So, whether you’re 18, 80 or anywhere in between, read on for some vocabulary related to these special occasions and for some common mistakes to avoid.
Birthdays
When you think about the word ‘birthday’, which other words come to mind?
The first words to come to my mind are birthday cards, birthday cakes, birthday parties, and birthday presents.
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These pairs of words are examples of words that are often used together in English (i.e. collocations), and if you remember them as combinations of words (e.g. ‘birthday presents’) rather than separate, individual words (‘birthday’ and ‘presents’), you’ll be able to use them more fluently when you speak.
Whenever I think of birthdays, I also think about getting one year older and one year nearer my next milestone birthday – a milestone or landmark birthday is a special birthday such as your 18th, 21st, 30th, or 40th.
Are there any birthdays that are particularly special in your culture?
Important!
Even if you don’t celebrate birthdays yourself, it’s important to be able to talk about this topic in case you have to in your IELTS Speaking test!
A common mistake when describing your age
Which of the following are correct ways for someone to describe his/her age and which are mistakes?
- I have 20 years old
- I’m 20 years old
- I have 20 years
- I’m 20
Think carefully as you could choose the wrong answers if you translate directly from your first language.
You may be surprised at how many English language learners use the wrong grammar to say how old they are!
You can check the answers at the end of this post. (You could also check the grammar I used above to describe how old We Love IELTS is).
If you want to describe how old you’re going to be on your next birthday (or how old you were on your last birthday), you can use the verb ‘turn‘, e.g. ‘I turned 29 last month’ or ‘I’m turning 30 next year’.
Milestones
One meaning of the word ‘milestone’ is a very important event or stage in someone’s life.
Which of these milestones have you reached?
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Remember, personalising vocabulary like this (i.e. connecting new words/phrases to your own experiences and opinions) is one way to improve your vocabulary for IELTS.
For other meanings of the word ‘milestone’, check out the entry in the Cambridge online dictionary here.
A useful phrasal verb
With any important milestone, there’s usually some excitement about reaching it, e.g. I’m sure you are (or were) excited about going abroad for the first time.
To see how to use (and not to use) the phrasal verb ‘look forward to’ to describe this excitement, check out this video of 30-second IELTS