IELTS Listening: Business Cultures 🤝 by IELTS with Fiona – a better way to improve your IELTS score.
How to prepare for IELTS in 10 days
The best thing about the IELTS Test is that you cannot fail it. The test simply takes a ‘snapshot’ of your current level of English.
So if you’ve suddenly realised that you need to take the test in 10 days don’t panic too much. Consider it a ‘practice run’.
10 days is just enough time to familiarise yourself with the test requirements so you can give yourself the best chance of getting the best indicator of your overall ability.
Here’s what I would do in the next 10 days.
Read the blog here
https://ieltsetc.com/2023/02/how-to-prepare-for-ielts-in-10-days/
34:48
February 20, 2023
Pronunciation for IELTS Listening – how to understand fast speech
There are 7 key features of fast speech and pronunciation that you need to develop a better understanding of in order to increase your Listening Score:
Features of connected speech (dropping sounds, adding sounds, changing sounds, weak sounds and twin sounds).
Word boundaries
Homophones
Sounds that are different or don’t exist in your language
Accents and rhoticity (‘r’)
Minimal pairs
Consonant Clusters
Read the full blog here.
Buy the workbook guide here:
https://payhip.com/b/HzVmy
26:24
February 11, 2023
IELTS Listening: Hotel Staff Turnover
In this Listening Section 2 we look at:
– Multiple choice questions
– distractors – matching from a list
– the word ‘staff’ and how it’s repeated 32 times
– how to pronounce ‘staff’
– academic language you can use in Task 2
Improve your IELTS score with my intensive Listening Course:
ieltsetc.com/courses
27:53
January 26, 2023
IELTS New Year Resolutions 2023
What will you do differently in 2023? Here are my 7 resolutions to help you get the IELTS test over and done with once and for all. Get all the tips on my Daily Tips page https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en and get all my lessons on my website ieltsetc.com. Join the Members Academy to make faster progress.
29:33
January 13, 2023
IELTS Reading: To catch a king 🤴👑
In this episode, I’ll take you through one of my Guided Readings – it’s an Academic Passage 3 from Book 17 and, unusually, it’s a book review.
Follow my Advent Challenge on my website:
Join the Members Academy:
32:54
December 16, 2022
Fiona’s Writing Academy Episode 10: GT Task 1 – informal letter about a competition
This episode is part of the Members Academy Coaching programme.
Your photograph recently won a photography competition and will be shown in an exhibition.
Write a letter to your friend. In your letter
describe the photograph you sent to the competition
tell him/her about the exhibition where your photo will be shown
invite him/her to the exhibition
In the lesson, we talk about how to transform an overly-formal letter into a friendly, informal letter.
25:18
November 25, 2022
IELTS Mindset: 😵💫 How to deal with ‘too much information’ (feeling overwhelmed)
Question: “How do I cope with so much information when I’m preparing for the IELTS test?”
Answer: “Just do as much as you need to do for the Band score that you want.”
In all aspects of life, there are different levels of expertise and knowledge.
Deciding what you want to do with your IELTS score will help you manage your time and your learning.
I’ve carefully programmed this into the Members Academy.
Aiming for Band 6? Just watch the videos.
Need to get Band 7? Watch the videos and do the practice.
Want Band 8/9? Do the EXTRA practice that I include in every lesson.
Enrol today https://members.ieltsetc.com/academy
This podcast talks about managing your learning according to what level of expertise you need to acquire.
I call it the traffic-light system.
GREEN: Band 6 – INTERESTED (do a single course)
YELLOW: Band 7 – COMMITTED (join the Members Academy – do all the courses)
RED: Band 8+ – OBSESSED (“To be the best, you have to be obsessed”: do the Coaching Program)
But remember this – what is the opposite of “too much information”?
The opposite is “not enough information”.
Not enough info is worse than too much info when it comes to preparing for IELTS because it is not a subject – it’s a language and a skill. Can fluent speakers have “too much English knowledge”? I don’t think that’s possible.
Let me know if you’ve got any questions.
29:48
November 13, 2022
IELTS Listening: 🇮🇸 The impact of digital technology on the Icelandic language
Can you guess the answers to the gapfill before you listen? In this episode I talk you through a Passage 4 where I think about 60% of the answers are guessable!
Thinking of becoming a Member of my Academy?
Find out more on my website:
ieltsetc.com/courses
24:59
November 04, 2022
IELTS Reading: Feathers as decoration in European History
A tricky GT Part 3 Reading with Matching Headings, Multiple Choice, and Matching Sentence Endings.
29:18
October 25, 2022
IELTS Mindset Part 3: How to ask SMARTER questions
I’ve spoken a lot about Mindset for IELTS in 2 earlier blogs:
1. How to train your mindset for IELTS
2. How to stop making excuses and start making progress
In this (rather long) podcast I talk about asking SMARTER questions to get smarter answers.
S = Specific (Why, What, Why, When, Where?)
M = Measurable (How much? How many?)
A = Achievable
R = Realistic
T = Time-bound
E = Evaluate
R = Revise
37:17
October 16, 2022
Fiona’s Writing Academy Episode 9: Task 2 – do younger people make better leaders?
Nowadays managers and country leaders are much younger compared to the past.
Is this a positive or negative development?
This 27-minute lesson gives you:
background ideas
topic vocabulary
a model essay
band score analysis of 4 x student examples
common mistakes
language level-ups (grammar and expressions)
Join the Members Academy to finally get the score you need.
26:57
October 07, 2022
IELTS Listening Part 3: Veterinary science students
In this podcast, you’ll practice listening for the tricks in Multiple Choice Questions.
This is yet another Listening based on the topic of farming, and it includes many of the keywords on my IELTS planner list Day 1 (Agriculture), for example:
– breed
– bred/reared
– livestock
– to increase production
– domesticated animals
– controlling and eradicating those diseases
Add these to your wordlist and check out the other lessons related to agriculture on my website https://ieltsetc.com.
Get the full version of this Listening Part 3 lesson in the Members Academy.
22:14
September 26, 2022
Fiona’s Writing Academy Episode 8: Academic Task 1 graph about UK migration patterns
This lesson takes you through a dynamic graph about changes in UK migration trends over a period of time in the past.
In the lesson, you’ll master
how to choose 3 key features
how to describe relevant changes
how to make appropriate comparisons
how to deal with large numbers (adding data)
how to use ‘whereas’ correctly
how to avoid wrong synonyms
the common mistakes that keep you under Band 7.
You will also analyse a model essay, and see how 6 students got scores ranging from 6.5 to 8.
Join the Members Academy to finally get the IELTS score you need.
20:58
September 24, 2022
IELTS Reading: Reducing injuries on the farm
This Reading will also help your Task 2 Writing.
Watch this quick video to see why:
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/week-2-september-challenge-reading-about-farming
23:17
September 09, 2022
IELTS Writing Task 2: How to write a Band 9 essay [Introductions]
In today’s September Challenge, we’re reviewing Task 2 essays, starting with how to write a good Introduction.
Check out the blog I refer to here (with a model essay):
and learn more about Introductions here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/05/ielts-writing-task-2-how-to-write-an-introduction/
20:53
September 05, 2022
IELTS Writing Task 1: 🐟🍗Consumption of meat and fish.
Day 3 of the September IELTS Planner Challenge is all about describing changes in Writing Task 1.
See the graph and video here.
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/september-challenge-day-3-writing-task-1
Or just go to my Daily Tips Day 3 on ieltsetc.com
17:42
September 04, 2022
IELTS Listening Part 1: 🏄♀️ Learning to surf
Day 2 of the September 2022 Challenge.
This is a Part 1 but full of TRICKS!
Get the full video version in the Members Academy.
Join the challenge on my website: www.ieltsetc.com (find it in the Daily Tips section)
17:17
September 02, 2022
IELTS Reading GT: 🥾The best hiking boots
This is Day 1 of my free IELTS September Challenge 2022.
Follow the challenge every day on my website (What’s new – daily tips):
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/september-challenge-day-1-reading-the-best-hiking-boots
Get your FREE copy of the planner and work through it with me:
https://payhip.com/b/7OZlV
16:24
September 01, 2022
Fiona’s Writing Academy Episode 7: Task 2 about young people and farming
Nowadays, there is a declining interest among young people to do farming.
What are the reasons for this trend? Should young people be encouraged to do farming work?
This 19-minute lesson gives you:
background ideas
topic vocabulary
a model essay
band score analysis of 8 student examples
common mistakes
language level-ups (grammar and expressions)
Join the Members Academy to finally get the score you need.
https://members.ieltsetc.com/academy
19:02
August 29, 2022
IELTS Listening: 🦋 Buckworth Conservation Group
This is a slightly unusual Listening Part 1 from the latest Cambridge Test Book 17.
Get more in the Members Academy:
and on my website
https://ieltsetc.com
20:39
August 26, 2022
Fiona’s Writing Academy Episode 6: GT Writing a letter of complaint about a swimming pool
You use the local swimming pool often, and during one of your visits, you encountered a problem. Write a letter to the manager. In your letter
describe what the problem was
say what the swimming pool staff did about it
suggest your own solution to the problem.
In this 22-minute lesson, you will
– examine a model letter
– extract the key features of a Band 9 letter
– compare 3 other letters (Band 6, Band 6.5 and Band 7)
– learn key language that you can use for formal letters of complaint
In the Members Academy, you can submit your example for assessment by Fiona.
Enrol in the Members Academy Study Programme Using this link. https://members.ieltsetc.com/academy
22:38
August 20, 2022
IELTS Reading GT ⚽️: History of women’s football in Britain
This is a fascinating Section 3 General Training Reading text about the origins of women’s football and why it disappeared for 50 years.
Practice Multiple Choice Questions, Matching Information and Gapfill Summary.
Get the full video version with all of the other General Training Courses in the Members Academy:
https://members.ieltsetc.com/academy
24:26
August 18, 2022
Fiona’s Writing Academy Episode 5: Task 1 student diets and health
This lesson takes you through a mixed chart (pie charts and table) about the diet and general health of two groups of students.
In the lesson, we’ll talk about:
making comparisons
the correlation/connection between the pie charts and the table
choosing the best tense
synonyms
the common mistakes that keep you under Band 7.
Join the Members Academy to improve your writing and get feedback.
21:34
August 10, 2022
Fiona’s Writing Academy Episode 4: Task 2 – Why do people stay near to where they were born?
Some people spend most of their lives living close to where they were born.
What might be the reasons for this?
What are the advantages and disadvantages?
This 28-minute lesson gives you:
background ideas
topic vocabulary
model essay
band score analysis of student examples
common mistakes
language level-ups (grammar and expressions)
Get the full suite of lessons plus my feedback in the Members Academy.
https://members.ieltsetc.com/academy
28:43
August 08, 2022
Fiona’s Writing Academy Episode 3: IELTS GT letter to a landlord
This is a Writing Coaching lesson from the Members Academy.
You are about to move out of your apartment in an English-speaking country. Your landlord helped you a lot during your stay and you have a friend who would like to rent the flat after you. Write a letter to your landlord.
In your letter let your landlord know that you will be leaving thank your landlord for his / her help tell him/her about your friend.
In this 23-minute lesson, you will
examine a model letter
extract the key features of a Band 9 letter
compare 3 other letters (Band 8, Band 7 and Band 6)
learn key language that you can use for formal and informal letters review grammar areas that will level up your score e.g. Third Conditional
In the Members Academy, you can submit your example for assessment by Fiona.
Enrol in the Members Academy Study Programme Using this link. https://members.ieltsetc.com/academy
23:17
August 04, 2022
IELTS Listening 🍁 Maple Syrup 🇨🇦
In this lesson we cover more words from The List (my 100 Most Common Listening Gap Fill Answers).
Pay special attention to the second half, where the speaker describes how maple syrup is produced. This is really useful for Academic Writing Task 1.
Get my guide to IELTS Reading Book 17 (Course) in the Members Academy with all the other workbooks, guides, planners and lists.
Get individual printable PDF guides in my shop:
https://payhip.com/ieltswithfiona
Thank you for supporting my small business.
29:05
July 27, 2022
IELTS Reading: 🍅 Domesticating the tomato
This is an Academic Test Passage 2 Reading from Book 17 and the podcast covers 3 types of questions: matching information, matching people, and gapfill.
In the podcast I discuss how you can understand more of the text if you learn my basic vocabulary lists – you can buy my 3 IELTS vocabulary workbooks and guides on my website shop:
– A complete guide to IELTS Word Formation and Spelling
– A complete guide to IELTS Vocabulary
– A complete guide to the most common IELTS Listening gapfill answers.
https://payhip.com/ieltswithfiona
If you’re trying to improve your Academic Reading Skills, I have 2 Reading courses on my website too: https://ieltsetc.com/courses.
Thank you for supporting small, teacher-owned businesses.
33:00
July 18, 2022
IELTS Listening: Labyrinths
Book 17 Test 1 Part 4
I chose this Listening just because it’s from the most recent Cambridge Practice Test book, and I was pleased to see that all of the gapfill answers conformed to my theories about common IELTS gapfill answers e.g. uncountable nouns, irregular word forms, “made from ____” etc.
I put all of my research together in a handy little booklet which you can get in my shop:
https://payhip.com/b/vQlet
I also mentioned the previous Listening Podcast I did a couple of weeks ago, which also refers to these patterns (The History of Cleaning):
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/ielts-listening-made-of-uncountable-noun
Thank you for supporting small, teacher-run businesses.
Best wishes
Fiona
27:04
July 09, 2022
IELTS Listening: 🧼 Early History of Keeping Clean
This is a Section 4 IELTS Listening Test Gapfill Summary based on a lecture about the history of keeping clean.
Get more listening practice on my website or follow my 28-day Listening Course in the Members Academy.
https://ieltsetc.com/courses
23:52
June 25, 2022
⭐️IELTS with Fiona daily tips from February 2022⭐️
Here’s my roundup of daily tips from February. Watch the video version on YouTube with this link:
In the podcast we’ll review:
– Idioms for IELTS Speaking (‘food for thought’ ‘peckish’ ‘flagging’)
– Formal language (‘a high risk of failure’)
– How to use inversion (Rarely I have? Or Rarely have I?)
– Tech tools to help you practise Speaking
– Collocations with sports (do, go, play or practise?)
– Can or Should? – Task 1 Graphs: “Temperature AVERAGED 25 degrees”)
– Portmanteau terms: breakfast + lunch = ?
– 20 WRONG ways to say ‘Although’ – Pass a test? Take a test? Sit a test?
– What are ‘Mustakes’? – Tuesday, Toosday or Chewsday?
– “It’s not everyone’s cup of tea”
– IELTS Vocabulary: Physical Health
Read the new blog about vocabulary lists for IELTS here:
Get all the daily tips here:
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en
29:59
May 09, 2022
Fiona’s Writing Academy Episode 2: Task 1 about fish
This lesson takes you through a dynamic bar chart where you have to describe changes in the amount of fish that was farmed over a 10-year period.
In the lesson, we’ll talk about:
finding key features
describing data accurately
using a variety of linking and cohesive devices
the language of change
the common mistakes that keep you under Band 7.
Join the Members Academy to improve your writing and get feedback.
27:12
April 29, 2022
Fiona’s Writing Academy Episode 1: ‘The best way to improve public health is by increasing the number of sports facilities.’
Welcome to my very first private podcast. The aim is to help you improve your IELTS Writing by examining a recent question in detail.
There is also a video recording of the lesson and a PDF which will be available as an alternative option to the audio-only option (I will include the model essay and any links in the show notes here).
Every week, I will take you through an IELTS Writing Task – we’ll discuss how to answer the question and how to plan the essay, and we’ll also examine a model answer while reviewing useful vocabulary, high-level structures and ways of increasing complexity.
If you have any requests, please let me know.
Task:
Some people say that the best way to improve public health is by increasing the number of sports facilities. Others, however, say that this would have little effect on public health and that other measures are required.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
BBC News Article link:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-46097028
26:11
April 25, 2022
⭐️ IELTS tips ⭐️ Jan 19th – 31st (also on YouTube)
Here’s my round-up of the weekly tips that you can find on my website (ieltsetc.com).
This podcast is also on YouTube/fionawattam:
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en
In this episode we look at my daily tips from January 19th:
– when to use the contraction ‘s’ instead of ‘is’ (Pronunciation)
– how to start a letter and why you shouldn’t use ‘maam’ (GT Letter Writing)
– ‘claptrap’ advice: “elucidate” (Academic Task 1)
– when to use “Having said that” (Academic Task 2) – when to use ‘triple’ or ‘treble’ (Academic Task 1)
– feedback or feedbacks? (Grammar)
– useful collocations with ‘effect’ (Vocabulary)
– phrasal verb: “I suppose I’ll have to make do with it” (Vocabulary)
– Spoonerisms (Collocations)
#ielts #ieltstips #ieltspreparation
21:17
April 17, 2022
IELTS Reading: 💃🏽 Could urban engineers learn from dance?
This is a particularly challenging Reading Passage 1, which follows the structure of a Passage 3 ‘discursive’ argument rather than the usual Passage 1 ‘factual’ description.
The title gives us a warning of this academic style – it starts with a question, suggesting that there will be a theory developed, with the opinions of expert. It will pose a problem and try to find a solution.
This is uncommon for a Passage 1. Also the question types are:
Matching information (rare for Task 1)
Gapfill (normal for Task 1)
Cambridge Book 15 Test 2.
https://ieltsetc.com/courses/
26:46
April 06, 2022
⭐️ IELTS tips ⭐️ podcast Jan 1st – Jan 17th 2022 with YouTube video
This podcast talks you through a fortnight of daily tips, with an accompanying YouTube video.
Get the daily tips here on my website.
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en
In this episode we cover:
Pronunciation features – weak sounds e.g Fishnchips
How to spot a terrible “Model answer”
Free Flashcards for common IELTS topics (Quizlet – Marine Ecosystems)
How to use the LABELS in IELTS Task 1 Academic Writing
Synonyms for ‘houses’ in Task 1
A model Task 1 about the construction of houses
Banned expressions e.g. “No worries”
When to use the ampersand (&)
Do you use ‘a’ or ‘an’ before abbreviations like “MA” or “FAQ”?
Collocations: raise awareness
Is it ok to use “and so forth”?
20:18
March 19, 2022
IELTS Reading:🧴Plastic is no longer fantastic
In this IELTS GT Part 3 Reading lesson we’ll practise Matching Headings, Multiple Choice and Gapfill summary on the topic of plastic.
24:19
March 03, 2022
IELTS ⭐️Daily tips⭐️from Fiona Dec 9th – 24th 2021
In today’s podcast you’ll review my daily tips from my annual advent challenge which you can find on my website under “What’s New” and https://ieltsetc.com/ielts-advent-adventure/
Day 9: “It’s not worth + ing”
Day 10: Pronunciation – Juncture e.g. Ice-cream/I scream, That stuff/That’s tough
Day 11: Factor vs reason vs cause
Day 12: Linking devices – the present participle
Day 13: Modals of deduction (must)
Day 14: Not only but also
Day 15: Mustn’t vs Don’t have to
Day 16: Academic Phrasal Verbs
Day 17: The grammar of very polite questions
Day 18: rise vs raise
Day 19: suggest + ing
Day 20: Tense review
Day 21: damage vs damages
Day 22: as well as
Day 23: whereby
Day 24: a free gift for you
25:04
February 03, 2022
IELTS ⭐️Daily Tips⭐️from Fiona Nov 20 – Dec 8
In this episode I catch up with the daily tips that you can find on my website under “What’s new”.
This episode covers:
Pronunciation of phrasal nouns vs phrasal verbs (to give someone the go-ahead)
The meaning of ‘a shambles = shambolic’
The real meaning of ‘actually’
The use of ‘tripling’ (reduce, reuse, recycle)
Inversion (Never have I ever…)
‘comfortable’ gapfill in the Listening test
“You do the math” (UK = maths)
can vs be able to
despite
due to
The closer you get, the slower I go (car sticker)
Even if
Few people vs a few people
Good at/in
Hyphens
29:38
January 26, 2022
IELTS Reading: Marine ecosystems 🐡
This is a nice GT Part 3 Reading to get 2022 off to a great start. It practises Matching Headings, Multiple Choice AND gapfill, and it’s absolutely jam-packed with useful IELTS vocabulary, so I made a Quizlet for you to review it.
Go to my website “What’s new” to get the Quiz Link.
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/new-podcast-marine-ecosystems
29:27
January 04, 2022
IELTS Reading: Having a laugh
This is an academic Passage 3 about the importance of laughter.
28:44
December 05, 2021
⭐️IELTS tips⭐️ Nov 9th – 20th
In this episode I go through a week of tips about:
“is pissed” vs “ears pierced”,
PEEL paragraphs,
Jacinda Ardern and New Zealand accents (“bed” vs “bid”),
Bruce Willis, The Sixth Sense and modals of deduction (“He must be a teacher”),
Why Martin Luther King didn’t say “I’ve got a dream”,
Are you feeling OVERWHELMED?,
Cost vs value,
When “I will” sounds like “ul”,
Hey! and other offensive words,
Third Conditional in the LISTENING test,
When was the last time you had a barbie?
Get all the daily posts on my website https://ieltsetc.com
29:59
November 27, 2021
⭐️IELTS tips⭐️ Oct 27th – Nov 8th 2021
This is my weekly round-up of tips from the “What’s New” tab on my free website: ieltsetc.com
In this episode we look at
Pronunciation mazes by Matt Hancock (the ‘ou’ and ‘ow’ sounds and spelling),
What’s the opposite of ‘must’?,
“It’s not worth it”,
Listening tricks and synonyms “at least” and “a minimum of”,
Is it ok to use “etc” in formal writing?,
Modal verb meanings e.g “That should be ok”,
fifTEEN versus FIFty (15/50) in the listening test,
A GREENhouse vs a green HOUSE (word stress),
How important is the introduction in IELTS Writing Task 2?
If you have a question that you’d like me to answer in the Daily Tips, please get in touch.
21:49
November 24, 2021
🏆What’s the best online IELTS course?🏆
That’s a tough question. It’s so hard for anyone to measure the quality and effectiveness of an IELTS course objectively unless they’ve taken all of the IELTS courses available!
So here’s a quick checklist of things to look for in a course. Go to the blog to download the checklist; I designed it to help you make an informed decision.
39:07
November 15, 2021
⭐️IELTS tips⭐️ Oct 17th – 27th
Here’s the latest round-up of all my IELTS Daily Tips blog that you can find on my website.
In this blog we go through and revise:
Have or get something done
How to pronounce ‘ative’
How to pronounce ‘able’
Thinking critically
Research vs researchers
Economic vs economical
deteriorate vs get worse
instill vs install
funnest vs the most fun
Get all the tips on my website homepage (“What’s New”) https://ieltsetc.com
28:15
November 05, 2021
⭐️IELTS tips⭐️: a weekly summary
I’m trying out a new way of sharing my tips and advice for IELTS.
If you go to the ‘What’s new’ tab on my website, you’ll find a daily tip:
https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en
You can leave a comment there and ask questions if you need help or if you have any requests.
In this podcast I cover the last 7 days of tips:
Should I appeal my IELTS score? https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/daily-tip-should-i-appeal-my-ielts-score
Third Conditional and ‘be able to’ https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/daily-tip-can-vs-be-able-to
‘Just shy of’ Academic Task 1 https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/daily-tip-just-shy-of
An elderly person you admire https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/daily-tip-no-crying-
Bring back the big cats https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/daily-tip-maymight-have-been
Polite requests https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/daily-tip-asking-for-help-polite-requests
Phrasal verbs with ‘with’ (accompany = go with) https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/daily-tip-accompany
28:53
October 17, 2021
Things you need to know before you buy an online IELTS Course 🤑
Have you ever been ripped off, conned, scammed, tricked, duped or just misled when buying an online IELTS course?
In this blog and podcast, I’ve outlined the 10 ‘red flags’ that you need to know about before you decide which course provider to go with.
Here are are some common tactics that you may not even notice, and they range from being simply ‘misleading’ to illegal.
For more information and examples that I’ve collected over 5 years, head to my blog, where you might like to leave a comment.
The 10 sales tactics that might trick you into panic-buying an online course.
1. “The course is full” (but suddenly a place became available – buy it quickly before it goes!)
2. “Only 2 spots left!” (in an email to thousands of people, 2 weeks before the course starts)
3. “Totaly value $1999 – buy today for $9.99” (Meaning: it is only worth $9.99)
4. “Normal price $99 – today only $79” (Permanent discount – illegal in some countries)
5. “The world’s most successful course” (Says who?)
6. “Lifetime access” (so you can buy it and forget about it)
7. “Unlimited Speaking and Writing” (you mean 24/7? Just write and speak all day?)
8. Affiliate Marketing
9. Testimonials
10. Other red flags – bad spelling and grammar, plagiarism from other sites, stolen watermarked images, Click Funnels.
If someone emails you to tell you that they could charge hundreds of dollars for their time, but they want to help you for free, there are red flags all over the place. Walk away. Find someone that you know, like and TRUST.
Big tutoring companies can afford to lose you because there are plenty more people who will fall for false advertising.
Maybe it’s time to consider the smaller business who focus their time on developing quality courses rather than scamming their students.
End of rant.
48:31
September 20, 2021
IELTS Reading: Henry Moore (TFNG Bootcamp Day 1) 🗿
The Members Academy Reading Bootcamp started today (you can still join – it’s just $28 and includes 28 days of both live and recorded lessons). This week’s focus is on True False Not Given questions, so here’s a taster of today’s lesson.
This is an Academic Passage 1 about a sculptor called Henry Moore.
I try to get my students to make educated guesses about TFNG questions by the way they’re written, and this text is a perfect example of how you can follow a hunch to get the right answer pretty quickly and save time. For example
NOT GIVEN: turn the statement into a question. If you can’t answer it, it’s NOT GIVEN.
NO: there is usually an opposite word (antonym) e.g. similar – different; first – last
YES: the answer is usually a synonym or paraphrase e.g complied = did what his father wanted him to do
There is a balance in the number of True, False, Not Given (fewer NG).
Don’t OVER-THINK the answer. e.g. Q7 doesn’t exactly say ‘more popular’ but it means the same thing.
I also teach my students to quickly divide the text according to the questions, so that they don’t waste any time looking in the wrong place. This text is another perfect example of that.
The Bootcamp will run until the end of September, so if you’re struggling to get your Reading Score up, come and join us.
https://members.ieltsetc.com/register/ielts-reading-skills-course/
16:48
September 06, 2021
IELTS Reading: Attitudes to AI 🤖
This is an Academic Passage 3 Part 3 (Book 16), so it’s tough.
In this lesson we’ll look at how the language that you learn for Task 2 will help you understand the Reading, and how Reading academic texts like this will help you improve your Writing.
Some of the points I mention include:
– Word formation
– The ‘marc’ system for pie charts (Makes up, accounts for, represents, consists of)
– Willing to vs want
– Hedging
– Biased, subjective (Task 2 problems)
IELTS Writing Feedback: keywords to improve your Task 2 essays
– How to talk about cause and effect
https://ieltsetc.com/2018/07/free-public-transport/
– The Language of effect
44:49
August 22, 2021
How to use idioms in IELTS
Are you using the right idiom in the right place with the right person and the right pronunciation?
To use an idiom correctly there are so many factors that you have to take into account, for example
who uses this idiom (age, gender, profession, location)?
when do they use this idiom? (context)
why do they choose to use this idiom (humour, anger, sarcasm, style)?
how often do people use this idiom (once in a blue moon?)
In my latest blog, I talk about 3 key factors to help you use idioms correctly:
1. Accuracy
2. Appropriacy
3. Pronunciation
Find out more on my blog.
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/08/how-to-use-idioms-in-ielts/
25:44
August 13, 2021
IELTS Listening: Stoicism 🏛️
This episode is a Part 4 Listening about an ancient philosophy called Stoicism (don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it – the Listening will explain everything). It’s a gapfill summary (one word only) and we also discuss:
DESPITE (+ noun or + ing verb or + the fact that)
US and UK spellings (do they matter in IELTS?)
how my 2-minute Pronunciation feedback can fix a common problem related to your first language (in this case, Spanish).
Review the grammar of ‘despite’ and ‘in spite of’ on my blog.
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/12/despite/
22:01
July 19, 2021
IELTS Reading: 🏥Back to the future of skyscraper design.
This passage 2 Academic IELTS Reading is a problem-solution structure.
The problem: air-conditioning units generate ‘spectacular and largely unnecessary energy use and carbon emissions’.
The solution: use natural ventilation, as they did in 19th-century hospitals.
This IELTS Reading is packed full of useful vocab like ‘to squander energy’ (= to waste) and ‘it uses a FRACTION of the electricity/at a FRACTION of the energy cost’ (=a small or tiny part, amount, or proportion of something).
There were also some interesting uses of nouns as adjectives (wards in hospitals = hospital wards) – see my blog about this useful IELTS topic here:
and adjectives as nouns (‘the prosperous’ = the people who are prosperous and ‘the public’).
Get all my reading tips and advice on my website:
https://ieltsetc.com/ielts-reading/
26:55
July 04, 2021
IELTS Listening: The history of coffee ☕️
This is a Section 4 Listening. I chose this Listening in order to show you why hyphens are NOT important in Listening gap-fill summaries.
There are 3 main types of words in gapfill summaries:
1) Words ending with a suffix like ‘-tion’ or ‘-sion’
2) Commodities or materials like wool, gold, tea or sugar.
3) Irregular words like plurals ending in y/ies or irregular word forms like poor/poverty.
Get the full article about hyphens on my blog:
Learn more about Irregular Word Forms on my blog:
Learn more about the types of Listening gapfill AND the Pronunciation errors that affect your listening in the Members Academy:
www.members.ieltsetc.com/academy/
27:54
June 25, 2021
IELTS Reading: The Effects of Noise 🙉
I had a special request for this Academic Passage 3 because it’s difficult, but honestly, it’s a very early test (Book 7) and is just badly-written.
I think the reading itself is very useful as an example of academic writing, with lots you can learn from it, but the questions are simply not good – you can guess 3 of them without even needing to understand what they mean (a sure sign of a bad test), and there is too much similar language (very few synonyms required).
If you struggled with this one – forget it and move on (but listen for practice 😊.)
Learning points: Hedging – listen to an earlier podcast about hedging:
and read the blog:
29:06
June 07, 2021
IELTS Writing Feedback: improving your Task 2 essays with 40 keywords
When you get IELTS Writing feedback from your teacher, you should be able to see why you are not achieving your desired score.
But this feedback is only useful if you understand exactly what the teacher is talking about when they are pointing out areas you need to work on.
Writing Feedback about LANGUAGE is usually easy to understand – most people know the language related to grammar (e.g. wrong tense, article missing, third person -s), spelling and punctuation.
But Writing feedback related to CONTENT and academic STYLE is more difficult, especially if you are not familiar with the demands of academic writing. You need to have a good understanding of the terms that the teacher is using so that you can make the necessary changes.
Here is a ‘glossary of terms’ that I use regularly in my IELTS Writing Feedback Sessions in the Members Academy.
IELTS Writing Feedback: keywords to improve your Task 2 essays
See also
How to make your writing more formal for Task 2:
IELTS Task 2 Structures that strengthen your argument:
https://ieltsetc.com/2018/06/structure-strengthens-argument/
How to use ‘hedging’ in IELTS Writing Task 2
#ielts #ieltswriting #ieltsfiona
29:42
May 16, 2021
IELTS Reading: Attitudes to language
This is an Academic Part 1 text. The text and subject matter is difficult but the questions (YNNG) are NOT.
In fact, in this episode I will show you how you can mostly guess the answers without reading or understanding very much of the text.
Get more help with Yes, No, Not Given questions on my website.
If you’d like to contribute to the upkeep of my website and podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fionawattam
Many thanks
Fiona
25:10
May 03, 2021
IELTS Reading: What is exploration?
Cambridge Book 15 Test 1 Passage 3
31:23
April 11, 2021
IELTS Listening: ‘Street Play Scheme’ ⛹️♂️⛹🏻♀️🚗
This is a really useful Part 2 IELTS Listening (Book 15) about a community that closed their road to traffic so that the children could play safely outside.
It practises Multiple Choice and Choosing from a list.
Useful vocab:
‘the idea caught on’ = the idea became very popular in other places
‘give it a go’ = try it
Useful grammar:
Present Perfect vs Past Simple
‘The scheme’s been up and running for 3 years’ = ‘The Street Paly Scheme first took place 3 years ago’.
‘Be able to’ with conditionals
‘We’d love to be able to close our road for longer’.
Conditionals
‘People can use their cars as long as they drive at under 20kph’.
‘They’re happy to see children outside – even if it does get quite noisy’.
‘Kids are getting fresh air, even if they’re not doing anything energetic’.
Past Perfect
As we’d predicted, air quality was better, but what I hadn’t expected was how much quieter it would be.
Academic Task 1 Vocabulary
‘Sales in the shops went up considerably’.
Writing Task 2: talking about benefits/outcomes
develop confidence
get fresh air
get to know people in the street
air quality was significantly better/less air pollution
much quieter/less noise pollution
they felt safer/improved safety
#ielts #ieltslistening #ielttutor
27:15
March 29, 2021
IELTS Writing: 9️⃣ tips for a Band 9️⃣ essay
In this podcast lesson, I review an online Band 9 essay and discuss 9 features of this essay which could be improved.
For each of the points I mention, I provide an alternative so that you can make changes to your own writing.
I’ll put this on my website ASAP, but in the meantime, you can watch my YouTube video here, so you can see the essays that I’m discussing:
My tips about Coherence and Cohesion (avoiding mechanical linking words) are here:
There is a video to go with that lesson too.
Find more Band 9 essays and tips on my website:
https://ieltsetc.com/2021/03/ielts-task-2-band-9-essay-ceos/ (last week’s podcast)
IELTS Writing Task 2: A simple 4-paragraph structure that works
IELTS Writing Task 2 introduction: a better way to start your essay
How to answer ‘to what extent do you agree or disagree?’ questions.
#ielts #ieltswriting #ieltstask2 #ieltsband9
30:25
March 14, 2021
IELTS Writing: Should CEOs earn such high salaries?
In this episode, I talk you through a Band 9 Model IELTS Writing Essay covering:
– First lines
– PEEL paragraphs
– Hedging
– Common myths
– Conclusions
Get the full essay on my website:
#ielts #ieltswriting #ieltsfiona
25:27
March 01, 2021
IELTS Reading TFNG: Alexander Henderson 📸📸📸
This is a nice and easy Academic Reading Part 1 (great for GT too).
It goes in chronological order, so it’s easy to find information from dates, names and places, and there are 2 sets of questions (TFNG and gapfill).
If you’re aiming for 7 and you can get 10/13 correct in less than 20 minutes, you’re doing very well.
Check your band score here:
Get the conditionals review here:
Learn about ‘willing to’ vs ‘want to’ here:
Join the Conditional Bootcamp here:
www.members.ieltsetc.com/academy/
☕Buy me a coffee to say thanks here:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fionawattam
22:13
February 14, 2021
IELTS Listening: 🦣🦣🦣Woolly mammoths on St Paul’s Island
Today’s Listening is a 6/10 for difficulty. It’s a Part 3 Listening with multiple choice and matching from a list.
Useful vocabulary and synonyms:
surprising = amazing
got cut off = became isolated
exact = precise
contact = get in touch with
make detailed notes = write down all the ideas
check timing = make sure we won’t overrun
add personal opinions = give your own viewpoint
Join the Conditionals Bootcamp here.
Get the Signals and Signposts lesson here.
https://ieltsetc.com/2019/09/ielts-listening-how-to-recognise-signals-and-signposts/
Buy me a coffee to say thanks here:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fionawattam
26:36
February 01, 2021
IELTS Reading/Writing: Driverless Cars 🚘
This is a really really useful passage to read because of how it can help your WRITING.
The passage itself is not difficult, but it is jam-packed full of excellent examples of Formal Academic Writing so if you have this reading at home, go through it carefully.
– ‘PEEL’ paragraphs
– Hedging
– Linking words
IELTS complex sentences and how to make your writing more complex
– Noun forms
– Conditionals
– Critical Thinking
Want to say thanks?
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fionawattam
30:00
January 11, 2021
IELTS Reading: Motivational Factors and the hospitality industry 👩🍳🧑🍳
This is an extremely difficult Academic Reading Passage 3.
It took me 30 minutes to find the answers even with the answer sheet in front of me.
What can we learn from a text like this?
Background knowledge and vocabulary will aid understanding
Strategies such as locating the researchers’ names will speed up your responses
Every little helps – 2 of my recent daily tasks from the Writing Challenge will help you break down the dense text
1) affect vs effect
2) factor vs reason
Add these synonyms to your list:
managers need to know = it is beneficial for hotel managers to understand
to increase employee retention = to encourage staff to remain
employees feel obligated to stay = staff feel they shouldn’t move
little is done = undeveloped practices
employee development = improve their skills
if cooperation is encouraged = if managers encourage employees to work together
research has shown = evidence exists to support this hypothesis
staff have a tendency to = employees have a predisposition to
to dislike their workplace = to view their work environment negatively
they conducted a study = they carried out research
to fit with company goals = to align with organisational goals
Want to support my podcast? Please click on the link below:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fionawattam
Many thanks
Fiona
28:46
December 29, 2020
IELTS Writing: How to hedge in Task 2 🌳🌳
In this lesson you’ll learn the 9 main ways of hedging – an essential feature of sophisticated academic writing.
Get the full lesson and more practice on the blog:
This is Day 17 of the Advent Challenge – catch up on anything you’ve missed by going to this page:
Enjoying the podcasts, challenges, lessons and videos?
Help support my work by buying me a coffee here:
buymeacoffee.com/fionawattam
Thanks!
29:44
December 20, 2020
IELTS Advent Challenge Tasks 🎄1 – 12
No time to do my Advent Challenge? This podcast (watch the video version on www.YouTube.com/fionawattam) talks you through the past 12 days, so you’ll get up and running really quickly!
It’s never too late to start – just go to my website:
and open the windows which will take you through to all the links.
Come and post your sentences on Facebook, where I will check them every day:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ieltsAtoZ
If you’d like to say thanks and contribute to the costs of running the free challenge, you are very welcome to do so here on my ‘Buy Me A Coffee’ page:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fionawattam
In return, I will send you a copy of my A-Z of IELTS Advent when it’s ready in the New Year.
Many thanks in advance – your donations help me pay for the cost of the website, graphics, advent page and podcast, so you’ll be helping me to help others.
Best wishes
Fiona
40:34
December 12, 2020
IELTS Listening Part 3: Children’s Literature Course 📚
Is this Listening more difficult than usual? I got a special request from Elango in my Members Academy, and yes I think it is a tricky one!
I had to read the tapescript very carefully to figure out the answer to Question 27, and it even required a bit of background knowledge (possibly true of Question 28 too!).
Apart from that, this is a really good one to practise listening for:
– Signals and Signposts:
https://ieltsetc.com/2019/09/ielts-listening-how-to-recognise-signals-and-signposts/
– Synonyms (fascinating = interesting; amazed = surprised; type = genre)
– Grammar (not many = few)
– Language of hedging (comics can serve a really useful purpose = comics have the potential for being useful)
– Pronunciation of key words (ballet)
Catch up on the Free Writing Task 2 Challenge here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/03/ielts-writing-workouts/
29:59
November 25, 2020
IELTS Writing: ⚖️Advantages and Disadvantages Essay
This is Day 1 of the November Writing Task 2 Challenge.
Join us in the Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ieltsAtoZ/
And on YouTube (this is the first video)
And on my website
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/03/ielts-writing-workouts/
29:60
November 01, 2020
IELTS Reading: Why fairy tales are really scary tales 🧚♀️👻
I had a special request from Isabella on Instagram today 👋🇧🇷. She asked me to look at a really difficult text (yes, this one’s 9/10!).
It’s an Academic Passage 3 and it follows the Reading Type 2 structure (discursive) which goes like this –
Title: asks a question (Why? The answer is not what everyone thinks).
1. Old theory: Everyone thinks fairy tales have endured because the STORIES give us WARNINGS about life e.g. Little Red Riding Hood.
2. New theory: Everyone is wrong. There’s another reason.
3. Test to prove the old theory is wrong: Is the STORY important? ‘NO’. Is the WARNING important? Answer: ‘NO’.
4. Results of the test: The reason why fairy tales have endured is just that people enjoy scary stories.
5. Althernative theory (instantly proved wrong): The stories remain relevant because they’re about women as victims.
6. Conclusion: Everyone likes scary stories because they build up our resistance to negative emotions, so the first theory is probably right.
You can find similar ‘discursive’ structures here:
What destroyed the civilisation of Easter Island?
Is there anybody out there? The search for extra-terrestrial intelligence.
Autumn Leaves Canadian writer Jay Ingram investigates the mystery of why leaves turn red in the fall.
My updated guide to Time Management in the Reading Test gives you 8 techniques to help you improve your Reading Speed for the #ielts test.
30:00
October 24, 2020
IELTS Reading: 🚴♀️Bike-sharing schemes around the world
Do you have a bike-sharing scheme where you live? In London there are the so-called ‘Boris bikes’ (named after Boris Johnson, who launched them in 2010 after being inspired by the success of a similar scheme in Paris, which is mentioned in this reading).
This is a Section 2 Academic Text with 3 types of questions: Matching Statements, Choosing from a List and Gapfill.
So whenever there’s a lot to do, the text is slightly easier. This is a chronological text (in order of time) and is suitable for General Training practice too.
It has some fantastic language that you can use in your writing e.g.
urban bike-sharing scheme
an answer to the threats of air pollution and consumerism.
The police were opposed to the initiatives
The council rejected (‘turned down’) the plan.
‘The bicycle belongs to the past’
That mentality has totally changed.
By 1999, people had become more environmentally conscious.
The system, however, was prone to vandalism and theft.
The Parisian bike-sharing programme now boasts more than 20000 bicycles.
Amsterdam is regarded as one of the two most cycle-friendly captials in the world.
Today everybody longs for cities that are not dominated by cars.
Get all my 10-minute lessons on my website www.ieltsetc.com.
Join the Members Academy www.members.ieltsetc.com/academy/.
See you next weekend,
All the best
Fiona
30:01
October 18, 2020
IELTS Listening: The hunt for sunken settlements and ancient shipwrecks 🚢⚓️⚱️
This is a difficult Section 4, but if you listen to my podcast regularly, you will be very familiar with this common IELTS topic!
It’s about marine archaeology, the use of technology to find ancient shipwrecks and building under the sea, and the lessons researchers can learn about how ancient civilisations lived.
In this episode I refer to similar IELTS Reading/Listening texts, so you can see how important it is to learn the vocabulary that is relevant to so many IELTS texts.
Find the Modals of Deduction Grammar here [e.g. Atlit-Yam MAY HAVE BEEN DESTROYED by a tsunami, climate change MAY HAVE CAUSED glaciers to melt.
Find the Reading about the Lapita [Beyond the Blue Horizon] here.
Get all my lessons in one place in the Members Academy.
30:00
October 10, 2020
IELTS Reading GT Part 2: Border crossing and Dealing with absence in the workplace
Both texts are gapfill summaries.
The first one gives you practice with summary Flow Charts (IELTS 28-Day Planner Day 12) and the second covers the common topic of how to deal with absence in the workplace (good practice if you never usually read this kind of document).
Get more General Training Reading tips on my website.
Follow me on Instagram and Facebook for daily practice.
#ielts #ieltstest #ieltscourse
20:18
October 03, 2020
IELTS Listening: Agricultural programme in Mozambique 👩🏽🌾🌾🐝🎣
Listen out for the 5 most common gapfill types in this Part 4 gapfill on the very common topics of Agriculture and Water (28-Day Planner Week 1).
Practise these topics on my website:
https://ieltsetc.com/?s=agriculture
Watch my YouTube 5-minute Vocab review of Agriculture here:
And here’s the Honeybee Listening I mentioned:
Get the 28-Day Planner here – do NOT let it get lost in your computer. Print it off. Use it every day.
https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/j2u2r0
Listen to another Part 4 about agriculture in Africa here:
Get lots more help on my website:
www.ieltsetc.com
30:00
September 22, 2020
IELTS Reading: Nutmeg – a valuable spice 🌰🥜
This is an Academic Reading Part 1 (so it’s good for GT too).
The structure is chronological (in order of time) which helps you locate the answers more easily.
It’s also very similar to a text on my website: The Story Of Silk, which you can find here:
and I refer to last week’s podcast about The Eucalyptus Tree to show you how similar they are in terms of the gapfill answers.
Check out my blog relating to the grammar in this reading here:
https://ieltsetc.com/2020/09/how-to-use-the-former-the-latter/
29:02
September 13, 2020
Factors influencing your IELTS Score 🎰 – how my new IELTS Progress predictor works.
If you’ve taken my IELTS Progress Predictor Test, you may be wanting to know a bit more about how it works and what it means for your IELTS Preparation.
This podcast talks you through how to make the most of your assets and build a mindset that will help you prove the test wrong! Get the quiz and full blog here https://ieltsetc.com/2020/07/how-long-will-it-take-to-increase-my-ielts-score/
28:56
August 16, 2020
IELTS Listening: Birth order and personality 🚼
IELTS Listening Part 3: How birth order affects your personality.
29:41
July 27, 2020
IELTS GT Reading: 🦖🦕Dinosaurs and the secrets they hold 🦖🦕
IELTS GT Reading Part 3 – gapfill summary, multiple choice and choosing from a list.
Find a similar reading with the vocab you need to know about animals here:
Listening about a dinosaur museum and how to spot distractors:
https://ieltsetc.com/2018/08/ielts-listening-dinosaur-museum/
29:60
July 19, 2020
IELTS Listening – Cities built by the sea 🌊🏙️
This is a Section 3 (dialogue between 2 students) with lots of vocab related to the environment:
– urban planning
– coastal cities
– pollutants are discharged into rivers
– to protect against flooding
– global warming
– sea levels are rising
– they need to consider the whole ecosystem
– environmentalists
https://ieltsetc.com/2019/09/ielts-listening-how-to-recognise-signals-and-signposts/
52:34
July 13, 2020
IELTS Reading: Saving bugs to find new drugs 🐞💊
A long and difficult but FASCINATING text with SO MUCH useful vocabulary which I list at the end.
– Matching Information with paragraphs
– Choosing from a list
– Gapfill summary
It’s a KEY TOPIC (see similar texts on my website – https://ieltsetc.com/2019/01/ielts-reading-doctoring-sales/ and https://ieltsetc.com/2018/10/ielts-gt-reading-snake-oil/) and I also talk about how parts of the text help us with Writing.
30:00
June 29, 2020
IELTS Reading: An unusual Academic Passage 1 – The concept of intelligence.
This passage has an academic, theoretical structure rather than a factual, chronological one.
Watch the video on YouTube to see how it looks:
This video will show you how to use the structure to get answers even when the content doesn’t make much sense!
22:21
June 21, 2020
IELTS GT Reading: Parts 1 and 2
Finding a roommate, the best fitness apps, How to Delegate and Choosing the right CV Format. Find the word formation booklet here: https://ieltsetc.com/2018/04/how-a-knowledge-of-word-forms-can-increase-your-score/
42:43
June 15, 2020
IELTS Listening: 🗺MAPS and MCQs
This video looks at Section 2 of the IELTS Listening Test, which often includes a MAP in the second half.
Watch the video on YouTube if you would like to practice with the real test.
The first part is Multiple Choice and this video shows you how to recognise distractors: ‘rather than’ and ‘instead of’ are CLUES which tell you that you should choose the correct answer RATHER THAN/INSTEAD OF the trick!
I break the Listening up into more manageable parts, so this is a LEARNING video rather than a test, but you can pause the video to test yourself too.
I also point out the useful vocabulary that you can extract from the listening to help you with Writing Task 1 (Academic – describe changes to a building; General Training – tell your friend about your new home) Here is an extra Listening to help you describe changes to maps:
https://youtu.be/RYwrFUphmrc
18:30
June 07, 2020
IELTS Reading: Why companies should welcome disorder
So sorry for the delay – I’m back now! Been working on the daily YouTube lives during Lockdown. Did you miss them? Just go to my YouTube channel (I’ll add this podcast as a video if you prefer to read the text and try it for yourself).
This is a difficult Academic Passage 3 with Matching Headings, Gapfill and TFNG.
Get more Reading practice on my website.
34:33
May 29, 2020
IELTS Experts – 10 of your most common questions about IELTS answered
In this podcast (also on YouTube) I ask my boss Max to give us his insider tips about #IELTS (it’s exactly the same as what I say but people actually listen to him!).
Watch the video here:
https://youtu.be/vCqJ3zLGbcs
21:51
April 18, 2020
IELTS Writing: How to use ‘despite’ and ‘in spite of’
This week I’ve been working really hard on preparing full lessons for my free YouTube Writing Workshops, and I wanted to give you a taste of what happens in the workshops. They are very interactive – I ask you questions and you give me your examples so I can check them. I also take requests!
This lesson followed on from ‘Although’ and ‘whereas’, so we covered a lot of advanced linking words in 2 days.
If you’d like to take part in the sessions, join me every day on my YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/fionawattam and in the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/ieltsAtoZ/.
41:20
April 10, 2020
IELTS Writing: Complex sentences made easy for Writing and Speaking (‘reduced adverbials’!)
This was the first day of my Live IELTS Writing Workshops on YouTube, so I wanted to give you a taste of what happens in the workshop.
You post a question on my special website page for the workshops https://ieltsetc.com/2020/03/ielts-writing-workouts/
I prepare a lesson based on your question
You join the live session on YouTube https://youtu.be/g9YNTvtMTR8
I give you some practice sentences and you write your own examples in the comments
I give you feedback on your comments
Repeat every day until the lockdown is over!
Catch the video on my channel if you missed it (also on the webiste page above and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/ieltsAtoZ/)
Come and join us!
Today we practiced ‘Reduced Adverbials’ (complex, but simple to use when you know how).
26:40
March 30, 2020
IELTS Reading Time Management Tips
Need to read faster in the test? In this video and podcast, I’ll take you through a Reading test and show you what you can do at each stage to answer the questions more quickly.
The text is called ‘The Birdmen’ and you can watch the video and try it yourself on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/R7H38LB28P0
30:14
March 24, 2020
IELTS Computer-Delivered General Training Reading Test Part 1
This podcast is taken from my YouTube Video (watch this to see the text).
I take you through the first part of a Computer-Delivered #IELTS General Training Reading Test and look at the benefits of taking the test online (as well as the drawbacks!).
The first reading is horrendous – the second is much easier, so skip forward if you don’t like the first one!
This is the practice test I used:
https://ielts.com.au/computer-delivered-ielts/computer-reading-practice-test/
Test 1 Part 1: Difficulty rating 8/10 😣
Test 1 Part 2: Difficulty rating 3/10 😄
And here’s my FULL analysis of the Computer-Delivered test https://ieltsetc.com/2020/02/ielts-paper-computer/
22:27
March 17, 2020
IELTS Writing Error Correction – The Blue Book project 📘
Do you rely on a teacher to correct your writing mistakes for the IELTS Test? Is this the most effective way?
In this podcast I look at some research that’s been done about the best way to learn from your mistakes – and the answers may surprise you!
Here is the YouTube video, where you can see all the texts that I mention:
You can find out more about the award I won from EnglishUK and CambridgeESOL for my research on error correction here:
https://www.englishuk.com/en/about-us/news-press/english-uk-news?newsId=2202
Here are some of the tools you can use to correct your own writing:
https://www.grammarly.com/
https://prowritingaid.com/
https://www.grammarcheck.net/
I also talk about times when a teacher is essential for helping students meet the criteria of the IELTS test.
18:53
March 11, 2020
IELTS Listening: 🔆The history of weather forecasting 🔆
I made this as a YouTube video so you can watch it here if you’d like to see the text at the same time:
It’s a Part 4 gap-fill Listening and I would give it a difficulty rating of 9/10!
What do you think?
19:33
March 05, 2020
IELTS Reading: Matching Headings – A visit to Oymyakon 🥶
GT IELTS Matching Headings and gapfill practice.
Watch the podcast on YouTube so that you can see the text and my explanations (and try the test for yourself).
20:04
February 26, 2020
BONUS episode! My interview with Dr Heidi Brumbaugh, creator of the Vocab Victor app.
This week I interview the creator of the marvellous Vocab Victor app, Dr Heidi Brumbaugh.
Dr Heidi realised that my 28-Days of IELTS Word List would be a perfect match for her app, so now you can practise the essential words that you need to learn for IELTS in a fun and motivating way.
In the interview, we talked about:
the problems students have when they try to learn intermediate vocabulary (and how Vocab Victor solves this problem)
how vocabulary is more important than grammar when you’re trying to increase your band score
the best ways to learn vocabulary and retain new words
the benefits of learning from carefully-chosen word lists
the importance of reviewing words in different contexts (Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking which are included in every day of my 28-Day IELTS Vocabulary Booster Course and Challenge).
On top of that, this episode is GREAT listening practice! (Nice to have an American accent for a change!).
Find out more about Vocab Victor and how it works with my IELTS word lists on Dr Heidi’s page:
https://vocabvictor.com/news/
Get the Vocab Victor app in the app store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vocabsystems.vocabvictor&hl=en_GB
Get more information about my 28-Day Intensive Vocabulary Course here:
30:08
February 20, 2020
Computer-delivered IELTS: An interview with Jessica from the IELTS Energy Podcast
This week on the podcast I was very happy to invite Jessica Beck from All Ears English and the IELTS Energy Podcast to talk about the pros and cons of the Computer Delivered IELTS Test (amongst other things!).
Jess actually took the test herself, and in the interview she tells us what she thinks is great about doing the test on a computer.
Here’s the link to my blog about the podcast:
Find Jess’s fantastic IELTS Podcast here:
https://www.allearsenglish.com/episodes/ielts
And there are lots of IELTS tips on their IELTS Preparation page here:
https://www.allearsenglish.com/ielts-preparation-page/
39:21
February 16, 2020
IELTS Listening: Kite-making kite 🪁 by the Maori people of New Zealand 🇳🇿
Part 4 IELTS Listening on the topic of Civilisation (again! See my YouTube video about this). Vocab Victor is the app where you can develop your IELTS vocab with my 28 days of Vocab wordlists.
YouTube video about Civilisation:
NEW!Vocab Victor App with all my IELTS Vocabulary wordlists from the 28-Day Vocabulary Course and Challenge!
www.vocabvictor.com
Join the course:
www.members.ieltsetc.com/mayday/
18:36
February 10, 2020
IELTS Listening: Natural Dyes 🧶🧵
Multiple Choice and Matching in a Part 3 (student and tutor).
Watch my YouTube video about how to recognise signals in Part 3 Listening:
The Reading I mentioned is called Henry Perkins – the man who invented synthetic dyes, and I did a podcast about it with all the questions on Instagram. https://anchor.fm/ieltsetc/episodes/IELTS-Reading-last-one–The-man-who-invented-purple-e17bnl/a-a2p95f
20:29
February 03, 2020
IELTS Reading GT Section 1: How synonyms work in Part 1 – The best suitcases 💼🧳and The Oxford School of Drama 🎭
GT Reading is not always as easy as it looks in Part 1. Yes, the texts are shorter but you have to do 2 of them in 20 mins and you need a good level of Vocab to get the answers quickly and not fall for the tricks! Here we look at Matching Info and TFNG.
17:27
January 27, 2020
IELTS Reading: Meet the Organoleptics 🤥👺👃🏽🐽
GT Reading Part 3 – matching people, matching info and TFNG.
20:53
January 20, 2020
IELTS listening: Field Trip Proposal 🏜
Listening Part 3 (Book 8 Test 1). Looking at signals, multiple choice and gap fill. Get more help with Part 3 here https://ieltsetc.com/2019/09/ielts-listening-how-to-recognise-signals-and-signposts/ and watch my video about the Answer Sheet here https://youtu.be/iVM_uRkWpm4. Join my A-Z of IELTS challenge here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvkiACElwBjPMqV7c3kRiwxxY8AmTEc3a
26:36
January 10, 2020
IELTS GT Writing – How to write a letter of complaint
Today’s podcast focuses on using Reported Speech and Reporting verbs in Letters of Complaint to tell the reader what you’ve been told (e.g. by a shop assistant or landlord) so that you can complain about something that hasn’t been done. e.g. if the landlord says ‘I’ll fix it!’ you might need to report what he said. There are lots of rules about this: here are the 3 main ones.
1. You said you would fix it.
2. You promised to fix it.
3. You promised me that you would fix it.
I did today’s podcast live on YouTube, so you can watch it there for more information.
I’m going to go live on YouTube all through January 2020, so make sure you subscribe!
22:36
December 29, 2019
IELTS GT Writing: A job application 👨🏽🏫👩🏻🏫
Day 15 of the GT IELTS WRITING 28-Day Course is all about different types of job applications. Get all the tips here https://ieltsetc.com/2019/12/how-to-write-a-job-application/
28:03
December 06, 2019
We need to talk about your writing ✍🏽
I spend half my life telling students to write more formally, and half my life telling students the opposite. There is a huge gulf between the two styles, and it’s probably affecting your score and costing you money. But there are simple solutions. This podcast looks at a few of them. I hope it will help the 77% of my followers who don’t know that they have a problem. Sorry to sound harsh but I’m honestly trying to help.
Get all the tips from the episode here:
https://ieltsetc.com/how-to-write-a-formal-or-informal-letter/
28:50
November 29, 2019
IELTS Reading: Venus in transit 🔭🪐
This has been on my list of things to do for about a year! Such a tough text but so easy to guess at least half of the answers without a PhD in Astronomy!
22:02
November 15, 2019
IELTS Reading: Biological control of pests 🦗🐌🐛🦅
A truly awful text but totally worth it for the vocab and strategies. Learn how to answer these questions without understanding almost anything 😯!
26:24
November 07, 2019
IELTS Reading: The truth about the environment 🗺🧯
Passage 3 with lots of Vocab you can use in Writing Task 2.
29:26
October 28, 2019
IELTS listening: 🌊Marine renewable energy (Ocean Energy)
A fabulous Part 4 Listening with tons of Vocab and expressions useful for both Task 1 Writing ✍🏽 (processes) and Task 2 Writing ✍🏽.
26:23
October 21, 2019
IELTS Tips: What to do when you hit a plateau ⛰
Have you hit a plateau with IELTS? Are you stuck at the same band despite studying really hard? I’ve done some research and condensed it into this 40-minute episode so that you can push yourself to the next level.
37:41
October 11, 2019
IELTS GT Reading: Out of the ashes 🔥🔥🔥
Passage 3 about the restoration of an 18th century house which caught fire. Excellent for Vocab about Buildings (Day 8 in the Vocab Course).
27:41
October 04, 2019
IELTS Reading: Endless Harvest 🐟🐟🐟
Academic Passage 2 about over-fishing, commercial fishing, sustainable fishing and environmental responsibility. T/F/NG.
28:36
September 28, 2019
IELTS Writing Task 2: Do prisons work?
An example of a Band 9 essay that breaks some of the essay-writing ‘rules’, but answers the question perfectly with plenty of expressions that you can use and adapt to suit many other IELTS essay topics. I also rant on a bit about what kind of Vocab you should learn, how you should learn it, and why my Vocabulary Course answers both of those questions, saving you time, hassle and money! Www.members.ieltsetc.com/mayday/ Get the full essay here
https://ieltsetc.com/2019/09/ielts-writing-task-2-topics-and-models-crime/
25:52
September 19, 2019
IELTS Reading: Rural Transport Project 🚜 🐴
Ok this one is pretty tedious BUT! it covers 4 question of the WORST types (Matching Headings, YNNG, Sentence completion and Q40) so it’s well worth a listen. There are also some fab collocations at the end.
30:56
September 12, 2019
IELTS Listening: ⛔️ ⛔️Signposts Part 2
Last week I outlined the 10 signals and signposts that lead you to the answer in the Listening Test (see my blog for more details and a YouTube video). This week I’m showing you an almost identical example so that you can see exactly how these patterns work in other tests and you can apply the same principles to all your tests. https://ieltsetc.com/2019/09/ielts-listening-how-to-recognise-signals-and-signposts/
25:45
September 06, 2019
IELTS Listening: ⛔️ SIGNALS and SIGNPOSTS to lead you to the answer.⛔️
Listening Part 3 is a very carefully structured dialogue full of signals like ‘So!’ ‘’Well!’ ‘’Now!’, emphatic structures (‘What I decided to do was….’), negative tones (‘But I’m afraid I didn’t manage to…’) and advice structures (‘If I were you I’d…’ ‘I think you should…’ ‘You really do need to…’).
23:18
August 29, 2019
IELTS Grammar: a simple way of remembering the difference between ‘ing’ and infinitives 🙌🏽
If you struggle to work out when to use ‘ing’ the solution is here! Find the whole blog on my website and 10-minute tutorial on YouTube. https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/08/ing-versus-infinitives/
35:40
August 15, 2019
IELTS Vocab and Reading: The true cost of food 🚜🐑👩🏽🌾
I chose this one JUST because of the vocab! It’s fabulous to review the topic of intensive industrial agriculture and its impact on the environment.
33:22
August 02, 2019
IELTS Writing: Complex sentences 🤩
10 simple ways to make your sentences more complex for #ielts writing and speaking. If you’re short on time, watch my video on YouTube – find this and all the examples on my blog: https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/07/ielts-complex-sentences/
28:17
July 27, 2019
IELTS Writing: A gap year 🤹♀️👩🏽🎓
Looking at 2 model essays from the General Training test (slightly less formal then the Academic Test). Focusing on developing your points using my ‘PEGS’ method. Finish with a quick TFNG on the same topic 😊
30:28
July 11, 2019
IELTS Reading: Bring back the big cats 🐅🐈🐾
If you listen to just one podcast this week, make sure it’s this one! A fascinating text bursting with IELTS vocabulary.
36:36
July 04, 2019
Can I prepare for IELTS in one month?
This episodes encourages you to dust off your 28-Day Planner and use it more effectively. Find all the tips and links on my blog https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/06/28-ways-ielts-planner/
31:54
June 27, 2019
IELTS Writing Task 1: How to make predictions 🤖
Comparing Bands 5 to 7 in terms of grammatical complexity when making predictions!
21:24
June 19, 2019
IELTS Reading part 1: The history of cinema 🎬🎟
Academic passage 1 (good for GT too) all about how cinema developed. Good to learn about this topic (there’s a listening about it here https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/01/ielts-listening-history-moving-pictures/)!
29:39
June 11, 2019
IELTS Writing Task 1: ⛲️Changes to a park 🥀
This episode gives you 5 clear steps towards a better description of changes (to a town, building, map etc). See the map and the magic in my YouTube video https://youtu.be/RYwrFUphmrc 🧙🏽♀️
32:36
May 31, 2019
IELTS Listening: Neolithic Ireland ☘️
This episode focuses on the grammar of Modals of Deduction in IELTS Listening. Find a full explanation with practice on my website. https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/05/ielts-grammar-modals-deduction/
24:53
May 21, 2019
28 ways to improve your IELTS Vocabulary.📕
Check out my website for all of the 28 tips with links https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/05/28-ways-improve-ielts-vocab/.
Get the full vocabulary course in the Members Academy www.ieltsetc.com
34:12
May 09, 2019
IELTS Process Writing: Converting waste 💩to fuel 🔥
A recent #ielts process (see diagram on my social media accounts or check the website where I found it (bigadan.com).
24:19
May 02, 2019
IELTS Reading: The history of tortoises 🐢
A very difficult Passage 3 where a Degree in Zoology might help. Here is the text on the website https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/04/ielts-reading-history-of-the-tortoise/
24:47
April 25, 2019
IELTS Writing: Task 1: The lifecycle of a butterfly 🐛🦋
How to use YouTube clips to help you describe processes and cycles in #ielts Academic Writing Task 1.
15:16
April 25, 2019
IELTS Reading: Reducing the effects of climate change 🏔🛶🌞🌇
Academic Passage 3 Book 11 Test 1 – a really useful text for vocabulary. Also good practice for completing a table and matching researchers. 👩🏻🔬👨🏽🔬
29:25
April 17, 2019
IELTS Reading: Glow-worms 🐛
A fantastic reading for vocab. Matching information and T/F/NG questions.
23:32
April 15, 2019
IELTS Reading: Hearing problems 👂🏾
Speed-reading strategies for texts with 3 or more sets of questions. Book 9 Test 2 Passage 1.
29:07
April 11, 2019
IELTS Reading: This Marvellous Invention 🗣
A VERY difficult Academic Reading Part 3 (sorry!). Book 11 Test 4. See also ‘How did writing begin?’ on my website.
28:17
April 04, 2019
IELTS Reading: Stepwells 🇮🇳
This is a REALLY interesting Passage 1 Academic (good for GT too). Great for vocab topics (Water and Buildings) and speed-reading practice (just find the dates and names – ignore the rest). Please check on my website soon for the full text. www.ieltsetc.com
29:12
March 28, 2019
IELTS Listening: Business Cultures 🤝
Section 4 made up entirely of gap fill! Have a look at all the signals that can help you keep your place https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/03/ielts-listening-business-cultures/.
23:49
March 21, 2019
IELTS General Training Part 1: Passport Applications and Auckland International Airport Services 🛂🛄
A quick look at TFNG and a less common type of Matching Headings. Get the full text here https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/03/ielts-gt-reading-passports-and-airports/
20:26
March 14, 2019
IELTS Listening: Nanotechnology 🤖
Find out how my mindmaps can help you get over 70% of these answers correct! This #ielts listening Part 4 (Book 10 Test 4) will help you with multiple choice and gap-fill. Find out how to sponsor me and get all the worksheets with a special bonus for the first 100 people to sign up at https://www.patreon.com/fionawattam Thank you for your continued support 🙏🏾
25:32
March 07, 2019
IELTS Reading: Is there anybody out there? 👽 Matching Headings
How to match headings quickly using only first lines. See the video on YouTube and get the full text on my website 👽 https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/02/ielts-reading-match-headings-first-lines/ 👽 https://youtu.be/OWorhQ_nw1A #ielts
24:58
February 28, 2019
IELTS Reading: how to use comparisons in TFNG
To celebrate #motherlanguageday, this difficult Academic Passage 3 gives you some easy ways of filling gaps and recognising ‘Not Given’. Find the full text here and please let me know what you think about the new style layout 😊 https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/02/ielts-reading-benefits-being-bilingual/
32:22
February 21, 2019
IELTS Writing Band 9 and the ‘native speaker’ myth ♥️
In this episode I talk about my Band 9 writing models and why Band 9 exists.
29:46
February 14, 2019
IELTS Listening: Study Skills Tutorial 👩🏾🎓👨🏾🎓📖📚
Test Book 9 Test 3 Section 3: Listen to a tutor giving advice to a student about her dissertation and practice listening for signals and Gap fill.
17:47
February 07, 2019
How to learn the vocab you need for IELTS 📕🦔🦇🦉
This episode helps you through the vocab you need to learn for the #ielts test. It is based on the hedgehog reading from 2 days ago but shows you how the same topics apply in all parts of the exam.
24:18
February 02, 2019
IELTS Reading and vocab: Hedgehogs 🦔
A difficult Part 3, which I made specially for #hedgehogday on February 2nd to raise awareness of the dramatic decline in the hedgehog population.
33:48
January 31, 2019
IELTS Listening: Thor Heyerdahl 🛶
Test Book 10 Test 2 Section 3. The life and theories of Thor Heyerdahl.
31:18
January 24, 2019
IELTS Reading: Museums of Fine Art 👩🏾🎨 Part 2
A difficult Passage 3 – Multiple Choice and Yes No Not Given. Also a rant about where NOT to get your #ielts practice materials.
28:20
January 20, 2019
IELTS Reading: Museums of fine art Part 1 👩🏾🎨
A complex and sophisticated Academic Reading Part 3, so I’m breaking this podcast up into more manageable parts. Please come back for the next bit 😊
20:31
January 17, 2019
IELTS Reading: Doctoring Sales 🚑💊💉👩🏾⚕️👨🏼⚕️⛑
Book 6 Passage 1: Matching Headings and Yes/No/Not Given. Get the full text here https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/01/ielts-reading-doctoring-sales/
22:13
January 11, 2019
IELTS Listening: The History of Moving Pictures 📽🎬🎞
Test Book 6 Test 2 Listening Section 4. Multiple Choice and Gap Fill. 😊 https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/01/ielts-listening-history-moving-pictures/
21:58
January 05, 2019
IELTS Reading: The Story of Silk 👘
Book 11 Academic Test 3 Section 1 – a chronological structure with gap fill and True False Not Given.
20:24
December 30, 2018
IELTS Reading: Autumn Leaves 🍁
A tough Passage 2 from #ielts Book 10 Test 3, with matching statements, True/False/Not Given and Gapfill. Get the full Reading on my website https://www.ieltsetc.com/2018/12/ielts-reading-autumn-leaves/
Also a 5-minute review of when and when not to sound the ‘r’ in words like ‘leaRn’, ‘teacheR’ and ‘ManchesteR aiRpoRt’ (see the Advent Adventure, December 18th 2018 for more information. Full course coming soon).
28:41
December 18, 2018
IELTS Reading: Beyond the blue horizon 🛶
Academic Reading Passage 3.
Multiple choice, gap-fill and Yes/Not/Not Given.
Full Reading now on my website https://www.ieltsetc.com/2018/12/ielts-reading-beyond-blue-horizon/
Downloadable PDF with essential vocabulary in the Members Academy. www.members.ieltsetc.com/academy/
37:04
December 14, 2018
Listening Section 2: An open-air swimming 🏊🏾♀️ pool
Multiple choice tricks and synonyms. Key vocab and frequent words. Skip the LAST 5 minutes if you want! 😬
23:13
December 05, 2018
IELTS Listening: 3 types of distractors you need to know about
This Section 3 has examples of 3 different types of distractors that you need to listen for: ‘should have, could have, would have’ 🤔
27:45
November 28, 2018
IELTS GT Reading: The Iron Bridge 🛤
A special request from the Speaking Challenge WhatsApp group! Use the structure of a descriptive/factual/chronological text to help you find the answers quickly.
I also mentioned ‘How The Pyramids Were Built’. Sorry this isn’t on the website yet but will be soon!
26:21
November 25, 2018
IELTS GT Reading Staff Benefits 🤑🤒🧖🏽♀️👩🏾🎓👴🏽
#ielts Cambridge Book 9 Test A Section 2 Part 2 JLP Retail: Staff Benefits plus useful vocab 😀 www.ieltsetc.com
14:37
November 21, 2018
IELTS GT Reading: Dress Codes 👔👖🧢💍👑
#ielts Cambridge Tests Book 9 Test A Section 2. Get the full reading on my website www.ieltsetc.com 😀
14:49
November 21, 2018
IELTS Reading: How did writing begin? 🏺🏺🏺
On a scale of 1 – 10 in terms of difficulty, this is a 10 sorry 😐!! So if you’re aiming for a 7/8 it’s worth a listen, but please don’t feel discouraged by it! Focus on the strategy rather than the answers in this example. The questions are perfectly divided according to the text structure (‘problem’/‘solutions’) (problem = no-one knows; solution = lots of theories).
30:45
November 14, 2018
IELTS Writing Task 2: How to get 💡 ideas quickly
Using the topic of advertising, we look at how to get ideas and how to organise a paragraph for #ielts Writing Task 2.
27:57
November 12, 2018
IELTS Reading: Crows and tools 🧰
Quick tips to help you with the Speaking Challenge followed by a Reading Passage 2 about the tool-making abilities of crows (and what we have in common with them). True/False/Not Given. Get the full reading here https://www.ieltsetc.com/2018/11/ielts-reading-two-wings-toolkit/
34:17
November 07, 2018
IELTS November Speaking Challenge and Reading about a pay rise
It’s the first week of the November Speaking Challenge and in this podcast I explain the benefits of taking part, speaking every day, recording yourself and joining the Facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/321358865317293/
It’s never too late to start the Challenge – get your Progress Log on my website or click on this link http://eepurl.com/dL6rPk
As for the Reading, this week it’s a tricky General Training, with lots of True/False/Not Given questions (it also gives a lot of useful real-life tips on how to get a pay rise!) Get the full Reading on my website https://www.ieltsetc.com/2018/11/ielts-gt-reading-pay-rise/
22:04
November 04, 2018
IELTS 🎃 Speaking Challenge
An explanation about the ‘pinky’ story, the importance of contractions and an introduction to the November 1 minute Speaking Challenge! #ielts1min 😄
25:39
October 31, 2018
IELTS Reading: Snake oil 🐍🐍🐍
This is a long one and a tough one but really worth spending time on. Matching Headings and True False Not Given. Full test coming soon on www.ieltsetc.com
32:28
October 28, 2018
IELTS Reading: Tidal Power 🌊🌊
This reading gives you practice with matching statements, and it recycles key IELTS vocabulary related to renewable energy.
Find the full test and explanations here: https://www.ieltsetc.com/2018/10/ielts-reading-tidal-power/
25:27
October 23, 2018
IELTS Listening Part 2: A theatre 🎭
Learn how to avoid the traps of multiple choice. Get the floor plan on my website.
21:50
October 18, 2018
IELTS Listening: BABY COTS 👶🏻
Listening Section 2 about cots, with a little bit of pronunciation thrown in!
19:08
October 14, 2018
IELTS Reading. Serendipity: discoveries in science
Go to www.ieltsetc.com to download the practice test first!
07:01
June 12, 2018
IELTS Writing Task 2: The arts 🎭
How to deal with ‘philosophical’ questions in Task 2 ✍🏽
15:24
April 18, 2018
GT Informal Letter Too Formal
General Training Informal Letter (bag)
04:57
February 12, 2018
IELTS Reading: Picking from a list
Picking from a list 1 • Picking from a list 2
09:58
January 31, 2018
Matching Headings Part 1
IELTS Reading: Matching Headings 1
04:59
January 29, 2018
Writing Task 2: school buses
IELTS Writing Task 2: school transport \ud83d\ude8c
02:31
January 28, 2018
GT Writing 1: Formal Letter
GT Writing \u270d\ud83c\udffd A formal letter
03:51
January 24, 2018
General Training: informal
General Training: Informal Letters
09:29
January 19, 2018
Adding adverbs
Adding adverbs to comparisons
04:59
January 16, 2018
Writing a clear overview
Writing a clear overview
04:60
January 15, 2018
Reading: gapped texts
Gapped Texts – Easter Island
08:02
January 03, 2018
Task 2: prevention vs cure
Task 2: prevention is better than cure
02:55
December 30, 2017
Past Perfect
Past Perfect for IELTS
12:09
December 20, 2017
Online shopping
How online shopping affects the environment and jobs
03:56
December 18, 2017
Describing town plans
Task 1:Describing Town Plans
03:57
December 17, 2017
Task 1 Food Consumption
Task 1 Food Consumption
01:56
December 07, 2017
Neighbourhood ties
Neighbourhood relationships
02:17
December 05, 2017
A journey that went wrong
A journey that didn\u2019t go as planned
01:59
November 30, 2017
Pronunciation: 5 Quick Fixes
Based on a blog I wrote this week, here are some ways to ensure you get the highest possible score in the Speaking Test
14:56
November 29, 2017
An email I received
An email I received
01:59
November 28, 2017
A work of art
A work of art
01:59
November 28, 2017
Something I saved for
Something I saved for
01:59
November 27, 2017
An event in history
An event in history
01:58
November 25, 2017
An advert I saw
An advert I saw
01:59
November 24, 2017
A party I went to
A party I went to \ud83c\udf89\ud83c\udf8a\ud83c\udf80
02:03
November 23, 2017
An area that is changing
An area that is changing
02:04
November 20, 2017
Mobile phones pros and cons
Mobile phones pros and cons
02:39
November 19, 2017
Something I returned
Something I took back
02:03
November 19, 2017
A time I was stressed
A time I was stressed
02:04
November 18, 2017
A speech I heard
A speech I heard
02:04
November 17, 2017
Electricity from waves
Describing a process: electricity from waves
01:41
November 16, 2017
A museum I visited
A museum I visited
02:03
November 15, 2017
A time I was late
A time I was late
02:04
November 13, 2017
A website I find useful
A website I use
02:03
November 12, 2017
An old person I know
An old person I know
02:02
November 11, 2017
A river I visited
A river, lake or sea I know
02:02
November 10, 2017
A TV show I enjoy
A TV show I enjoy
02:04
November 09, 2017
A sporting event
A sporting event
02:04
November 08, 2017
A present I gave
A present I gave
02:04
November 07, 2017
A person I admire
A person I admire
02:02
November 05, 2017
A building you like
A building you like
02:03
November 04, 2017
A good cook
A good cook
02:02
November 03, 2017
A competition you won
A competition you won
02:01
November 02, 2017
A book you enjoyed
A book you enjoyed
02:03
November 01, 2017
How energy is produced from coal
Learn how to describe a process in IELTS Task 1
01:56
October 28, 2017
The Nitrogen cycle
Ielts Task 1
01:48
October 21, 2017
Pie charts and change
IELTS Task 1 pie charts
01:39
October 20, 2017
Privatisation pros and cons
Ielts Task 2 Writing
03:19
October 13, 2017
Urban problems
IELTS Writing Task 2 Causes and Solutions. Urban sprawl.
02:28
October 05, 2017
Should TV ads be controlled?
Task 2 in 2 minutes! The effects of TV adverts on children.
02:26
September 24, 2017
The economy
Vocab and ideas for IELTS topics
02:32
September 19, 2017
Academic qualifications
The key to success?
02:25
September 05, 2017
The surveillance society
IELTS issues made easy!
02:11
September 04, 2017
Space Exploration
IELTS topic – Space Exploration
01:31
September 03, 2017
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