50% DISCOUNT: Advanced IELTS – FINAL DAY

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Today is the Last Day for the BIG DISCOUNTS on Advanced IELTS Lessons & E-books. Don’t miss your chance!

  • Grammar E-book – 65% discount. 
  • Ideas for IELTS Essay Topics – 60% discount. 
  • Advanced Writing Lessons – 50% discount. 

Maximise your score with the right techniques for a high score. 

Click below for details:

ADVANCED IELTS WRITING
DISCOUNT ENDS SOON !

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E-books are pdf files and can be downloaded to your laptop for your personal use forever. Advanced lessons are streamed online with access for 3 years. These items are designed to provide you with the right techniques and skills to maximise your score.

All the best, Liz

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50% DISCOUNT: Advanced IELTS – ENDS TOMORROW !

by Leave a Comment

Tomorrow is the last day for the BIG DISCOUNTS on Advanced IELTS Lessons & E-books. Don’t miss your chance!

  • Grammar E-book – 65% discount. 
  • Ideas for IELTS Essay Topics – 60% discount. 
  • Advanced Writing Lessons – 50% discount. 

Maximise your score with the right techniques for a high score. 

Click below for details:

ADVANCED IELTS WRITING
DISCOUNT ENDS SOON !

…..

E-books are pdf files and can be downloaded to your laptop for your personal use forever. Advanced lessons are streamed online with access for 3 years. These items are designed to provide you with the right techniques and skills to maximise your score.

All the best, Liz

Filed Under: Special

Thank you for your support, from Liz

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My dear friends,

I am writing to you with my deepest thanks for the emotional support you gave me a few weeks ago. I know my thank you is late, but recovery has been up and down. At least now, I can say that I am definitely improving.

Your incredible support truly overwhelmed me. When I messaged you, I hoped some of you might write in to help me, but I didn’t expect so many of you. It was amazing to experience such a response at time when I felt so broken and very alone. 

I was deeply affected by your sentiments, your insight, your advice, the experiences some of you shared, and by hearing about your lives. Many of you wrote very touching messages that brought tears to my eyes. Some of you wrote profound words of wisdom – I’ve put some of those messages at the bottom of this page for everyone to read. Some of you shared how your lives have changed and improved since conquering IELTS – that really warmed my heart. Also, I know some of you were struggling yourselves with pain, loss and grief. I do very much hope this message finds you in a better place emotionally and on the path to healing.

And there were some of you who wrote humorous messages that actually had me laughing out loud on one of my worst days. I’d like to thank Zeeshan for his fantastic “Legend of a Kidney Stone” – if you have a subscription, I’ll sign up! You nailed my humour! And Enrique who wrote about how as a teacher, he had once told a student that “sleeping on it” was a great way to solve a problem. The student had then asked if they should put the test under their pillow. Brilliant!

You all helped me so much. Not only by the content of your messages, but also by the time and effort you took to reply. It felt like so many wonderful hugs coming into my life. Thank you. I wish I had the words to describe how impactful that was, particularly for someone like me who has lived alone so long.

Yes, you all helped me get my vision back. I now see the impact my work has and I can’t wait to carry on. But I will take a bit more rest before I start, just to give my body what it needs. And yes, my fire inside is starting to grow again. It feels good to see my way forward.

For anyone else who is struggling in life, I will say – reach out for support. It makes a huge difference. Even the strongest people need support from others, it is completely natural. But remember that when you do reach out, it will be at a vulnerable time in your life, so please reach out wisely and safely to people you know you can trust. I knew I was safe with all of you. I was right. Thank you!

Sharing Your Words of Wisdom

  1. Pain may knock you down, but spirit picks you back up. (Zeeshan)
  2. Strength is inspiring in itself. (Emmanuel)
  3. Fighters fall. But fighters rise. Every time. (Miriam)
  4. Fighters do survive, but they don’t have to fight alone. (Aylin)
  5. Stand in front of the battle of life bravely with a smile. (Od)
  6. You are stronger than you feel right now. (Amr)
  7. The human body may be fragile, but the human spirit is absurdly tough. (Zeeshan)
  8. To start running fast, sometimes we need to take a step back to gain momentum. (Minh Tuan)
  9. Strengthen your inner voice and let it speak with positivity, resilience and hope. (Ahmed)
  10. Even the strongest souls need time to breathe. (Obaydur)
  11. Take things moment by moment. Even the tiniest spark is still fire – and yours is still burning. (Aylin)
  12. Stay the course. You matter. (Mena)
  13. Life is a journey with no guidelines. Live it freely. (Lin)
  14. People deserve to improve the quality of their lives. (Palomino)
  15. Life gives us moments when we need to redefine our paths. (Fiza)
  16. We are so fortunate just to be alive. (Ekta)

***

Thank you, my dear friends, from the bottom of my heart. Wishing everyone the very best, Liz xx

     *  You are all my inspiration. *

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I’m struggling and reaching out to you

by 322 Comments

Hi guys,

I want to apologise for this post, but many of you once said I could reach out for support if I ever needed. I do need it.

This year started with promise, but it has been spiralling for a while and my health is being affected by the strain. I’m struggling right now to stay strong and keep my mind focused on positive thoughts. I fight alone in isolation, which makes it harder for me. And not being able to leave the house also prevents me accessing the joy of nature. My character is a determined one, but even the strongest sometimes need to reach out for inspiration, kindness and support.

I know I should focus my mind on providing free lessons. It brings me joy in times of darkness. But when things are so very hard, your mind can wander down the wrong paths and focus becomes difficult. I need to get my vision back. I need to get my fire back.

If you have time, please remind me of the great things worth fighting for in life, share an inspiring story, make me laugh – bring some strength and joy into my life. And if there’s anyone else fighting hard right now, we will all benefit.

I hope to be back on top soon. Fighters always survive. Thank you for being there.

All the best to you

Liz

(Elizabeth Ferguson)

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Happy New Year to You All in 2025!!

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Hi guys,

I just wanted to wish you a very wonderful 2025!

Yet another year is here and yet another chance for us to reach our goals in life. Life is much shorter than we realise and it’s so easy to waste time. Lets use this year to focus on what really matters.

I’m sure we all hope for an end to conflict in the world and for a world where all doors are open to everyone. But even if the world isn’t going in our direction, it doesn’t mean we can’t change our small corner of the world. Each person we help, each person we show kindness to and each person whose differences we respect can bring a vital positive effect into the world.

Take care of yourself this year! Wishing you all the best, always.

See you in 2025!

Liz

HAPPY 2025 !! From Liz

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Questions about Sport for IELTS Speaking Part 3

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Below are a range of questions about the topic of Sport for IELTS Speaking Part 3. This is the part of the test when you speak about the world in general rather than your own personal experiences. It’s known as the Discussion.

QUESTIONS:

  1. Do you think children get enough exercise these days?
  2. Do you think exercise is important?
  3. Is there a difference between exercise that boys like and exercise that girls usually enjoy?
  4. How can parents encourage their children to take more exercise?
  5. Do you think sports have changed much over the last few decades? 
  6. What are the benefits of international sports events?
  7. Are there any downsides to international sports events?
  8. Do sports people make good role models? 

As you see, some questions are quite simple and some are harder. The examiner will decide which questions to ask. Usually the examiner will ask between 5-6 questions.

Feel free to post your answers to these questions for practice.

ANSWERS

For answers, click below:

ANSWERS TO SPORTS QUESTIONS

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Ideas in IELTS Essays & in IELTS Speaking

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Are your ideas marked in IELTS Writing and IELTS Speaking? How do you find and prepare ideas for your IELTS essays and for IELTS Speaking topics? Certainly, both IELTS writing and speaking tests are topic based and require you to have ideas to write about and talk about, but are those ideas marked and how do you prepare properly?

Ideas & Knowledge in IELTS Writing Task 2?

In IELTS Writing Task 2, you will be marked on

  1. Task Response (addressing the task, ideas, developing ideas and relevancy)
  2. Coherence & Cohesion (organisation & linking)
  3. Grammar
  4. Vocabulary

As you see, the key marking criterion for ideas is Task Response. That is all about your answer and the ideas you use in your answer. It counts for 25% of your writing task 2 marks. For more information & tips, see this page: IELTS Writing Task 1 Marking Criteria & Band Score Tips.

Let me explain more about Task Response:

Task Response: Your Answer & Ideas

This is about answering the question with relevant ideas, which are well-developed and supported. This means the ideas you present are marked. How relevant and developed your ideas are will affect your band score:

Band Score 8ideas are relevant, well-extended and supported
Band Score 7ideas are extended and support, but may be over-generalised or slightly lacking in focus.
Band Score 6ideas are relevant but may not be sufficiently developed and may lack clarity
Band Score 5ideas are limited, not developed enough and may contain irrelevant details

As you see, the more relevant, focused, detailed and well developed your ideas are, the higher your band score. People who get a low score present ideas that aren’t explained well or connected to the task or that lack focus.

Finding Ideas for IELTS Essays

Here are some things you should do to improve your band score relating to ideas:

Step 1: Have knowledge of common IELTS Writing Task 2 topics. You must know what type of topics you are likely to be given and what the questions are likely to be. You must check if there are any topics that you don’t know much about. If there are topics you don’t know about, learn about them before your test. For example, are you familiar with these topics: factory farming (intensive farming), package foods and preservatives in foods? All these topics are part of the main topic of Food for IELTS essays. See this page for a list of topics and essay questions: 100 IELTS Essay Questions

Step 2: You must prepare ideas for as many topics as you can. In the writing test, you only have around 40 mins for writing task 2 so you can’t waste time thinking about ideas – you must have those ideas already in your mind. You can learn ideas for topics from looking at model essays online, but that takes time.

To speed up learning ideas for topics, I created an e-book to help you. You can find it in my store: IELTS Essay Topics E-books. This e-book contains ideas for over 150 common essay topics with relevant vocabulary so you can learn ideas for topics. Click here to see a sample: Ebook Ideas for Topics Sample Chapter

Ideas for IELTS Essay Topics E-book

Step 3: You must be ready to think about how to present those ideas to address the points in your essay. This means you think carefully how to explain those ideas and link them to the task given. This means both ideas and how you present them are important. 

Step 4: You must explain those ideas thoroughly in your essay. You can add extra details, further information, more explanation, illustrations, examples and more. You add whatever you need to add to explain the idea fully. This is required for a high score.

Step 5: Planning your essay before you start writing is essential. Because you are marked on your ideas, you should spend time to think carefully about which ideas you will use and how you will present them. You should also plan how to explain those ideas fully for a high score. Plan all mains ideas and supporting points, then start writing.

Do you get a higher score for interesting ideas in IELTS Essays?

 

This video is an oldie but a goodie. It is still 100% relevant today.

Don’t get side tracked thinking ideas need to be juicy.

Ideas & Knowledge in IELTS Speaking?

In the IELTS Speaking test, you are marked only on your language skills. You are marked on your Fluency, your Grammar, your Vocabulary and your Pronunciation (each one is worth 25% of your marks). Ideas are not marked, but ideas or topic knowledge are still crucial to a high score. Why? To understand, you must look at each part of the test:

Ideas in IELTS Part 1 Speaking

For part 1, it is common to be asked many questions relating to usually three different topics. This will require you to have ideas for those topics. However, the questions are about your personal life or popular things in your country. This means you don’t really need ideas and knowledge for the topics, but you do need to know all the topics and prepare your opinions, past experiences etc. 

Ideas in Part 2 Speaking:

For part 2, you’ll be given a topic card (a cue card). You should aim to speak for 2 mins about the topic. Most topics are about your past or your present, such as your favourite book, your favourite place to relax, a childhood friend or a time you were late for something. Yes, you will need ideas but the ideas are more about your personal life (similar to part 1). Occasionally, you might get a more difficult topic such as a museum or a good law. For such topics, you will need vocabulary for those topics and relevant vocabulary. But your ideas are not marked and ideas are still about your own personal thoughts and experiences.

Ideas in Speaking Part 3:

This part of the test is different. This part is no longer about your personal experiences. It is about world issues and broader topics such as the environment, communication, skills, education, crime etc. You definitely need ideas and vocabulary to be able to speak about these topics. The questions are similar to writing task 2 essay questions so it’s easy to use ideas from writing task 2 for your speaking part 3. Your ideas and knowledge are not marked – but they are both needed to be able to speak easily in the test.

Preparing Ideas for IELTS Speaking

  1. Get used to all the past, current and trending topics for IELTS Speaking. The more topics you prepare for the better. I often have lists of trending topics for IELTS Speaking, but those lists are never complete and you must prepare common topics as well. IELTS does not release the topics to the public. Topics are kept confidential and secure for the test.
  2. Remember, you only have time to prepare your answer in part 2. For part 1 and part 3, your answers must be immediate, which is why knowledge of topics is crucial.
  3. Click below to access common topics:
  4. For part 1 and part 2 of the IELTS Speaking Test, you should prepare the following for each topic:
    • your favourites / likes / dislikes
    • your abilities (things you can do or not do)
    • your habits & routines (how often and when you do things)
    • your childhood memories
    • your past experiences as an adult
    • your future hopes and goal
    • popular choices in your country
    • your personal opinions about common topics
  5. For part 3, you should prepare the following for each topic:
    • your personal opinions (based on your knowledge and experience of the world, not your personal life)
    • popular opinions in your country 
    • evaluations – deciding the pros and cons of something – deciding if something is a good idea or not
    • comparing the past with the present such as “do people holiday differently today than in the past”. Think about all the ways your country has changed over the last few decades for all topics.
    • predicting future trends such as “how will people holiday in the future?”
    • comparisons between age groups and categories (such as the difference between independent travel and package holidays)

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Filed Under: IELTS Speaking, IELTS Writing Task 2

Test yourself with Linking Words

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You must use a range of linking words in your IELTS essay. The examiner will mark your linking words for both accuracy and range. Linking words are part of the marking criterion of Coherence & Cohesion, which counts for 25% of your marks. Try this test below:

Practice with Linking Words

Use the linking words given below to fill in the gaps and complete the sentences:

  • (1) ……………………… of the popularity of Facebook, there has been a rise in online crime, (2) ………….. fraud and identify theft. 
  • There are a number of drawbacks to people using Facebook as a way of communicating (3)………………… it is (4)…………….. one of the most common social networking platforms for both individuals and businesses.
  • (5)……………………….. the lack of exercise taken by the average person, obesity and other weight related problems are on the rise.
  • Unemployment and poverty, (6) ………….. in urban areas, is often deemed to be the cause of the rising crime rate.
  • (7) ………….. the rise in urban crime, more and more people continue to move to cities looking for a better life.
  • More children are becoming obese and (8)…………….. schools should be encouraged to provide more sports lessons and outdoor activities.

Word Options:

butbecause of admittedly
despitelikeresulting in
such asparticularlyhowever
alternativelyeven thoughregardless
althoughthereforedue to

ANSWERS

To see the answers and a full list of linking words for IELTS Writing Task 2, click below:

ANSWERS & LINKING WORDS LIST

All the best

Liz

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