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2006

Tips by an IELTS examiner

I was fortunate to have met a very special person, a former IELTS examiner. He sent me an email and it was filled with GREAT tips, real insider information and, of course, I wasn’t going to keep all of that to myself :).

IELTS Writing tips

It is better to write in regular, not very sophisticated English, than to use phrases or structures you don’t 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.

Don’t write more than 260-265 words in IELTS Writing 2 task. Why? Not because you will get a 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 do actually count them.

Don’t overuse connecting words (like However, Furthermore, Moreover, etc) – examiners are watching for you to do that.

IELTS Speaking – interview tips

Speak until they stop you, don’t 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 don’t know the subject – tell the examiner immediately, so he could ask you another question. If you don’t tell him and start trying to speak, he might think that it is not a knowledge problem, but a language problem.

More Fresh IELTS Tasks And Topics

Thanks to my thoughtful students, Kimunn (Cambodia) and Huma (Pakistan), I can share with you more IELTS exam tasks and topics, all from Academic IELTS.

This is what Huma told us about her IELTS exam:

Writing Task 1 (a report)

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The bar chart shows the percentage of internet users and non-users in Australia in 2001 in different age groups. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information shown below..

Download the bar chart here

You should write at least 150 words.

Writing Task 2 (an essay)

You are advised to spend the maximum of 40 minutes on this task.

What are the possible effects of living long on an individual and on the whole society?
Give some examples for and against according to your knowledge.

You should write at least 250 words.

Speaking test

Interview

What is your name, student or employee, what is your job? If a guest suddenly comes to your home, what do you do? What you will show to a visitor?

Cue Card

Questions about favorite shopping center

  • Where it is?
  • What kind of shops are there?
  • Why do you like it?
  • What influences you mostly to shop there?

    • Discussion

    Related to shopping

  • Online marketing, its advantages and disadvantages
  • Comparison of cheap shopping center and branded shopping center

    • And this is what Kimunn remembered:

    Writing Task 1 – describe the process of making cement and concrete.
    Writing Task 2 – discuss the advantages and disadvantages of private secondary school.
    Speaking section – they asked about what is the meaning of flowers in my country.