Simone Braverman's Blog: IELTS-Blog.com, page 114
April 2, 2021
IELTS grammar: how to remember the difference between Simple Present and Present Continuous
Today’s lesson will teach you two things – the difference between the Simple Present and Present Continuous verb tenses, and how to use them correctly.
The reason why Adam is talking about the Simple Present and the Present Continuous today is that people confuse them and make a lot of small mistakes that lower their IELTS score. Adam worked as a Speaking examiner for the British Council for 10 years, and in his experience, this was a very common problem for many IELTS test takers. Don’t let this affect you, too! As soon as you learn the difference and see some examples when to use each verb tense, you will stop making these mistakes.
Even if you think you know your Simple Present and Present Continuous but you’re not 100% sure, stick around, watch this video, and in exactly 8 minutes an amazing transformation will happen. You will become absolutely certain and confident about using these two verb tenses and you won’t hesitate – you’ll know which one to use and when.
Right now, when you have two present grammar forms and you don’t know which one to use, it’s a 50-50 chance of you choosing the wrong one 🙂 So let’s turn the odds in your favour!
Watch the video on YouTube here
Go here to get Adam to assess your Speaking, estimate you the score you’re likely to get now and tell you how to score higher.
In the video: Simple Present – for routines and permanent situations
Dan works on Sundays. (routine)
I study every morning. (routine)
His parents own a store. (permanent situation)
Present continuous – for actions in progress or temporary situations
She is going to class right now. (action in progress)
Kim and Adam are taking an English class together. (temporary situation)
But this is far from all – there’s a lot more in the video, make sure to watch until the very end.
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April 1, 2021
IELTS Speaking test in Russia – March 2021
Some very kind IELTS test takers from Russia shared their recent Speaking questions, below:
Speaking test
Part 1 (Interview)
– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– What may I call you?
– Where are you from?
– Describe your home town.
– What is your favourite colour?
– What colour don’t you like?
– What type of clothes do you normally wear?
– Do you wear a different type of clothes at the weekend?
– Let’s talk about picnics. Do you go on a picnic often?
– When was the first time you went on a picnic?
– Where do people usually go on a picnic where you live?
– Why do people like picnics?
Part 2 (Cue Card)
Talk about a time when you spoke a foreign language for the first time. Please say
– what language it was
– with whom you spoke
– what you said
– and explain how you felt about it.
Part 3 (Discussion)
– Is it important to teach children foreign languages when they are little?
– At what age should children learn a foreign language?
– Is it a good idea to teach children two foreign languages simultaneously?
– What is the best way to learn a language, through talking or writing?
– Why do you think many languages are disappearing these days?
– Does a language shape your culture?
– Is language the only thing that influences a person?
March 30, 2021
IELTS test in Poland – March 2021 (Academic Module)
We are grateful to K.P. who recently took the IELTS test in Poland and remembered these questions:
Reading test
Passage 1. About using wellness days during work in New Zealand.
Passage 2. Inventions in Ancient Human History.
Passage 3. A text about dinosaurs (quite a difficult one).
Writing test
Writing task 1 (a report)
We were given a triple line graph describing visitors to 3 different areas in a European country between 1987 and 2007. Each of the 3 lines represented visitors to a particular area. The areas were the coast, the mountains and the lakes.
Writing task 2 (an essay)
Some people think that instead of preventing climate change, we need to find a way to live with it. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Speaking test
Part 1 (Interview)
– What is your full name?
– What may I call you?
– Do you work or study?
– Why did you choose this job?
– What do you dislike about your work?
– Did you have mathematics in your secondary school?
– Did you like math lessons? (Why/Why not?)
– Would you choose to study math now, if you could?
– Do you use math to improve your life? If so, what are some examples?
– What makes you happy?
– Is it important to be happy all the time?
Part 2 (Cue Card)
Talk about your favorite weather. You should say
– what weather is your favourite
– why it is your favourite
– what you do during this weather
– and explain how this weather affects you.
Part 3 (Discussion)
– How does the weather affect people in general?
– Do people watch weather forecasts on TV nowadays? Why/why not?
– Do you think the weather affects our clothing?
– Do most of your friends like the same weather as you do?
– What kind of weather do you have in your home country?
– Is there any special celebration or a holiday linked to a certain season/weather in your country?
– Do you think the weather affects the economy of your country? If so, how?
March 29, 2021
IELTS test in Canada – March 2021 (Academic Module)
Our lovely friend recently took his IELTS test in Vancouver, Canada, and here are the questions he remembered:
Listening test
Part 1. It was a job interview, the interviewer asked for the candidate’s phone number and talked about preparation for the job.
Part 2. A talk about accommodation.
Questions: multiple choice, matching different problems to types of accommodation.
Part 3. Don’t remember.
Part 4. A lecture about the construction of underwater tunnel between England and France.
Questions: filling in the blanks, matching problems with the years they happened.
Writing test
Writing task 1 (a report)
We were given a bar chart showing the number of films produced in five countries. It didn’t specify the names of the countries, just letters A-E, in three years 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Writing task 2 (an essay)
Every country in the world has its road rules, but many drivers don’t obey them. Why is this happening? What can be done to solve this problem?
Speaking test
Part 1 (Interview)
– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– Do you work or study?
– Do you think mathematics is essential to you?
– Did you have a teacher in secondary school who made mathematics easy to understand?
– For what purpose is mathematics helpful to you in real life?
– Can you make a decision easily?
Part 2 (Cue Card)
Talk about a time you made a promise. You should say
– what you promised
– to whom you made a promise
– why you made that promise
– and explain how you felt about making that promise.
Part 3 (Discussion)
– What do parents promise their children?
– Do you think that keeping a promise to children is important? Why?
– Do you think that parents should reward children for keeping their promises? Why or why not?
March 28, 2021
IELTS test in India – March 2021 (Academic Module)
Thanks to P.R. who recently took IELTS in India we can share the questions she remembered:
Writing test
Writing task 1 (a report)
We were given a bar graph describing games played by different age groups and on different devices.
Writing task 2 (an essay)
More and more people are leaving the countryside and moving to cities. Do the advantages of this trend outweigh its disadvantages?
Speaking test
Part 1 (Interview)
– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– How may I address you?
– Do you work or study?
– Why did you choose this profession?
– Do you find remembering names difficult?
– Did you ever upset someone by pronouncing their name incorrectly?
– Did you ever feel bad when somebody pronounced your name incorrectly?
Part 2 (Cue Card)
Talk about a time when you were bored. Please say
– When it was
– Where it was
– Why you were bored
– And explain how you felt about it.
Follow up question: Do you get bored often?
Part 3 (Discussion)
– Do young people get bored more easily than old people?
– Why do people feel under pressure?
– Why do people feel that they have less time nowadays, even though they still have the same 24 hours?
– Why do some people think that spending free time doing leisure activities is a waste of time?
– Do you think when someone is doing leisure activities they are wasting time?
March 26, 2021
Talk about a person who openly expresses their feelings (model answers for Speaking Part 2 & 3)
In today’s IELTS Speaking lesson Adam, our Speaking examiner who worked for the British Council for 10 years, will show you ways to answer a Cue Card (Speaking Part 2) question about a person who openly expresses their feelings, and the Speaking Part 3 questions related to it, about people and their feelings.
You will learn:
– what you can say (and whether it’s OK to lie!)
– vocabulary and how to use it in a sentence
– expressions for scoring Band 7 to 9
– grammar you can use to raise your score
So, grab a pen and paper and spend the next 15 minutes raising your IELTS score beyond what you thought was possible!
Watch the video on YouTube here
Go here to get Adam to assess your Speaking, estimate you the score you’re likely to get now and tell you how to score higher.
The Part 2 topic Adam talks about in this lesson is,
Describe a person you know who shows their feelings very openly. You should say:
– Who this person is
– How well you know this person
– How you feel about this person
– And explain why you think this person shows their feelings so openly.
Adam saw many test takers hesitate when they got this question, and that is why he knew he had to show you a great way to answer it. Make sure to watch Adam’s model answer for it here.
The Part 3 questions Adam talks about are below. For every question Adam suggests an answer, including some great expressions and impressive vocabulary. Go here to watch his Part 3 answers.
Speaking Part 3 questions
– What are some of the different ways people show their feelings?
– Do you think that children show their feelings more often than adults do?
– Do you think that women and men express their emotions in different ways?
– How might a person’s life improve if they were better able to express their emotions?
– What might be some negative aspects if one is too open with their feelings?
– Do you think people are more open about their feelings now than they were in the past?
– Why do you think many employers try to recruit staff who are sensitive to co-workers’ feelings?
– Do you think it’s true that most people use emotion to make decisions, not logic?
– How do you feel about the idea that great leaders need emotional maturity more than they need intelligence?
Go here to watch Adam’s model Part 3 Speaking answers.
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March 25, 2021
Josphine’s best tips for getting Band 8 in IELTS
Everyone, meet Josphine. She lives in Sri Lanka and speaks two languages – Tamil and English. Like many of you, Josephine had to take the IELTS test, and she wasn’t feeling very confident. Does that sound familiar? Well… sometimes feeling insecure is not a bad thing. It certainly helped Josphine approach her IELTS preparation seriously and, as a result, she scored Band 8 Overall in her Academic IELTS exam, with a straight 9 in Reading. When you leave nothing to chance, THIS is what happens!
When Josphine took first place in our monthly IELTS Results competition, in her winner’s interview she shared her story and some great IELTS tips:
“Living in a country where English is not a native language, I was quite pessimistic about the IELTS exam, as I heard many weren’t able to get through it and in certain categories some points were lost, resulting in a lower overall score.
So I began my plan by analyzing myself and I started to practice in listening and speaking first, knowing that those were my stronger areas. Thereafter I began working on my writing skills and reading.
As I had to do both Academic and General IELTS, I did the General exam first …. and by some divine grace I got an overall 7.5, but still my writing was 6.5 and reading 7, while my speaking and listening were both above 8.
So I knew that in order to get a good score in the Academic test, I must focus more on reading and writing. These 2 skills are assessed differently in the Academic test compared to General.
The top tip I used to get a high score in speaking was watching documentaries and BBC news stories, from which I learnt different synonyms. Usually in speaking if we repeat the same words we might lose marks, so we need to use different words that have the same meaning.
For writing, it was always best to practice with a timer so that we know how well we are improving. The tip here is to do Writing Task 2 first – the one with the essay – as it holds more marks and is more influential on our final grade when compared to Writing Task 1 of both academic and general. So if we are relaxed and have spent more time on Task 2, we surely can get higher marks for Writing overall.
In Writing Task 1 in General Training, you will need to write a letter that starts with ‘Dear Sir/ Madam…’. The main tip here is to address all the bullet points in the task prompt – they need to be elaborately explained in the letter.
For Writing Task 1 in the Academic test, practice questions with tables, diagrams, bar charts, pie charts. Give an introduction with just one or two sentences paraphrasing the question itself. Then, in the body, try to explain the significant trends seen, and in conclusion try to summarize all points given in the body, always refrain from giving your own opinion.
For reading, once again practice with a timer, use highlighter or underlining methods when doing mock tests as it will train you to face the final exam with more confidence, this is how I got 9 in that area.
Finally, for listening, make some quiet time and do the mock tests within a certain time limit, don’t stop and rewind the recording, even if you missed one answer. Just go ahead with it and at the end see what you have missed, when you correct the answers yourself using the answer key. Take a minimum of 1 week to practice this way and you will surely gain more marks with time and notice your improvement.
Lastly, I would encourage everyone to try and find the most comfortable way for them to take the exam, be it on paper or on the computer. This is because when you feel comfortable, your confidence too rises, which will definitely help you to secure top scores. I hope that my tips helped you all, good luck on your upcoming exams and I hope you all score your destined results.
Thank you IELTS-Blog.com for the opportunity and for choosing me as a top scorer in the month of February in both categories. What this blog is doing here for IELTS applicants is truly revolutionary.”
We would like to thank Josphine for her tips and wish her a lot of success in everything she does!
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March 23, 2021
IELTS test in the UK – March 2021 (General Training)
H.A. took the computer-delivered IELTS in London, UK, and remembered the following questions:
Writing test
Writing task 1 (a letter)
You have lost something on a bus and called the customer service to get help. You weren’t happy with their response. Write a letter to the bus company manager. In your letter
– describe the item you lost
– explain why you weren’t happy with the customer service
– say what action you would like the company to take.
Writing task 2 (an essay)
Today due to advanced medicine people are living longer. Because of this older people are projected to outnumber younger people. Do the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages?
Speaking test
Part 1 (Interview)
– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– Where are you from?
– Where do you live now?
– Is it a good area to live in?
– Do you have any friends there?
Part 2 (Cue Card)
Talk about someone you know who is very active. Please say
– Who this person is
– How you know him/her
– What he/she does to remain active
– And explain how you feel about him/her.
Part 3 (Discussion)
– What kind of jobs require more physical energy?
– Do you think jobs requiring more physical energy should be paid higher salaries?
– Is it important in the current world to have jobs that require physical energy?
– How good do you think older people are at sports?
– How well can they do physical workouts?
IELTS Speaking test in Ghana – March 2021
An IELTS test taker from Ghana shared the following Speaking questions. O.N. said, “I took my IELTS academic test on Saturday and I’d like to share with your members some of the questions. I’m really grateful to you for your help as I received lots of emails from you in my course of study.. thank you…be blessed.”
Speaking test
Part 1 (Interview)
– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– What may I call you?
– Where are you from?
– Let’s talk about what you do.
– Do you work or study?
– Why did you choose this job?
– What do you dislike about your work?
– Do you like trees?
– Have you planted trees before?
– What types of trees are growing in your area?
– Are trees important in your country?
Part 2 (Cue Card)
Talk about a time when you got bored. Please say
– When you got bored,
– What you were doing at the time,
– Why you got bored,
– And explain what you did to overcome the boredom.
Follow-up question: Do you get bored often?
Part 3 (Discussion)
– Some people say that doing nothing is a waste of time, what is your opinion about this?
– Some people think that having a routine leads to boredom. Do you agree? Why?
March 22, 2021
IELTS test in India – March 2021 (Academic Module)
Thanks to an IELTS test taker from India we can share the questions he remembered:
Reading test
Passage 1. Copy your neighbours.
Passage 2. Corporate social responsibility.
Passage 3. About The Rainmaker.
Writing test
Writing task 1 (a report)
We were given a diagram of the process of making jam and we had to describe the process.
Writing task 2 (an essay)
Shopping is now one of the most popular types of leisure activity in many countries for young adults. Why is this happening? Is this a positive or a negative development?
Speaking test
Part 1 (Interview)
– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– Do you work or study?
– Let’s talk about happiness.
– What usually makes you happy ?
– Do you feel happy most of the time?
– Have you done anything recently to make others happy?
Part 2 (Cue Card)
Talk about a skill that you can teach other people. Please say
– what the skill is
– how you learnt it
– how you would teach it to others
– and explain how you feel about this skill.
Part 3 (Discussion)
– What personal qualities do you think a teacher should have?
– Can anyone be a good teacher?
– What do you think about current methods of teaching?
– Should teachers be funny when they teach?
– What age is the best for learning?
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