IELTS Aid (Practice Essays)

In the last part, the examiner will ask you for more in-depth questions about your topic in part 2. It is important that you know how to ask for clarification since the questions can be quite challenging to answer. Below are some helpful expressions: ·         Do you mean….? ·         Are you asking…? ·         Could you please explain what the question means? ·         Sorry, can I just clarify what you mean? ·         If I understand you correctly, you’re asking…? Remember, asking questions to the examiner is only possible in parts 1 and 3. Don’t worry about your score when asking for repetition. You are assessed according to 4 criteria - fluency and coherence, lexical resources, grammatical range and accuracy and pronunciation, understanding, and comprehension of the question are not included. These...

When studying a language, we often have a lot of practices to improve our writing and speaking skills. However, for listening, it is often overlooked and sometimes, ignored. Unfortunately, most people do not realize that Listening is the most crucial skill to develop. Without this skill, a student will not be able to comprehend well, and definitely, won't be able to identify sounds which is important when practicing pronunciation. In my years as an English as a Second language teacher, I find it hard to teach this skill mostly because there are no shortcuts for this. The key is practice. One of my challenges is to teach this skill in as much fun as possible for students of varying age range and English levels. One effective technique for me is VIDEO WATCHING . The effectivity of any activity depends on the teacher's preparation.  To do this, I often look for a video online (TED videos are the most common) that is in line with my student's interest. First, I inform m...