IELTS Commentry: August 2020

Friday, 28 August 2020

IELTS Speaking Band 7.5, Full Test with Examiner’s Feedback (Murat)

In this video you will watch Murat take a mock Speaking Test – it shows you what happens on the test day in the real examination room. Due to COVID19 precautions there may be a plexiglass screen between you and the examiner, and you may be required to wear a face mask for your Speaking test. It is a good idea to ask your IELTS test centre about this, so that you know what to expect.

The questions our examiner is asking Murat are on topics that often come up in real IELTS Speaking exams. You can find the exact questions in Speaking Test 20 in the “High Scorer’s Choice” IELTS Practice Tests book series.

There are 3 parts in the IELTS Speaking Test.

In Part 1 the examiner asks personal questions on everyday topics, such as your job or studies, your home, your family or friends, your habits, likes and dislikes.

Part 2 is different, because there is no discussion in it. Instead, you receive a topic card (cue card) to talk about for 1 to 2 minutes, with 4 bullet points you should cover in your talk. Part 2 is the only part of the Speaking test where you get 1 minute preparation time and you can write down some ideas to talk about. This doesn’t happen in Part 1 or Part 3.

In Part 3 the examiner asks you questions related to Part 2 topic. You are expected to give longer, more elaborate answers and talk in-depth about the topics your examiner brings up.

How can you make the most of this Speaking test video?

1. Get familiar with everything that happens in the Speaking test. It will help you feel prepared when it’s your turn.

2. Listen to the questions the examiner asks and note how Murat answers them. Then think about what YOU would say in response to these questions.

3. Spot Murat’s mistakes and avoid them when you speak.

4. Go over Examiner’s Feedback below to learn how he rated Murat’s performance and why (he also points out some of his mistakes!)

5. You can even use this as a Listening exercise, and switch on subtitles on YouTube to understand every word on the recording.

Watch the video on YouTube here:

Examiner’s Feedback

This section shows you what goes on in the examiner’s mind when he rates a Speaking test. Make sure you read this before looking at the scores he gave Murat in every criterion, because this explains the reasons he got those scores.

Speaking Test, Part 1 – 0:20

Murat delivered a good and confident section 1. He provided thoughtful and full answers and easily fulfilled the time requirements. Murat spoke mostly fluently and coherently, with only short pauses to access ideas rather than language. He also uses humour to add to his communication. Murat’s vocabulary was excellent and he showed a range of appropriate lexis, sometimes showing he had access to some higher-level language, i.e. “significant impact” and “schemas of the world”. Murat’s grammatical range and accuracy was also very good with only some minor errors creeping in, i.e. he used “favourable” once instead of the adverb, “favourably”, and he had a tense consistency mix up once, saying “when I go back” instead of using “went” as he was referring to the past. Murat has a discernable Turkish accent, but it very rarely impedes his communication.

Speaking Test, Part 2 – 6:13

The cue card Murad was given is below:

Describe a memorable journey that you once took.You should say:
– what this journey was
– why you took it
– how long it took
– and explain why you feel this journey was so memorable.

Murat gave a good, full section 2. He was a little hesitant from time to time, but in general he was mostly fluent and always coherent. Murat showed that he had a good range of lexis to express what he wanted to say. There were, however, some occasional awkward moments when not quite the right word was chosen, i.e. “approach on/of the outside world”, “best for them”, “forced to believing”, “and the only option out” and “the same out-take”. “Criteria” was also slightly misused. These are all fairly minor examples though and the communication was very good. Murat’s grammar was very accurate and he used an appropriate range of structures to communicate. Again, Murat displayed an accent, but this did not interfere with communication in any way.

Speaking Test, Part 3 – 9:31

In Section 3, Murat gave intelligent and full answers and easily fulfilled the required time. There were more pauses in this section to access ideas and some language with the more demanding questions, but in general Murat was fluent and coherent. There was again some slightly awkward language expressed, i.e. “on a greater scope”, but this did not happen often. There were also lots of examples of elegant and well-chosen language, i.e. “without misinterpreting what others have to say.” Again, Murat’s grammar had a good range and very good accuracy. He didn’t really provide many complex structures, but he was able to speak without needing them. His accent again did not impede Murat’s pronunciation and excellent communicating ability.

Murat’s IELTS Speaking score

The marking of the IELTS Speaking Test is done in 4 parts.

Fluency and Coherence 7
Lexical Resource 7
Grammatical Range and Accuracy 8
Pronunciation 8

Estimated IELTS Speaking Band 7.5

Need more Speaking tests with Examiner’s feedback? Find them in High Scorer’s Choice book series.

If you’d like to get your own Speaking evaluated, you can – go here to learn how.

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Thursday, 27 August 2020

IELTS essay, topic: People who read for pleasure develop their imagination more and acquire better language skills compared to people who prefer watching television (agree/disagree)

It is believed that people who read for pleasure develop their imagination more and acquire better language skills compared to people who prefer watching television. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Sample Band 8 Essay

Some people subscribe to the belief that reading helps enhance language skills and creativity, whereas watching television does very little for these skills. Personally, I support this opinion for several reasons, which will be laid out in this essay.

As we all know, books use text to convey ideas and quite often there are no images or illustrations to picture the scenes described in the book; therefore, we have to use our own imagination while reading. For example, reading a fantasy novel that contains mythical creatures one would normally imagine the appearance of those creatures in their mind in order to follow the plot. In contrast, the creatures on a TV screen are usually created for the viewer by directors and producers of the movie. Watching TV substitutes the need to develop one’s own imagination because the characters and their surroundings are shown on the screen.

Furthermore, it is argued that reading is the best way to expand one’s vocabulary. The reader learns the correct spelling of a word by seeing it printed in a book, and they grasp its meaning from the context, without having to look it up in a dictionary. To illustrate, English teachers in many schools use English novels as teaching materials. Students are asked to read the story and capture the keywords to answer the questions in the exam. Not only new words but also numerous sentence structures can be learnt from books. In comparison, learning new words while watching a TV show isn’t always easy because the viewer’s attention is drawn to what is happening on the screen and if there are no subtitles, they don’t see the words’ spelling. All this makes a book a more effective tool for a language learner compared to TV.

In conclusion, I believe people who love to read tend to have a more active imagination and advanced linguistic comprehension than those who watch television, since readers are required to imagine the story in the book and learn the meaning of new words from the context.

Click here to see more IELTS essays of Band 8

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Friday, 21 August 2020

How to get Band 7+ in IELTS Speaking (video lesson #3)

There is some extra value in Lesson #3 that you will love! Things Adam talks about will help you not only with Speaking, but also with other IELTS skills – especially writing! The vocabulary and grammar Adam will teach you in this lesson will help you speak better, write better and understand things you hear or read, which means your Listening and Reading scores can only improve with this knowledge.

If you missed Lesson 1 or Lesson 2, don’t worry, you can watch them later. Here is what you don’t want to miss though, one very important principle Adam keeps talking about: don’t just sit and watch this lesson. Grab a pen and paper, pause the video and use the grammar he explains to write a sentence about YOU. This will help you remember, because personal things stay in our memory for longer.

Watch the video on YouTube here

Go here to get Adam to assess your Speaking, estimate you the score you’re likely to get now and tell you how to score higher.

In the video: Speaking Part 2 and Part 3 – grammar, vocabulary and idiomatic expressions

The Part 2 topic Adam talks about in this lesson is,

Describe a successful small company that you know about. Please say

– What kind of work the company does
– How you know about the company
– What you know about it.

Adam saw many test takers hesitate when they got this question, and that is why he knew he had to show you a great way to answer it.

What kind of grammar will help you get a high score?

This is a ‘present’ question and it means you should use present grammar forms when you talk about it.

One of the options is Simple Present, for example: “The company sells computers.”

If you wanted to get fancier, you could use a Passive form, “The best pizza can be bought there”, or an Active form, “You can buy the best pizza there”.

Your other options are Present Perfect or Present Perfect Continuous, and of course Adam explains how to use these grammar forms and gives you examples.

Vocabulary and Idioms for Band 7+

In this section Adam gives you a list of words to use instead of ‘business’. You don’t have to keep saying ‘company’ – you can use ‘firm’, ‘corporation’, ‘organization’, ‘venture’, ‘establishment’ and many other synonyms. Not only that, you will also learn adjectives to describe what kind of business it is, and verbs to explain what it does. Adam also introduces to you some idiomatic expressions you could use to talk about a business (and how to use them in a sentence):

“Above board” – to be open and honest
“Bend the truth” – to lie a little
… and more!

Finally, Adam gives you some ideas how YOU can come up with things to say about a business in your country. He suggests what you could think about to get enough ideas for your talk. So, if you ever find yourself short of ideas, definitely watch this video.

Mock Speaking Test

Last but not least, it is Mock Test time! Adam will be asking you questions as a Speaking examiner, and you will be answering them (and, hopefully, recording yourself).

You will be amazed how many things about your speaking you can notice from listening to your own recordings. Listen and check if you’re using the expressions he talks about in this video, if you’re using the grammatical structures he recommends, and how fluently you are talking.

Don’t forget to check for fillers – how many times you use words like ‘um’, ‘er’, ‘ah’, ‘like,’, ‘well…’, ‘you know…’. You can also check if you’re making little grammatical or vocabulary mistakes, or if you hesitate a lot. Make notes about any issues you notice, and do better on your next Mock Test.

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Wednesday, 19 August 2020

IELTS essay, topic: Who should be responsible for protecting the environment, individuals or the government?

Scientists believe that the world is in danger due to environmental changes. Some people say that personal lifestyle changes should be made to reduce the damage to environment, while others think that the government should do something to help. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Sample Band 8 Essay

Environmental problems are clearly something that is often discussed in today’s world. One part of the society claims that individuals should change their habits and lifestyle to improve the ecological situation. Others, on the other hand, believe that this issue should be solved on the governmental level. This essay will discuss both sides of the argument and my perspective will be offered.

It is hard to deny that human kind is responsible for the current environmental situation, and it seems impossible to achieve any noticeable result in this field without the participation of vast majority of individuals. For instance, a simple lifestyle change such as introducing the separation of household rubbish can make recycling projects more convenient and efficient. Moreover, consumers can reduce their usage of plastic items and, in turn, less plastic waste will contaminate the environment.

However, many people still feel that the government has more tools to prevent environmental changes. One option that the authorities have is to discourage citizens from using personal vehicles by charging high taxes and additional fees. Moreover, politicians usually have access to resources to educate people about environmental problems and promote the most important ecological projects on all levels, ranging from special courses at schools to TV shows and websites related to this topic. Furthermore, it is a key responsibility of the government to protect the environment by spending state funds on research and modern equipment. Countries where legislation protects the ecology, for example Norway, have achieved visible results and overcame most environmental problems.

In conclusion, I believe that a combined approach will work best to prevent or reverse environmental changes. A contribution of every individual is just as important as the intervention from the government in order to fix existing issues and save our planet for future generations.

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Friday, 14 August 2020

How to get Band 7+ in IELTS Speaking (video lesson #2)

Today, in Lesson #2 Adam, our experienced ex-IELTS examiner is continuing his quest to help you score Band 7 or higher in IELTS Speaking. You can watch Lesson #1 here.

Lesson # 2 is about Speaking Parts 2 and 3, and you will learn the vocabulary, expressions and grammar to get Band 7, 8 – or even 9, depending on your current level!

In today’s video Adam gives you a very clever way to remember new vocabulary and grammar – you definitely want to try his suggestion, because it can make learning new words easier for you, and they will stick in your memory.

After the lesson there is a mock test with Adam being the examiner. You will get an opportunity to practice and implement everything you learned in this lesson.

Watch the video on YouTube here

Go here to get Adam to assess your Speaking, estimate you the score you’re likely to get now and tell you how to score higher.

In the video: Speaking Part 2 – ideas, grammar and vocabulary

Adam is starting by introducing a Part 2 topic:

Describe a job you would not like to do. Please say

– What the job is,
– How you know about the job,
– How difficult or easy the job is.

The key thing about this topic is that it needs you to speculate, guess or predict. When you’re certain about something in the future, you can say ‘would’ or ‘would be’.

So, “Being a garbage collector would be difficult”

Being unsure about something in the future, you could say ‘might be’, ‘may be’ or ‘could be’, and when you don’t use the same expression in every sentence, it makes a better impression on your examiner.

Many people find grammar terms, such as ‘second conditional’ scary or confusing. What is a ‘second conditional’ anyway?! Adam comes to the rescue. He does a great job of explaining what it is, and how YOU can use it, in plain human language.

Here is an example of a second conditional, and you really want to listen to Adam explain how to use it correctly:

“If someone were a garbage collector, they would/could/must have back problems.”

Is there a “first conditional”? Yes, there is! Adam explains about that one and how to use it correctly, too.

You probably know by now that synonyms are important in IELTS, but how well do you use them when you speak?

Imagine you started to talk on the topic, trying to describe a difficult job. Adam gives you some synonyms so that you don’t have to say ‘difficult’ over and over again. You could say ‘tough’, ‘tricky’ or ‘onerous’, and that would increase your score for Lexical Resource. What’s more, you could add some adverbs – and if you don’t know what they are, here are some examples: ‘very, really, quite, extremely, unbelievably’.

Another thing to help you get a higher score is idiomatic expressions. Adam talked about them in Lesson 1, but here are some expressions related to this particular topic:

“Burn the candle at both ends” – meaning to work very long hours.
“Work your fingers to the bone” – meaning to work very hard.
“Go the extra mile” – to do more than is expected of you
“Get off on the wrong foot” – to not make a good first impression

Speaking Part 3 – ideas and vocabulary

Since Part 3 questions are related to Part 2, it is important to have enough ideas to talk about. Sometimes you get questions on topics you didn’t really think about, and you may struggle to come up with ideas, so Adam is sharing some well-researched information that can help you. Take a moment to think how YOU might respond to a question like this:

“Which do you think young people prioritise more – an interesting job, or one that pays a high salary?”

Adam’s ideas are – some young people choose a high paying job because it gives them more money to buy things, more freedom to enjoy life, a better life partner, a higher status.

Others might choose a more interesting job to have better co-workers, to feel happy to go to work, and take pride at what they do.

Adam talks about many possible questions you may get in Part 3, but his main message for you is, pause and make your own notes. Write down your own ideas and make them as much about YOU as possible – because then you will remember the ideas and vocabulary.

Mock Speaking Test

And once Adam is done teaching, it is Mock Test time! Adam will be asking you questions as a Speaking examiner, and you will be answering them (and, hopefully, recording yourself).

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Tuesday, 11 August 2020

IELTS Essay, topic: In some countries private cars are now banned from city centres (advantages / disadvantages)

This is a model response to a Writing Task 2 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is likely to score IELTS Band 9.

Set 3 Academic book, Practice Test 14

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

In some countries private cars are now banned from certain city centres. What are the advantages of such a system and do you feel that this is something that most cities should adopt?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

You should write at least 250 words.

Answer

Banning cars from city centres is a recent trend and it can be seen in various cities around the world. Certain advantages and disadvantages immediately spring to mind when considering this step that city councils are taking.

The advantages are clear. Since cars were introduced, city centres have always been areas where air quality is poor due to the amount of emissions, which in turn affects people’s health. City centres become quieter and safer for people to wander around shopping and enjoying themselves. Access to city centres can still be good, as it is usually only private vehicles that are banned, and buses and taxis can still take people in and out of the city centre areas. Many towns also operate a park and ride scheme, so people can leave their cars in safe car parks in the outskirts of towns and travel with a dedicated bus service to the town centres. It would seem hard to criticise this kind of scheme.

There are critics though to the scheme of banning cars in city centres. City centre shop keepers have often been vocal opponents, as they believe that fewer people will come to the city centres and therefore their incomes will be affected. The general public also sometimes object, as people often like to travel in their own private vehicles. In actual fact, banning cars from city centres has in practice not reduced the number of people who travel to city centres to shop. People like shopping and socialising in city centres and they just adapt to the situation. There is no answer to people who want to drive their own cars. They hopefully will just realise that the sacrifice of not driving their own cars is outweighed by the health and lifestyle improvements of a cleaner and quieter city centre.

In conclusion, there are far more advantages to banning cars from city centres than allowing them. It is therefore a measure that most city centres should adopt for their citizens.

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Wednesday, 5 August 2020

How to get Band 7+ in IELTS Speaking (video lesson)

This video lesson will make life so much easier for those of you aiming at Band 7+ in Speaking. Adam, our very knowledgeable ex-IELTS examiner, is telling you step by step everything you need to do to start scoring 7 (or 8, or 9!) in the Speaking test, concentrating on the harder Parts 2 and 3.

Watch Adam explain and demonstrate with examples how a Band 7 candidate should talk, including expressions and idioms that are great for Band 7+. We promise what you’ll learn is worth your time!

The Part 2 topic Adam is using as an example has been asked in recent IELTS Speaking tests:

Describe a time you had a challenge that you thought would be very difficult. Please say

– What the challenge was
– Where and when you did this difficult thing
– Why you thought it was difficult.

In the video Adam explains what grammar forms you should be using for this type of topic, what tenses, and if you need a refresher, he also explains the difference between Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous, Simple Past and Present Perfect.

Moving on to vocabulary, Adam explains the need for synonyms in your speech, and then he talks about how crucial idiomatic language is for getting Band 7 in Speaking. He gives many examples of idioms – such as ‘At my wits end’ or ‘to dodge a bullet’ (there are more in the video).

Finally, Adam spends quite some time on Part 3, giving you the questions you may be asked related to the Part 2 topic. He also offers some ideas of things to say to answer those questions and what vocabulary you can use.

And once Adam is done teaching, there is a mock test for you to do! Adam will ask you questions as if he were your Speaking examiner, and you can answer them and record yourself. This is great to see if you’re using the expressions he talks about in this video, to check if you’re using the grammar he talks about and if you’re doing it well, and how fluently you are talking. You can then listen to the recording to check for fillers – how many times you use words like ‘um’, ‘er’, ‘ah’, ‘like,’, ‘well…’, ‘you know…’. You can also check if you’re making little grammatical or vocabulary mistakes, or if you hesitate a lot, and that recording will make it easy to catch yourself doing that.

Watch the video on YouTube here

Go here to get Adam to assess your Speaking, estimate you the score you’re likely to get now and tell you how to score higher.

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IELTS Commentry

Friday, 28 August 2020

IELTS Speaking Band 7.5, Full Test with Examiner’s Feedback (Murat)

If you’d like to get your own Speaking evaluated, you can – go here to learn how.

Thursday, 27 August 2020

IELTS essay, topic: People who read for pleasure develop their imagination more and acquire better language skills compared to people who prefer watching television (agree/disagree)

Friday, 21 August 2020

How to get Band 7+ in IELTS Speaking (video lesson #3)

Wednesday, 19 August 2020

IELTS essay, topic: Who should be responsible for protecting the environment, individuals or the government?

Friday, 14 August 2020

How to get Band 7+ in IELTS Speaking (video lesson #2)

Tuesday, 11 August 2020

IELTS Essay, topic: In some countries private cars are now banned from city centres (advantages / disadvantages)

Wednesday, 5 August 2020

How to get Band 7+ in IELTS Speaking (video lesson)

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Friday, 28 August 2020

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