Daily lessons with Simon,
ex-IELTS examiner
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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.
General Writing Task 1: ‘Book review’ task
Let’s start work on a new formal letter task. This time we’re writing to the editor of a magazine.
IELTS Speaking Part 3: Long answer method
Most people don’t follow a method when answering part 3 questions, so their answers tend to have no direction or structure.
IELTS Listening: Spelling test
Many IELTS candidates lose marks because of spelling mistakes. See if you can spell the 10 words in today’s exercise.
IELTS Reading: Easy examples of T, F, NG
To understand the difference between true, false and not given, it helps to look at some easy examples.
IELTS Writing Task 2: ‘Opinion + refute’ skeleton
Can you finish my essay ‘skeleton’ by writing a one-sentence conclusion?
IELTS Advice: Examiners like examples
If you’re not sure what to say or what to write, give an example!
Audiobook: Ideas for IELTS Topics
Today I’m sharing a full audio recording of my ebook “Ideas for IELTS Topics”. NOTE: This lesson might load slowly because it contains a large audio file.
IELTS Grammar: ‘Collecting’ topic mistakes
Can you find and correct the mistakes in five sentences about yesterday’s speaking topic?