Members Academy.
This Part 4 Listening is all about moving elephants.
In the lesson you'll learn about:
The full transcript is available in the Bronze Membership on my website.
https://ieltsetc.com/2023/10/ielts-listening-part-4-keeping-up-with-the-speaker/
This is a relatively easy Passage 2 from a Cambridge Past Paper, with 3 sets of questions [Matching Information, Categorising and Gapfill].
https://ieltsetc.com/2023/10/ielts-reading-forest-management/
This Listening Part 4 about a writer called Victor Hugo is taken from the new Practice Book 18.
In the podcast you'll learn
Get the full video, tapescript and tips in the Members Academy Listening Course with Members bonus features for 12 months.
This is a Passage 3 review about a book about The Birth and Growth of Manhattan's Skyscrapers.
This is an extremely difficult text. It would really help if you have the text in front of you.
The only good thing about this text is that everything goes in COMPLETE ORDER and we know where everything is, because it goes from 'Chapter 1' to 'Chapter 10'.
The Yes, No, Not Given questions are not too difficult either.
But the last Gapfill Summary with Answers is a nightmare.
Good luck with it!
Farming and agriculture is my Number 1 Vocabulary topic for IELTS, and I noticed that most of the readings in this new Cambridge Practice Test Book (18) are related either to the environment (Week 1 of my vocab course) or to cities/architecture/buildings (Week 2 in my Vocabulary course - the Man-Made Environment).
So make sure you re-read this text for the useful vocabulary e.g. sustainable, organic, intensive farming.
Members: the video version of this podcast with pdf download is now available for you to watch.
Get my Members Academy Reading package (2 full courses plus all the new lessons over 12 months, plus Members Academy benefits - Private blog, live zoom meetings, private community, daily tips, Writing coaching lessons etc).
As I add more materials and benefits, the price will only increase, so join sooner rather than later so you can get the most of the resources before your test.
https://ieltsetc.com/courses
This is a pretty straighforward Academic Part 2 about Stadiums.
In this podcast we'll go through 3 question types (Matching Statements, Gapfill Summary and Choosing from a list.)
Get more in the Members Academy https://ieltsetc.com/courses.
I guarantee that you can do this in under 10 minutes if you follow my system.
Find the Reading online and do it yourself before you listen.
Learn more about my IELTS Reading techniques with TWO courses in the Members Academy.
Get the full blog with audio on my website:
https://ieltsetc.com/2023/04/ielts-listening-tips-complete-guide/
In this lesson, I examine the MACRO and MICRO skills you need to get all of the answers right in this Section 2 IELTS Listening about a holiday company.
For example:
The Members Academy teaches all of these skills in a variety of easy-to-follow short courses with quick video guides and plenty of practice.
Join todayhttps://ieltsetc.com/courses
There are many free online IELTS Writing checkers available, and they can be useful when you’re starting your IELTS preparation.
Online writing checkers such as Grammarly can give you simple feedback on your grammar, vocabulary and linking words.
There are more sophisticated versions available that claim they can assess your IELTS writing using the Band Criteria, and give you a grade and feedback in a matter of seconds.
But how accurate and reliable are they?
I tested a few and here are my results.
The one I mention in the podcast is testpredikt.com.
Check out my blog here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2023/03/best-online-ielts-writing-checker/
[Skip the 5-minute introduction if you want to just get to the question types!]
Different websites have different ways of categorising IELTS Reading Question types.
See my latest blog for all the details:
https://ieltsetc.com/2023/03/how-many-ielts-reading-question-types/
In my online courses, I follow the official IELTS.org guidelines, and I have simplified the types so that you focus more on developing your reading skills. Developing good reading skills will enable you to answer all question types.
The 3 basic categories are:
In this blog, I examine the official 11 Question Types as outlined on IELTS.org and explain how other teachers and websites might label them.
The best thing about the IELTS Test is that you cannot fail it. The test simply takes a ‘snapshot’ of your current level of English.
So if you’ve suddenly realised that you need to take the test in 10 days don’t panic too much. Consider it a ‘practice run’.
10 days is just enough time to familiarise yourself with the test requirements so you can give yourself the best chance of getting the best indicator of your overall ability.
Here’s what I would do in the next 10 days.
https://ieltsetc.com/2023/02/how-to-prepare-for-ielts-in-10-days/
There are 7 key features of fast speech and pronunciation that you need to develop a better understanding of in order to increase your Listening Score:
Read the full blog here.
https://ieltsetc.com/2023/02/ielts-pronunciation-tips-listening-test/
Buy the workbook guide here:
In this Listening Section 2 we look at: - Multiple choice questions - distractors - matching from a list - the word 'staff' and how it's repeated 32 times - how to pronounce 'staff' - academic language you can use in Task 2 Improve your IELTS score with my intensive Listening Course: ieltsetc.com/courses
What will you do differently in 2023? Here are my 7 resolutions to help you get the IELTS test over and done with once and for all. Get all the tips on my Daily Tips page https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en and get all my lessons on my website ieltsetc.com. Join the Members Academy to make faster progress.
In this episode, I'll take you through one of my Guided Readings - it's an Academic Passage 3 from Book 17 and, unusually, it's a book review.
Follow my Advent Challenge on my website:
https://ieltsetc.com/ielts-advent-adventure/
Join the Members Academy:
Question: "How do I cope with so much information when I'm preparing for the IELTS test?" Answer: "Just do as much as you need to do for the Band score that you want." In all aspects of life, there are different levels of expertise and knowledge. Deciding what you want to do with your IELTS score will help you manage your time and your learning. I've carefully programmed this into the Members Academy. Aiming for Band 6? Just watch the videos. Need to get Band 7? Watch the videos and do the practice. Want Band 8/9? Do the EXTRA practice that I include in every lesson. Enrol today https://members.ieltsetc.com/academy This podcast talks about managing your learning according to what level of expertise you need to acquire. I call it the traffic-light system. GREEN: Band 6 - INTERESTED (do a single course) YELLOW: Band 7 - COMMITTED (join the Members Academy - do all the courses) RED: Band 8+ - OBSESSED ("To be the best, you have to be obsessed": do the Coaching Program) But remember this - what is the opposite of "too much information"? The opposite is "not enough information". Not enough info is worse than too much info when it comes to preparing for IELTS because it is not a subject - it's a language and a skill. Can fluent speakers have "too much English knowledge"? I don't think that's possible. Let me know if you've got any questions.
Can you guess the answers to the gapfill before you listen? In this episode I talk you through a Passage 4 where I think about 60% of the answers are guessable!
Thinking of becoming a Member of my Academy?
Find out more on my website:
A tricky GT Part 3 Reading with Matching Headings, Multiple Choice, and Matching Sentence Endings.
I've spoken a lot about Mindset for IELTS in 2 earlier blogs:
1. How to train your mindset for IELTS
https://ieltsetc.com/how-to-train-your-mindset-for-ielts/
2. How to stop making excuses and start making progress
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/11/improve-ielts-score/
In this (rather long) podcast I talk about asking SMARTER questions to get smarter answers.
S = Specific (Why, What, Why, When, Where?)
M = Measurable (How much? How many?)
A = Achievable
R = Realistic
T = Time-bound
E = Evaluate
R = Revise
In this podcast, you'll practice listening for the tricks in Multiple Choice Questions.
This is yet another Listening based on the topic of farming, and it includes many of the keywords on my IELTS planner list Day 1 (Agriculture), for example:
- breed
- bred/reared
- livestock
- to increase production
- domesticated animals
- controlling and eradicating those diseases
Add these to your wordlist and check out the other lessons related to agriculture on my website https://ieltsetc.com.
Get the full version of this Listening Part 3 lesson in the Members Academy.
This Reading will also help your Task 2 Writing.
Watch this quick video to see why:
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/week-2-september-challenge-reading-about-farming
In today's September Challenge, we're reviewing Task 2 essays, starting with how to write a good Introduction.
Check out the blog I refer to here (with a model essay):
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/03/ielts-band-9-sample-essay-charity/
and learn more about Introductions here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/05/ielts-writing-task-2-how-to-write-an-introduction/
Day 3 of the September IELTS Planner Challenge is all about describing changes in Writing Task 1.
See the graph and video here.
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/september-challenge-day-3-writing-task-1
Or just go to my Daily Tips Day 3 on ieltsetc.com
Day 2 of the September 2022 Challenge.
This is a Part 1 but full of TRICKS!
Get the full video version in the Members Academy.
Join the challenge on my website: www.ieltsetc.com(find it in the Daily Tips section)
This is Day 1 of my free IELTS September Challenge 2022.
Follow the challenge every day on my website (What's new - daily tips):
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/september-challenge-day-1-reading-the-best-hiking-boots
Get your FREE copy of the planner and work through it with me:
https://payhip.com/b/7OZlV
This is a slightly unusual Listening Part 1 from the latest Cambridge Test Book 17. Get more in the Members Academy: https://members.ieltsetc.com/academy and on my website https://ieltsetc.com
This is a fascinating Section 3 General Training Reading text about the origins of women's football and why it disappeared for 50 years.
Practice Multiple Choice Questions, Matching Information and Gapfill Summary.
Get the full video version with all of the other General Training Courses in the Members Academy:
In this lesson we cover more words from The List (my 100 Most Common Listening Gap Fill Answers). Pay special attention to the second half, where the speaker describes how maple syrup is produced. This is really useful for Academic Writing Task 1. Get my guide to IELTS Reading Book 17 (Course) in the Members Academy with all the other workbooks, guides, planners and lists. Get individual printable PDF guides in my shop: https://payhip.com/ieltswithfiona Thank you for supporting my small business.
This is an Academic Test Passage 2 Reading from Book 17 and the podcast covers 3 types of questions: matching information, matching people, and gapfill. In the podcast I discuss how you can understand more of the text if you learn my basic vocabulary lists - you can buy my 3 IELTS vocabulary workbooks and guides on my website shop: - A complete guide to IELTS Word Formation and Spelling - A complete guide to IELTS Vocabulary - A complete guide to the most common IELTS Listening gapfill answers. https://payhip.com/ieltswithfiona If you're trying to improve your Academic Reading Skills, I have 2 Reading courses on my website too: https://ieltsetc.com/courses. Thank you for supporting small, teacher-owned businesses.
Book 17 Test 1 Part 4 I chose this Listening just because it's from the most recent Cambridge Practice Test book, and I was pleased to see that all of the gapfill answers conformed to my theories about common IELTS gapfill answers e.g. uncountable nouns, irregular word forms, "made from ____" etc. I put all of my research together in a handy little booklet which you can get in my shop: https://payhip.com/b/vQlet I also mentioned the previous Listening Podcast I did a couple of weeks ago, which also refers to these patterns (The History of Cleaning): https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/ielts-listening-made-of-uncountable-noun Thank you for supporting small, teacher-run businesses. Best wishes Fiona
This is a Section 4 IELTS Listening Test Gapfill Summary based on a lecture about the history of keeping clean. Get more listening practice on my website or follow my 28-day Listening Course in the Members Academy. https://ieltsetc.com/courses
Here's my roundup of daily tips from February. Watch the video version on YouTube with this link:
In the podcast we'll review:
Read the new blog about vocabulary lists for IELTS here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2022/05/ielts-vocabulary-lists/
Get all the daily tips here:
Here's my round-up of the weekly tips that you can find on my website (ieltsetc.com).
This podcast is also on YouTube/fionawattam:
https://youtu.be/TNcyL63yWbI
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en
In this episode we look at my daily tips from January 19th:
- when to use the contraction 's' instead of 'is' (Pronunciation)
- how to start a letter and why you shouldn't use 'maam' (GT Letter Writing)
- 'claptrap' advice: "elucidate" (Academic Task 1)
- when to use "Having said that" (Academic Task 2) - when to use 'triple' or 'treble' (Academic Task 1)
- feedback or feedbacks? (Grammar)
- useful collocations with 'effect' (Vocabulary)
- phrasal verb: "I suppose I'll have to make do with it" (Vocabulary)
- Spoonerisms (Collocations)
#ielts #ieltstips #ieltspreparation
This is a particularly challenging Reading Passage 1, which follows the structure of a Passage 3 'discursive' argument rather than the usual Passage 1 'factual' description. The title gives us a warning of this academic style - it starts with a question, suggesting that there will be a theory developed, with the opinions of expert. It will pose a problem and try to find a solution. This is uncommon for a Passage 1. Also the question types are: Matching information (rare for Task 1) Gapfill (normal for Task 1) Cambridge Book 15 Test 2. https://ieltsetc.com/courses/
This podcast talks you through a fortnight of daily tips, with an accompanying YouTube video. https://youtu.be/byb9_Dg2UP8 Get the daily tips here on my website. https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en In this episode we cover: Pronunciation features - weak sounds e.g Fishnchips How to spot a terrible "Model answer" Free Flashcards for common IELTS topics (Quizlet - Marine Ecosystems) How to use the LABELS in IELTS Task 1 Academic Writing Synonyms for 'houses' in Task 1 A model Task 1 about the construction of houses Banned expressions e.g. "No worries" When to use the ampersand (&) Do you use 'a' or 'an' before abbreviations like "MA" or "FAQ"? Collocations: raise awareness Is it ok to use "and so forth"?
In this IELTS GT Part 3 Reading lesson we'll practise Matching Headings, Multiple Choice and Gapfill summary on the topic of plastic.
In today's podcast you'll review my daily tips from my annual advent challenge which you can find on my website under "What's New" and https://ieltsetc.com/ielts-advent-adventure/
In this episode I catch up with the daily tips that you can find on my website under "What's new".
This episode covers:
This is a nice GT Part 3 Reading to get 2022 off to a great start. It practises Matching Headings, Multiple Choice AND gapfill, and it's absolutely jam-packed with useful IELTS vocabulary, so I made a Quizlet for you to review it. Go to my website "What's new" to get the Quiz Link. https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/new-podcast-marine-ecosystems
This is an academic Passage 3 about the importance of laughter.
In this episode I go through a week of tips about: "is pissed" vs "ears pierced", PEEL paragraphs, Jacinda Ardern and New Zealand accents ("bed" vs "bid"), Bruce Willis, The Sixth Sense and modals of deduction ("He must be a teacher"), Why Martin Luther King didn't say "I've got a dream", Are you feeling OVERWHELMED?, Cost vs value, When "I will" sounds like "ul", Hey! and other offensive words, Third Conditional in the LISTENING test, When was the last time you had a barbie? Get all the daily posts on my website https://ieltsetc.com
This is my weekly round-up of tips from the "What's New" tab on my free website: ieltsetc.com
In this episode we look at
If you have a question that you'd like me to answer in the Daily Tips, please get in touch.
That's a tough question. It's so hard for anyone to measure the quality and effectiveness of an IELTS course objectively unless they've taken all of the IELTS courses available!
So here's a quick checklist of things to look for in a course. Go to the blog to download the checklist; I designed it to help you make an informed decision.
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/11/best-online-ielts-course/
Here's the latest round-up of all my IELTS Daily Tips blog that you can find on my website. In this blog we go through and revise: Have or get something done How to pronounce 'ative' How to pronounce 'able' Thinking critically Research vs researchers Economic vs economical deteriorate vs get worse instill vs install funnest vs the most fun Get all the tips on my website homepage ("What's New") https://ieltsetc.com
I'm trying out a new way of sharing my tips and advice for IELTS.
If you go to the 'What's new' tab on my website, you'll find a daily tip:
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en
You can leave a comment there and ask questions if you need help or if you have any requests.
In this podcast I cover the last 7 days of tips:
Have you ever been ripped off, conned, scammed, tricked, duped or just misled when buying an online IELTS course?
In this blog and podcast, I've outlined the 10 'red flags' that you need to know about before you decide which course provider to go with.
Here are are some common tactics that you may not even notice, and they range from being simply 'misleading' to illegal.
For more information and examples that I've collected over 5 years, head to my blog, where you might like to leave a comment.
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/09/read-this-before-you-buy-an-online-ielts-course/
The 10 sales tactics that might trick you into panic-buying an online course.
1. "The course is full" (but suddenly a place became available - buy it quickly before it goes!)
2. "Only 2 spots left!" (in an email to thousands of people, 2 weeks before the course starts)
3. "Totaly value $1999 - buy today for $9.99" (Meaning: it is only worth $9.99)
4. "Normal price $99 - today only $79" (Permanent discount - illegal in some countries)
5. "The world's most successful course" (Says who?)
6. "Lifetime access" (so you can buy it and forget about it)
7. "Unlimited Speaking and Writing" (you mean 24/7? Just write and speak all day?)
8. Affiliate Marketing
9. Testimonials
10. Other red flags - bad spelling and grammar, plagiarism from other sites, stolen watermarked images, Click Funnels.
If someone emails you to tell you that they could charge hundreds of dollars for their time, but they want to help you for free, there are red flags all over the place. Walk away. Find someone that you know, like and TRUST.
Big tutoring companies can afford to lose you because there are plenty more people who will fall for false advertising.
Maybe it's time to consider the smaller business who focus their time on developing quality courses rather than scamming their students.
End of rant.
The Members Academy Reading Bootcamp started today (you can still join - it's just $28 and includes 28 days of both live and recorded lessons). This week's focus is on True False Not Given questions, so here's a taster of today's lesson.
This is an Academic Passage 1 about a sculptor called Henry Moore.
I try to get my students to make educated guesses about TFNG questions by the way they're written, and this text is a perfect example of how you can follow a hunch to get the right answer pretty quickly and save time. For example
I also teach my students to quickly divide the text according to the questions, so that they don't waste any time looking in the wrong place. This text is another perfect example of that.
The Bootcamp will run until the end of September, so if you're struggling to get your Reading Score up, come and join us.
https://members.ieltsetc.com/register/ielts-reading-skills-course/
This is an Academic Passage 3 Part 3 (Book 16), so it's tough.
In this lesson we'll look at how the language that you learn for Task 2 will help you understand the Reading, and how Reading academic texts like this will help you improve your Writing.
Some of the points I mention include:
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/06/word-formation/
- The 'marc' system for pie charts(Makes up, accounts for, represents, consists of)
https://youtu.be/bsBKQPpVs5g
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/02/willing/
- Hedging
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/12/hedging-in-academic-writing/
- Biased, subjective (Task 2 problems)
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/05/ielts-writing-feedback-40-words/
- How to talk about cause and effect
https://ieltsetc.com/2018/07/free-public-transport/
https://youtu.be/Eo8y8ygcgcI
Are you using the right idiom in the right place with the right person and the right pronunciation?
To use an idiom correctly there are so many factors that you have to take into account, for example
In my latest blog, I talk about 3 key factors to help you use idioms correctly:
1. Accuracy
2. Appropriacy
3. Pronunciation
Find out more on my blog.
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/08/how-to-use-idioms-in-ielts/
This episode is a Part 4 Listening about an ancient philosophy called Stoicism (don't worry if you've never heard of it - the Listening will explain everything). It's a gapfill summary (one word only) and we also discuss:
Review the grammar of 'despite' and 'in spite of' on my blog.
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/12/despite/
This passage 2 Academic IELTS Reading is a problem-solution structure.
This IELTS Reading is packed full of useful vocab like 'to squander energy' (= to waste) and 'it uses a FRACTION of the electricity/at a FRACTION of the energy cost' (=a small or tiny part, amount, or proportion of something).
There were also some interesting uses of nouns as adjectives (wards in hospitals = hospital wards) - see my blog about this useful IELTS topic here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/06/nouns-as-adjectives/
and adjectives as nouns ('the prosperous' = the people who are prosperous and 'the public').
Get all my reading tips and advice on my website:
https://ieltsetc.com/ielts-reading/
This is a Section 4 Listening. I chose this Listening in order to show you why hyphens are NOT important in Listening gap-fill summaries.
There are 3 main types of words in gapfill summaries:
1) Words ending with a suffix like '-tion' or '-sion'
2) Commodities or materials like wool, gold, tea or sugar.
3) Irregular words like plurals ending in y/ies or irregular word forms like poor/poverty.
Get the full article about hyphens on my blog:
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/06/how-to-use-hyphens-in-ielts/
Learn more about Irregular Word Forms on my blog:
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/06/word-formation/
Learn more about the types of Listening gapfill AND the Pronunciation errors that affect your listening in the Members Academy:
www.members.ieltsetc.com/academy/
I had a special request for this Academic Passage 3 because it's difficult, but honestly, it's a very early test (Book 7) and is just badly-written. I think the reading itself is very useful as an example of academic writing, with lots you can learn from it, but the questions are simply not good - you can guess 3 of them without even needing to understand what they mean (a sure sign of a bad test), and there is too much similar language (very few synonyms required). If you struggled with this one - forget it and move on (but listen for practice 😊.) Learning points: Hedging - listen to an earlier podcast about hedging: https://anchor.fm/ieltsetc/episodes/IELTS-Writing-How-to-hedge-in-Task-2-eo21n7/a-a465qt4 and read the blog: https://ieltsetc.com/2020/12/hedging-in-academic-writing/
When you get IELTS Writing feedback from your teacher, you should be able to see why you are not achieving your desired score.
But this feedback is only useful if you understand exactly what the teacher is talking about when they are pointing out areas you need to work on.
Writing Feedback about LANGUAGE is usually easy to understand – most people know the language related to grammar (e.g. wrong tense, article missing, third person -s), spelling and punctuation.
But Writing feedback related to CONTENT andacademic STYLE is more difficult, especially if you are not familiar with the demands of academic writing. You need to have a good understanding of the terms that the teacher is using so that you can make the necessary changes.
Here is a ‘glossary of terms’ that I use regularly in my IELTS Writing Feedback Sessions in the Members Academy.
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/05/ielts-writing-feedback-40-words/
See also
How to make your writing more formal for Task 2:
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/11/ielts-formal-writing/
IELTS Task 2 Structures that strengthen your argument:
https://ieltsetc.com/2018/06/structure-strengthens-argument/
How to use 'hedging' in IELTS Writing Task 2
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/12/hedging-in-academic-writing/
#ielts #ieltswriting #ieltsfiona
This is an Academic Part 1 text. The text and subject matter is difficult but the questions (YNNG) are NOT.
In fact, in this episode I will show you how you can mostly guess the answers without reading or understanding very much of the text.
Get more help with Yes, No, Not Given questions on my website.
If you'd like to contribute to the upkeep of my website and podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fionawattam
Many thanks
Fiona
This is a really useful Part 2 IELTS Listening (Book 15) about a community that closed their road to traffic so that the children could play safely outside.
It practises Multiple Choice and Choosing from a list.
Useful vocab:
'the idea caught on' = the idea became very popular in other places
'give it a go' = try it
Useful grammar:
Present Perfect vs Past Simple
'The scheme's been up and running for 3 years' = 'The Street Paly Scheme first took place 3 years ago'.
'Be able to' with conditionals
'We'd love to be able to close our road for longer'.
Conditionals
Past Perfect
Academic Task 1 Vocabulary
Writing Task 2: talking about benefits/outcomes
#ielts #ieltslistening #ielttutor
This is a nice and easy Academic Reading Part 1 (great for GT too).
It goes in chronological order, so it's easy to find information from dates, names and places, and there are 2 sets of questions (TFNG and gapfill).
If you're aiming for 7 and you can get 10/13 correct in less than 20 minutes, you're doing very well.
Check your band score here:
https://ieltsetc.com/ielts-band-score-calculator/
Get the conditionals review here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/02/conditionals-review/
Learn about 'willing to' vs 'want to' here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/02/willing/
Join the Conditional Bootcamp here:
www.members.ieltsetc.com/academy/
☕Buy me a coffee to say thanks here:
Today's Listening is a 6/10 for difficulty. It's a Part 3 Listening with multiple choice and matching from a list. Useful vocabulary and synonyms: surprising = amazing got cut off = became isolated exact = precise contact = get in touch with make detailed notes = write down all the ideas check timing = make sure we won't overrun add personal opinions = give your own viewpoint Join the Conditionals Bootcamp here. https://members.ieltsetc.com/conditionals/ Get the Signals and Signposts lesson here. https://ieltsetc.com/2019/09/ielts-listening-how-to-recognise-signals-and-signposts/ Buy me a coffee to say thanks here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fionawattam
This is a really really useful passage to read because of how it can help your WRITING.
The passage itself is not difficult, but it is jam-packed full of excellent examples of Formal Academic Writing so if you have this reading at home, go through it carefully.
- 'PEEL' paragraphs
- Hedging
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/12/hedging-in-academic-writing/
- Linking words
https://ieltsetc.com/2019/07/ielts-complex-sentences/
- Noun forms
- Conditionals
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/03/ielts-conditionals/
- Critical Thinking
Want to say thanks?
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fionawattam
This is an extremely difficult Academic Reading Passage 3.
It took me 30 minutes to find the answers even with the answer sheet in front of me.
What can we learn from a text like this?
1) affect vs effect
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/12/affect-vs-effect/
2) factor vs reason
https://members.ieltsetc.com/factor-vs-reason/
Add these synonyms to your list:
Want to support my podcast? Please click on the link below:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fionawattam
Many thanks
Fiona
No time to do my Advent Challenge? This podcast (watch the video version on www.YouTube.com/fionawattam) talks you through the past 12 days, so you'll get up and running really quickly! It's never too late to start - just go to my website: https://ieltsetc.com/ielts-advent-adventure/ and open the windows which will take you through to all the links. Come and post your sentences on Facebook, where I will check them every day: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ieltsAtoZ If you'd like to say thanks and contribute to the costs of running the free challenge, you are very welcome to do so here on my 'Buy Me A Coffee' page: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fionawattam In return, I will send you a copy of my A-Z of IELTS Advent when it's ready in the New Year. Many thanks in advance - your donations help me pay for the cost of the website, graphics, advent page and podcast, so you'll be helping me to help others. Best wishes Fiona
Is this Listening more difficult than usual? I got a special request from Elango in my Members Academy, and yes I think it is a tricky one!
I had to read the tapescript very carefully to figure out the answer to Question 27, and it even required a bit of background knowledge (possibly true of Question 28 too!).
Apart from that, this is a really good one to practise listening for:
- Signals and Signposts:
https://ieltsetc.com/2019/09/ielts-listening-how-to-recognise-signals-and-signposts/
- Synonyms (fascinating = interesting; amazed = surprised; type = genre)
- Grammar (not many = few)
- Language of hedging (comics can serve a really useful purpose = comics have the potential for being useful)
- Pronunciation of key words (ballet)
Catch up on the Free Writing Task 2 Challenge here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/03/ielts-writing-workouts/
I had a special request from Isabella on Instagram today 👋🇧🇷. She asked me to look at a really difficult text (yes, this one's 9/10!).
It's an Academic Passage 3 and it follows the Reading Type 2 structure (discursive) which goes like this -
Title: asks a question (Why? The answer is not what everyone thinks).
1. Old theory: Everyone thinks fairy tales have endured because the STORIES give us WARNINGS about life e.g. Little Red Riding Hood.
2. New theory: Everyone is wrong. There's another reason.
3. Test to prove the old theory is wrong: Is the STORY important? 'NO'. Is the WARNING important? Answer: 'NO'.
4. Results of the test: The reason why fairy tales have endured is just that people enjoy scary stories.
5. Althernative theory (instantly proved wrong): The stories remain relevant because they're about women as victims.
6. Conclusion: Everyone likes scary stories because they build up our resistance to negative emotions, so the first theory is probably right.
You can find similar 'discursive' structures here:
My updated guide to Time Management in the Reading Test gives you 8 techniques to help you improve your Reading Speed for the #ielts test.
Do you have a bike-sharing scheme where you live? In London there are the so-called 'Boris bikes' (named after Boris Johnson, who launched them in 2010 after being inspired by the success of a similar scheme in Paris, which is mentioned in this reading).
This is a Section 2 Academic Text with 3 types of questions: Matching Statements, Choosing from a List and Gapfill.
So whenever there's a lot to do, the text is slightly easier. This is a chronological text (in order of time) and is suitable for General Training practice too.
It has some fantastic language that you can use in your writing e.g.
Get all my 10-minute lessons on my website www.ieltsetc.com.
Join the Members Academy www.members.ieltsetc.com/academy/.
See you next weekend,
All the best
Fiona
This is a difficult Section 4, but if you listen to my podcast regularly, you will be very familiar with this common IELTS topic!
It's about marine archaeology, the use of technology to find ancient shipwrecks and building under the sea, and the lessons researchers can learn about how ancient civilisations lived.
In this episode I refer to similar IELTS Reading/Listening texts, so you can see how important it is to learn the vocabulary that is relevant to so many IELTS texts.
Find the Modals of Deduction Grammar here [e.g. Atlit-Yam MAY HAVE BEEN DESTROYED by a tsunami, climate change MAY HAVE CAUSED glaciers to melt.
Find the Reading about the Lapita [Beyond the Blue Horizon] here.
Get all my lessons in one place in the Members Academy.
Both texts are gapfill summaries.
The first one gives you practice with summary Flow Charts (IELTS 28-Day Planner Day 12) and the second covers the common topic of how to deal with absence in the workplace (good practice if you never usually read this kind of document).
Get more General Training Reading tips on my website.
Follow me on Instagram and Facebook for daily practice.
#ielts #ieltstest #ieltscourse
Listen out for the 5 most common gapfill types in this Part 4 gapfill on the very common topics of Agriculture and Water (28-Day Planner Week 1).
Practise these topics on my website:
https://ieltsetc.com/?s=agriculture
Watch my YouTube 5-minute Vocab review of Agriculture here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha1KIJfkglA&t=56s
And here's the Honeybee Listening I mentioned:
https://ieltsetc.com/2018/08/ielts-listening-honeybees-australia/
Get the 28-Day Planner here - do NOT let it get lost in your computer. Print it off. Use it every day.
https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/j2u2r0
Listen to another Part 4 about agriculture in Africa here:
Get lots more help on my website:
This is an Academic Reading Part 1 (so it's good for GT too).
The structure is chronological (in order of time) which helps you locate the answers more easily.
It's also very similar to a text on my website: The Story Of Silk, which you can find here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2018/12/ielts-reading-story-silk/
and I refer to last week's podcast about The Eucalyptus Tree to show you how similar they are in terms of the gapfill answers.
Check out my blog relating to the grammar in this reading here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/09/how-to-use-the-former-the-latter/
If you've taken my IELTS Progress Predictor Test, you may be wanting to know a bit more about how it works and what it means for your IELTS Preparation. This podcast talks you through how to make the most of your assets and build a mindset that will help you prove the test wrong! Get the quiz and full blog here https://ieltsetc.com/2020/07/how-long-will-it-take-to-increase-my-ielts-score/
#ielts Listening Part 4 - gapfill summary. Find a similar topic here: https://ieltsetc.com/2018/08/ielts-listening-honeybees-australia/
IELTS Listening Part 3: How birth order affects your personality.
IELTS GT Reading Part 3 - gapfill summary, multiple choice and choosing from a list.
Find a similar reading with the vocab you need to know about animals here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2019/04/ielts-reading-history-of-the-tortoise/
Listening about a dinosaur museum and how to spot distractors:
https://ieltsetc.com/2018/08/ielts-listening-dinosaur-museum/
This is a Section 3 (dialogue between 2 students) with lots of vocab related to the environment: - urban planning - coastal cities - pollutants are discharged into rivers - to protect against flooding - global warming - sea levels are rising - they need to consider the whole ecosystem - environmentalists https://ieltsetc.com/2019/09/ielts-listening-how-to-recognise-signals-and-signposts/
A long and difficult but FASCINATING text with SO MUCH useful vocabulary which I list at the end.
- Matching Information with paragraphs
- Choosing from a list
- Gapfill summary
It's a KEY TOPIC (see similar texts on my website - https://ieltsetc.com/2019/01/ielts-reading-doctoring-sales/ and https://ieltsetc.com/2018/10/ielts-gt-reading-snake-oil/) and I also talk about how parts of the text help us with Writing.
This passage has an academic, theoretical structure rather than a factual, chronological one.
Watch the video on YouTube to see how it looks:
https://youtu.be/7JHQdVkENMU
This video will show you how to use the structure to get answers even when the content doesn't make much sense!
Finding a roommate, the best fitness apps, How to Delegate and Choosing the right CV Format. Find the word formation booklet here: https://ieltsetc.com/2018/04/how-a-knowledge-of-word-forms-can-increase-your-score/
This video looks at Section 2 of the IELTS Listening Test, which often includes a MAP in the second half.
Watch the video on YouTube if you would like to practice with the real test.
The first part is Multiple Choice and this video shows you how to recognise distractors: 'rather than' and 'instead of' are CLUES which tell you that you should choose the correct answer RATHER THAN/INSTEAD OF the trick!
I break the Listening up into more manageable parts, so this is a LEARNING video rather than a test, but you can pause the video to test yourself too.
I also point out the useful vocabulary that you can extract from the listening to help you with Writing Task 1 (Academic - describe changes to a building; General Training - tell your friend about your new home) Here is an extra Listening to help you describe changes to maps:
So sorry for the delay - I'm back now! Been working on the daily YouTube lives during Lockdown. Did you miss them? Just go to my YouTube channel (I'll add this podcast as a video if you prefer to read the text and try it for yourself).
This is a difficult Academic Passage 3 with Matching Headings, Gapfill and TFNG.
Get more Reading practice on my website.
In this podcast (also on YouTube) I ask my boss Max to give us his insider tips about #IELTS (it's exactly the same as what I say but people actually listen to him!).
Watch the video here:
https://youtu.be/vCqJ3zLGbcs
Need to read faster in the test? In this video and podcast, I'll take you through a Reading test and show you what you can do at each stage to answer the questions more quickly.
The text is called 'The Birdmen' and you can watch the video and try it yourself on YouTube:
This podcast is taken from my YouTube Video (watch this to see the text).
I take you through the first part of a Computer-Delivered #IELTS General Training Reading Test and look at the benefits of taking the test online (as well as the drawbacks!).
The first reading is horrendous - the second is much easier, so skip forward if you don't like the first one!
This is the practice test I used:
https://ielts.com.au/computer-delivered-ielts/computer-reading-practice-test/
Test 1 Part 1: Difficulty rating 8/10 😣
Test 1 Part 2: Difficulty rating 3/10 😄
And here's my FULL analysis of the Computer-Delivered test https://ieltsetc.com/2020/02/ielts-paper-computer/
Do you rely on a teacher to correct your writing mistakes for the IELTS Test? Is this the most effective way?
In this podcast I look at some research that's been done about the best way to learn from your mistakes - and the answers may surprise you!
Here is the YouTube video, where you can see all the texts that I mention:
You can find out more about the award I won from EnglishUK and CambridgeESOL for my research on error correction here:
https://www.englishuk.com/en/about-us/news-press/english-uk-news?newsId=2202
Here are some of the tools you can use to correct your own writing:
https://www.grammarly.com/
https://prowritingaid.com/
https://www.grammarcheck.net/
I also talk about times when a teacher is essential for helping students meet the criteria of the IELTS test.
I made this as a YouTube video so you can watch it here if you'd like to see the text at the same time:
It's a Part 4 gap-fill Listening and I would give it a difficulty rating of 9/10!
What do you think?
GT IELTS Matching Headings and gapfill practice.
Watch the podcast on YouTube so that you can see the text and my explanations (and try the test for yourself).
https://youtu.be/R7H38LB28P0
Part 4 IELTS Listening on the topic of Civilisation (again! See my YouTube video about this). Vocab Victor is the app where you can develop your IELTS vocab with my 28 days of Vocab wordlists.
YouTube video about Civilisation:
https://youtu.be/FzJCdaWMB7o
NEW!Vocab Victor App with all my IELTS Vocabulary wordlists from the 28-Day Vocabulary Course and Challenge!
www.vocabvictor.com
Join the course:
www.members.ieltsetc.com/mayday/
Multiple Choice and Matching in a Part 3 (student and tutor).
Watch my YouTube video about how to recognise signals in Part 3 Listening:
https://youtu.be/x6TE-ZND6xA
The Reading I mentioned is called Henry Perkins - the man who invented synthetic dyes, and I did a podcast about it with all the questions on Instagram. https://anchor.fm/ieltsetc/episodes/IELTS-Reading-last-one--The-man-who-invented-purple-e17bnl/a-a2p95f
GT Reading is not always as easy as it looks in Part 1. Yes, the texts are shorter but you have to do 2 of them in 20 mins and you need a good level of Vocab to get the answers quickly and not fall for the tricks! Here we look at Matching Info and TFNG.
GT Reading Part 3 - matching people, matching info and TFNG.
Listening Part 3 (Book 8 Test 1). Looking at signals, multiple choice and gap fill. Get more help with Part 3 here https://ieltsetc.com/2019/09/ielts-listening-how-to-recognise-signals-and-signposts/ and watch my video about the Answer Sheet here https://youtu.be/iVM_uRkWpm4. Join my A-Z of IELTS challenge here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvkiACElwBjPMqV7c3kRiwxxY8AmTEc3a
Here’s the full blog https://ieltsetc.com/2019/11/ielts-reading-the-lost-city/
This has been on my list of things to do for about a year! Such a tough text but so easy to guess at least half of the answers without a PhD in Astronomy!
A truly awful text but totally worth it for the vocab and strategies. Learn how to answer these questions without understanding almost anything 😯!
Passage 3 with lots of Vocab you can use in Writing Task 2.
A fabulous Part 4 Listening with tons of Vocab and expressions useful for both Task 1 Writing ✍🏽 (processes) and Task 2 Writing ✍🏽.
Have you hit a plateau with IELTS? Are you stuck at the same band despite studying really hard? I’ve done some research and condensed it into this 40-minute episode so that you can push yourself to the next level.
Passage 3 about the restoration of an 18th century house which caught fire. Excellent for Vocab about Buildings (Day 8 in the Vocab Course).
Academic Passage 2 about over-fishing, commercial fishing, sustainable fishing and environmental responsibility. T/F/NG.
Ok this one is pretty tedious BUT! it covers 4 question of the WORST types (Matching Headings, YNNG, Sentence completion and Q40) so it’s well worth a listen. There are also some fab collocations at the end.
Last week I outlined the 10 signals and signposts that lead you to the answer in the Listening Test (see my blog for more details and a YouTube video). This week I’m showing you an almost identical example so that you can see exactly how these patterns work in other tests and you can apply the same principles to all your tests. https://ieltsetc.com/2019/09/ielts-listening-how-to-recognise-signals-and-signposts/
Listening Part 3 is a very carefully structured dialogue full of signals like ‘So!’ ‘’Well!’ ‘’Now!’, emphatic structures (‘What I decided to do was....’), negative tones (‘But I’m afraid I didn’t manage to...’) and advice structures (‘If I were you I’d...’ ‘I think you should...’ ‘You really do need to...’).
Reading about a building in Zimbabwe whose ‘air-conditioning system’ was based on termite mounds. Fascinating!
If you struggle to work out when to use ‘ing’ the solution is here! Find the whole blog on my website and 10-minute tutorial on YouTube. https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/08/ing-versus-infinitives/
I chose this one JUST because of the vocab! It’s fabulous to review the topic of intensive industrial agriculture and its impact on the environment.
A problem-solution structure with matching headings and gap-fill.
If you listen to just one podcast this week, make sure it's this one! A fascinating text bursting with IELTS vocabulary.
This episodes encourages you to dust off your 28-Day Planner and use it more effectively. Find all the tips and links on my blog https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/06/28-ways-ielts-planner/
Academic passage 1 (good for GT too) all about how cinema developed. Good to learn about this topic (there's a listening about it here https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/01/ielts-listening-history-moving-pictures/)!
This episode focuses on the grammar of Modals of Deduction in IELTS Listening. Find a full explanation with practice on my website. https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/05/ielts-grammar-modals-deduction/
Check out my website for all of the 28 tips with links https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/05/28-ways-improve-ielts-vocab/.
Get the full vocabulary course in the Members Academy www.ieltsetc.com
A very difficult Passage 3 where a Degree in Zoology might help. Here is the text on the website https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/04/ielts-reading-history-of-the-tortoise/
Academic Passage 3 Book 11 Test 1 - a really useful text for vocabulary. Also good practice for completing a table and matching researchers. 👩🏻🔬👨🏽🔬
A fantastic reading for vocab. Matching information and T/F/NG questions.
Speed-reading strategies for texts with 3 or more sets of questions. Book 9 Test 2 Passage 1.
A VERY difficult Academic Reading Part 3 (sorry!). Book 11 Test 4. See also 'How did writing begin?' on my website.
This is a REALLY interesting Passage 1 Academic (good for GT too). Great for vocab topics (Water and Buildings) and speed-reading practice (just find the dates and names - ignore the rest). Please check on my website soon for the full text. www.ieltsetc.com
Section 4 made up entirely of gap fill! Have a look at all the signals that can help you keep your place https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/03/ielts-listening-business-cultures/.
Find out how my mindmaps can help you get over 70% of these answers correct! This #ielts listening Part 4 (Book 10 Test 4) will help you with multiple choice and gap-fill. Find out how to sponsor me and get all the worksheets with a special bonus for the first 100 people to sign up at https://www.patreon.com/fionawattam Thank you for your continued support 🙏🏾
How to match headings quickly using only first lines. See the video on YouTube and get the full text on my website 👽 https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/02/ielts-reading-match-headings-first-lines/ 👽 https://youtu.be/OWorhQ_nw1A #ielts
To celebrate #motherlanguageday, this difficult Academic Passage 3 gives you some easy ways of filling gaps and recognising 'Not Given'. Find the full text here and please let me know what you think about the new style layout 😊 https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/02/ielts-reading-benefits-being-bilingual/
Test Book 9 Test 3 Section 3: Listen to a tutor giving advice to a student about her dissertation and practice listening for signals and Gap fill.
This episode helps you through the vocab you need to learn for the #ielts test. It is based on the hedgehog reading from 2 days ago but shows you how the same topics apply in all parts of the exam.
A difficult Part 3, which I made specially for #hedgehogday on February 2nd to raise awareness of the dramatic decline in the hedgehog population.
Test Book 10 Test 2 Section 3. The life and theories of Thor Heyerdahl.
A difficult Passage 3 - Multiple Choice and Yes No Not Given. Also a rant about where NOT to get your #ielts practice materials.
A complex and sophisticated Academic Reading Part 3, so I'm breaking this podcast up into more manageable parts. Please come back for the next bit 😊
Book 6 Passage 1: Matching Headings and Yes/No/Not Given. Get the full text here https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/01/ielts-reading-doctoring-sales/
Test Book 6 Test 2 Listening Section 4. Multiple Choice and Gap Fill. 😊 https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/01/ielts-listening-history-moving-pictures/
Book 11 Academic Test 3 Section 1 - a chronological structure with gap fill and True False Not Given.
A tough Passage 2 from #ielts Book 10 Test 3, with matching statements, True/False/Not Given and Gapfill. Get the full Reading on my website https://www.ieltsetc.com/2018/12/ielts-reading-autumn-leaves/ Also a 5-minute review of when and when not to sound the 'r' in words like 'leaRn', 'teacheR' and 'ManchesteR aiRpoRt' (see the Advent Adventure, December 18th 2018 for more information. Full course coming soon).
Academic Reading Passage 3. Multiple choice, gap-fill and Yes/Not/Not Given. Full Reading now on my website https://www.ieltsetc.com/2018/12/ielts-reading-beyond-blue-horizon/ Downloadable PDF with essential vocabulary in the Members Academy. www.members.ieltsetc.com/academy/
Multiple choice tricks and synonyms. Key vocab and frequent words. Skip the LAST 5 minutes if you want! 😬
This Section 3 has examples of 3 different types of distractors that you need to listen for: ‘should have, could have, would have’ 🤔
A special request from the Speaking Challenge WhatsApp group! Use the structure of a descriptive/factual/chronological text to help you find the answers quickly. I also mentioned 'How The Pyramids Were Built'. Sorry this isn't on the website yet but will be soon!
#ielts Cambridge Book 9 Test A Section 2 Part 2 JLP Retail: Staff Benefits plus useful vocab 😀 www.ieltsetc.com
#ielts Cambridge Tests Book 9 Test A Section 2. Get the full reading on my website www.ieltsetc.com 😀
Part 4 on the topic of architecture.
On a scale of 1 - 10 in terms of difficulty, this is a 10 sorry 😐!! So if you’re aiming for a 7/8 it’s worth a listen, but please don’t feel discouraged by it! Focus on the strategy rather than the answers in this example. The questions are perfectly divided according to the text structure (‘problem’/‘solutions’) (problem = no-one knows; solution = lots of theories).
It's the first week of the November Speaking Challenge and in this podcast I explain the benefits of taking part, speaking every day, recording yourself and joining the Facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/321358865317293/ It's never too late to start the Challenge - get your Progress Log on my website or click on this link http://eepurl.com/dL6rPk As for the Reading, this week it's a tricky General Training, with lots of True/False/Not Given questions (it also gives a lot of useful real-life tips on how to get a pay rise!) Get the full Reading on my website https://www.ieltsetc.com/2018/11/ielts-gt-reading-pay-rise/
An explanation about the ‘pinky’ story, the importance of contractions and an introduction to the November 1 minute Speaking Challenge! #ielts1min 😄
This is a long one and a tough one but really worth spending time on. Matching Headings and True False Not Given. Full test coming soon on www.ieltsetc.com
Find the full Reading here: https://www.ieltsetc.com/2018/10/ielts-reading-women-management/
This reading gives you practice with matching statements, and it recycles key IELTS vocabulary related to renewable energy. Find the full test and explanations here: https://www.ieltsetc.com/2018/10/ielts-reading-tidal-power/
Learn how to avoid the traps of multiple choice. Get the floor plan on my website.
Listening Section 2 about cots, with a little bit of pronunciation thrown in!
https://ieltsetc.com/2018/08/ielts-reading-easter-island/
Latest episode of IELTS Made Easier looks at matching from a list.
This episode looks at tricks with multiple choice questions.
Get the full text here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2018/06/ielts-reading-test-serendipity/
Go to www.ieltsetc.com to download the practice test first!
Latest episode of IELTS Made Easier
How to deal with ‘philosophical’ questions in Task 2 ✍🏽
Writing a formal request (model)
Language Learning - Primary or Secondary school?
Based on a blog I wrote this week, here are some ways to ensure you get the highest possible score in the Speaking Test
Task 2 in 2 minutes! The effects of TV adverts on children.
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