Daily lessons with Simon,
ex-IELTS examiner
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Vocabulary: Review every week
The ability to use a wide range of vocabulary is probably the main thing that separates band 7-9 candidates from those at band 6 or lower.
Writing Task 1: Waste graph
Can you fill the gaps to complete my band 9 description of a line graph?
General Writing Task 1: Book review part 4
In this lesson I use three collocations with the word ‘habit’: to confront a habit, to break a habit, to implement a habit.
Speaking Part 3: ‘Television’ topic
Do most people watch TV for education or for entertainment? Today’s lesson contains my sample answer to this question and two others.
IELTS Listening: Map directions
There’s a ‘map’ question in Cambridge IELTS book 11. Would you be able to follow the map directions quickly?
IELTS Reading: Children’s intelligence
Today’s gap-fill exercise is quite tricky. See if you can do it!
IELTS Writing Task 2: Two types of example
I advise students to use two types of example in their essays. Do you know what they are?
Advice: Practise ‘sentence pairs’
What are ‘sentence pairs’, and why is it important to practise writing them?
Writing Task 1: The overview
An IELTS examiner recently told me that the most common mistake in students’ writing task 1 answers is that there is no overview.
General Writing Task 1: Book review part 3
In this lesson we continue to write our letter to a newspaper editor about a book that influenced us.
IELTS Speaking Part 1: Studying
Here are some more part 1 questions with my model answers. Today’s topic is ‘studying’.
IELTS Listening: Multiple choice about redevelopment
Listen to a recording about the redevelopment of an area, and choose the best answer to complete each of the two sentences below it.
IELTS Reading: T, F, NG about a library
Here’s another exercise to illustrate the difference between true, false and not given.
IELTS Writing Task 2: ‘Roads vs railways’ essay
Governments should spend money on railways rather than roads. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Writing Task 1 Advice: Variety and repetition
In a task 1 report, how much variety do you need, and when is repetition acceptable?
Writing Task 1: Children’s sports
This lesson contains my band 9 description of two line graphs that give information about children’s sports.
General Writing Task 1: Book review part 2
In this lesson you’ll see how I take ideas from a speaking part 2 answer and use them in a general writing task 1 letter.
Speaking Part 2: Describe a prize
Describe a prize that you would like to win. Read my sample answer to get some good ideas and vocabulary for this task.
IELTS Listening: More tips!
Here’s another list of quick tips for IELTS listening.
IELTS Reading: History of the computer
One possible question type in the IELTS reading test is “name matching”. This lesson contains a useful practice exercise.
IELTS Writing Task 2: Which two trends?
Which two trends might make railways less and less important in today’s world?
IELTS Vocabulary: ‘less common’ not ‘advanced’
Examiners are not looking for advanced vocabulary; they are looking for less common vocabulary.
Writing Task 1: Using a model sentence
In this lesson we practise using the structure of a ‘model’ sentence to write our own sentences.
General Writing Task 1: Book review part 1
In this lesson we look at the ‘purpose sentence’ and the ‘ending sentence’ for a formal letter to a magazine editor.
IELTS Speaking Part 1: Cooking
Here are some more part 1 questions with my model answers. Today’s topic is ‘cooking’.
IELTS Listening: Critical thinking gap-fill
Try today’s quick listening exercise, which also contains some useful phrases.
IELTS Reading: Scanning made me panic!
Here’s a quick story about when I tried scanning for answers in a lesson with a group of students.
IELTS Writing Task 2: Paragraph about roads
Read my paragraph about the importance of roads, then try today’s study task which looks at vocabulary and sentence ‘jobs’.
IELTS Advice: Message and word choice
Try this: Stop worrying about grammar, big words, impressing the examiner, your score, and what you’ve studied. Do this instead…
Writing Task 1: Charts showing countries
Here are some things to remember when the graph or chart shows countries.