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IELTS Speaking test in India – August 2021

Thanks to the kind contribution by A.S. we can share these Speaking questions from IELTS in India:

Speaking test

Part 1 (Interview)

– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– Where are you from?
– Where do you live?
– Do you live in a house or an apartment?
– Where would you like to live in the future and why?
– Do you have any memories of barbeque nights?
– How often do you have barbeque nights?
– What is the dish you like the most on barbeque nights?

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Talk about something you like to do after coming from school/work. Please say

– What is it that you do?
– Where do you do that activity?
– How long do you do that activity for?
– And explain why you like this activity.

Part 3 (Discussion)

– What activities do people like to do in their free time?
– Do people prefer indoor or outdoor activities in their free time?
– Do you prefer doing indoor or outdoor activities?
– What are the benefits of outdoor activities?
– What skills can be developed in group tasks?

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IELTS test in Nigeria and Oman – August 2021 (General Training)

A big thank-you to E.F. and A. who took IELTS exams in Nigeria and Oman recently and shared the following questions. It appears the two exams in Oman and Nigeria were the same:

Listening test

Part 1. A conversation between an estate agent and a client who needed a two-bedroom unfurnished apartment.

Part 2. A lady showed some people around a resort that has a beach, a pool, a helipad and other facilities.

Part 3. A conversation between a lecturer and her student on farmers’ attitude to farm implements.

Part 4. A lecture on office spacing.

Reading test

Passage 1. About parkour school.

Passage 2. A text on the use of trimmers and work shadowing.

Passage 3. A text on India’s ancient city of Shimla.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a letter)

You just moved overseas and had to ship your furniture and possessions. The shipping company damaged your furniture. Write a letter to the manager of the shipping company. In your letter

– say when and where the furniture was shipped
– describe the damage to the furniture
– tell the company what you want them to do about it.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Some people say that the educational success of a student is the result of the work of a good teacher. Others say it depends on the character of the student. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

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IELTS test in Nigeria – August 2021 (General Training)

A big thank-you to E.F. who took IELTS in Nigeria recently and shared the following questions:

Listening test

Part 1. A conversation between an estate agent and a client who needed a two-bedroom unfurnished apartment.

Part 2. A lady showed some people around a resort that has a beach, a pool, a helipad and other facilities.

Part 3. A conversation between a lecturer and her student on farmers’ attitude to farm implements.

Part 4. A lecture on office spacing.

Reading test

Passage 1. A text on India’s ancient city of Shimla.

Passage 2. A text on the use of trimmers.

Passage 3. Don’t remember.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a letter)

You just moved overseas and had to ship your furniture and possessions. The shipping company damaged your furniture. Write a letter to the manager of the shipping company. In your letter

– say when and where the furniture was shipped
– describe the damage to the furniture
– tell the company what you want them to do about it.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Some people say that the educational success of a student is the result of the work of a good teacher. Others say it depends on the character of the student. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

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IELTS Results competition winners in July 2021

Who would have thought that in 2021 we’d still have outbreaks of COVID-19 and lockdowns! Yet here we are, living the uncertainty of pandemic – but the spirit of resilience that many IELTS test takers share just won’t be defeated. It is truly amazing to see people emerge from isolation, with their IELTS skills as sharp as ever!

So today, with great pleasure we present the winners of IELTS results competition in July 2021:

Academic Module – 1st place

Morita Tarverdian from Iran, Band 8

Academic Module – 2nd place

Ambali Oluwaseun from Nigeria, Band 7.5

Academic Module – 3rd place

Farnoosh Behravan from Iran, Band 7

General Training Module – 1st place

Anish Chacko from India, Band 8

General Training Module – 2nd place

Anshika Chawla from India, Band 7.5

General Training Module – 3rd place

Kang Kaur from India, Band 7Asad Salim from Pakistan, Band 7

Congratulations on your success! To celebrate your achievements we are sending your special certificates to your emails. Winning IELTS results will be displayed in the IELTS-Blog hall of fame – so if you won, please feel free to show them off to your friends!

How did they score so well?

It is nice to see some of our students among the winners. Anshika Chawla (Band 7.5) used our book ‘Ace the IELTS’ to raise her writing score from Band 6 to 7. She said,

“I wanted to inform you that I have received my IELTS score (Listening 8, Reading 7, Writing 7, Speaking 7.5). I was particularly nervous about writing, so it was the best 7 of my life! Thank you so much for your guidance and books. Essay correction service and sample essays helped me to achieve my desired score.”

Another success story is that of Ambali Oluwaseun – he, too, used our writing correction service and achieved Band 7 in Writing.

The winners of this competition have achieved more than just a good score in IELTS. They became our role models of positive thinking, of maintaining hope and persevering when things weren’t looking great. They remained persistent and strong, and we can all learn that from them.

We would love to hear from our winners, because anything that helped them achieve success in IELTS, can help YOU, too! Their advice, as soon as we get it, will be posted on IELTS-Blog without delay, so everyone can use the same technique and get a better score in their own exam.

P.S. IELTS results competition runs every month, and everyone is welcome to participate. Learn how to enroll here.

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IELTS Speaking test in Kuwait – August 2021

Thanks to the kind contribution by L.B. we can share these Speaking questions from IELTS in Kuwait:

Speaking test

Part 1 (Interview)

– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– Where are you from?
– Do you work or study?
– What do you do?
– Do you like your job?
– How do you spend your time at work?
– What technology do you use at work?
– Do you like watching the sky?
– Can you see the stars and the moon from where you live?
– Did you learn about stars and planets at school?
– Do you like to travel?
– How do you travel usually?
– How do you prefer to travel? Why?
– Did you ever go on a long journey in a car?
– Do you prefer sitting in the front seat or the back seat?
– Would you like to travel to other planets in the future? Why?

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Describe an activity near the sea that you would like to try. Please say

– What is it?
– What do you need to do?
– Why would you like to do it?

Part 3 (Discussion)

– How would you feel about this activity?
– Why do people go to the seaside?
– What benefits do they get from it?
– Do you think they can relax when they go to the beach? How?
– Do you think that younger people like experiencing new water sports more than older people?
– Do you think children enjoy going to the beach?
– How can humans save the environment from global warming?
– Do you think animals are affected by global warming?
– How can people help save marine ecology from the environmental crisis?

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IELTS test in Oman – August 2021 (Academic Module)

Our anonymous friend from Oman shared the following questions from a recent IELTS test:

Listening test

Part 1. A man whose items were stolen was talking to a lady on the phone, giving his details. The details included his date of birth, address, email, things stolen, and things he wanted to claim from insurance.

Part 2. An Australian man was talking about a trip to Kangaroo Island.

Part 3. A talk between two students (a boy and a girl) and their tutor (a women) about bilingual babies.

Part 4. A lecture on crime prevention. A man was explaining how to prevent items from getting stolen.

Reading test

Passage 1. About some fossils of birds and the development of flight behaviours in birds.

Passage 2. About the sense of smell and how humans and animals can pick up different scents.

Passage 3. Don’t remember.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

We had a bar graph showing the reasons for absenteeism in European countries in the year 2000, 2005 and 2010.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Big companies should provide sports and social facilities for local communities. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

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IELTS Speaking test in Lebanon – July 2021

Thanks to the the lovely M.J. from Lebanon we can share the latest IELTS Speaking questions she remembered:

Speaking test

Part 1 (Interview)

– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– Where are you from?
– Do you work or study?
– What are you studying?
– Do you like your major? Why?
– Is there anything you dislike about your studies?
– Where do you live now?
– Do you like your hometown? Why?
– What is your favorite place in the city?
– Do you plan to live there or move somewhere else in the future?
– Do you like shopping?
– Where do you usually shop?

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Talk about something you bought recently that you are happy about. Please say

– what it is
– where and when you purchased it
– and explain why you are happy about that purchase.

Part 3 (Discussion)

– Why do people go shopping?
– Why are shopping malls the best place to shop?
– Do people find it normal to bargain for a price in your country?
– What do they bargain for usually?
– Are there any good small or boutique shops in your city?
– Do you agree that high price necessarily means good quality?
– Why do you think so?

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IELTS test in Nigeria – July 2021 (Academic Module)

Two IELTS test takers from Nigeria remembered the following questions from a recent exam:

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

We were given a table showing the employment pattern for male and female workforce in New Zealand in 1993 and 2003.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Many companies sponsor sports by advertising themselves. Some people think that this is very good for the world’s sports, while others think that there are disadvantages. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Speaking test

Interview

– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– Where are you from?
– Do you work or study?
– What do you do at work?
– Can any technology be used in your job?
– What technology would you like to have in your job?

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Talk about a singer that you like. Please say

– who he/she is
– how you know him/her
– what type of songs he/she sings
– and explain why he/she is your favourite singer.

Part 3 (Discussion)

– Do you think the government should help musicians?
– How can the government help musicians?
– Is it important that children learn to play an instrument?
– Do you think all people can learn to sing?
– Do you think people can sing better after training?

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IELTS essay, topic: Should school children be given homework (opinion)?

This is a model response to a Writing Task 2 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is close to IELTS Band 9.

Set 5 Academic book, Practice Test 21

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Some people believe that homework should not be given to school children. Others, however, say that homework is an important requirement for children to be able to develop appropriately. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

You should write at least 250 words.

Sample Band 9 Essay

The benefits of giving or not giving homework to children are often debated. Some people feel that children have enough work to do during one day whilst at school, whereas others feel that the more work set, the better.

It is true that schools today place more and more demands and pressure on children. The competition to do well, to enter a good university and to get a good job is significant. This has led to the ideology that children should do as much schoolwork as possible in order to help their intellectual development. The argument, however, that more is better is not always valid. There comes a point, especially for a child, when more knowledge cannot be absorbed in a day. When a child has possibly 7 or 8 classes a day on different subjects, he or she is processing a lot of information already. To give more work to be done at home, therefore, would be pointless and even counterproductive. In addition to this, although it is important to be educated, childhood should also be a time when there is an opportunity to just play and enjoy unstructured time. Homework can significantly lessen the possibilities of doing this.

On the other hand, it can be argued that there is a place for homework. If study at school is not overdone, the opportunity to look at work again and extend ideas can be an invaluable exercise. It’s easy to forget one thing that has been taught once, but if that concept is revisited a second time, the brain has time to reprocess and likely better understand and remember.

It seems to me that there is a place for homework for today’s children. What must be remembered, though, is that homework needs to be limited to age-appropriate parameters, so that a balance can be struck between study and free time and relaxation.

Go here for more IELTS Band 9 Essays

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Olga reprogrammed her brain to get Band 8 in IELTS – here is how

Today’s post is about Olga and her success in IELTS, but it’s also about you – because Olga is sharing her exam tips for you to apply them!

Olga is a lovely young woman from Russia who speaks Russian as her first language, and English as her second. We met when Olga enrolled in our writing correction service as part of her IELTS preparation. Olga got Band 8 in IELTS, with a straight 9 in Listening. She took part in our IELTS results competition last month and won the first place under General Training category. In her winner’s interview Olga shared some very useful advice – and encouragement – that will help you increase your own score in the test:

“From my perspective, the best advice is to give examiners EXACTLY what they want to see. Creativity is a rewarding thing, but isn’t meant for the IELTS test 🙂 It took me about a year to reprogram my brain and acquire and implement a new vision for the test based solely on the band descriptors.

Overall, IELTS should become a part of your everyday life while you are preparing for it.

Reading

Practice, practice, practice. At least 20 minutes a day.

Listening

Practice, practice, practice. I had BBC 6-minute English for breakfast every day and then took an IELTS listening test 4-5 times a week. If I was too tired to sit a test I watched BBC news or a movie in English. Don’t practice listening in the headphones, do your best to imitate a test atmosphere with the worst scenario when the sound is hardly heard.

Speaking

I know that talking to yourself is a bit weird but it helps to pass the test 🙂 Discuss everything that you see with yourself, it’s always pleasant to talk to a good person! 😉 And do not give short answers, your opinion is important – express it!

Writing

Yes, it can be a disaster. Check the band descriptors for your desired score and act accordingly. Enrich your vocabulary with the topic-related units, practice the grammar structures which are required for the score you need, and put aside creativity. Remember, examiners are not searching for extraordinary ideas, they look for a writing task which is performed according to the scheme.

Never give up! It may sound like a common thing, but do not let laziness, confusion or apathy stop you. Instead give yourself a break after a failure, stand up again and do it!!! Like the Terminator, you know! Twice, three times, four times – as many times as needed. You can do it!”

Thank you so much Olga for sharing your tips, and we wish you all the very best!

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