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Simone Braverman

Simone Braverman is the founder of IELTS-Blog.com and the author of several renowned IELTS preparation books, including Ace the IELTS, Target Band 7, the High Scorer's Choice practice test series, and IELTS Success Formula. Since 2005, Simone has been committed to making IELTS preparation accessible and effective through her books and online resources. Her work has helped 100,000's of students worldwide achieve their target scores and live their dream lives. When Simone isn't working on her next IELTS book, video lesson, or coaching, she enjoys playing the guitar or rollerblading.

IELTS Speaking questions from the UK – February 2024

IELTS Speaking New Questions United Kingdom February 2024

Our student took IELTS in the UK quite recently and remembered the following Speaking questions:

Speaking test

Part 1 (Interview)

– What do you like about your hometown?
– Is your hometown a good place for young people?
– Do you like geography? Why or why not?
– Would you like to be a geography teacher?
– What is the most interesting geographical feature in your country?
– Have you ever visited a place that you learned about in geography class?
– Do you usually give people gifts?
– Have you ever given someone a handmade gift?
– What do you think makes a gift meaningful?
– In your culture, is there an occasion when people usually give each other gifts?

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Describe someone who enjoys cooking for others. You should say

– who they are
– who they cook for
– why you think they like to cook for other people

and explain how you feel about this person.

Part 3 (Discussion)

– Do you think the dishes that people used to make in the past are the same as the dishes they make now?
– Do you think traditional dishes will be replaced by other dishes? Why?
– Why do you think people spend so much money on dishes for celebrations?
– Do you think dishes are important in celebrations? Why?
– How do you think global food trends influence local food traditions in your country?
– In what ways do you think food plays a role in cultural identity?

Stuck on Your IELTS Essay? How to Get Unstuck

Stuck on Your IELTS Essay

If you are getting stuck trying to write your IELTS essay, 90% of the time it is because of the writer’s block.

This problem is incredibly common and is a major source of pain in IELTS preparation. You’ve read the essay topic but can’t think of any ideas to write about.

Do this exercise to overcome the writer’s block and easily generate ideas for any essay topic you may get in IELTS:

Preparation: Put together a list of 5 IELTS essay topics (you can use the ones we post on IELTS-Blog.com or any other reliable source).

1. Analyse the first topic on your list to understand what you need to write about.

2. Set a timer for 5 minutes.

3. Spend these 5 minutes thinking of 2-3 main ideas for your essay. Write them down, but don’t proceed to writing the actual essay.

4. Move on to the next topic on your list & repeat the process.

This exercise will do 2 things for you:

A) It will train your brain to generate ideas quickly, and
B) By the end of it you will have notes that will help you write 5 essays.

Note: If you can’t come up with any ideas on a particular topic, it means you need to do some research! Find some model essays written for that topic and see what other people are writing about. It will give you ideas of what you can cover in your essay. That way, if you’ve done this exercise enough, you won’t have knowledge gaps. After all, the list of IELTS topics isn’t endless 😉

Keep practicing and soon you will get rid of the writer’s block for good!

What other problems are you struggling with in IELTS writing? Let me know in the comments!