Daily lessons with Simon,
ex-IELTS examiner
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Speaking Part 2: Describe a future aim
Would you be able to talk about a future aim or goal for 2 minutes? Read my answer to get some ideas!
IELTS Listening: Lectures and seminars
Listen to the recording about university lectures and seminars, and fill the gaps in the summary below it.
IELTS Reading: Ethnography
Try today’s multiple choice exercise. From this lesson you’ll also learn the meaning of the word ‘ethnography’.
Agree or disagree: Will computers replace teachers?
The model essay in today’s lesson contains exactly 250 words, but it’s still good enough for a band 9!
IELTS Grammar: Using ‘with’ instead of ‘and’
This lesson contains an interesting comparison between sentence structures using ‘with’ instead of ‘and’.
Writing Task 1: ‘Phone calls’ bar chart
Here’s another model answer for you to study. This time the task contains a bar chart about phone calls.
Writing Task 1: Invitation letter part 3
Let’s continue with the ‘invitation’ letter task. In this lesson we’ll describe the special occasion and invite our friend to it.
Speaking Part 1: Parks
Here are some more part 1 questions with my model answers. Today’s topic is ‘parks’, and my answers are short and direct.
Back tomorrow!
I’m sorry that I haven’t published a new lesson for a couple of days. I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.
IELTS Grammar: namely vs including
A subscriber asked me to explain the difference between ‘namely’ and ‘including’, so let’s study some examples.
Writing Task 1: Overview, not conclusion
In this lesson I explain why you should write an ‘overview’ in your task 1 report, not a conclusion.
Writing Task 1: Invitation letter part 2
Let’s continue with the ‘invitation’ letter task. In this lesson we tell our friend what we’ve been doing since we last met.
Speaking Part 3: ‘Community’ topic
How can people help others in their communities? Today’s lesson contains my sample answer to this question and two others.
IELTS Listening: How to improve your score
If you’re trying to improve your listening score, stop searching for techniques! Think about this instead…
IELTS Reading: The keyword technique
I often talk about “the keyword technique” in my reading lessons. But what is this technique and how do we use it?
Four ‘agree or disagree’ methods
This important lesson contains four good ways to structure an “agree or disagree” essay. Study the four methods carefully!
IELTS Advice: ‘moreover’ doesn’t get you a 7
When I was working as an examiner, I noticed that many students overused ‘moreover’, ‘furthermore’ and ‘in addition’.
Academic Writing Task 1: Using the passive
IELTS students often use the passive wrongly in academic writing task 1. Would you make the same mistake?
Writing Task 1: Invitation letter part 1
You’ve decided to celebrate a special occasion, and you want to invite an old friend that you haven’t seen for a long time.
IELTS Speaking Part 2: Filling the 2 minutes
Many candidates struggle to speak for 2 minutes because they answer the first two or three points on the task card too quickly.
IELTS Listening: Another spelling tip
Here’s a good way to use the practice tests in the official Cambridge IELTS books to improve your spelling.
IELTS Reading: How questions are made
The people who write the questions for IELTS reading tests do something like this…
How to ‘concede + answer’ correctly
This lesson will test your understanding of the “concede + answer” structure!
IELTS Writing: Concede + answer
“Concede + answer” is both a sentence structure and a way to structure a complete essay. You should definitely learn this structure.
Writing Task 1: ‘Living alone’ charts
Here’s another model answer for you to study. This time the task contains a bar chart and a pie chart.
General Writing Task 1: Invitation letter task
Let’s start work on a new informal letter task. It’s a letter to an old friend, inviting him or her to celebrate a special occasion with you.
Speaking Part 2: Describe an indoor game
The model answer in this answer contains some excellent words and phrases. Can you list them?
IELTS Listening: Microplastics
Listen to the recording about the problems caused by microplastics, and fill the gaps in the summary below it.
IELTS Reading: Etymology
Try today’s multiple choice exercise. From this lesson you’ll also learn the meaning of the word ‘etymology’.
Writing Task 2: How to write an introduction
Are you writing long, complicated introductions, or have you learnt my more effective method?