IELTS Aid (Practice Essays)

Spelling can be a skill that most people overlook. However, English language learners must realize the significance of this skill, especially when taking academic tests like the IELTS. In the listening, reading and of course, writing tests, spelling each word correctly promotes the impression of the mastery of the English language. Here are some of the "guidelines" learners should remember when it comes to spelling. Take note, I used the word guideline since the English language has a lot of exceptions. so technically speaking, the word "rules" cannot be used because a rule must not be bent. This presentation is a compilation of all the stuff I researched regarding spelling. The contents were taken from academic sites I trust provide well-researched information.

Here's the link to a simple presentation I made about the IELTS Listening test https://sway.com/RZT0oTai97b2btZ6?ref=Link I hope you enjoy.

Writing task 2 Sample Essay: ANIMAL TESTING Some people think that scientists experimenting with animals in a laboratory is the only way we can guarantee new products will be safe for human use. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Sample essay: Safety is always the priority of companies when promoting new products. As such, laboratory testing of these products with animals has become a practice that most people believe is a must. This practice, however, is something that I think should be controlled and limited. This essay will focus on both my disagreement and agreement to this issue. In the modern world, competition is tough. Big businesses around the world compete against each other. Each of them promising a safe and secure product for human consumption by experimenting on animals. Industries like cosmetics and apparels are known to use this experimentation. Although humans are considered as the highest animal species, this does not give...

Sample: Transportation plays a key role in the development of a country’s economy. As such, it is not surprising that some individuals believe the significance of creating new lines between cities and upgrading the transports that are being used now. Nonetheless, it is known by all that both these points require a huge sum of money. This essay will focus on the idea that these two do not have differences in their effects. Constructing new railway lines can experience drawbacks other than finance. One is location and/or space where the new road will be built. It should be considered that creating new lines needs a wide enough space and there is a high probability that areas, like farms and other open spaces, can be used and maybe destroyed for these projects. However, paving for new rails can result in a faster transaction of businesses, both big and small, between urban and rural areas. As a result, commerce and even tourism can boom. As for spending money on modernizing...

Sample: The visual information exhibits the regularity of Americans dining out at fast food restaurants from 2003 to 2013. Looking at the data, in 2003, less than 5% of Americans eat out daily. This number is almost equal to the total number of Americans who never dine out in these places. Another highlight is that 3 out of 4 Americans preferred to eat at restaurants once a week, which gained the highest percentage among all the other categories. Surprisingly, people who visit these kinds of restaurants once or twice a month almost showed the same percentage, about 30, to the ones who eat out one time a week. In addition, an average of 12-17% of individuals opt to eat junk food a few times a year and several times a week. Fast forward to 2013, a similar trend can be seen wherein fewer Americans choose to dine at fast food restaurants every day while the others do not at all which is around less than 5%. On the other hand, citizens who eat junk food once or twice a month ...

Sample: The increase in the total number of young people as opposed to older people has been seen in some nations recently. It has been assumed that this situation can give more benefits to a country. This essay will focus on the belief that having more young adults positively affects a nation. It is widely known that some nations, like Japan and Greece, are suffering from economic turmoil. Most experts have pinpointed their aging population as the main factor. A large number of their population belongs to the seniors who are incapable of doing physical labor. As a result, the smaller population, which is the young adults are forced to work harder and longer to pay taxes. As we all know, most governments provide financial support to the aging individuals. Of course, these kinds of financial support are costly and require proper budgeting to guarantee the continuous help they need. Having defined the effects of a large population of the older generation to a nation, let us...

We all know that the IELTS test can be challenging to most non-native speakers (like me) due to a lot of factors. We may be excellent in one skill but weak in another. I am particularly unconfident with my Writing skills because of the fact that I find myself having a hard time producing an output within the given ideal time limits for both tasks. I tend to overlook or overthink of my ideas and examples that I simply cannot plan for my essays in a short span of time. However, one particular micro skill in writing has been bothering and sometimes crushing my students' dreams of getting a high band score in Writing  - Spelling.   Spelling can be tricky at times. Sometimes, even if we try and study rules and patterns, there will always be exceptions. But for this blog, I'm going to concentrate on one of the most commonly asked questions that have constantly bugged my learners, "Should I use the British or American English spelling in writing my essays?"  We...

Sample essay: The maps compare the physical features of Islip town center at present and its proposed refurbishment in the future. It can be highlighted from the visuals that there will be a lot of significant changes made in this area and that only a few establishments will remain. Looking at both maps, it can be seen that there will be commercial, residential and roadway improvements. At present, there are a few shops in between the main road and also some housing below the shops and near the school. In the proposal, the center will have a dual carriageway that will surround all the commercial buildings to be constructed in the center, making them more accessible. The main road will become a pedestrian road that will be next to a bus station, a shopping center, a carpark, and new housing. These buildings will be replacing the shops located on the northern side of the center. The shops below the main road will be unchanged. The school will remain in its original...

Sample essay: One of the basic human rights that people exercise freely nowadays is the right to information. The advent of information technology paved the way for us to make information, whether from scientific research, business and academic world, more accessible. Although many people agree that this has good benefits, some insist that there should be a limit to what information can be shared to the public. This essay will focus on the pros and cons of these two ideas. Technological advancements have made it possible for us to search for and gain information with much ease and convenience. In fact, most people rely on and utilize the internet more than ever. We can study just about anything we can think of when you find the right resources on the web. There has been an upsurge of distance learning courses offered by different institutions. This kind of learning has attracted not only students but also professionals who unfortunately, do not have the luxury of time to g...

Sample essay: The visual information represents the proportion of physically active males and females from 15 to 65 years old and over in Australia in the year 2010. It can be noted from the graph that women exercised more than men. There was an evidence of a gradual increase in the number of women who regularly worked out while men showed a significant decrease in percentage. More than 50 percent of men from 15 to 24 exercised daily. This is approximately 5 percent higher than women from that age group. However, almost 10 percent of males stopped working out regularly from ages 25 to 34 while females slightly increased to almost 50 percent. This rise continued from ages 35 to 64 wherein the proportion was approximately around 52-53% then declined to less than 50 percent. As for the men, although they gained the largest proportion of people doing regular physical activity in their early twenties, their percentage saw a sudden more than 10 percent downfall from their early...

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic: Government investment in the arts, such as music and theater, is a waste of money. Governments must invest this money in public services instead. To what extent do you agree with this statement? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge. You should write at least 250 words. Sample essay: It has been argued by many that it is much better for governments to spend money on public services than in music and arts. This essay disagrees on the idea that investing in the arts is a profitless activity. It is a well-known fact that a government’s interest is to serve its constituents. As such, most people believe that the only service the government should provide is only of the interest of the citizens, therefore, public service. However, this idea has been misunderstood by most individuals. For them, public service is synonymous to ass...

Recently, I've been doing a lot of writing practices for my personal improvement. I would often look for websites that contain writing samples to review and compare how other individuals interpret data as I am not really very confident with my skills. I should be honest to mention that I did not have a very strong foundation in this field. As a matter of fact, my IELTS writing official score was my lowest (Band 6.5) Anyway, I found a web page that contains a lot of samples for both Academic and General test. Here's the link:  http://www.ielts-writing.info/ That being said, what follows below is the most recent sample I've written during my free time. I'll also include the link to the page itself where you can also find the graph and their sample essay. http://www.ielts-writing.info/index.php/academic/ielts-writing-task-1-32/ Sample essay: The visual information compares the percentage of the number of people in Spain and Oman according to age groups in th...

Another common question type in both IELTS Speaking and Writing is the "Agree/Disagree" question. This type of question is about giving your opinion or evaluation on someone else's opinion.  Here are some expressions you can use when evaluating: Agreeing I agree with the idea that... I'm in favour of... I support the fact that... I completely agree with... I couldn't agree more (DO NOT USE CONTRACTIONS IN ACADEMIC WRITING) That is so true / That's for sure (Speaking) No doubt about it (Speaking) Disagreeing I disagree with the idea that... I am against the idea... I do not support the fact that... I will have to disagree with that. I'm afraid because... I feel the exact opposite way. I beg to differ. That's not always true. I don't think so (Speaking) Neither agree nor disagree It depends on the situation/country/person. I partially agree... To a certain extent, yes/no. This is partly true, however... Tr...

The most common question type in the IELTS Speaking test is the Opinion question. Here are some examples of expressions to use when giving your opinions: Neutral opinions: If you ask me,  As I see it, I'd say, In my view, Strong opinions: I'm sure I'm convinced I'm certain Weak opinions: I guess I suppose I imagine I reckon' It might/may/could Idiomatic phrases: Off the top of my head, I'd say... It's hard to say but... It goes without saying that... Do you know or use any other ways to say "I think"? List them all and try using them when practicing. Meanwhile, here are some questions you can try answering for your practice. Remember to record yourself so you can assess yourself after. Good luck! Practice questions: 1. Why do you think different cultures have different table manners? 2. What is your opinion on the way languages are taught in schools (or in your school)? 3. To what extent do you think advertising af...

Part 2 Sample Task Card: Describe a person who has been an important influence in your life. You should say: Who this person is and how long you have known him or her Why you chose this person How this person has influenced your life And explain how you feel about him or her Sample Response: I'd like like to talk about my English teacher in high school. her name is Judy Price and I've known her for about 4 or 5 years now. I chose her to be the most influential person in my life for many reasons. for one, she inspired me to love the English language. her passion for teaching English to her students radiates through her every time. I have never met anyone who is as enthusiastic as her to share her knowledge of the language. I know well that teaching is not a walk in the park. It all started when I failed my test in her class. Instead of getting angry at me, she calmly asked me to stay and talk to her after class. I thought she'd scold me that time...

This is a simple checklist I made to help you assess yourself and/or your students' speaking skill. Feel free to utilize or edit this if needed (just don't forget to acknowledge the rightful owner of this assessment tool). Thank you.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. It is sometimes said that people should be encouraged to get married before they are 30, as this is best for the individual and for society. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words. Sample essay: It has been believed by many that it is more ideal for individuals to be in holy matrimony before the age of 30. This custom, which is still apparent in some cultures, is thought to benefit both the people and their community. Although it can be true that positive effects can be noted, I strongly think that no age is ideal when it comes to marriage. Traditionally speaking, many people from before agree that starting a family at an early age is fundamental for some reasons. For one, humans’ physical strength and power deteriorate as we get older. As such, it is more appropriate for women to bear children and...

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. Your local hospital has advised for people to do unpaid work helping at the hospital. You would like to do some work at the hospital in your free time. Write a letter to the hospital. In your letter •         Explain why you would like to do unpaid work at the hospital •         Say what type of unpaid work you would be able to do •         Give details of when you would be available for this work Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Sir or Madam, Sample letter: Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to inquire about an advertisement I saw posted on a newspaper last Sunday that mentioned about your hospital looking for volunteers to work part-time. I am very much interested and willing to be a part of this. I am a univers...

This is a sample graph in the Cambridge Official IELTS guide book. It can be found on page 94 in the first chapter of the Writing skills unit. Sample response: The line graph provides data on the increase of car, train, bicycle and other public transport traffic in the Netherlands for five decades since 1950. According to the graph, all categories increased in value, in percentage, especially car traffic which showed the most significant rise over the years while the other public transport systems have always had the smallest proportion. In 1950, all modes of transportation were the same percentage. Within the first decade, there was a noticeable 20% climb in the number of car usage. The rate of growth of car traffic continued greatly year after year until it reached its peak at 140% in 2000. Train and bicycle traffic rose to an almost similar rate of about 8% while the other modes of transport showed the slowest gain to less than 5%. From 1960 to 1970, the percentag...

The line graph provides information about the typical carbon dioxide emissions of an individual in metric tonnes in four European countries every ten years from 1967 to 2007. Overall, it can be noted that among the four nations, the United Kingdom exceeded the carbon dioxide emissions per person from that of Sweden, Italy and Portugal despite the decreasing trend it exhibited throughout the years. From 1967 to 1997, Portugal and Italy showed a continuous rise in the average release of gas per body with less than 2 and 5 metric tonnes to almost 6 to 8 metric tonnes, respectively. This number has been constant until 2007. In the UK, however, the total gas released by Brits was slightly higher than the Swedes in 1967. Nonetheless, a notable gain can be seen in Sweden after a decade. This upsurge did not go long as the years went by because lesser gas was emitted since then. Word Count: 154

Art, in general, can be of many styles and forms and is seen everywhere. As the old saying goes, "Beauty is everywhere but not everyone can see it." Thus, saying that art is no longer in existence in our society seems to be, as for me, absurd. In the United Kingdom, a certain tech company invented virtual reality glasses that shows paintings and sculptures exhibited in one of the most popular museums in London. This invention was made for people who, because of certain reasons, cannot go to museums personally. According to those who tried this new gadget, who were mostly children, this invention made them more interested in visiting museums. As a result, despite of their young age, these children have expressed their appreciation of contemporary art through their excitement. Of course, it can also be said that if children can be impressed, older people can also have the same feelings. As technology plays a big role in information dissemination, various kinds of artworks a...