IELTS Speaking : Family Tradition

Describe your favourite family tradition.

You should say:

• what the tradition is
• when it occurs
• what you do

and explain why it is your favourite tradition.

Model answer

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My favourite family tradition is most certainly Thanksgiving, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday. Actually, everyday should be a day of Thanksgiving. My family loves to celebrate this holiday.

It is a yearly tradition for our family to gather at my grandma’s house for Thanksgiving. I always look forward to this event. My cousins and other family members that I do not get to see often are there. My grandma and other family members prepare a big meal. There is always plenty for everyone. The main thing is of course the turkey. I like turkey, especially the legs. My uncle never eats turkey. He says it is an ugly bird, and he doesn’t want to eat it. When I was younger, I would always want to get the wishbone and break it. We also have sides to go along with the turkey. Everyone loves my grandma’s mashed potatoes. We also have rolls, dressing, cranberry sauce, and yams. Then, for dessert we have fresh pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Before we eat everyone always gathers around the table and someone says the blessing.

Thanksgiving is always a good time of fellowship and bonding for my family. We usually watch some of the parade on television or a football game. Sometimes after everyone is done eating, we play card games like Rook. You can see why this is a favorite tradition for me and my family. I wish we could do it more often.

IELTS Speaking : Describing Places

Take one minute to prepare a talk on the following subject.

Take notes if you like and remember to include reasons and examples.

You should then speak for between one and two minutes.

Describe a place that you enjoy visiting. You should say: where the place is what you can see and do there how it has changed since you first visited it and explain why you enjoy visiting this place.

Model answer

A place that I enjoy visiting is Prague. It’s the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic, with a population of nearly 2 million. It lies in the north-west of the country, in the centre of the Bohemian region, which is a green and lush part of Czech Republic.

There is lots to do in Prague. It has several universities, so first and foremost it’s a fantastic place to be a student. It’s buzzing, with a good nightlife, good restaurants and a lively cultural life. In fact, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a cultural and economic centre of central Europe a few years back.

If you climb up to the hill overlooking the old town, you have an amazing view of the city. What strikes me most when I go up there is all the traditional, pale buildings with their red roofs, and then right in the middle of it all, a remarkable piece of art and engineering, the Charles Bridge. It is one of the most loved attractions in Prague that crosses the Vltava River. It was built between the 14th and 15th centuries and connects Prague Castle with the Old Town. Today you can walk across it and find many souvenir stalls or have your caricature drawn. There are many statues on the bridge and some people think that if you touch the statue of St John of Nepomuk you will receive good luck and return to Prague soon.

The last time I went to Prague, they were having a wine festival. People were tasting all kinds of wines from stalls on the street, very informally and chatting with friends while they drank. It was wonderful.

How has it changed since I first visited it? Well, I would say it has undoubtedly become more trendy. Like I say, they have built a stunning new museum. Another example is “the Lennon Wall”, a monument of recent vintage: It is a wall covered in graffiti and pictures inspired by John Lennon and the Beatles. People have been drawing on the wall since the 1980s and they continue to do so today. I would say the local inhabitants have become more overtly proud of their city too. It has received quite a bit of recognition in recent times, which has really placed Prague well and truly on the cultural map; something the inhabitants are always happy to talk to you about. In fact, that is something else I enjoy about going there: the local people are invariably friendly and helpful.

When did you last go to Prague?

I last went there the year before last. I wish I could go more often, but unfortunately work commitments mean I can’t.

IELTS Speaking : Free Time

• What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
• How much time do you have each week for doing these things?
• Why do you like doing these activities?
• How did you start doing this activity at first?
• Is there some other hobby or sport you would like to try? Why?
• How has the way people spend their free time changed over the years?

Test Tip

If you didn't hear properly, you can say:
- Sorry, I didn't catch that.
- Could you repeat the question, please?

If there's a word that you don't understand, you can say:
- Could you repeat X, please?
- What does X mean?

Model answer 1

Well, I do quite a lot of sport actually. I go swimming twice a week. There’s a very good pool just around the corner from my office. I swim for an hour and do about 40 lengths. I also cycle to work when I can. Apart from that, I do a lot of reading and photography.

Model answer 2

When I was younger, I did a lot of surfing. I used to go snowboarding quite often too in the winter. But I haven’t been for a long time, although I might go this year with some friends. These days I go cycling when I can. At the weekends I like to cook and invite friends around for dinner. I’m a big fan of cooking programs, and often try to copy the recipes, but they don’t always turn out very well.

Model answer 3

I don’t have a lot of time to myself now that I’m married with two young children. So, a lot of my free time is used taking my kids to their activities. For example, on Saturday morning, I have to take my son to his basketball games, and my daughter to football practice. Then I have to ship them off to parties or friends’ houses. Two or three times a month, my wife and I go for a meal with friends, and once a month, we go the cinema when my parents look after the kids. There’s a great little cinema that shows independent or foreign films just near where we live.

Model answer 4

I have tennis lessons with a group of friends at the weekend. There are eight of us, four moms and dads and four kids. The idea was that the lessons would give us the chance to do something sporty with our children, and it’s great. The teacher is really good and we all have a fantastic time. Plus, we’re getting better at tennis. Best of all, after an hour of tennis, the kids go off to play, and we can have a drink and a chat. Now, that’s my idea of playing sport. Apart from that, I also go out bowling once a month.

Model answer 5

I play golf at the weekend. I get up really early on Sunday and play for about five hours with some friends from work. While I’m out, my husband prepares lunch which is usually ready by the time I get back. Apart from that, I play online video games and read a lot. Also, I go for a drink after work every Friday with my work colleagues. There’s a pub nearby and we usually stay there for a couple of hours, which is good fun.

A special way to say "Merry Christmas"...!

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IELTS & NEWSPAPER...!

This lesson is about using newspapers to improve your English for IELTS. What you will find are some online resources and basic tips on using newspapers, an explanation of how reading newspapers can help you in IELTS and then suggest a few exercises to help you read better.

Why read newspapers?

You need the same reading skills as the test

Many newspaper articles are very similar to IELTS texts. Generally, they are around the same length, they cover the same general interest topics and they are written for non-specialist readers. You normally read a newspaper article quickly to see if it is interesting or not? That’s the way they work. This is very much the same skill as you need in the exam when you skim the text first for general meaning.

Very frequently, you already know something about what you are reading, so you look to see if there is anything in the article about that. This is also very similar to the exam when you scan the text to find certain information.

Unless you are a native speaker, newspaper articles will contain plenty of unknown words. The idea is that you keep reading just as you would in the exam and try and understand meaning from context. If you look up every word in your dictionary, then you stop reading.

It’s the efficient way to learn vocabulary

A key idea is that we learn words by using them and that reading a word is a way of using it. This means that every time you see a word when you read, you are learning a bit about it. Very often you are learning the really tough things such as which other words it is used with. This can often be much more efficient than just keeping a vocabulary notebook or trying to learn lists of words. Where do we see most words? When we read.

It gives you a break from IELTS

Too much IELTS is not good for the soul – and may not be the best thing for your English. If you want to improve your English, it does help to do things that you find interesting and IELTS is not always that interesting. The more you are interested, the better your brain works and the better your brain works, the better you will learn. Newspapers can work here because they contain something for everyone from business, to arts and sport. One idea is just to read the things that interest you.

The difficulty with newspapers – and how to deal with it

They are written for native speakers. This means that they are hard. Here is what I suggest:

• find topics that genuinely interest you – that way you will be motivated to keep reading
• read for general meaning – every time you finish an article and understand what it was about, feel good about yourself. You have just completed a native speaker language task
• read regularly and for shortish periods of time – an exam reading takes 20 minutes

The best exercise of all – just read

Below I suggest some specific “learning” exercises. They all work I believe. But the very best thing you can do is just read – read as much as you can, as often as you can. Why? The people who read best, read most. I’d also add that this type of  reading is good training for IELTS – long texts with unknown words won’t scare you.

Exercise one – what was it about?

This is the world’s simplest exercise. I also happen to think that it is a good one. The idea is that when you finish reading the article, you say what it is about. If you can’t do that, then you haven’t read well enough – it may have been time wasted. This is the one exercise I suggest you do every time.

Exercise two – make notes and write a summary

This is a similar exercise, but one you will probably do less often. The idea this time is that you make notes of the main points as you read. Then at the end you write a short summary. Here is why it can be a good idea:

• making notes helps you focus on words – that’s good for learning vocabulary
• writing the summary tests how well you understand how to use the words – can you put it into a sentence? If not, you haven’t really learned the word yet
• if you look at this reading lesson, you will see that I very strongly suggest that it helps to make notes as you read an IELTS passage. This is the same skill.
• IELTS writing task one is really just a summary writing exercise. People get confused by the pictures and numbers. The skills you use here in writing a summary  – picking out the main points and summarising them – are exactly the same skills as task one.

 Exercise three – find another similar article

This I think is a great exercise. Entirely natural, interesting and good for language learning. The idea is that once you have read one article, you try and find another similar article. As you probably do in life. This is normally just a case of Googling the headline: most newspapers carry very similar stories. What I suggest you do next is look for what is similar and what is different . This is really going to be an IELTS scanning activity. you are not necessarily looking for the same words, but the same meaning. 

Exercise four – find 5 words

This is the least natural exercise here. The idea is to work on your vocabulary – and think about how dictionaries can help you. You read a text and choose 5 words from it that you want to learn. Here are some ideas about how you can make this work:

• don’t choose too many words – you’ll get them confused
• aim for common words or words you already half recognise. These are most important words as they are the ones you will wan to use. To find out how common they are, look in the Macmillan Online Dictionary – the red words are the ones you want most
• look for the words they are used with. Is there a preposition (by, with, to etc) following it? If it’s a noun is there an adjective with it?
• look in the dictionary again to see what other phrases are used with that word
• now try and re-tell the story you have just read, using those words. At some stage, you do want to try and use that word yourself

Newspaper sites

Which newspapers should you read? The ones you enjoy reading. This may mean that the best newspaper is an English language newspaper based in your country. It can be hard to read English/Australian/Canadian newspapers because they are about foreign cultures. Here are a few suggestions of where to start:

Mainstream English language papers and news sites

• The Guardian Weekly: this is a good place to start because it contains a lot of world news and is not just about Britain – it also includes articles from Le Monde and the Washington Post. You might also check out the English language learning section too.
• The Economist: don’t be put off by the name, it isn’t all about economics: there are plenty of articles about culture and the environment too.
• Intelligent Life: this is part of The Economist really. The articles you find here tend to be much longer, but are written very well and are typically very interesting.
• Time: not a newspaper but a major online site with news and opinion about the right sort of topics
• The Independent: another mainstream British newspaper with articles on a variety of topics
• Sydney Morning Herald: if you are going to Australia, it may make sense to read an Australian newspaper
• BBC: the BBC does everything really – it’s not just news. You if you look in the toolbar here, you will find pages devoted to topics such as travel, health and business. I also recommend the magazine section. One benefit of the BBC is that it really does cover the world and is not just about Britain.
• CNN: this is the US version of the BBC
• 
  

National newspapers

As I mentioned above, it may make sense to read about your own country in English. So if, for example, you are from China you may want to try China Daily. How can you find one for your country? This might be a place to start:

• 
  
• Online newspapers
• 
  

Reading by topic

Another approach is to read by topic. Newspapers tend to cover the core topics you need to read, write and speak about in IELTS. So it can make sense to vary your reading routine to cover these topics. Here is a list of general topics and one or two more links. You should find, however, that most newspapers have their own sections on all these topics. I suggest you browse until you find a site/newspaper that you like:

Arts and Entertainment

The Financial Times 

Education

Huffington Post

The family

The Guardian

Environment

National Geographic

Health 

Science daily

Life and style

The Guardian

Science and technology

Sky

Business

NBC

IELTS : Band 8 Writing Sample - 11

Public libraries should only provide books and should not waste their limited resources on expensive high-tech media such as software, videos or DVDs. Do you agree or disagree?

With the proliferation of high-tech media, some people hold that the public libraries would be rendered obsolete if they do not offer software, videos or DVD's to their users while other assert it’s only a waste of limited resources and the libraries should offer books only.

High-tech media is, in many ways, indeed superior to the books in terms of entertainment, attraction, and functionality. For instance, videos and DVD's function as a visual means to assist people to have a first-hand experience even though those people have not physically visited or seen the objects which are introduced in the books. Also, despite the audio-visual equipment would be prohibitive to install, the capital cost would be lowered by appealing to a sizable number of users.

More importantly, software could assist the library goers to access the Internet to update their knowledge on a daily basis; in contrast, books typically take multiple months to be published, which in turn render their contents outdated to some extent. In addition, upon learning that the computer literacy has become an essential skill recently, public libraries should take on the responsibility to educate its users how to operate a computer.

Furthermore, it is a common practice for most public libraries to share their resources via the Internet. In this way, even if one book of interest cannot be found in one library, the borrower still could locate the book from other libraries and then request the librarians to transfer the book to that particular library.

In conclusion, public libraries would benefit in multiple ways if they are equipped with the high-tech media.

This is a good essay. There are only a few errors indicating that the writer needs to take care with verbs, prepositions and sentence formation (mouse over the words underlined in blue shows corrections). Overall, this work seems worthy of IELTS Band 8. Remember to always proofread your essay before submitting it. Keep up the good work!

IELTS : Band 8 Writing Sample - 10

In many countries children are engaged in different kinds of paid work. Some people regard this as completely wrong, while others consider it a valuable work experience, important for learning and taking responsibility. What is your opinion?

The issue of whether or not children should be engaged in some paid work has sparked a heated debate. While some argue that having some employment experience is conducive to a child’s learning and development, I contend that it would bring harm to the child’s heath and learning.

First of all, a workplace designed for adults is normally shortage of child-friendly facilities. Desks and chairs are too high for a child; the light switches are installed on the walls unreachable by children; also emergency training and facilities such as phones are only provided to adults. Furthermore, various hazards such as polluted air and chemical fumes are still produced in factories and farms. Undoubtedly young people would suffer in such workplaces.

Also, children would find it frustrating when they are not properly inducted before starting a job. A child working in a cement factory would feel a setback when he could not get immediate support while struggling with the procedures of recording different raw materials that is required by the job. Further, without sufficient support, a child’s misunderstanding or inappropriately communicating with adults would only disappoint him and prevents him from active learning and interacting with other people.

To conclude, a child’s paid employment experience would lead to a negative impact on their health and active learning. However, recognizing the importance of children’s learning and their awareness of responsibility, it is advisable to encourage them to be involved in some volunteering opportunities where they can meaningfully learn and interact with other people with sufficient care and support in place for such jobs.

This is a good essay. There are only a few errors (mouse over the words underlined in blue shows corrections), but otherwise this work seems worthy of Band 7.5 or 8. Remember to always proofread your essay before submitting it. Keep up the good work!

IELTS : Band 8 Writing Sample - 9

Some people think that spending a lot on holding wedding parties, birthday parties and other celebrations is just a waste of money. Others, however, think that these are necessary for individuals and the society. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Throwing parties can be expensive. While some people do not find these fancy parties worth what they cost, others believe parties are important to both individuals and the society.

People choose to throw parties for a number of reasons. For starters, parties can make better teams. Project kick-off parties are good opportunities to break the ice and help team members to know each other better. Victory parties create a sense of success and belonging. Companies do not see parties as wastes of money and allocate budget to support such events. Moreover, parties often leave good memories. From our own experiences, we all have happy memories of our birthday parties when we were little. Every family has great photos took on family parties in their album. In addition, contrary to what some people believe that spending on parties is a waste of social resources, parties actually create value, either by employing people in the party planning business or by offering people better party experiences.

The popularity of parties, however, causes some tension in the society. Parties are hard on introverted people who find themselves uncomfortable in parties. This is a clinic symptom which psychologists call it “social anxiety disorder”. There are other ways to celebrate important events that may have greater value for their cost. For instance, companies could send out gifts after successful projects and parents could take their children on family trips to celebrate birthdays.

In my opinion, while a party is a form of social event that brings many benefits to individuals and the society, other choices should also be considered, either to cut spending or to relieve the stress of those who are not fond of parties.

This is a very good essay. Other than minor inaccuracies there are no problems (mouse over the words underlined in blue shows corrections). Seems to be worth IELTS Band 8.

IELTS : Band 8 Writing Sample - 8

Even though globalization affects the world’s economies in a positive way, its negative side should not be forgotten. Discuss.

In the present age, globalization is playing an increasingly important role in our lives. But in the meantime whether it is a blessing or a curse has sparked a heated debate. Some people argue that globalization has a fundamentally beneficial influence on our lives, while many others contend that it has a detrimental effect as well.

A convincing argument can be made about globalization not only playing a pivotal role in the development of technology and economy, but also promoting the cultural exchange between different countries. To start with, it is the globalization that impelled many corporate to become international groups, thereby making a contribution to the local technology and employment. Specifically, when a multinational group establish a factory in a developing country, the new equipment, the new management skills and the job vacancies are all in the best interest of the local society. Moreover, people worldwide can get to know each other better through globalization. It is easy to see that more and more Hollywood blockbusters show cultures different from American, some recent examples are ‘Kungfu Panda’ and ‘The Mummy’.

Admittedly, the profit driven side of globalization has severely affected young people. Today, in the metropolises in different countries, it is very common to see teenagers wearing NIKE T-shirts and Adidas footwear, playing Hip-Hop music on Apple iPods and eating at KFC. The culture that took a thousand years to form just seems similar in these cities; it seems as though you can only distinguish them by their language. Meanwhile, in some developing countries, sweat workshops are always a concerning issue. For instance, reports show that some teenagers employed by NIKE’s contractors work in smelly factories over 14 hours a day, but are only paid fifty cents per hour.

To sum up, I would concede that globalization does come with some adverse effects. Despite that fact, benefits created by it far outweigh the disadvantages. Overall, I am convinced that we should further promote globalization and meanwhile the local government should take measures to combat culture assimilation and sweat workshops.

This essay is extremely long (338 words instead of the advised 250-265). It has a sound structure, your position is clearly expressed, the information is well-organized, and structure-wise the sentences are fine. The vocabulary is impressive and there were only a few grammatical errors (see comments underlined in blue). Overall, this seems to be a band 7.5 + essay.

IELTS : Band 8 Writing Sample - 7

In some countries children have very strict rules of behavior, in other countries they are allowed to do almost anything they like. To what extent should children have to follow rules?

The extent to which children have to follow rules is in itself a very complex issue, since children across the world grow up in very different cultures. In India for example, children are expected to be very submissive to their parents as well as other adults around them. This, however, is not the case with the Western countries of the world where children follow the motto ‘Thou shalt do what thou wilt’ as promoted by celebrities and rock stars. I believe that following strict rules has both advantages as well as serious drawbacks as discussed below.

Firstly, strict rules of behavior create responsible and respectful children who in turn mature into respectful adults. This forms a stable society which is virtually free from negative trends such as prostitution and drug abuse. Secondly, if children do not follow strict rules of behavior, they may get out of hand and become work-shy and indolent. This may then create a burden on the society since the government has to find ways to cater for these social ills.

However, forcing children to follow strict rules of behavior doesn’t always yield positive results as discussed above, most of the time it backfires and works against society. For example, teenagers are more likely to do the opposite of what they’re told to do simply because they want to be independent. Children should also have rights to exercise their free will and develop their own pattern of behaviors. Imposing strict rules may simply destroy the individuality of children.

At the end of the day, it is clear that children should be guided by rules, but these rules should not be imposed on them because as human beings, they need to have room to develop their own traits of character and adopt a behavioral pattern of their own.

This essay is too long (309 words instead of advised 250-265). Otherwise this work is a very good one; it covers the task, your position is clear, the ideas are well-organized, expressed, explained and supported. The sentences show a wide range of language structures, cohesive devices and your grammar is fine. Overall, this seems to be a band 7.5 or higher essay.

IELTS : Band 8 Writing Sample - 6

Even though globalization affects the world’s economies in a very positive way, its negative side should not be forgotten. Discuss.

Globalization is such a commonly used term in the twentieth century. It simply means that the world has become integrated economically, socially, politically and culturally through the advances of technology, transportation and communication. It is undeniable that globalization has resulted in both positive and negative effects which must be addressed accordingly.

To begin with, globalization has contributed to the world’s economies in many beneficial ways. The advances in science and technology have allowed businesses to easily cross over territorial boundary lines. Consequently, companies tend to become more productive and competitive thereby raising the quality of goods, services and the world’s living standard.

Secondly, several companies from the more developed countries have already ventured to establish foreign operations or branches to take advantage of the low cost of labor in the poorer countries. This kind of business activity will provide more influx of cash or investment funds into the less developed countries.

However, one cannot deny the negative effects which have derived from globalization. One crucial social aspect is the risk and danger of epidemic diseases which can easily be spread as the transportation becomes easier and faster in today’s advanced society. This is evidenced in the recent birds flu disease which has infected most Asian countries over a short period of time.

As large corporations invest or take over many offshore businesses, a modern form of colonization will also evolve which may pose certain power pressure on the local governments of the less developed countries. Unemployment rates in the more developed regions such as Europe may also escalate as corporations choose to outsource to the cheaper work force from Asian countries.

In conclusion. I like to reiterate that globalization is inevitable and we must urge individuals, companies and governments to use a more balanced approach by taking the appropriate steps to deal with matters relating to the financial or economical gains verses the social, political or ecological concerns of the world.

This essay is too long, 318 words instead of 250-265. Otherwise (except for some minor grammatical errors) it is a very nice work. It covers the task, has the right structure, the paragraphs are coherent and are logically connected by elegantly used linking words, the structure of sentences is fine and so is your vocabulary. Seems worthy of Band 7.5 or 8.

IELTS : Band 8 Writing Sample - 5

Financial education should be a mandatory component of the school program. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

It is an obvious fact that financial aspects are a major part of the daily life, as an adult and even as a young individual. Each and every one of us has to make financial decisions concerning recreation, health, education and more. The question is whether to start with financial education as part of school program or to postpone it for a later stage in life.

To begin with, being able to understand the value of money, the way the economic system works and to interpret financial news and its implications is a virtue. Without this virtue, an individual, even a young one, might suffer to some extent. For an example, a child who doesn’t understand the concept of money might find it more difficult to except choosing only one present out of more possible ones.

In addition, many adults are lacking capability of financial analysis. Quite often, the reason can be the lack of sound foundations or insecurity when it comes to financial terms and concepts. Starting from an early age, building a strong background, can very likely prevent such situation.

However, financial education necessarily involves quantifying and setting prices and value for services and goods. It can easily turn young people into cynical human beings who lack emotion. Furthermore, a tendency to self-concentration and egoism might rise when one start measuring everything from a profit-making perspective.

In conclusion, financial education has both pros and cons. In my opinion, the advantages are more significant than the disadvantages, making financial education an advisable component of the school program. The disadvantages should be thought of as a certain price that young people have to pay due to the characteristics of the world that we live in.

This is a wonderful essay. It covers the task, is correctly structured, the paragraphs are logically connected, the structure of sentences shows excellent command of the English language. The vocabulary is fine and both spelling and grammar are very good. See comments underlined in blue for some minor corrections. Overall, looks like a Band 7.5 – Band 8 essay.

IELTS : Band 8 Writing Sample - 4

As computers are being used more and more in education, there will be soon no role for teachers in the classroom.

There have been immense advances in technology in most aspects of people’s lives, especially in the field of education. Nowadays, an increasing number of students rely on computers for research and to produce a perfect paper for school purposes. Others have decided to leave the original way of learning and to get knowledge through online schools. These changes in the learning process have brought a special concern regarding the possible decrease of importance of teachers in the classroom.

Some people believe the role of teachers started to fade because computers have been helping some students to progress in their studies quicker compared to studies in an original classroom. For example, in the same classroom, students have different intellectual capacities, thus some would be tied to a slow advance in their studies because of others’ incapability of understanding. In this way, pupils could progress in their acquisition of knowledge at their own pace using computers instead of learning from teachers.

However, the presence of a teacher is essential for students because the human contact influences them in positive ways. Firstly, students realize that they are not dealing with a machine but with a human being who deserves attention and respect. They also learn the importance of studying in a group and respect for other students, which helps them improve their social skills.

Moreover, teachers are required in the learning process because they acknowledge some students’ deficiencies and help them to solve their problems by repeating the same explanation, giving extra exercises or even suggesting a private tutor. Hence, students can have a better chance of avoiding a failure in a subject.

In conclusion, the role for teachers in the learning process is still very important and it will continue to be such in the future because no machine can replace the human interaction and its consequences.