Author Archives: ieltsonly_pvk5rn

I was talking to a group of IELTS teachers about my post Thinking on your feet and they asked whether I had made it clear that some words and phrases should not be overused. I don’t think I made this clear. Sometimes it is possible to just answer a question. When someone asks you your […]

When you are having a conversation, you don’t always know the answers to questions and sometimes, you might not know what to say next. In lots of conversations, you will have to pause for a moment to collect your thoughts and plan your next words. This is perfectly normal and natural in your own language […]

Looking up definitions in an English – English dictionary forces you to understand meanings in English. Sometimes, translation is quick and easy but can miss out vital information: information which will increase your English knowledge and help you to get the IELTS band score you need. A good dictionary should give a word definition, pronunciation […]

If you read this post, you probably have already thought about the incorrect sentences given and know which words are incorrectly used. Here are the sentences again with an explanation of what is wrong after them. 1. Strong coffee doesn’t effect me at all. Effect is a noun but in this sentence, the auxiliary (do) […]

One common mistake that students make when writing in English is that they put pen to paper before they have really thought about what they are going to write. They read the question and start writing. This is really not a very good strategy. Even the shortest piece of writing should be planned. The problem […]

In “Why does the examiner keep asking me questions?” we looked at how giving full answers to interview questions is very important. Most IELTS candidates try very hard to perform well in their interview and really want to know what the interviewer thinks about the interview, once it is over. The question is : is […]

The examiner needs you to speak so that your oral fluency and accuracy can be assessed. It’s difficult to do that if you are silent and it’s really not practical for the examiner to just ask you to speak. Imagine this: Examiner: Good morning. Please sit down. You: Good morning. there is silence Examiner: Well? […]

Read the following sentences. Can you work out what is wrong with them? Perhaps you can easily spot the errors and correct them but are you able to explain what the errors are? Giving this kind of explanation is good language practice : you have to be very precise and clear so that there is […]

Many students believe that they will attain a higher band grade in the IELTS exam if they are able to study English at a higher level. They convince themselves that the fact they are studying English at a “low” level is what stops them achieving better results in IELTS test papers. These students think that […]