How to get a better IELTS score.

When you sit for the IELTS Test, you really do want to get the best IELTS score possible.

Whenever I teach a new IELTS course, at a certain point I do a survey with my students to find out what they want exactly.  I'm now doing the same thing with the visitors to my site.  I want your help and opinions!

I have had very positive feedback from students and visitors who have downloaded and read my free IELTS Speaking report Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor. and am putting together a comprehensive IELTS ebook.  This is YOUR book so tell me what you want to see in it.  For example; do you want the focus to be on all four skills or just writing?

What else do you want to see on my best IELTS site?  Contact me and let me know.  On 5th December, I will select three names at random from the people who contacted me with fheir ideas and give them a free IELTS practice interview on skype and these people will slso be given a free copy of the ebook once completed.

Looking forward to your email!

Alanna

 

Academic IELTS Writing Task 1 tip - charts and graphs.

Today's best IELTS tip is about Academic IELTS Writing Task 1.

I have found that many of my students panic a little bit when they come across an Academic IELTS Writing Task 1 that has more than one chart, graph or table.  Ok, the first thing to do is take a deep breath and stop panicking!  Remember that when there is more that one chart, graph or table, the information will be connected in some way.  When you first study the diagrams, you need to find the link between them.

You can then use my Task 1 Writing plan; Best IELTS Writing Plan for Academic Task 1 keeping in mind that you are dealing with more than one diagram.

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

Getting a good score in the IELTS Listening Test.

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Today's best IELTS tip is about the map labelling task in  the  IELTS Listening Test.

One of the IELTS Listening Test Task Types is ‘labelling a map’.  You should look at the map carefully before the recording starts.  Then you should listen carefully to the beginning of the dialogue to find out where to start on the map.

At this point you will listen for prepositions of place to help you follow the directions.  Prepositions of place are used to clarify a specific place and are used with all nouns. The preposition usually comes before the noun or the pronoun. The preposition never comes before a verb.

I’ve given you a list here of the prepositions of place I think are most useful for this type of IELTS Listening task.  I suggest you make sure you understand what they mean and write a sentence containing the word to understand them in context.

·        across

·        against

·        around

·        at

·        at the back of

·        between

·        behind.

·        by

·        in

·        inside

·        on the corner of

·        in the middle of

·        near

·        next to.

·        to the left of

·        to the right of

·        opposite

·        outside

 

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

Best IELTS Listening Test Tips - A common sense approach.

Today's best IELTS tip is an audio I've made with some common sense tips for the  IELTS Listening Test.

Listen!

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

Best IELTS Listening Test Tips - A common sense approach!

via AudioBoo

IELTS Reading Test Tips - Flowchart and diagram task types.

Today's best IELTS tip is about flowcharts and diagrams in the IELTS Reading Test.

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One of the question types in the IELTS Reading Test is when you are given a flowchart or diagram and you must insert labels/headings based on information from the passage.

In this post, I’d like to share with you the list of tips I give my students when dealing with this question type:

 

• First of all you should skim read the passage to get the gist (general idea)

 

• If you are completing a flowchart, it is necessary to be aware of the order in which events happen in the passage

 

• If you are labeling a diagram, you need to understand how the different parts of the picture relate to what is described in the passage.

 

• For each stage in the flow chart / part of the diagram, you should locate the part of the passage which contains the same ideas

 

• Make sure you are aware of any word limits (e.g. WRITE NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS) and don’t exceed those word limits.

 

• Don’t alter words from the passage when labelling a flowchart / diagram.  Let me give you an example; if the passage mentions a ‘silicone chamber’ and you can see this on the diagram / flowchart, don’t change the words to ‘siliconising chamber’.

 

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

Best IELTS Reading Test Tip

Today's best IELTS tip is bout the IELTS Reading Test.
One of the task types in the IELTS Reading Test is when you are given a summary with gaps and are given a choice of words to fill in the gaps.
The first thing you should be aware of is that these summary tasks often relate to only one particular section of the text.  You should therefore identify that section to save time when looking for the answers.
As you might expect, there are usually more words than gaps, you therefore need to also take a look at my tips in my post 'Using 'key words' in the IELTS Reading Test'.
For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!
If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

Alanna

IELTS in the USA.

Today's best IELTS news is once again about IELTS in the USA.

This morning I was reading the official IELTS website and I learnt that more than 3,000 institutions and programs in the USA accept IELTS scores as proof of English language skills

I also found contact details for IELTS in the USA.

IELTS International

825 Colorado Boulevard, Suite 112

Los Angeles, CA 90041

USA

Telephone: 323 255 2771

Email:ielts@ieltsintl.org

 

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

Is IELTS accepted in the U.S.?

Today I came across an article which I think might be the best IELTS news for many people.

I found this article on the MBA Admissions Program at Indiana University and was pleasantly surprised to read that they are not accepting IELTS as well as TOEFL.  Could this be the beginnings of a trend developing in the U.S.?

IELTS has always traditionally been the test used in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, whereas American institutions have always favoured TOEFL.  I have been hearing whispers for some time now that IELTS is maybe creeping in to the U.S. and this article is promising.

I know that many of my students found this good news indeed; it means they only need to sit one English language test when applying for study overseas.

Read the article here:

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/sep2010/bs20100922_473680.htm

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

IELTS in the U.S.A.?

Today I came across an article which I think might be the best IELTS news for many people.

I found this article on the MBA Admissions Program at Indiana University and was pleasantly surprised to read that they are not accepting IELTS as well as TOEFL.  Could this be the beginnings of a trend developing in the U.S.?

IELTS has always traditionally been the test used in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, whereas American institutions have always favoured TOEFL.  I have been hearing whispers for some time now that IELTS is maybe creeping in to the U.S. and this article is promising.

I know that many of my students found this good news indeed; it means they only need to sit one English language test when applying for study overseas.

Read the article here:

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/sep2010/bs20100922_473680.htm

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

Using 'key words' in the IELTS Reading Test.

Today's best IELTS tip is about making use of key words in the IELTS Reading Test questions.

So, my students often ask me, "What do you mean by 'key words ?'"

Well, when you read an IELTS Reading Test question, you should look out for the following three things:

1. which words tell you the topic?
2. which other words are the main content words?
3. what part of speech (nouns, prepositions etc) are the words in questions 1 and 2?

Now that you've determined the key words (1 and 2) and identified the focus of the question, let's look how we can use this in practice.

In some IELTS Reading Test Task Types, you are given half a sentence and need to complete it by selecting its second half from a list of choices.

E.g.  Questions 1-6 are the first half of a sentence and you must find the matching half from choices A-K

What I suggest my students do is read the questions 1-6, determine the key words and the focus of the question and then look for these ideas expressed in a similar way in the text.  You then select the appropriate ending from the list A-K, reading through all the options to check you've chosen the correct one.

 

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

Best IELTS Listening Test Tip

Today's best IELTS tip is an audio I've made about multiple choice task type questions in the IELTS Listening Test.

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

Improving your IELTS Reading Skills.

Today's best IELTS tip is about how to improve your reading for the IELTS Reading Test.

Time and time again, I say to my students, "Read EVERYTHING".  Why do I say this?  Well, for me extensive reading serves three purposes:

• it improves your reading skills
• it increases your vocabulary, your knowledge of how to use grammar and of the language in general
• it helps develop your writing skills

So, what kind of things can you read?  Some of the suggestions on this list will be better suited to the Academic IELTS Reading Test, some to the General Training Reading Test, you decide which ones suit your purpose best.  Some suggestions are easier to implement if you're living in an English-speaking country.  The most important thing, though, is to try to enjoy it!

• scientific or business magazines
• fashion magazines
• English newspapers
• free magazines and newspapers
• novels and books
• text books in English (if you're a student)
• magazines and newspapers on the internet
• labels on food
• labels on toiletries
• bus tickets / train tickets
• the English section of instruction manuals (for your mobile phone, DVD player etc)

I studied French and German at university and speak fluent Italian and have followed my own advice over the years.  Trust me, it works!

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

 

Academic IELTS Writing Task 1 plan.

Today's best IELTS tip is the 'Academic IELTS Writing Task 1 plan' I give my students so that they can approah their Task 1 Writing in a systematic way:

Academic IELTS Writing Task 1 plan

1.  Look at the task.  What is the topic?  What do you have to do?

 

2.  Decide what the time period is (look at the axis).  Is it

• finished?
• not finished?
• future (projected figures)?

           Think about the verb tenses you will use.

 

3.  What is the topic?  Write a sentence to introduce the information.

e.g.  The graph shows....................

 

4.  Write a general sentence to show the trend. e.g. 

Generally,............

In general,...........

 

5.  Give a more in-depth description.  Give the details.

 

6.  Write a sentence to conclude your writing.  e.g.

To sum up,..........................

To summarise,.....................

In conclusion,......................

 

7.  Check your writing.

 

Print off these guidelines and follow them when doing practice tests until they become habit.

 

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

 

More useful language for Academic IELTS Writing Task 1.

Today's best IELTS tip is about useful language for describing graphs in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

Students often express their concerns about what to do when a graph does not show precise data.  I give them the following  list of phrases that express approximation:

• just under
• well under
• just over
• well over
• roughly
• nearly
• approximately
• around
• about

Remember that it isn't necessary to use all the phrases but at the same time, you should try to get some variety in your IELTS Writing.

 

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

Useful language for Academic IELTS Writing Task 1.

Today's best IELTS tip is about useful language for describing graphs in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1

I always tell students that it's important to use a variety of language in their writing and give them the following lists for IELTS Academic Writing Task 1:

Verbs meaning 'to go up'

• rise - rose - risen
• increase
• grow - grew - grown

Verbs meaning 'to go down'

• fall - fell - fallen
• drop
• decrease
• decline

It is also important to use the correct verb tense.  Here are some examples:

• From 2001 to 2006, sales went up - past simple for a trend in the past.
• Sales are going up now - present continuous for a trend happening now.
• This month, sales have gone down - present perfect simple for a trend up to now.
• The number of sales will go up next year - future with 'will' for a predictive trend.
• By the end of this year, sales will have tripled - future perfect for a trend happening before a future date.

There are also certain time expressions which are common with each tense:

past simple

• last July
• before 2005
• over the previous decade
• during the summer of 2003

present continuous

• at present
• at the moment
• currently
• nowadays

present perfect simple

• since 1996 
• up to now
• so far this century
• for the last eight months

future with 'will'

• in the year after next
• in five years' time
• between 2020 and 2025

• is likely to
• is forecast to
• is set to
• is expected to
• is predicted to

future perfect

• by 2035
  

 

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

Improve my IELTS Band Score - General Training IELTS Writing Task 1; formal letter layout.

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Today's best IELTS tip is about IELTS General Training Writing.  I've put together a video about the layout of formal letters.

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

 

Tips for a higher IELTS Band Score - General Training IELTS Writing Task 1;informal letter layout.

Today's best IELTS tip is about IELTS General Training Writing.  I've put together a video about the layout of informal letters.

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna

The Importance of Paragraphing in IELTS Writing.

Today's best IELTS tip is about IELTS Writing.  I've put together a video about paragraphing, which is important in both General Training IELTS and Academic IELTS, both Task 1 and Task 2.

 

For speaking test tips, why not download my free IELTS Speaking report; Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor.  I'm sure you'll find it useful!

If you're enjoying my best IELTS tips, why not look me up on 'youtube'.  My channel is 'bestieltsonline'.

 

Alanna