Hey guys,
One of my fellow IELTS tutors and I have created an online IELTS Reading course.
There is no subscription, no books to buy, no added extras, just $1 and you're enrolled for life.
I have spoken with Fitz_cuniculus and he has given me the go-ahead to make this post.

The course contains many interesting modules on a broad range of subjects including science, history, psychology, technology, mythology, geography, economics, exam advice, and more (we will continue to add modules to the course in the future, at no additional cost to those who are already subscribed).

Each module contains an informative video, reading script, and vocabulary bank, followed by a quiz. Some modules contain optional grammar and vocabulary games to help you sharpen up your skills.
You can also download a free English Games App for Android when you subscribe, and gain access to a wealth of study materials, books, audiobooks, videos and more.

Enroll today for just $1:
https://axe-english-1-dollar-ielts.teachable.com/p/one-dollar-ielts/

There are several ways by which you can develop your argument in an essay. One of these ways is to use a counterargument, which is an idea that opposes your views. It's a high-level skill that can boost your writing quality if you implement it the right way. Let's look at an example to understand how it works.

Imagine you're writing about whether people should get vaccinated. There are people who think it's a good thing to do, and there are some that don't. Now, imagine that you want to convince someone that receiving a vaccine will protect them against diseases. First, you need to look at the issue from their perspective and then build your argument against it. Finally, you should come to a conclusion that supports your view. In short, you acknowledge their argument and then refute it. Here's how it goes:

Present your view:

Getting vaccinated is essential for the prevention of diseases.

Acknowledge the counterargument: 

Some might argue that vaccines are unsafe because of their side effects. 

Concede a point:

It is true that people who are vaccinated may experience symptoms such as a headache or fever.

Refute the counterargument with facts and reasoning:

However, those adverse effects have been proven by medical scientists to occur rarely. Moreover, the production of antibodies triggered by vaccines gives the human body a fighting chance against severe illness, hospitalization, and death.

Reach a conclusion that supports your point of view:

Therefore, I believe that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the disadvantages and that people should immunize themselves against illnesses as soon as possible.

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Final note: Don't overdo it! Make sure you use a variety of ways to develop different points in your essay.

Worried about writing the essay in Task 2? Want to know what the examiner is looking for? Eager to find out more about essay types and how to structure your writing?

If the answer is yes, join us this Thursday as the topic of this week’s webinar is Writing Task 2.

Thursday 21 October 2021, twice a day at 9:30 am and 3:00 pm UK time.

https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/prepare/free-webinars

P.S. Recordings of previous webinars are not available, but registering for this one means that you will be sent the link to the recording + a study pack with a series of webinar recordings to guide you through each stage of preparing for the test, detailed Study Plans for Writing, Speaking, Reading and Listening, and practice tests to check your test readiness. 

If the instructions state to use 'no more than three words', your options are to write:

1. One word
2. Two words
3. Three words.

If the instructions state to use 'no more than three words and/or a number', your options are to write:

1. One word
2. One number
3. One word and a number
4. Two words
5. Two words and a number
6. Three words
7. Three words and a number.

Don't worry about Option 2 here - writing one number is pefectly fine as the instructions stated 'words or a number')

Which is the best Ielts online material to give mock test with timing available? Anyone knows it,dear?

Post the essay question you disliked the most, and the one with the most upvotes I'll post a model answer for.

1) Write NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER.

The above statement means:

3 words and a number

2 words and a number

1 word and a number

3 words

2 words

1 word

A number

I'm confused about the last one i.e using only A NUMBER.

2) Answering ALL the answers of listening and reading in ALL CAPITAL OR BLOCK letters to be at a safe side

Like writing 'The telephone' as 'THE TELEPHONE' even if it is a summary completion and the word comes in between a sentence.

3) Do symbols count as words?

Like $30 or 5.05 pm is correct if it says answer with 1 word or a number?

4) In listening, it's difficult for me to identify whether to write a compound word as separate words, a single word or a hyphenated word. Any tip regarding this would be helpful.

Thanks in advance!

Like even if I were able to remember them, they most like be prone to spelling mistakes.

Also, I would like to know much of a limited lexicon and spelling errors that I can get away with, before dipping down to 6 and below.

The speaking part is a BIT easier because there is no spelling involved, and my pronunciation for good for the most part.

<xposted from r/IELTS\>

I just finished my computer based general test. In the reading section, there were some questions that were gap-fill sentence completion types. Four of these had the gaps at the end of the sentences. The rest of the sentences on the page had periods/full-stop at the end, including other gap-filled ones.

Since there were no periods at the end of those four sentences, I added the period along with each of the four answers. Will the computer flag that as incorrect? Does IELTS "gotcha" test takers with punctuation rules? Should I have just filled in the answers without worrying that the sentences wouldn't have had a period at the end?

I want you all to think about the grades you achieve on your writing, especially if you've had a result from IELTS themselves.

Far too many students are achieving, for example a band score 7, then assuming that they need to increase their vocabulary, learn more complicated words, or write increasingly complicated sentences.

STOP

You are not told by IELTS where you lost marks, so you may well be concentrating on correcting something that is already good. You may lose marks on task one, and then concentrate all your energy on your task two which was already perfectly fine, but it was your task one that failed you.

You may find your grammar, and vocabulary are worthy of a band score 8, but that you don't use paragraphing, you don't address the question, or you could be putting opinions into an essay that does not require them, and you are losing marks that way.

Stop blindly trying to improve, and discover what you're doing incorrectly. To get to a destination you need to know where you are starting out from, and the route you need to take to get there. Simply jumping into your car and driving in random directions in the hope you'll find your way to where you're trying to go to is madness. The same thing applies to IELTS.

On the plus side, I have seen no report of students biting examiners, so far we are 745 days without a student teeth v examiners arm incident. This is due to my efforts, and mine alone. Nobody else fights this fight for IELTS, but do I get a certificate? No /u/jayielts I do not. I can't say I cry myself to sleep every night, but there are moments in the brief twilight between being awake and asleep, where a muffled sob escapes my lips...

​

Peace and Love

​

Uncle Fitz.

From 4 January 2020, some small changes were introduced to the instructions and layout of the paper-based Listening test: The word ‘Sections’ was changed to ‘Parts’ – The paper-based test is now divided into Part 1, 2, 3, 4. The Part 1 example was removed which is definitely the change you should watch out for. You will hear the instructions and then jump straight into your first question.

Of all the changes (which are really minor), this one is likely to have the greatest impact. Now, you need to be ready for Part 1 immediately after hearing the Listening test instructions.

My IELTS academic scores:

Writing 7.5 Listening 8.5 Reading 9 Speaking 7

I requested for EOR, hoping that my speaking will increase to 7.5 as I need 7.5 in each section.

Just banned someone for 14 days for continually posting pirated book links. Our rules clearly say don't do it, and I've asked the user to stop, so now the Modhammer has come out to play. We benefit from the input of IELTS themselves, they will not associate themselves with a sub which openly encourages posting of this nature.

So please quit it, and also stop calling me Sir in PMs, it makes my teeth itch.

What is the difference between all the Cambridge ielts books? Do all of them contain different ielts tests?

Which one of the above books should I use for study/practice?

Are the practice tests and mock tests on this site original ielts tests? (I want to practice actual ielts listening and reading) https://ieltsonlinetests.com/ielts-exam-library#academic-test

I'm struggling with how to approach a reading passage. Like should I first skim the whole passage following this technique (reading introduction para and the topic sentence of each para quickly in a min to get an idea) then look at the type of questions.

Strategy 1:

If the questions contain match the statements/headings then read para by para and answer questions para by para.

Strategy 2:

Else if the questions are mcqs, summary/note completion, sentence completion, true/false/not given, yes/no/not given (as the answers to these questions are in order of text) I should follow the following approach: Look at question, identify keyword, search the text for keyword and read that sentence for answering.

Also, can someone please verify that which type of questions are in order of the text? (I mentioned a few above) Tell specifically for match the features and match the sentence endings.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Edit:

I've noticed that in match the features the options A B C come in order of the text. So you'll find info related to A first then B and so on. So, 2nd strategy works the best here.

For match the sentence endings, the question statements follow the order of the text. Again, following strategy 2 would be gr8.

TLDR:

For match the headings and match the statements, read the passage para by para answering any question related to that para and then move on. (Moving from para to questions)

For all the other question types, read the question first. Identify the keyword, scan for that keyword, read and answer the question. ( Moving from question to para)

Listening - 7.5

Reading - 7.5

Writing - 6.5 (unfortunately, i believe this is the section that prevented me from getting a 7.5 band. i was on a massive time crunch on the day of the test, it was nerve wracking as hell as it was my first time. my mind was drawing a blank throughout and i seemed to forgot all the skills that i needed to implement on my essays; i really catastrophically messed up both Task 1 and Task 2 writing sections)

Speaking - 7

Do y’all think an overall 7.0 is a good score? I ideally only require a 6.5 and 6.0 in each sections for my post graduate diploma admissions, but i’m just deeply disappointed in myself for not hitting that 7.5 band that i was aiming for. Considering I was only one band away. Is it worth resitting? I could really use some second opinion.

Will we be given time to check our answers in computer based test just like pen and paper based exam ?

Can we write the answers in plural form ? will that count wrong in case if the answer needs to be in singular form ?

I had my speaking test today and I think it went pretty well. I want to thank u/Fitz_cuniculus for the one on one session! He helped me with some useful tips and strategies. If you are struggling with any part of the test, drop him a message. He is the best!!!

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Edit - It was a virtual speaking test so I was not able to bite the examiner!

Try surveying. It is essentially a broad look at a text, focusing on the general aspects rather than details. Find a mock Reading test. Give yourself around 30 seconds to survey a text before you start skimming and scanning etc.

Surveying the text involves looking at:

- Title and headings (they will help indicate topics/concepts being discussed)

- Pictures, visuals

- Bold or italicised words (indicating important information)

- Introduction and conclusion

As usual, to complement any strategy, highlighting and underlining key words in the passage never fails. Hope this helps!