I often hear from students who are disappointed because their scores have only improved by half a band. For example: “I’ve been studying for 3 months but my score has only improved by 0.5”.
My reply is always this: You should be happy! An improvement of half a band is great, and it shows that you are on the right track.
Remember: small, gradual improvements are signposts on the path to success!
February 15, 2020
IELTS Advice: knowledge vs skill
I studied French at school for seven years, and my teachers helped me to accumulate quite a lot of knowledge about the language.
However, when I visited France I still felt like a beginner. I found it difficult to understand native speakers, and I couldn’t speak naturally; I had to construct sentences in my head before I spoke, and I was constantly worried about making mistakes. In short, I had knowledge but not much skill.
Do you feel like this when you speak or write in English? Maybe it’s time to stop studying English and start practising it as much as possible!
January 19, 2020
IELTS Advice: long and short sentences
Many students seem to think that the following is true:
long, complex sentences = difficult = high score
But this isn’t necessarily correct. First, long sentences are just short sentences (or clauses) that have been linked together, so it’s not difficult to write them. Second, you won’t get a high score if your long sentences are full of mistakes.
The best writers use a mix of long and short sentences. This is the ideal style to aim for because it makes your writing ‘smoother’, more varied, and easier to read.
January 12, 2020
IELTS Advice: tangible daily progress
If you want to make tangible progress every day, aim to do one of the following:
- Analyse one grammar or vocabulary mistake that you made, and understand the correction.
- Analyse one mistake in a reading or listening test, and understand why you got the answer wrong.
- Learn one new word, collocation or phrase.
- Learn how to express one idea in a ‘natural’ way. Find out how a native speaker would say it.
- Prepare ideas, opinions and vocabulary for one IELTS topic.
- Read one sample band 9 essay, and highlight anything useful e.g. vocabulary, cohesive devices, how ideas are developed.
- Write one paragraph and get it checked by a teacher.
- Record yourself doing one speaking test. Transcribe the recording and analyse the transcription or get it checked by a teacher.
I could add more points, but I’m sure you get the idea. Just do one thing that feels like real progress every day. Imagine where you’ll be after 100 days!