Preparation for the IELTS Exam
Free tips, advice and lessons for IELTS writing, speaking, listening and reading.
An IELTS essay is a ‘discursive essay’ where you may have to discuss an issue, give an opinion, explain advantages or disadvantages, write about problems or causes of problems and give solutions. There are 5 variations to an IELTS discursive essay. In this lesson there are 7 model answers for IELTS writing task 2, these are based on essays my students have written with help from me to correct them and make them more concise and clear.
Tables sometimes show up in IELTS academic writing task 1, in some cases they are in a double task such as a pie chart and table or a bar graph and table. In this lesson we have a table on its own with a lot of data. This is taken from Cambridge IELTS 7, page 30, it is a popular example of a table for IELTS teachers.
Before writing anything you will need to analyse the task, take around 4 minutes to plan, look at the categories, the countries the year and the highest and lowest statistics. The grammar tense is important to get right, you can see below that the table shows data from 2002 , so I will write in the past tense.
Read moreIELTS academic writing task 1: Table on consumer expenditure
If you are doing IELTS general instead of the Academic version, then you are lucky. In the general section you only need to write a letter and it will be either formal or informal. There is a semi formal style but if you are writing to a friend, even if it is in a business setting, then just write informally.
In the Academic version of IELTS you will get one of the following: a bar chart, pie chart, line graph, map, process diagram, table, double task (pie chart and table for instance) so the general IELTS writing task 1 is much easier.
Let’s take a look at the task question below about an IELTS general letter to a friend.
Read moreIELTS General: Letter to a friend about a problem at work.
Setting up your own personalised IELTS study schedule.If you are serious about getting a Band 7+ in IELTS, then you need to get very organised and focused. Consider making your own IELTS study plan. There is a YouTube video here about this and 5 steps to take below that video.
Everyone has different weaknesses in IELTS, so it is really your responsibility to make a study schedule. Motivation is crucial here too, if you can find a study partner, then that will help you a lot with motivation. The best option is to have a teacher who can check your writing and evaluate your speaking giving feedback along the way.
Paraphrasing percentages and statistics in IELTS academic writing task 1.One thing that can be challenging in IELTS writing task 1 academic is how to report on all the data in a chart or graph. Something that can help your vocabulary band score is using specific language such as the language of approximation, proportion and fractions to paraphrase percentages.
Timing and preparation in IELTS WritingMany candidates who do the exam get to the writing section and start stressing out because their time management becomes an issue. You only have around 40 minutes to write a 250 word essay, so straight away this tends to create anxiety, and then there is writing task 1 which should only take 20 minutes. That’s 1 hour in total.
This is one of the most common questions I get asked about in IELTS .There are a lot of IELTS students out there stuck on a Band 5 or Band 6 in the speaking section and are getting frustrated. Many of you are near to giving up on hitting a Band 7. Some people get the wrong advice, poor feedback or are promised a high score by their teacher just to keep them happy. It is important to be realistic about this.
Here is a line graph from the Cambridge IELTS 9 book about US energy consumption by fuel type. As you can see from this there is a date range from the past with predictions for the future. Always take around 2 minutes to analyse the task before writing anything.
Note that this graph is courtesy of the Cambridge IELTS 9 practice book, only use authentic Cambridge IELTS material when practicing. You can get these books online such as Amazon.com. You can also download free practice tests from ielts.org or the British council website.
Read moreLine Graph Model Answer: Energy Consumption by Fuel Source
What is the difference between a Causes Solutions and a Problem Solutions essay?Problem solutions and causes solutions essay are very similar but there is a subtle difference, one type asks about the problems and the other type asks about the causes.
It is very important to spend a couple of minutes analaysing the task question so that you know what to write about in the essay. I have seen many good essays lose marks in Task Response because the writer did not find the issues in the task question, or did not fully understand what to write about.
Read moreTwo easily confused essays (problem / causes solutions essay)
17 commonly asked questions about the IELTS speaking test.There is a lot of misinformation and myths out there surrounding IELTS, so hopefully these questions and answers should help clear up any confusion before you go into the IELTS exam.
Simply click on the blue buttons to see the answers to these IELTS speaking questions. If there are any questions not listed, leave a comment in the comments section at the bottom of this post. I will try to answer them for you.