The Writing Lab

IELTS

The easy way to great vocabulary

In any of your IELTS essay topics, you'll need to have a good range of vocabulary up your sleeve. Adding to this, knowing some idioms and collocations is also advantageous. It will further show your experience in English usage, and help to reach the higher bands. Book online tutoring *Idioms

IELTS

A Comprehensive Guide to Elevating Your IELTS Reading Practice

I am using a text posted on the British Council site for today's practice. In this post, I will be going through how to answer questions for a reading test (academic). To remind ourselves, let's list below the task types you can expect on the reading paper: 1. multiple choice

IELTS

IELTS Double Question Essay

Looking for other IELTS essay guides? Just click on the essay type you want below: The problem solution essay The advantages and disadvantages essay The discussion essay The opinion essay Book online tutoring Introduction This post goes through how to plan and write your IELTS double question essay. Like all

IELTS

IELTS Revision Plan

Having a revision schedule in place is great because; * It holds you accountable * You can track the amount of revision you are doing * You can track what you are specifically revising * It informs you of where your weaknesses are * You feel calmer because you have a plan * It prevents you

IELTS

Writing Lab videos: Bitesize Tutorials

Welcome to WritingLab shorts- a service in which I provide short videos to help you with your IELTS preparation. * The videos are wide ranging and I focus on the micro and the macro. * The aim is to create short videos that you can easily fit into your busy day, and

IELTS

Upgrade your vocabulary

What is lexical resource? Vocabulary and lexical resource are essential aspects of language proficiency, especially in IELTS. Vocabulary refers to the range of words one knows and uses effectively. Lexical resource involves using words precisely for clear and impactful communication. In IELTS, a strong vocabulary and adept lexical resource showcase

IELTS

IELTS essay feedback

I recently asked students to send me their essays. I wanted to read through their essays and provide individual and detailed feedback. Book online tutoring Reading marked IELTS essays is a game-changer for your growth. These essays aren't just texts; they're treasures of experience. You step into the shoes of

IELTS

IELTS Writing Task 1- Job application letter

The good thing about this task is that you might be more familiar with it than some of its counterparts (like a complaint letter, or letter of advice), but we still need to go through how we write it for the IELTS exam. What you will gain by reading this

IELTS

IELTS Writing Task 1- Letter of Advice

Part of your General IELTS writing exam involves writing a formal or informal letter. This article instructions and informs you on how to produce a letter of advice. A letter of advice is likely to have you helping someone with a particular problem. The problem could be various things, such

IELTS

IETLS Writing Task 1- Letter of complaint

Part of your IELTS writing exam, if you are sitting for general, involves writing a formal or informal letter. This article covers: * essential information about the exam * what a formal letter is * explaining the IELTS complaint letter task * exam tips * common phrases for this task * IELTS sample question * Model response

IELTS

How to paraphrase in Task 1 Writing

Paraphrasing is something that can be overlooked by students. It is however, an essential skill for the academic task 1 and 2. Being able to paraphrase well is also incredibly useful for IELTS reading and IELTS listening. By choosing to read this, you will learn: 1. The essentials of paraphrasing

IELTS

IELTS Opinion Essay Structure

This post covers the structure for IELTS essay writing Task 2 (Academic) I wanted to revisit the structure and make this as clear as possible. By knowing the structure and how to apply it, it sets you up for success. Having the structure etched into your brain also means other

IELTS

Speaking practice

Topic- Home The speaking test is an opportunity for you to really show off your English. A crucial element to your speaking test is to keep the conversation flowing and say as much as you can. It is better to make the odd grammar mistake or have the odd pause

IELTS

How to prepare for IELTS: Knowing the essay question

It's important to be able to identify what the essay question is and what they are asking you to discuss- because you want to answer it correctly! The problem is, is that some of the way the questions are articulated makes them sound similar, i.e. a discussion essay might

IELTS

How to sound natural in your writing

Sounding natural when you may not already possess a level of fluency takes some practice. When it comes to the IELTS Writing exam, the examiners look for natural sounding writing. Speaking and writing naturally implies you know the language well, and that you have spent time learning the language, not

IELTS

Vocabulary for IELTS Writing

Vocabulary is a crucial factor in your IELTS exam to secure a high band score. Without varied and interesting vocabulary, you run the risk of sitting in lower band score. Book online tutoring General vocabulary If you want to extend your vocabulary on the whole, these websites are useful. 1.

IELTS

IELTS Task 2- Problem Solution Essay

This article explains and shows you how to reach a band 9 on your writing task 2 with a problem and solution essay. In my library of IELTS content, you will find articles on all of the task 2 essay types. What is the problem solution essay? The problem solution

IELTS

General vs. Academic Writing: Task 1 Differences

The IELTS exam in its entirety has quite a few layers and it has the propensity to feel muddled when learning how the test works and what is required of you. This article clarifies any clouded understanding concerning the writing test between General and Academic for task 1. This article

IELTS

An overall summary of IELTS

It's easy to forget the nuts and bolts of all four sections of the IELTS exam, when you're trudging through IELTS revision. You might be struck with thoughts like, 'Are the tasks the same for writing in the academic and general exam? Do both tests require you to write an

IELTS

Common IELTS Speaking Idioms

Idiomatic language are sometimes misunderstood. People can perceive them as being lazy or too informal, or suggest a lack of otherwise vocabulary. But this isn't true. Idioms are a great way to connect to someone who may not share the same language. Idioms show that you actually have a broad

IELTS

Essential tips for your IELTS speaking test

This post will explore the essentials of how to pass your IELTS speaking test. There are a number of things you can easily do to ensure you have an interesting, and in-depth conversation to get you to the upper tier bands. Lets go over some of the essentials first: * The

IELTS

General Reading Practice- Choosing a title

For this IELTS task, you choose the most appropriate title from a list, to match with specific parts of the text. Main skills: * Being able to skim read * Being able to scan for information * Being able to make connections between vocabulary from title to paragraph * Being able to summarise the

IELTS

IELTS Reading- Sentence completion

The test * In the reading test, candidates are required to complete a sentence * In this type of task, you are given sentences from the reading with a gap- you may have to fill it with words taken directly from the reading * Some tasks ask you to take the words exactly

IELTS

Reading Practice: Short answer questions

This article provides non-fiction samples to reflect the sort of tasks you could get in your IELTS General Training Reading exam. These samples are not taken from the official IELTS websites, but individually sourced to give you an array of text types. The answers are at the very bottom, but

IELTS

Reading Practice

True, False, Not Given In your IELTS exam, one of the most common questions is a true, false or not given, based on a passage you are provided with. There are ten question types in total and you could be assessed on any of them, but not necessarily all of