STUDYING IELTS

Speaking Part 1 By: RDS IELTS Speaking Section has three parts. Each part has its own characteristics. Knowing about each part's characteristics will help you do well during the speaking exam section. Here is some information of characteristics of part 1. 1. Part 1 of speaking section is a natural conversation or dialogue between the candidate and the     examiner. It lasts for around 5 minutes. 2. The topics of the dialogue will be general daily topics about the candidate. They might be about the     candidate's hobbies or interest, his family, or future plan. 3. The examiner will ask several questions to the candidate from two to three topics. 4. At the very beginning, the candidate may be asked about his full name and test/candidate number. TIPS a. Familiarize yourself with some sets of common questions for each topic.  For example: Topic: Your Hometown      1. Where do you live?      2. Do you like the ...

By Ridwan Sa'at As dealing with other essays in IELTS exam, what we need to do first is to see and observe the question. Identifying what kind of essay is being asked to you to respond is key thing in the success of doing IELTS exam. Understanding the question will lead you to select what kind of response you need to give in order to really respond to the question. There are some differences in the way we respond to the essay questions. If you are dealing with agree or disagree essay, it is best to use opinion essay pattern or if you are dealing with problem-solution essay, it is appropriate to use problem-solution pattern. The patterns are not just how you structure you paragraphs but how you put the essential parts of your essay in the correct place. For advantages and disadvantages essay, the pattern is quite unique: The essay structure: 1. Always put your response in 4-paragraph essay: introduction, advantages paragraph, disadvantages     paragraph and conclusion. ...

By: Ridwan Sa'at What is coherence in writing?  Coherence  is one of requirement of a good writing. It refers to the smoothness of your writing from the beginning to the end; in other words, all ideas are linked logically. To make our writing coherent, what should we do? First thing first is knowing the coherence devices. What are the coherence devices and what are their functions? Here are seven coherence device that help your writing coherent. 1. Pronouns     Pronouns refer to the word names. It is used to replace the word names. Using pronouns prevents your writing from being repetitive. Some of the pronouns are he, she, it, they, we, his, mine etc. See the following example of the use of pronoun that helps your writing coherent. Mike is from the Netherlands. Mike studied at Oxford University. Mike lives now in New York. (the word Mike is repetitive, so this is not coherent) Mike is from the Netherlands. He studied at Oxford University. He lives now in...

What are the thesis statements?  By: Ridwan Sa'at If you think that thesis statement is the backbone of your essay, continue reading this article. Then, what's thesis statement? Thesis statement consists of two parts; a topic and controlling ideas. Look at this example of an introductory paragraph in a response  to writing task 2 question. The enormous growth in the use of the internet over the last decade has led to radical changes to the way that people consume and share information. Although serious problems have arisen as a result of this, there are solution.  Which sentence is the thesis statement? Yes you are right. It is the one in red. It commonly appears at the end of introductory paragraph. see that it has the idea of a topic. Although it does not really specify what the topic is, but the topic is presented in the pronoun 'this' which represents radical changes people consume and share information and it tells the controlling ideas which are possible ...

By: Ridwan Sa'at What is a question rubric? If you wonder what a question rubric in IELTS writing task 1 or 2, here is the explanation: Question rubric has topic and writing instruction. These are in the box usually. In addition to these two items, there are also instructions before the rubric and following the rubric. Here's two examples of question rubric: A. Writing Task 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The table below gives information on consumer spending on different items in five different countries in 2002. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.   Write at least 150 words B. Writing Task 2 You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic: It is generally believed that some people are born with certain talents, for instance for sport or music, and others are not. However, it is sometimes...

By: Ridwan Sa'at Problem solution essay is one type of several IELTS Writing Task 2 essays candidates have to deal with during the exam. In this essay you are ought to present Problems and Solutions to the problems. Basically the approach is the same that first of all we need to understand the question topic and its instruction in the question rubric. In this article we will go through what problem solution essay is and a sample of response will be given to one particular question.

By: Ridwan Sa'at Form Completion question is common in part 1 of IELTS listening section. Here are the strategies for answering this type of question in the IELTS listening section: 1. First of all it is crucial to listen to the prologue. It tells you who are talking, where and what is the context of their conversation. 2. Then read instruction carefully when a half minute is given. It tells you how many words you should write for the blanks in the form. Also quickly within this time, read the title, subtitle and other parts of the form. It helps you make sure what the form is about in addition to the prologue. 3.  Also within the given time, observe the blank and think of what kind words needed for the blanks by reading the key words in the forms. 4. When the audio is played, listen for synonyms or even key words from the listening. When you heard the best word for the blank, write that word on the blank. Do not worry. Your temporarily answers can then be transferred at ...