IELTS Writing: 9 tips for a Band 9 essay

There are 7 key features of fast speech and pronunciation that you need to develop a better understanding of in order to increase your Listening Score: Features of connected speech (dropping sounds, adding sounds, changing sounds, weak sounds and twin sounds). Word boundaries Homophones Sounds that are different or don’t exist in your language Accents and rhoticity (‘r’) Minimal pairs Consonant Clusters Read the full blog here. https://ieltsetc.com/2023/02/ielts-pronunciation-tips-listening-test/ Buy the workbook guide here: https://payhip.com/b/HzVmy

11 Feb 202326min

In this Listening Section 2 we look at: - Multiple choice questions - distractors - matching from a list - the word 'staff' and how it's repeated 32 times - how to pronounce 'staff' - academic language you can use in Task 2 Improve your IELTS score with my intensive Listening Course: ieltsetc.com/courses

26 Jan 202327min

What will you do differently in 2023? Here are my 7 resolutions to help you get the IELTS test over and done with once and for all. Get all the tips on my Daily Tips page https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en and get all my lessons on my website ieltsetc.com. Join the Members Academy to make faster progress.

13 Jan 202329min

In this episode, I'll take you through one of my Guided Readings - it's an Academic Passage 3 from Book 17 and, unusually, it's a book review. Follow my Advent Challenge on my website: https://ieltsetc.com/ielts-advent-adventure/ Join the Members Academy: https://ieltsetc.com/courses

16 Dec 202232min

Question: "How do I cope with so much information when I'm preparing for the IELTS test?" Answer: "Just do as much as you need to do for the Band score that you want." In all aspects of life, there are different levels of expertise and knowledge. Deciding what you want to do with your IELTS score will help you manage your time and your learning. I've carefully programmed this into the Members Academy.  Aiming for Band 6? Just watch the videos.  Need to get Band 7? Watch the videos and do the practice. Want Band 8/9? Do the EXTRA practice that I include in every lesson. Enrol today https://members.ieltsetc.com/academy This podcast talks about managing your learning according to what level of expertise you need to acquire. I call it the traffic-light system.  GREEN: Band 6 - INTERESTED (do a single course) YELLOW: Band 7 - COMMITTED (join the Members Academy - do all the courses) RED: Band 8+ - OBSESSED ("To be the best, you have to be obsessed": do the Coaching Program) But remember this - what is the opposite of "too much information"?  The opposite is "not enough information".  Not enough info is worse than too much info when it comes to preparing for IELTS because it is not a subject - it's a language and a skill. Can fluent speakers have "too much English knowledge"? I don't think that's possible. Let me know if you've got any questions.

13 Nov 202229min

Can you guess the answers to the gapfill before you listen? In this episode I talk you through a Passage 4 where I think about 60% of the answers are guessable! Thinking of becoming a Member of my Academy? Find out more on my website: ieltsetc.com/courses

4 Nov 202224min

A tricky GT Part 3 Reading with Matching Headings, Multiple Choice, and Matching Sentence Endings.

25 Okt 202229min

I've spoken a lot about Mindset for IELTS in 2 earlier blogs: 1. How to train your mindset for IELTS https://ieltsetc.com/how-to-train-your-mindset-for-ielts/ 2. How to stop making excuses and start making progress https://ieltsetc.com/2020/11/improve-ielts-score/ In this (rather long) podcast I talk about asking SMARTER questions to get smarter answers. S = Specific (Why, What, Why, When, Where?) M = Measurable (How much? How many?) A = Achievable R = Realistic T = Time-bound E = Evaluate R = Revise

16 Okt 202237min