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IELTS Preparation tips

The best ways to study for the four IELTS sub-tests: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking

Top 10 IELTS books

I am delighted to share the great news – ‘Ace the IELTS’ and ‘Target Band 7’ made it again to the list of Top 10 IELTS Books, published by Test Study Guides website. This was a very nice surprise, and they even created a special badge for us!

Top 10 IELTS BooksIt’s a big honour to appear on the same Top 10 list with big and well-known publishers such as Cambridge and Barron’s, and I am thankful to all the readers for favouring my books.

I feel humbled by the very kind reviews published on Test Study Guides, it is amazing to receive this kind of recognition. Here is what they said about my books (this is the short version, you can read the full reviews here):

Target Band 7: IELTS Academic – How to Maximize Your Score

Top 10 IELTS Books, Target Band 7“Written by a former IELTS test-taker herself, Simone Braverman’s Target Band 7 is an easy-to-use and easy-to-understand strategic guide to the Academic IELTS. This popular prep book’s overarching goal is to help test-takers reduce the time that it takes to solve typical problems and assist them in avoiding common mistakes.

Providing useful tips for content and for techniques, Braverman tackles each of the four sections of the IELTS with concise and helpful advice. Of particular note are the sample exercises provided in the book as well as the materials dealing with topic construction. In addition, one of the most appealing characteristics of this prep book is the clear language and personable writing style that Braverman uses, thereby ensuring comprehension of the multitude of useful techniques she offers for conquering every section of the test. Finally, as an added bonus, the book also features a detailed study plan.”

Ace the IELTS: IELTS General – How to Maximize Your Score

Top 10 IELTS Books, Ace the IELTS“For those focusing on the IELTS General Module, this book is a must have. Focusing both on substance and strategy, Simone Braverman’s second book comprehensively covers every module of the test and, even more importantly, provides unique techniques and tips for conquering the actual taking of the test as well.

Written in simple and easy-to-understand language, this book is designed to efficiently and effectively improve IELTS General Module scores. While the book itself does not provide sample tests, it does provide links to online practice tests where the skills learned from this book can be practiced.

Already used and trusted by countless previous test-takers, this is a simple yet effective book for the IELTS General Module.”

P.S. As you probably know, even though practice tests are not included in the books, we do provide them as a free bonus with e-books ‘Ace the IELTS’ and ‘Target Band 7’ – so all our readers have a chance to get a lot of practice while preparing for their exams.

The right way to move your mouth when speaking English

Everyone knows that the person’s first language affects the way they sound when they speak English. For example a person whose first language is Arabic will sound different speaking English from a person whose first language is Polish. But do you know why?

The answer is simple: mouth position. Mouth position means whether your mouth is open or closed most of the time when you speak (whether your jaws, upper and lower teeth, are close together or wide apart).

Many people automatically use the mouth position typical to their first language when speaking English and it makes their speech harder to understand. The reason we’re bringing this up is that once you know what affects your pronunciation, you can work on it, and thus improve your Speaking IELTS score.

Georgie Taylor, a Speech Pathologist and accent specialist with over 9 years of experience, says that to speak English more like a native speaker (and therefore more clearly) you need to open and close your mouth quite a lot – compared to languages such as Japanese, Cantonese or Russian, for example.

In this short video Georgie explains about the right way to move your mouth in English and even gives you a great exercise to start your day. To make sure you understand every word we prepared a transcript of the video – click here to download.

If your pronunciation needs a bit of work, here is another great resource to try – this page (click here) allows you to record and compare your own pronunciation to that of a native speaker. Mimicking a native speaker’s pronunciation is a very good way to improve your own.

P.S. The website you will be visiting, Star Pronunciation, offers online pronunciation courses that Georgie created after working face-to-face for many years with international professionals and university students. If you decide to seriously improve your pronunciation using any of Georgie’s courses, copy this text IELTSBlog and paste it at the checkout and you will get a $45 discount (the discount text is case sensitive). This price reduction is exclusive to IELTS-Blog.com visitors, not available anywhere else.