IELTS-Blog

Our friends from Kuwait and Nigeria shared their questions from a recent IELTS exam (it appears the test was almost the same in the two countries). Here is what they remembered:

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

We were given two bar charts showing the number of people interested to study media, biology, chemistry and mathematics. One bar chart was describing the numbers in 1998 and another – in 2010.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Some people argue that air travel should be restricted due to pollution and excessive fuel consumption. To what extend do you agree or disagree?

Speaking test

Part 1 (Interview)

– What is your full name?
– Can I see your ID?
– Where are you from?
– Do you live in a house or an apartment?
– What can you see through your windows?
– Let’s talk about farming.
– Is farming important?
– What are the common vegetables grown in your area?
– Are you interested in farming?
– Let’s talk about teaching.
– Do you think everyone can be a teacher, why or why not?
– Can you teach?

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Talk about a skill you would like to teach others. Choose from the following: driving, mathematics, cooking. Please say

– What the skill is
– How you learnt it
– Who you would teach
– And explain why you would like to teach that skill.

Part 3 (Discussion)

– What other skills do you think a teacher should have, aside from teaching?
– What are some modern ways to teach?
– Should teaching have elements of fun in it?
– What are the most important skills you can learn?

Linking words ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’ and ‘because’, just like other words, have synonyms which help you avoid using the same word over and over again. We all are guilty of overusing these linkers sometimes, and the reason is, we haven’t trained our brain to replace them. If I had a coin for every time I said ‘so’, I’d be rich!

Why should you make an effort to avoid using ‘so’? To increase your IELTS score, of course! As an ex-examiner Adam knows the power of what happens when you stop using these four simple words and start using their synonyms instead. Last week he covered ‘because’ and in today’s video he takes the word ‘so’ and shows you how you can live without it!

Watch the lesson on YouTube, or below:

A quick sneak peak at what’s in the video:

Accordingly – He did not complain to the police, accordingly, the police did not take any action (instead of ‘so, the police did not take any action’).

Then – Take a break now, then you won’t be so tired later today (instead of ‘so you won’t be so tired later today’).

Consequently – All the restaurants were closed, and consequently we had to make dinner at home (instead of ‘and so we had to make dinner at home’).

Thus – He is not satisfied, thus we must prepare a new proposal (instead of ‘so we must prepare a new proposal’).

Hence – A better working environment improves people’s attitude, and hence productivity also increases (instead of ‘and so productivity also increases’).

And of course there are more ways to avoid saying ‘so’ – keep watching until the very end.

Happy learning!