Listening for Paraphrases

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This is a new lesson which focuses on your ability to listen for paraphrases and synonyms. This is a skill which you need to do well in your IELTS listening test. This is a short listening practice to help you improve your vocabulary and listening ability. The topic of salt was in the IELTS listening test this month.

In the IELTS listening test, you can listening only once. However, with this practice lesson, you can listen twice if you need to.

The History of Salt: Listening Practice

Questions 1 – 7

Which words can you hear in the recording that have the same meaning as the words below?

Answers will come in order. Answers might be one word or more.

  1. acquired
  2. familiar with
  3. thousands of years
  4. animal skins
  5. limited
  6. originates
  7. world

Listening Practice: Recording

Let me know if you think this is a useful lesson – I’ll make more if it helps you 🙂

Answers

Click below to see the answers for this lesson:

Click here: Answers for Salt Listening Paraphrases

All the best

Liz

 

Filed Under: IELTS Listening

I Scored IELTS Band 9 Overall: My Tips

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Mania achieved band score 9 overall in her IELTS test (academic).

You will see that IELTS Band Score 9 is possible!!!

Below she shares her tips for how she scored band 9.

Mania’s IELTS Results: Overall Band 9

  • Listening: 9
  • Reading: 8.5
  • Writing: 9
  • Speaking: 9

My test center was in San Francisco, CA, and I took the academic module.
Given that my English was already at a good level, it took me 5 days to study for the test, while working full-time. Please keep in mind I speak/write in English in my daily life, and had also acquired plenty of English degrees / certifications as a high school student; therefore there was no type of question in IELTS that I had never seen before.

IELTS Band Score 9 Tips

My tips for other individuals in my position are the following:

Listening: Probably the easiest part for all good language users. Your time should mostly be spent identifying the different question styles you might encounter. I took 1 practice test and looked at a couple more.

Reading: Remember that T/F/Not Given questions refer to what the text actually says, not what you think. The rest of the questions should be again very easy to handle for good language users. Again, I mostly spent time looking at question styles, rather than taking tests (only took 2 practice tests, mainly for the T/F/NG questions).

Speaking: My biggest fear was that the few minutes/seconds I had for each answer would not be enough to actually make a point (I talk A LOT). However, the examiner interacted with me to lead the discussion accordingly, which actually made it feel like an every day discussion. Fun fact: she kept me an extra 15 minutes after the recording for an actual conversation! In terms of practising, I looked at a few topics just to get an idea of what to expect, and then I just let the generic ones (hometown, family, profession etc) brew in my mind the days before the exam. Again, remember I speak English every day, and it does make a difference.

Writing: Of course, the fear for even the greatest language users is time. You might be able to compose your essays very fast, but in my opinion there is a risk of overthinking things, wanting to give more arguments and/or expand on sophisticated ideas the topic might trigger in your brain, which will actually cause you to lose valuable time. On the day of my exam, I met another woman who was an excellent speaker and had been living in the US for years – even had a green card. After the exam, she told me she ran out of time in the Writing section, what a pity! In a nutshell, look at Liz’s sample essays and identify how your ideal structure should be. When developing arguments, I prefer to stick to 2 arguments for each side of the topic, as I am able to expand on each one of them (it was actually impossible for me to stay under 300 words for Writing Task 2). The instructions Liz gives are super clear, just stick to the “approved” recipe! They don’t actually care how much of a thinker you are. Needless to say the Writing section is the one I focused my studying on. I wrote a total of 4 essays for each Writing task (not much more I could do in a week full of work!), and I self-corrected them in terms of how they could be more concise. After writing the first one and seeing I should write less, I studied the model essays provided here and then wrote the rest of my own; the improvement was significant.

Good luck to everyone! Once again, thank you, Liz!

Comments from Liz

Very well done Mania!! Band 9 is a Fantastic Result!

I agree very much with your preparation for listening and reading. Of course, it is important to do practice tests at home, but you also need to focus on question types. There are many different types of questions that involve different techniques and have different challenges – you need to be prepared for them all. Speaking is all about being ready for general topics and using ideas in a fluid way with different topics. The examiner is not marking your ideas, so you need to prepare your own memories and stories, and also think of your own opinions. Mania, you are spot on for writing 🙂

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IELTS Speaking: Should I use Sir or Madam

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Hi guys,

Here are some tips about how to address the examiner. I asked you if you should use Sir or Madam when speaking to the examiner in your IELTS speaking test. You all had very different opinions about that. Let me explain.

Using Sir or Madam Tips

Informal

The IELTS speaking test is informal. This means you speak to the examiner in a friendly manner as through you were chatting to a friend. Yes, you should be polite, but you do not use Sir or Madam.

Referring to the Examiner

The only questions you might ask in the test are:

  • Could you repeat that please?
  • Could you explain what you mean please? (only in part 3)

When you ask these questions you do NOT use Sir or Madam. It is actually incorrect to do so. The word “please” is the polite way of asking, no titles are needed.

When is Sir or Madam Used?

Sir and Madam are mainly used:

  1. in the hospitality industry when you are working in a hotel, for example, and you speak to a customer
  2. in formal letter writing when you do not know the name of the person you are writing to.

You do not refer to people in the street or doctors or teachers or anyone else as Sir or Madam. You should not refer to me as Madam.

Using the Examiner’s Name

The examiner will introduce their name. You can use it or not use it – it’s up to you. It is certainly not necessary to use their name. If you use their name, then you will use their first name. For example, if the examiner’s name is Sarah Biggins, you will call the examiner Sarah.

Conclusion

You should NOT use Sir or Madam in the IELTS speaking test. Your politeness to the examiner is by smiling, looking them in the eye when they are talking to you and when you talk to them, and saying “please” when you ask a question.

Notice:

I wish to make it clear again.  I DO NOT OFFER A QUESTION/ANSWER SERVICE.

Always remember when you post a comment that I do not offer an answer service. I am sorry that many students will not receive a reply to their comments, but I work alone and cannot possibly reply to everyone. Always read comments written to other students in the past – you might find your answer there. This is not a conspiracy on my part, this is life – I can’t answer 2500 comments every month. Please do not get upset if your comment is not answered.

IELTS Liz website is to give you access to over 300 pages of lessons, tips, model answers and free video lessons. The materials on this site are extensive and you can learn a lot from them – this is the sole purpose of my site – to provide you access to my lessons. It is not my aim to provide an answer service.

Please enjoy the using and learning from my lessons and tips.

All the best

Liz

 

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IELTS Complaint Letter: Model

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Below is a model IELTS complaint letter which is estimated at band score 9. People taking the GT writing paper will be expected to write a letter for their writing task 1. That letter should be over 150 words. Complaint letters are one of the most common types of letters that you can be expected to write. This letter topic has appeared a number of times in the IELTS test.

You bought a TV a week ago but when you got home you discovered it did not work properly. You called customer service to report the problem but you have not yet received any help.

Write a letter to the company and in your letter:

  • introduce yourself
  • explain the problem
  • and state what action you would like from the company

Model IELTS Complaint Letter Band 9

The letter below will show you how to organise information into paragraphs and extent information to create a high band score IELTS complaint letter. Note that this is a long letter. People who are below band 9 should not aim for this. It is usually better to aim between 170 and 190 words. Long letters also don’t increase your score. However, I wanted to show you examples of how ideas can be expanded and for this reason, this sample letter is longer than normal.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing this letter to report the faulty TV that I purchased from your company on Tuesday last week.

My name is John Davidson and I am one of your frequent customers. I live in Woodstock and have been using your services and buying your products for the last 11 years.

On Tuesday, 12th June, I visited your store to purchase a TV. I bought a Toshiba LED TV which has the code 40L675B40. On purchasing this TV, I was assured that this was the latest model and the best there was to buy. However, when I got home I discovered that not only did the remote controls not work but also the quality of the picture was not as good as promised, in fact it was quite blurry. I called your customer service department immediately on Tuesday and they assured me that my TV would be replaced or fixed within two days. I am disappointed to say that this has not happened and I have received no communication since then.

I am exceedingly displeased with both the quality of the product I purchased from your company as well as the poor  service I have received since. I hope this problem will be resolved promptly. I expect to receive a replacement TV or have my current TV repaired but only if it could be fixed within a day.

I look forward to hearing back from you immediately.

Yours faithfully,

Mr J H Davidson

Recommended for GT IELTS Writing Task 1

Click below:

Essential Tips for IELTS GT Letters: Writing Task 2

Practice IELTS Letters to practice at home

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IELTS Speaking: Using Sir or Madam

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Hi guys,

I have had many students asking me how to address the examiner during the speaking test. Let me check what you think and what you understand.

Question

  • Do you think it is ok to call the examiner “Sir” or “Madam” in the speaking test?

Answer

Post your answer below.

I’ll post my answer on tomorrow.

All the best

Liz

Notice: Please remember that I am actually on holiday until May for health reasons – I might extent that holiday if I am not well enough at that point. But this month I will post a couple of lessons for you. Also remember that I do NOT offer a question/answer service on this website. There are over 10,000 comments waiting approval – I can’t answer all questions.

Filed Under: IELTS Speaking

Reminder

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Hi guys,

I thought some of you would like to see this video about Overview or Conclusion I made a while ago. It is found on the main page for writing task 1 which you can access through the red bar at the top of the website.

[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/zjzuxyVlkR8″]

Hope you find the lesson useful 🙂

All the best

Liz

Filed Under: Uncategorized

How I Scored IELTS Band 8

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Learn how Dr Jabril scored an overall band 8 in IELTS. His tips and experiences are very insightful.
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IELTS Results

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Overall Band 8
  • Listening 9
  • Reading 8.5
  • Writing 7
  • Speaking 7.5
 

My IELTS Tips for Band 8

Good day, I wrote UKVI academic IELTS and got band score 8 overall.

First of all, I want to appreciate your efforts in making the whole exam process easy for me and others around the world, your lessons really helped a lot.

IELTS Writing 

I’ll start off with my weaknesses. My weakest section was writing, I “hated” it with passion. I don’t enjoy any exam that requires me to write an essay, either short or long, and since this is unavoidable, I always try to find out alternatives/shortcut to the essay writing. Also, I had a very busy work schedule and would get home in the evenings, very tired to read or practice. This is where your tutorials came in, I found it easy to follow, and the way you presented your examples and explained how the essays were marked gave me some confidence in approaching it.

I’ll also say this was one section where I followed your instructions totally, especially in task 2, which I believe helped me to crawl to that 7.0 I got there. I downloaded the sample answer booklet and practiced with the little time I had as you suggested, which made me know the number of lines I needed to get to the required number of words.

The task 1 on the other hand was another issue. The only type of question I did not practice was what we were asked to describe, the maps/diagram description and comparison. I didn’t have enough time to go through all the types and had to select the ones I felt were high yield. This I believed translated to a poor task response and organization which dragged my score in writing down.

 IELTS Speaking

The other section I dreaded was the speaking section, I have this phobia for oral examinations and tend to get nervous about it. Though I went through most of your tips on speaking, I didn’t practice by recording and evaluating my answers, and this affected me in the exam. I don’t think I started well because I was using “sir” for the examiner in the first few minutes and jumbling up my answers, but when I eventually settled in, things began to go smoothly. I believe that early period of nervousness caused me to lose some points, hence the 7.5 for speaking.

 IELTS Listening and Reading

Now to my strong sections, the reading and listening. I love reading a lot and I’ve found IELTS reading passages a lot of fun to read. It provides lots of new information and interesting facts, and I even sometimes just read the passages without answering follow up questions. Despite this though, I didn’t want to take the exam a second time so I still went ahead and watched your video tutorials and followed all your instructions. I wrote my answers in capital letters for both sections, I also practised more of both sections than the writing and speaking, and I found it more convenient to read passages before answering questions.

I need to say here though that it was not all sweet for me during practice as I remembered a listening practice test I did where I scored 26. I just blacked out and lost focus while listening to the tape and missed a lot of answers, this jolted me up and made me realize that the exam was not going to be as simple as I thought.

 Overall

To cap it all up, I’ll advice anyone preparing for the test to first if all identify a pattern that suits them, work well on perfecting it and do lots of practice questions. It also helps to simulate exam conditions as this goes a long way in calming the nerves on the day of exam. The most important advice though is to listen to Liz 100%. I listened to get 85% and got an overall score of 8, I wonder what would have happened if I had listened to her 100%.

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PS: you might be wondering how someone who hates writing was able to write all the above, well, it’s because I want to show appreciation to a wonderful teacher.

Message to Jubril: Thank you so much for sharing your tips and experience of the IELTS test. Very well done with your results 🙂 From Liz
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Filed Under: Tips from Successful IELTS Candidates Tagged With:

Model Answers for Speaking Part 3: Topic of Toys

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The topic of Toys is currently being used in IELTS speaking part 2 (a childhood toys) and part 3 this month. Below you will find some model answers for this topic for speaking part 3 questions. These model answers will provide you with ideas and vocabulary to use in your answers. You should never memorise my model answers. All your answers must be created by yourself in the IELTS test.

On this page you can find:

  • A) Questions with Model Answers
  • B) Useful Vocabulary with Pronunciation Audio
  • C) Tips for Speaking Part 3

Questions & Model Answers: Toys

What should be considered when buying toys for children?

I reckon one important thing to think about is the age of the child. If a child is only a couple of years old, you shouldn’t give them toys which contain small parts that could be swallowed and cause the child to choke. Another thing to consider is whether the toy will continue to entertain the child for a certain period of time. What I mean is, if the toy will only interest a child for 5 minutes, it isn’t really worth buying. It’s better to choose something that they will enjoy for months or years.

How have toys changed compared to the past?

I guess the main change is in electronic toys or battery operated toys. In the past, people used to only give simple toys to their children that were often handmade. Nowadays, people prefer mass produced toys that are the recent trend. Those types of toys are often exciting electronic toys, such as computer games. Another difference is that toys decades ago were often so simple that children had to use their imagination and creativity to find enjoyment in using them. I think today’s toys stimulate less creativity in children on the whole.

Why do parents buy a lot of toys for their children?

I guess some parents are materialistic. They think that if they buy many toys for their kids, they are being a good parent. Another reason is that children have short attention spans which means that some parents buy toys to keep their child quiet and out of their way. But I think the main reason is probably the power of advertising and peer pressure which drive children to want more toys and pushes parents to buy them.

Is it good for children to play with toys?

Yes, I think so. Some toys that can be bought are educational and are very important for early learning. Educational toys provide a great way for children to develop skills, such as spatial awareness, motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Furthermore, toys can give children a safe way to explore the world and learn about colours, shapes and textures. However, I must admit that some toys for older children, such as computer games, can become addictive and, at that point, those types of toys are not beneficial.

 

Useful Vocabulary & Pronunciation

Learn useful words for the topic of toys and listen to the audio to learn the correct pronunciation.

  • creativity
  • imagination
  • motor skills
  • social skills
  • spatial awareness
  • choke on small parts
  • battery operated toys
  • recharging batteries
  • computer games
  • wooden toys
  • dolls
  • rules of the game
  • hand-made toys / mass produced toys
  • materialism
  • consumerism
  • to keep someone quiet
  • to keep someone entertained
  • to keep someone out of the way
  • board games, chess
  • educational toys
  • become addictive

Learn more about the topic of toys. See this website about educational toys for children: childdevelopmentinfo.com

IELTS Speaking Part 3 Tips

Length of answer

Keep talking until the examiner interrupts you. The examiner will decide if it is time to change the focus of the answer or to ask a new question completely. Speaking part 3 answers are longer than in part 1.

Content

Explain your ideas and view point. Give examples. You are not marked on your examples or ideas, but you need to show the ability to tackle complex ideas using English.

Avoid talking about yourself

Part 1 and part 2 are about you. However, part 3 questions are mostly about world issues. You need to show the examiner you can talk about more than yourself. You need to show the ability to talk about people and the world in general.

Challenging ideas

The examiner might challenge your ideas. This is a way for the examiner to test your English and check that you are able to defend your view point.

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Filed Under: IELTS Speaking
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