Today I would like to share with you the tips weve received from the trainer of two students

who scored Band 7.5 and won in the Best IELTS results competition last month. Rohit Arora and Navjot Kaur were trained in Kapri Institute of English Speaking in Amritsar, India. Their teacher wrote and shared some tips that help their students achieve better IELTS scores: Listening 1. Keep the volume of your headphones a bit loud, so that no noise, distractions or any sort of disturbance nearby could affect your concentration during the test. 2. Note down all the answers on your question papers while the recording is playing, dont worry about the handwriting, just be quick, because once the test is over, you will be given 10 minutes transfer time in order to copy the answers to your answer sheet. Reading 1. Do not leave any answer blank because there is no negative marking in the IELTS exam. So, answer all the questions, the answers you guess have a chance of being correct. 2. Before looking for the answers in a passage, underline all the important names, years and dates. Most of the nouns are helpful at the time of looking for the answers, because

most of the answers consist of them or are located near them. Writing (Task 2) 1. Write at least 4 paragraphs. Always leave one blank line after every paragraph and every paragraph must be started from the beginning of the line (there is no need to start a new paragraph from the middle of the line). 2. Try to write 8 10 points on the topic on a piece of paper while planning your essay, it will make your work easier. Use only the points which you can easily explain or support with examples. Do not try to just think of points without writing them down, as while writing the essay you may get distracted and forget those points. 3. Try to write at least 250 words and not exceed 285 words, as excess words could be grammatically wrong or incorrectly spelled. 4. Do not repeat any point, write about different points and if possible, try to give supporting examples as well. 5. Do not use any phrase or idiom if you are not sure about the meaning, or if you are not sure about the exact usage. Speaking

1.

Greet

the

examiner

while

or

after

entering

the

written English is language that says a lot in few words. Students often falsely believe that the longer a sentence is the more academic it sounds. Writing longer sentences in your response is problematic for 2 reasons. The first is it heightens the chances of errors related to coherence. The second is it makes it more difficult for you to control the grammar of the sentence, leading to silly grammatical mistakes. Too often, students receive disappointing marks on their IELTS essay simply because their long sentences led them to issues with coherence and grammar. So how long should a sentence be? Including cohesive phrases (the second C in our list), typical sentences are somewhere between 8 and 15 words. Now lets take a look at how to write these cohesive phrases. Cohesion refers to words and phrases that help ideas link

examination room to demonstrate good manners and show respect. 2. Maintain eye contact with the examiner. 3. Be confident (do not feel shy or embarrassed). 4. While attempting the Cue-Card, answer all the questions. 5. Do not repeat any sentence or point twice. As an IELTS writing instructor, I am often asked by my students what the secret is to successful essay writing. When I tell them lots of practice, lots of guidance and lots of patience, they usually look at me a bit disappointed as though my answer was too obvious. So I tell them, just follow the 4 Cs. The 4 Cs? they ask with new interest. Yes, the 4 Cs: conciseness, cohesion,

together. Cohesive phrases include wordings like Because of this, As this shows, As can clearly be seen from this example, It is clear that Thus, the idea that To illustrate this,

coherence and composition. Each needs to be employed properly if you want to score well on your Task 2 essay. In this short article, which I am writing exclusively for www.ielts-blog.com, I would like to touch on each of the 4 Cs and describe how you can use these powerful ideas to heighten your IELTS score. So lets begin with conciseness. Unlike other languages which prize long and very elaborate sentences, proper

After analyzing both points of view, To provide a summary, Without a doubt, this causes What I always suggest to students is to commit many of these phrases to memory and learn how to use them properly. When you get to your examination, you can use these phrases with confidence, which will not only save you time but also reduce the chances of grammatical mistakes. Our third C is coherence, which is the notion that all ideas you present in your essay should be easily understood by your reader. As you can probably guess, using the cohesive phrases above correctly can really help to boost the coherence in your essay as they clarify your ideas. Coherence is also greatly improved by proper grammar, so make an effort to brush up on this prior to your examination. Our final C, composition, refers to employing a proper essay structure. This means including a thesis (in the case of an argument essay), at least 2 supporting ideas, real-life examples, proper discussion of those examples as well as some kind of summary and finally a reasoned conclusion. To break it down, an argument essay is most likely going to contain 15 sentences partitioned into 4 paragraphs and follow a pattern something like this:

Introduction paragraph

A background sentence giving some background information on the essay topic.

A more detailed sentence linking the background sentence to the thesis.

A thesis that presents your point of view on your given topic.

An outline sentence declaring the 2 points you are going to use to support your thesis.

Supporting paragraph 1

A topic sentence illustrating the first point you will be presenting to support your thesis (this point taken from your outline sentence).

A sentence showing a real-life example of this topic in action.

A discussion sentence that shows how your example links or proves your topic sentence.

A conclusion sentence that links this entire paragraph back to your thesis.

Supporting paragraph 2

A topic sentence illustrating the second point you will be presenting to support your thesis (this point taken from your outline sentence).

Make an effort to use the 4 Cs properly and I guarantee your IELTS written mark will improve. As you know, Task 1 for GT module is a letter, and if the topic asks you to write to someone you know, that is an informal letter as opposed to writing to someone you dont know, which is formal. The difference between formal and informal styles is mainly in the vocabulary. Informal words are the ones used in everyday conversations and formal are used in books, contracts, business letters and essays. If the task requires formal writing avoid using informal vocabulary. If the task requires informal writing, such as a letter to a friend, avoid using formal heavy words. Apart from the vocabulary in formal writing it is best to avoid words like I, you, we, unless you are expressing an opinion. For example in an essay instead of writing You would find it difficult to get a job without proper qualifications, write something like One would find it difficult to find a job without proper qualifications, or you could write Finding a job without proper qualifications would be rather difficult. For those of you who dont live in an English speaking country and dont speak English on daily basis it will be difficult to tell the difference between formal and informal vocabulary, which is why I compiled this short list of words.

A sentence showing a real-life example of this topic in action.

A discussion sentence that shows how your example links or proves your topic sentence.

A conclusion sentence that links this entire paragraph back to your thesis.

Conclusion paragraph

A summary sentence that briefly states the 2 points you discussed in your supporting paragraphs.

A restatement of your thesis using different words. A prediction or recommendation based on the topic you have been given.

By employing a logical structure like this you fulfill your essays requirement for proper composition. So, in a nutshell, the 4 Cs make up the essential elements in a successful essay. Conciseness keeps the sentences sentences link brief, cohesion helps

together, coherence maintains understanding in the essay and composition links all parts of the essay together logically.

You could memorize it and use in your writing while practicing this way the chances you will use the correct word in the exam increase.

I ELT S w ri ti ng : usi ng tra nsi ti o na l p hra ses Transitions Transitional words and phrases are what gives your essays

Formal Inform me Cancel Contact Obtain Apologise Postpone Request Compensate Establish Discover Handle Investigate Tolerate Increase Children Many / Much Many / Much

Informal Let me know Drop Get in touch Get Say sorry Delay Ask for Make up Set up Find out Deal with Check up on Put up Go up Kids A lot of Heaps of

coherence, we need them to join sentences and thoughts together. Look at the lists below. These are transitional phrases that you can memorize and keep in your arsenal for the IELTS writing module. AGREEMENT: also, plus, in addition, further, furthermore, moreover, additionally, to add to that, next, in accordance with, accordingly, in agreement, finally, for instance, for example, in exemplification, exemplifying that, in fact, factually speaking, in terms of, and so forth, looking at the nexus between, in coordination with, along those lines, collectively speaking, generally speaking, indeed, undoubtedly, obviously, to be sure. CONTRAST: however, contrastingly, in contrast, on the contrary, on the other hand, To put it into perspective, from a different angle, nonetheless, nevertheless, but, yet, a catch to this is, sadly enough, as a hindrance, looking at the holdups, oddly enough, instead, in direct opposition, still, and rather. RESULT: as a result, as a consequence, consequently, thus, therefore, hence, thereby, resulting in, ultimately, in the end, finally, in the overall analysis, in hindsight, in

retrospect, retrospectively, vicariously, the long term effect, as a short term result, significantly, as a major effect, effectively, heretofore, hereafter, thereafter, in short, generally, over all, concluding. 4 w a ys to g et in troub le w ith your I ELT S Wri ti ng ta sk s 1. Using informal English in the IELTS Writing tasks. Informal English is OK for your Speaking test it is not OK for your Writing test. Even though not every informal word gets penalized, the more formal your style is, the better your score will be. To demonstrate the difference, informal expression loads of / tons of should be replaced with many or much; fed up with should be replaced with lost his patience, etc. 2. Using contractions. Contractions are its instead of it is, Ive instead of I have, were instead of we are (these are only a few examples). Contractions are a bad, bad thing to use in your essay, they dont save you much time and can cost you marks. Do me a favor and forget about contractions in your IELTS writing. Write should not instead of shouldnt, could not instead of couldnt, would not instead of wouldnt. You get the idea. 3. Using slang.

You can use slang any time talking to your friends, but this is the only place where it belongs, in a conversation between friends. Keep it out of your IELTS essays, letters or reports. You cant write dunno instead of dont know, wanna instead of want to or gonna instead of going to. 4. SMS-like spelling. We all are typing SMS messages, chatting on Skype and the like, and there is a bunch of shorter ways to write longer words. We type u instead of you, c instead of see, IMHO instead of in my humble opinion. None of these can appear in your IELTS work, unless you are specifically trying to mess up and get a lower score than you deserve. You need to write the full word and spell it correctly, period. I ELT S Wri ti ng : c onnec ti ve w ord s ( p a rt 1 ) Since many of you have been asking me for tips in Writing, I though a useful collection of connective words would help. It was kindly shared by a student and I am sure that using those words in your essays, letters and reports will positively affect your score. This is part 1, part 2 is coming tomorrow. Addition in addition

 and similarly likewise as well as besides further more also moreover and then too not only but even besides Sequence first(ly) initially second(ly) etc.to begin with then next earlier/later after this/that following this/that Consequence as a result thus so therefore consequently it follows that

thereby eventually then in that case admittedly Contrast however on the other hand despite in spite of though although but on the contrary otherwise yet instead of rather whereas nonetheless even though compared with

 in contrast alternatively I E LT S Writi ng : connec tive w ord s ( p a rt 2 ) I was going to post more connective words again, if it wasnt for an email that gave me another good idea. These connective words are awesome, but they wont help you if you are seeing them for the first time and dont know how to use them in a sentence. So now, I am repeating the whole list with examples, where appropriate. Addition in addition In addition, I would like to point out that my neighbor is disturbing me late at night. and similarly Your life will change forever and similarly, your whole family will feel the change. likewise Some people have little time for a hobby, and have likewise little will to get one. as well as Beauty, as well as smarts, is a remarkable quality

besides We arent friends. Besides, I dont feel its my place to set him straight. furthermore Computers are getting faster and faster these days; furthermore, their cost is getting lower and lower. also moreover Ive wanting a change for a long time, moreover, I feel I deserve one. and then too not only but also Not only this product is good for your hair, but also for the whole body. Sequence first(ly) initially Initially, you would start putting a plan together. second(ly) to begin with To begin with, you will need to commit a portion of your time to studying.

 then next earlier/later Later on there comes a stage when your skills are put to a test. after this/that following this/that Consequence as a result I studied well and as a result, I got a high score. thus so therefore I was younger and therefore, less experienced. consequently it follows that thereby I upset my friend, thereby causing her pain. eventually then in that case

admittedly Admittedly, he is the smartest person I know. Contrast however The book is expensive, however its worth it. on the other hand She says she feels fine, on the other hand, her face is pale and she doesnt look healthy. despite in spite of In spite of the difficulties, the task was completed. though He still insists, though he knows that wont do any good. although but on the contrary The music didnt lift her spirit, on contrary, it made her feel weak and vulnerable again. otherwise yet instead of

He felt unwelcome, yet instead of leaving, he stayed. rather Eggs for breakfast is not a good idea, I would rather have some toast. whereas He was her true love, whereas for him she was just another girlfriend. nonetheless While they didnt trust each other, nonetheless they worked together for many years. even though compared with in contrast alternatively I E LT S Writi ng : connec tive w ord s ( p a rt 3 ) Continuing the topic of previous posts (part 1 and part 2), here are some more connective words to use in your IELTS essay, letter or report. The headings in bold are the purpose for which you are using the connective words. Certainty obviously

was

very

disappointed,

obviously

because

my

expectations were too high. certainly I will certainly let her know your opinion. plainly You are plainly wrong of course undoubtedly She is undoubtedly very beautiful Condition if unless I wont be able to meet you, unless we schedule it in the morning. whether Whether you like it or not, this is the truth. provided that I can guarantee a good result, provided that you study. so that

I can send you the documents so that you would have proof. depending on We can have a picnic this weekend, depending on the weather. Summary in conclusion in summary lastly finally to sum up To sum up, I strongly support the efforts of our society to help the environment. to conclude to recapitulate in short I E LT S Writi ng : connec tive w ord s ( p a rt 4 ) This is the my post about connective words and here you will find words to use in sentences referring to examples, describing reasons or sequencing events in time. Time

for instance There are many schools in many countries you could go to study to, for instance the schools in London or Birmingham. one example One example of how to get better in cooking would be to start reading recipes. for example just as I wanted to be home already just as much as a thirsty man in the desert wanted water. in particular I am referring to my exams, in particular, IELTS and TOEFL. such as namely My friends, namely Andy and Cindy, have told me about this new exhibition in the city. to illustrate Reason since Since you ask, Id like to tell you my story because (of)

 due to Due to illness of the teacher, this lecture is canceled. owing to the reason why in other words leads to This assumption leads us to believe that cause The cause of this unfortunate accident was Time before since Since 2005 I have been working in as until Until now I wasnt able to find anything like it. meanwhile Meanwhile, I would like to ask for your patience. at the moment At the moment I am experiencing financial difficulties.

when whenever Whenever I call him, he appears to be very busy. as soon as just as I ELT S Wri ti ng 2 T a sk exp l a i ned I said this many times and I will repeat it again to write good IELTS essay, you need to get into your examiners head. Youve go to understand what makes you gain or lose marks, because once you do you cant go wrong. What I am about to reveal here can be found in IELTS official site, but I am explaining it in simple English. This is how they grade your essay: you receive points for Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource,Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Looks heavy? Never mind, here comes the simple English version: Task Response means that your essay shows that you understood and covered the topic from all its sides, aspects, etc. Lets take this topic for example Internet: connecting or isolating people?. Those who chose to write about how Internet connects people loose marks, those who chose to write about how Internet isolates people loose marks, those who compare and contrast both sides of

the Internet and give arguments for and against gain marks. Coherence and Cohesion means how well you

One more important thing to know: the four criteria are equally weighted. It means that if you forgot about Coherence and Cohesion in your essay, you will loose 1/4 of your essay points. It is quite possible that after reading this explanation you still couldnt write good IELTS essay. This is where Ace The IELTS book comes in. It has a full chapter dedicated to IELTS essay, which explains from A to Z the whole process of essay writing and makes it so easy, a kid could do it. There are topics of essays for you to practice on and our teacher is waiting to check your essays and make sure you are ready for the big IELTS. And, of course, I am here to answer your questions, solve your problems and support you every step of the way, write me tosimone@IELTSBlog.com T ip s b y I E LT S exa m i n er I was fortunate to meet a very special person, former IELTS examiner. He sent me an email and it was filled with GREAT tips, real inside information and, of course, I wasnt going to keep them to myself IELTS Writing tips .

connected the paragraphs and sentences inside each paragraph. You see, all of your paragraphs need to be logically connected. For example, if paragraph 1 explains the advantages of the Internet, and paragraph 2 explains its disadvantages, then paragraph 1 should have last sentence saying something like this: In spite of Internet being such a help in communication, its drawbacks can not be overlooked. This sentence creates the connection between 1st and 2nd paragraphs. If it wasnt there, examiner could think that you jumped from advantages to disadvantages without a reason. The same rule applies to sentences inside the paragraph. Every sentence should lead to the next one. Lexical Resource means vocabulary and different types of sentences, simple and complex. You should be able to use words and their synonyms. Grammatical Range and Accuracy means spelling and grammar of sentences. You should be able to spell the words correctly, do not forget articles a and the, punctuations is also important, etc you get the picture, dont you?

It is better to write in regular, not very sophisticated English, than to use phrases or structures you dont fully understand. If you need Band 6 no need for complex sentence structure. If your goal is Band 7 then show advanced sentence structure, language and vocabulary. Dont write more than 260-265 words in IELTS Writing 2 task. Why? Not because you will get lower mark, but because of these 2 reasons: 1) It takes more time 2) More words = more mistakes If you are told to cover specific points in your essay/letter cover every point, examiners actually count them. Dont overuse connecting words (like However,

know the subject tell the examiner immediately, so he could ask you another question. If you dont tell him and start trying to speak, he might think that it is not a knowledge problem, but a language problem. I ELT S Wri ti ng 2 T a sk exp l a i ned I said this many times and I will repeat it again to write good IELTS essay, you need to get into your examiners head. Youve go to understand what makes you gain or lose marks, because once you do you cant go wrong. What I am about to reveal here can be found in IELTS official site, but I am explaining it in simple English. This is how they grade your essay: you receive points for Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource,Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Looks heavy? Never mind, here comes the simple English version: Task Response means that your essay shows that you understood and covered the topic from all its sides, aspects, etc. Lets take this topic for example Internet: connecting or isolating people?. Those who chose to write about how Internet connects people loose marks, those who chose to write about how Internet isolates people loose marks, those who compare and contrast both sides of the Internet and give arguments for and against gain marks.

Furthermore, Moreover, etc) examiners are watching for you to do that. IELTS Speaking interview tips Speak until they stop you, dont just answer the question and stop. Display you best English. Behave as if it was a driving test keep going straight until told to turn right, left or park. It is quite possible that you have to speak about something you have never heard of, or have no opinion of. If you dont

Coherence

and

Cohesion means

how

well

you

Coherence and Cohesion in your essay, you will loose 1/4 of your essay points. It is quite possible that after reading this explanation you still couldnt write good IELTS essay. This is where Ace The IELTS book comes in. It has a full chapter dedicated to IELTS essay, which explains from A to Z the whole process of essay writing and makes it so easy, a kid could do it. There are topics of essays for you to practice on and our teacher is waiting to check your essays and make sure you are ready for the big IELTS. And, of course, I am here to answer your questions, solve your problems and support you every step of the way, write me tosimone@IELTSBlog.com More Wri ti ng ti p s for IE LT S G enera l m od ul e Lets continue with the Writing tips, because I have more of them for you. By the way, for those of you who cant wait to read Ace The IELTS book it is coming, I will release it really soon. In the meantime youll have to settle for these tips .

connected the paragraphs and sentences inside each paragraph. You see, all of your paragraphs need to be logically connected. For example, if paragraph 1 explains the advantages of the Internet, and paragraph 2 explains its disadvantages, then paragraph 1 should have last sentence saying something like this: In spite of Internet being such a help in communication, its drawbacks can not be overlooked. This sentence creates the connection between 1st and 2nd paragraphs. If it wasnt there, examiner could think that you jumped from advantages to disadvantages without a reason. The same rule applies to sentences inside the paragraph. Every sentence should lead to the next one. Lexical Resource means vocabulary and different types of sentences, simple and complex. You should be able to use words and their synonyms. Grammatical Range and Accuracy means spelling and grammar of sentences. You should be able to spell the words correctly, do not forget articles a and the, punctuations is also important, etc you get the picture, dont you? One more important thing to know: the four criteria are equally weighted. It means that if you forgot about

In Writing Task 2 you receive a topic and you have to write an essay of 250 words. This task has more weight than Writing 1. It also takes longer 40 minutes, when Writing 1 takes only 20 minutes.

The topic of essay can be one of 3 possible types: description of opinion, argument or social problem. Any essay you write on any topic must have structure you receive (or lose ) points for it. Structure means at least 4 paragraphs (5 is better). First paragraph is introductory, the next two or three is the actual essay its body, and the last one for conclusion. The first thing to do is to understand what kind of topic is before you. Next: for argument you need to explain both sides and agree with one of them for opinion you need to present another point of view and say which one you agree with and why for problem you need to explain it, discuss and offer solution and discuss it too. No matter what type of essay you are writing, you must provide some facts, evidence and information. When you explain the problem evaluate it; say when/where/who for it is especially difficult. If you present an idea of solution discuss it; say what its good and bad sides are. Add examples from your own experience to support what youre saying.

In any essay logical sequence of information is very important. Jumping from one idea to another it is very bad for you score, all ideas must be connected logically. Another important thing is smart words try to use them as much as you can, it is also affects your score. Punctuation is important too. Take a look at some Examples Of Writing Task 1 and Writing Task 2 here. This file is from IELTS official site it can be trusted. Yesterday I received an email from a loyal visitor of IELTSblog (hi, Ankur!) and it made me sit down and finally write some tips for IELTS Writing test. Right now I am working on a book that will include everything you need to know to ACE The IELTS. But I know that you cant wait and youve got to study RIGHT NOW, so heres some tips to keep you working .

As you know there are 2 parts, Writing 1 and Writing 2. In Writing 1 you receive a scenario and you have to write a letter. Not many people know that there are 4 types of letters in IELTS: Complaint / Request (of information) letter Formal business letter

 Job application letter Personal letter In any letter you write IELTS examiners are looking for these 3 important components: structure, vocabulary and fluency of language. Structure means that your letter must have paragraphs, at least 3 of them. Every paragraph has its job. First one must define the purpose of your letter in one two sentences. Second one must explain more about why you are

You can find some examples in the right side-bar of IELTSblog, under Writing Practice (or Click Here) and I will continue to add more links to sample letters there. I ELT S Sp ea k i ng ti p s tha t hel p ed P huong g et Ba nd 7 Doan Hung Phuong, Band 7 student, shares with us his secrets to success in the Speaking test. Speaking tips Speaking is a weakness of analytic learners (who learn English from books and tapes). Moreover, in countries where English is not a first language, improving your speaking in English is really difficult. Therefore, I dont have much experience in practicing speaking. Here are some tips that I got from my teachers and some suggestions that I think they might be helpful for you. Pronunciation is the most important feature in speaking. If you speak correctly, academically and interestingly, but no one understands what you are talking about, you certainly lose your points. One of my teachers, who is fluent in 5 languages, shares his experience that pronunciation is the key of learning a language. It might be true since native English speakers can pronounce a unfamiliar word correctly but dont know how to spell it. Because English is a combination of many

writing this letter. Third must say what kind of answer you expect. Vocabulary means that you better use some smart words. In case you are writing Complaint, Business or Job application letter you must use formal language, but not for Personal letter. Fluency of language means phrases people usually use in letters. The best advice I can give you here is to read every IELTS Sample Letter you can get. This way you develop proper language for any type of letter.

languages,

there

are

no

totally

general

rules

for

correctly. Then read the whole passage slowly and correctly (pay attention to ending sound). Afterward, increase reading speed in each sentence (read here means you must speak out the words, not read in your mind). If you speak quickly but start to pronounce wrongly, that means you reach your limit, dont speak faster than that. And finally, you read the whole passage again at normal speed, or may be a bit faster than normal a little bit, but you MUST include intonation. To find material for practicing this exercise, you can visit this website: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com. There are hundreds of short news and audio files spoken by a native speaker. I guarantee if you practice this kind of exercise gradually, you pronunciation will improve a lot. (Note: this is the exercise of my teacher, who speaks 5 languages, as I mentioned before) Now, to prepare for IELTS Speaking test, you should practice some more exercises: - Pick a topic and stand in front of mirror to practice speaking test. You should go through all three parts of the real speaking test. Standing in front of mirror will help you improve your body language and also your pronunciation. You might find it strange that mirror can correct your pronunciation. In fact, there are some vowels and consonants that you cant pronounce correctly if you dont

pronunciation. As a result, you must remember everything. So how to pronounce the words correctly? - Firstly, listen and learn what native English speaker said. As I mentioned, listening can help you in speaking. You can correct yourself in basic words if you listen a lot. Moreover, listening can also help you to learn how to stress important words, how to speak naturally and even how to organize your speech. - Secondly, if you learn a new word, you must know how to pronounce it first. Typically, when people want to learn new words, they revise these words again and again, and write it down so many times. But now, to improve your speaking and listening, you must hear electronic dictionary pronouncing and repeat after it again and again. - Thirdly, make sentences with new vocabulary. Everybody might know how to pronounce words correctly, but when they combine them all together, they cannot pronounce correctly anymore, or even if they do, their sentence may sound unnatural. The reason is they lack of intonation. Listening might solve this problem. - Fourthly, practice pronunciation every week (3-4 times a week) by reading out loud a short passage. At first, you practice to pronounce all the words in that passage

know how to do that (not just simply remember the pronunciation). - Try to speak naturally. You are advised to speak fast with intonation (the previous reading exercise will certainly help you). You should learn and apply some verb phrases, idioms and slang expressions. This is not the key part of speaking test, but it is better if you know, not only for your test but also for you speaking skill. If you want to get 7.0, you must master pronunciation, accuracy and intonation. Important tip #1 When you practice in speaking, you must pay attention to the ending sound. But when you take the real test, dont do that, because it will affect your fluency. In the real test, it is the time you show examiner what you got, not the time you can show them how good you can correct yourself. Using experience you gained from practicing to prove your speaking skill. Important tip #2 Another wonderful way to practice speaking is to speak English in your dream. If you never do that, you do it now. I have already spoken English in my dreams even before my teacher advice me to do so. I just watch cartoons in English, films in English and listen to songs in English. As a result, I naturally dream in English. Actually, I can control my

dreams, lol, it is very interesting, try to do that. By doing that, I can think quickly in my mind, but I still have problems when speaking my ideas out. So, you must do 2 previous exercises in order to improve speaking. How to g et a hi g her b a nd for I E LT S Sp ea k i ng Many students asked me how they can get a better score for Speaking. One of the things that matters in the Speaking test is your pronunciation. When you study with a teacher, improving your pronunciation is easier he can correct you and you can listen to him and just copy the way he pronounces words. But what do you do if youre all alone and study by yourself? A number of things, actually! First, you can use a free web-based text-to-speech

application such as this one (click here to try). Text-tospeech means exactly that you type a word and the program says it. Get a passage of text and start reading it out loud. Any word you are not sure how to pronounce, type in that website and click Say it to hear it. Repeat it again and again until you remember the right way to say it. Second, you can record yourself speak using a computer or a tape recorder, an mp3 player, a mobile phone now there are many devices that allow voice recording. Then listen to your recorded voice and make note of what words

are

mispronounced.

Start

working

on

those

using

the talking website again and get them right. Third, get a recording of news/radio/anything made by native English speakers. Play it and repeat after them, trying to copy the way they pronounce words. A word of advice there is no quick and easy fix for bad pronunciation. The chances are that you wont get rid of your accent completely but the accent doesnt matter in IELTS as long as you pronounce the words correctly, so work hard on that, and you should be just fine!

http://www.ielts-blog.com/ielts-writing-samples-essaysletters-reports/ http://www.ielts-blog.com/category/recent-ielts-exams/ http://www.ielts-blog.com/ielts-preparation-tips/free-writingsamples/