This is a question I so often get asked not just by my readers and followers, but my students as well. Asking this question does not only show some curiosity in understanding in trying to pinpoint which areas the candidate need to work on to perform better, but it also shows a genuine interest and […]
Read more "The most important question you’ll ever ask “How can I do better?” (Part 1)"Quite often, candidates tend to overlook the importance of checking their answers when they read their IELTS descriptions or essays. In the effort to finish their writing on time, candidates tend to get bogged down in the process of writing and lose sight of what is also important: writing a coherent paragraph. Here is a […]
Read more "Don’t repeat your words in IELTS Writing"I have received so many concerned enquiries on where I’ve been lately and why I’ve been missing over the past year. To put your mind at ease, I haven’t fallen off the face of the Earth or given up on teaching IELTS or writing on this blog. A lot has happened between October 2017 and now. […]
Read more "Two years on … 2019"Your IELTS test is coming up soon. You don’t know what to do. You don’t know where to start. You don’t know if what you’ve been doing is right. There are a million and one things to think about. A million and one things to do. For those who are trying desperately to “get it […]
Read more "20 Tips for IELTS Success"Throughout my IELTS teaching as well as examining career with the British Council, I get asked these same questions each time wherever I go. I normally try to answer them to the best of my ability especially for those who are doing the test at first attempt. I hope you will find the responses below […]
Read more "3 questions I get more than anything else as an IELTS examiner"Meeting Examiner Requirements IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 Essential information you will need to apply to your own Task 1! Aren’t you just sick and tired of those endless video-after-video of IELTS advice on “How to” do this and “How to” do that? You know all these already! You know what needs to be done, […]
Read more "Get your IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 checked for FREE!"This is just common sense to anyone who is doing a high-stakes test like the IELTS. Sadly, these reminders are just as relevant now as I see IELTS candidates committing these 5 mistakes so very often. If you haven’t been doing any of the points mentioned here, well done! However, if you are guilty of […]
Read more "5 Things IELTS candidates should avoid"If you are familiar with the IELTS, you will understand that the test is quite topic-based. If you are currently my student, you will understand by now, how to go about preparing for this test effectively and how not to. One no-no is blindly memorising words and phrases and using them in your own essay. The “copy and […]
Read more "Why the “copy and paste” method won’t work in the IELTS test"IELTS candidates who are not familiar with essay writing styles should be aware that they will be assessed on how they organise their answers in writing. It is not enough that IELTS essays have paragraphs, but these paragraphs must make sense as well. Each of your paragraphs needs to have a theme or better yet, […]
Read more "3-Step Paragraph Structure in IELTS Writing Task 2"After many years of teaching, online or offline, I have had the experience of meeting various personality types. Some may be pleasant, others otherwise. The awful types are the ones I do not remember any more but the ones that are on my mind are students who I tend to admire and learn from. They […]
Read more "What this IELTS student said about me"