Can you hear the sound of bells jingling? That't right! It the final Tuesday before the 25th of December, which can mean only one thing - it is our annual Christmas IELTS Quiz. Only this year, there are absolutely NO questions about IELTS whatsoever, so it really us just a chance for Nick and I to let our hair down and talk about the Christmas traditions we enjoyed growing up in the UK. Obviously, if you are preparing for your exam and sitting first, you may want to skip this episode and go back...
Dec 20, 2022•43 min
At the end of last week's episode (in which Nick and I explained how the examiner will band your speaking performance for Fluency and Coherence, I sent out a call on social media for our listeners to record themselves attempting four current speaking part two questions. We will highlight some common errors and give expected scores based on the public band descriptors. Useful Links Join our next 5-day intensive speaking course: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/speaking If you are just start...
Dec 13, 2022•58 min
In the IELTS Speaking exam, the examiner will give you a score in 4 areas: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Range, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation. Your final score will be the average of these four scores rounded down. However, recently I realised that that there is a lot of confusion among students as to exactly what the examiner is looking for when they grade Fluency and Coherence. Fluency is relatively clear and easy to understand - that is your ability to speak without pause...
Dec 06, 2022•44 min
Hey everyone. IELTS reading MCQs have always been one of the most difficult to tackle in IELTS. That is because they can either test your understanding of the information given in the passage of your understanding of the writer's purpose or aim. Until now, 90% of questions have focussed on the former, but I noticed that in Cambridge IELTS Academic 17, almost ALL of the questions asked you to analyse what the writer was doing. This is obviously a massive change and one that could be challenging f...
Nov 29, 2022•58 min
Every few weeks I get an email from a student who would like to know how to prepare for the IELTS Life Skills test. Sadly, I know nothing about the test, so I usually just point them in the direction of the official website and wish them luck. However, this week Nick discovered that one of his friend's had recently taken the test, so today he is going to explain to me exactly what the test is, who needs to take it, and how it is marked. Even if you don't need to take the test, this is an interes...
Nov 22, 2022•32 min
Use code BLACK15 to get a 15% discount on all our courses this week. Find out more on this link: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/writing Hey! IELTS is well-known for recycling the same topics for Speaking Part 2 again and again. However, they do sometimes introduce new topics into the exam, which can confuse some students. Today, Nick and I analyse 5 new IELTS Speaking Part 2 topics from 2022 to show you how you can come up with ideas quickly for ANY topic. Plus, we will provide model ans...
Nov 15, 2022•52 min
Shelly is sick today, so we are planning a re-run of our most popular ever episode - how to nail IELTS Listening Part 3! Many students find Part 3 of the IELTS listening test the most difficult. There are a number of reasons for this: there are more than two voices, the questions usually focus on the outcome of a discussion in which many views are offered, and you may also be asked to locate a person's feelings (and we all know that feelings are much harder to find than facts!) You can find the ...
Nov 09, 2022•48 min
Last week, IELTS IDP announced that they are planning to introduce a new test called the IELTS One Skill Retake. This will give students the opportunity to retake only one section of the four skills (Listening, Reading, Writing or Speaking) in the IELTS test if they did not achieve the score they aimed for the first time around. Obviously, this could make a HUGE difference to the experience test-takers have of the IELTS exam, but there are still many questions left unanswered at this stage. For ...
Nov 01, 2022•31 min
Today, Nick and I take you on a tour of IELTS spelling. We will cover the basic spelling rules that every test-taker needs to know, such as when you should replace a -y with an -ies, and when you have to double consonants in a word. Then, we will look at words that are commonly spelt incorrectly by IELTS test-takers, before finishing with a light hearted quiz to see if you can spell better than a native speaker! I am 100% sure that you can do better than Shelly! Useful Links Support the podcast ...
Oct 25, 2022•51 min
Yes! That's right - this week Nick and I are looking at a grammar point - parallelism! This is not a topic that is widely discussed in the IELTS world, but if you are looking for a score of 7.0 or higher in Writing, it is definitely something that you should pay attention to. In today's lesson, Nick and I will explain what parallelism is, and take you through the different situations it should be used. We will start with simple examples about parallelism in lists, before moving on to how paralle...
Oct 18, 2022•35 min
Hey! Today, Nick and I take a look at what we think are the letter prompts from the new Cambridge IELTS 17. (In other words, although the book was published in July, we were unable to get our hands on a copy so are relying that these are the real questions based on a third source!) We will look at each question in turn to analyse which tone you will need to adopt, and how you should approach each bullet. Plus, we discover how important to read ALL of the bullets and PLAN your letter before you s...
Oct 11, 2022•43 min
Hey! I have noticed over the last few years that students really struggle to write letters that are genuinely informal. Even good students who follow all of the language rules for informal letters send me letters to mark that feel "cold" and "stiff" and simply still " too formal". Why is that? Well, that is what I sat down this week to ponder, and the result is this podcast! Today, Nick and I will show you how you can turn your good informal IELTS letters into great ones by making PERSONAL COMME...
Oct 03, 2022•43 min
Hey! We're back this week with a look at some common problems students (who haven't taken our writing course!) run into with essay writing. In today's episode, we look at some common problems with organisation, grammar, and ideas which can prevent YOU from scoring a 7.0. in writing on exam day. In this episode, we will talk about the 5 mistakes Nick and I find most often in First Assessment essays explain some basic pointers about how to correct these errors point you in the right direction to o...
Sep 27, 2022•36 min
Today, Nick and I give IELTS Cue Card Feedback to 7 of our listeners. We will highlight some common errors and give expected scores based on the recordings. You can read more about today's episode at: https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ ielts-cue-card-feedback-2021 Episode notes Last week, I sent out a call on social media for our listeners to record themselves attempting three speaking part two questions. So today, Nick and I will be giving IELTS cue card feedback baed on the public band descrip...
Sep 20, 2022•1 hr 11 min
Hey! Last week, Nick and I completed an Academic reading passage from Cambridge 17 Test 4. Today, we thought that we would do the full listening from the same test. Click here to download the questions for the lesson Join us as we complete each section of the test. We will starting by outlining how we would approach each part and reminding you of the best way to approach each one. Then, we will give you a chance to listen and answer the questions, before giving you our answers and discussing why...
Sep 13, 2022•57 min
Join Nick and I today as we go through the Cambridge IELTS 17 Academic Reading – Timur Gareyev – blindfold chess champion In the test, we will discover that although there are definite “rules” for each type of question, there are times when IELTS may break those, so you should be prepared for everything! Plus, if you have never seen our unique Read Once, Read Well technique (then where have you been!) , then this is your chance to see it in action here! We will read excerpts from the passage in ...
Sep 06, 2022•40 min
In IELTS Speaking Part 3, the focus moves away from you to the world around you. This means that you must be able to speak about abstract topics, which is not easy even for high-level test takers. If you want to take part in next week's episode, you can record your answers to the IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions at the end of this blog post: : http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ ielts-speaking-part-3 / Episode Notes In this episode, Nick and I explain how to approach these questions well by looking...
Aug 31, 2022•58 min
Hey! You are in the IELTS reading exam and everything is going well, when suddenly you find a word that you do not recognise, but you know is important. What do you do? Do you pause and think for a few minutes? Do you skip the word and continue reading? Or do you quickly make an educated guess using one of the 5 techniques offered in this podcast?! Yes, today Nick and I look at a bottom-up reading skill – how to understand vocabulary from context. This is not something that IELTS tests direct in...
Aug 23, 2022•41 min
Hey! Maps have long been a possible question-type in Academic Writing Task 1. However, until recently, 99% of maps focused on changes that happened in a town. In recent exams, however, there have been more maps tha focus on changes to specific buildings or road systems. The problem is that many students still try to use the same key features and organisation for these maps as traditional town maps. The result? A very poor report! Today, Nick and I discuss how you can find better key features for...
Aug 16, 2022•44 min
Hey! It's time again for Nick and I to generate ideas for some recent IELTS essay questions. Today, we look at 6 real IELTS Essay Questions 2022, which were all taken from exams in July and August. You are welcome to sit and passively enjoy the episode, but you will get a lot more out of the lesson if you actively take part. You can find the questions at https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ real-ielts-essay-questions-2022 / Useful Links Learn more about brainstorming ideas - http://blog.myieltscla...
Aug 09, 2022•45 min
One of the main problems that students face when they start IELTS Writing is generating ideas for IELTS essays. Today, Nick and I look at one way that you should definitely NOT use to find ideas, and then look at two simple approaches that you should. You can read more about today's episodes at: http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ my-ielts-classro…for-ielts-essays / In this episode, we will discuss why relying on "model essays" for ideas is often a mistake how you can use your life experience to...
Aug 02, 2022•46 min
Hey! It has been a long time since we featured one of our student success stories. Why? Good question! I think that I have been so busy teaching lessons, making YouTube videos, and running the school that I just forgot! That's what I am delighted today to introduce you to Yiqi - one of our IELTS success stories from China. Yiqi was accepted onto a PhD course in the UK, but needed a 7.5 overall, with no less than 7.0 in writing. She found that the overall score was easy to achieve as she was able...
Jul 25, 2022•40 min
Hey! A couple of weeks ago, Nick and I looked at how you should approach multiple multiple choice questions in IELTS listening. Today, I thought that we would look at the similar questions that appear in the reading exam - IELTS Reading Multiple Matching Questions. These also ask you to select more than one correct answer from a list, but the technique that you will need to successfully complete them is different. In fact, as you will see in today's lesson, there are actually two different appro...
Jul 19, 2022•44 min
In August, the new Cambridge IELTS 17 Academic book will be published. However, as always, the essay questions are already circulating on social media, so Nick and I thought that we would spend today analysing the four new essay questions to give you our ideas for each. More importantly, we will spend time discussing how we would organise each of the essays, and why we think each one is difficult or easy (because there really is ONE easy question here!). This is an interactive lesson, so make su...
Jul 12, 2022•40 min
There are 13 points up for grabs in IELTS General Training Reading Part 2 and, as every text will focus on work or migration, a small amount of preparation can make a huge difference to the number of questions you can answer correctly (and the time it will take to do so). Today, Nick and I discuss the language your should learn to maximise your potential in Part 2, and how you should approach two types of completion activities that are common in this section. In the lesson, Nick and I complete a...
Jul 05, 2022•58 min
Hey! One complaint that IELTS test-takers have been making for decades is the order that the exams are taken on test-day. Starting with listening and ending with writing often means that students are tired when the attempt the most difficult (and often most important) section of the test. This week IELTS announced that this is about to change for students taking the paper-based IELTS test. Yes! Finally, they are moving the writing paper to the start of the exam! Today, Nick and I discuss what th...
Jun 28, 2022•1 hr 28 min
In the IELTS listening exam, there are two types of multiple choice questions : those where you are given 3 possible answers and asked to choose ONE, and those where you are given 5 or 7 possible answers and are asked to choose TWO or THREE. Today, we are going to look at the second type of question or, as I like to call them, IELTS listening multiple multiple choice questions. Many students are afraid of these questions, but as you will see in the episode, as long as you can follow our "two-ste...
Jun 21, 2022•54 min
The role of any teacher is to help their students maximise the scores that they will get in an exam. However, over the years Nick and I have noticed that many teachers are giving their students advice for the IELTS speaking exam that could actually harm their scores not improve them. Obviously, this is not intentional, but it can be difficult as an examiner watching a student put into practice the skills that they have been given by a teacher, knowing that they could have reached a higher score ...
Jun 14, 2022•38 min
At My IELTS Classroom, we take the emotional welfare of our students very seriously. In the past we have spoken to a trained psychologist about how test-takers can remain calm before and during their exam (and if you haven't watched that episode , I strongly recommend that you do as even I learned a lot!) , and have written a lot of about motivation and how to get it back if you have lost it . Today, though, we are going to look at what to do if you have lost IELTS confidence. You can read more ...
Jun 07, 2022•46 min
Hey! Today Nick and I are continuing our "Let's do" series by completing a full IELTS speaking test . First, you will get a chance to answer the questions in a similar way to the real exam, and then you can listen on as Nick (our very own native speaker who is an ex-examiner) attempts the same test. That way you can listen to how the test is actually conducted and compare your answers to his. Useful Links Book a speaking test: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/orders/complete_order?o=39842 Downlo...
May 31, 2022•42 min
