IELTS Listening: ‘History of food’ gap-fill
Listen to an introduction to some lectures about the history of food, and fill the gaps in the summary sentences.
IELTS Reading: Study habits (paragraph headings)
Choose the best heading for each paragraph in a passage about study habits.
IELTS Writing Task 2: ‘Supporting old people’ essay
Should family members be legally responsible for supporting their elderly relatives? Here’s my full band 9 answer.
IELTS Vocabulary: Range and flexibility
If you take lessons with an English teacher, I recommend that you ask yourself this question at the end of each lesson…
Writing Task 1: 10-year or 10 years?
Do you know when to use “10-year” and when to write “10 years”? What is the difference?
General Writing Task 1: ‘New sport’ part 2
Can you finish my sentence and explain how your friend could learn to ice skate?
IELTS Speaking Part 1: Free time at home
Here are some more part 1 questions with my model answers. Remember to make a note of any good words or phrases that I use.
IELTS Listening: Difficult vocabulary exercise
Do you understand the highlighted vocabulary in today’s tricky multiple choice exercise?
IELTS Reading: Florence cathedral (true, false, not given)
Here’s some more ‘true, false, not given’ practice using the passage that we read for last week’s gap-fill exercise.
Writing Task 2: One-idea paragraph
Let’s look at a paragraph that develops just one main idea. I’ve written the first three sentences. What should we do in sentences 4 and 5?
IELTS Advice: What is ‘advanced’ language?
An ‘advanced’ user of English isn’t someone who uses lots of passives and conditionals.
Writing Task 1: Salmon life cycle
The model answer in this lesson is quite short (only 154 words), but it is very precise and coherent, and deserves a band 9.
General Writing Task 1: ‘New sport’ part 1
Can you write two error-free sentences to recommend a new sport to your friend?
Speaking Part 3: Game shows, adverts
This lesson contains two more examples of my ‘long answer technique’: answer, explain, example, (alternative).
IELTS Listening: ‘Effective listening’ gap-fill
Listen to a short talk about effective listening skills, and fill the gaps in the summary sentences.
IELTS Reading: Gap-fill with letters
This lesson contains a special type of gap-fill exercise.
Writing Task 2: Three-idea paragraph
How do you write a ‘firstly, secondly, finally’ paragraph without using these linking words? Open this lesson to see my answer.
IELTS Advice: Diluting the method
Is it a good idea to take different IELTS methods from different teachers and mix them together to create your own method?
Writing Task 1: Paraphrasing with numbers
In this lesson, I describe the same information in 7 different ways. This paraphrasing exercise is a great way to improve your writing.
General Writing Task 1: ‘New sport’ task
Let’s start work on a new informal letter task. This time we’re writing to a friend about learning a new sport.
IELTS Speaking: Advice for each part
Here’s a summary of my main advice for each part of the speaking test.
IELTS Listening: How to do multiple choice questions
Here are 7 tips to help you with difficult multiple choice questions.
IELTS Reading: ‘Animal behaviour’ exercise
Read the passage about animal behaviour, and complete the ‘true, false, not given’ exercise below it.
Writing Task 2: ‘Two adjectives’ essay skeleton
In this lesson I turn an essay plan into an essay skeleton: introduction, main paragraph topic sentences, conclusion.
IELTS Grammar: Analyse this sentence
Can you analyse and improve the sentence in this lesson?
Writing Task 1: ‘Tourist attractions’ pie chart
Here’s another model answer for a pie chart description task. There’s a quick homework exercise too.
General Writing Task 1: present + develop
This lesson contains the only technique you need for writing main body paragraphs in your GT task 1 letter.
Speaking Part 3: Idea, explain, personal example
Let’s look at a sample answer using the ‘idea, explain, example’ structure. This time I’m using a personal example.
IELTS Listening: Wealth study gap-fill
Listen to the description of some controversial research regarding wealth and personality, then fill the gaps in the summary sentences.
IELTS Reading: ‘not given’
Sometimes just one key word can make the answer ‘not given’.