I'm an IELTS examiner...

[CanadaNow]

Hi there,

I'm a Canadian citizen and I'm going to sponsor my fiancé after marriage to move to Canada with me.

He is thinking of doing a post grad in Canada after we marry, was wondering if he would need the IELTS certification when he receives PR? He's an Indian citizen.

Also I'm not sure if PR is received immediately or it takes a couple of months or years? Since you are sponsoring your wife over, would you have an idea how long it will take for her PR to come?

Hi Marina,

Regarding the application processing timelines, please refer to the following link noting there are two parts (part 1 for the sponsor and part 2 for the applicant). While I realize these timelines are quoted for worse case scenario, it is a start.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp

For more specific timelines, you may want to search the forums for a thread (or spreadsheet) about people from the applicant's (your husband??) part of the world and more specifically people who applied at approx the same time. This will help you get an idea of what your timelines may be like although Computergeek obviously has a really good grasp of those timelines as well.

Good luck!!

 

[cheers13]

Hi,

I'm an English trainer and IELTS examiner who happens to be sponsoring his wife over for PR.
Since I'm here anyway you can let me know if there's any questions about the test and I'll try to answer.
Note, my knowledge is about the test itself, not NOC, CLB, CELPIP, TEF, or immigration in general (I'm here to learn).

If you have questions about improving your scores please try to be specific.

Dear Examiner,
Could u please let me know about IELTS books which can help to achieve band score 7.
I have Cambridge IELTS Volumes 1 to 8 other than these books which books can be followed.
How will I be able to understand my probable scoring level specially in writing and speaking before real exam?
Thanks in advance.

 

[sharpe88]

There should be no difference in taking the IELTS anywhere in the world. We all follow the same guidelines and scoring criteria. If the situation is different in practice in India, I wouldn't be able to say.. but since it's probably run by the British Council there, I would guess not.

I am an Indian thinking about to take IELTS academic in Canada many of them saying that we cannot get good score in canada when compared to India ,will there be any difference in evaluation particularly in speaking and writing.as I am writing IELTS in.native English speaking country.
kindly reply me

 

[sharpe88]

Good advice. Do this kind of practice and then do IELTS practice materials as well.

I know exactly what you mean since I had the same problem myself and partialy still do.The thing is that you have to learn to think in English.You have to turn your mind language to "english mode ".To succeed in that you have to practice English in every chance you have in your daily life .Actually you have to imerse yourself into the specific language in many ways.Read books for fun (not text books ),listen to podcasts repeatedly (lets say the same podcast , 4-5 times per day for a week ,so by the end of the week you will know the podcast by heart),download and watch repeatedly tv series (I recomend two and a half men ,it's fun and they speak quite clear),keep a notebook with you at all times and note down not only the unknown words but the words you would like to know ,watch BBC for at least half an hour everyday.Finaly ,you can repeat instantly what you hear in your mind.The hard part in the test is at the end when you have to read and listen to all of the information at the same time.That is the only think that confuses me a bit but you know ,Rome wasn't build in a day.Good luck with the real thing.

 

[sharpe88]

Hi canadanow,

IELTS examiners do give leeway to different accents. However, the standard is ultimately based on native English speakers' pronunciations.. and by this they mean British, American, Canadian, Australian/NZ, or South African English (not the Afrikaan-accented variety i suppose)

I'm afraid I have never heard mosquito pronounced as mos-kwee-toe so I would consider that as non-standard. Whether or not these pronunciations would affect her mark much or at all would depend on how often they occured.

hi Sharpe,

Thanks for volunteering your knowledge while you are hanging out with us

My question is to do with English Language certification in general (not IELTS specifically). Just curious how the oral exams view different pronounciations from different parts of the world.

For example:
I have always pronounced the word mosquito as mos-kee-toe (my region has always taken the U as a silent letter in most if not all QU situations)
My Kenyan wife pronounces the same word as mos-kwee-toe

I don't see these as different accents but different pronounciations. I don't think either way is incorrect and over the years I have noticed several pronounciation differences.

How do the language certification companies (IELTS/TOEFL etc) account for these differences?

Thanks

 

[sharpe88]

Hi cheers,

I find an older book called "101 Helpful Hints for IELTS" to be pretty good.

The official IELTS practice tests have answers and explanations so you can actually score yourself (except for speaking, of course).

Dear Examiner,
Could u please let me know about IELTS books which can help to achieve band score 7.
I have Cambridge IELTS Volumes 1 to 8 other than these books which books can be followed.
How will I be able to understand my probable scoring level specially in writing and speaking before real exam?
Thanks in advance.

 

[spyrosbestplumber]

Dear Sharp88

First of all I would like to thank you for sharing.I think it is very important to get information about the real thing from peple who do that for a living.I also would like to ask you a couple of questions germane to the test itself and how an examinne can be ranked to a specific band.
I sat the test about a year ago (general module ) and I have to admit that eventhough I was very stressed ,the examiner was very nice and friendly to me.At some point ( I am refering to the speaking part as you understand) ,when I was asked to speak for the two minutes I stucked ,so she waved me friendly to continue.Also ,when the interview ended ,the examiner asked me friendly some questions about the reasons I am taking the test and other personal issues.I answered her that I am thinking of immigration because I have a family to suport and nowadays I am strungling due to the financial crisis in Greece.My question is ,is there any chance that she judged me more willingly because of our conversation?Also could that conversation be part of the test? I am asking because allthough I am a good user regarding speaking I really thought that I blew it since I stopped at the point where I was supposed to elaborate for the two minutes.By the way I was ranked 6.5 which as I mentioned it was a plesant surprise for me.On the other hand ,I thing that in the writting part I was judged too strict because i got myself a six and I had a lot of preperation made before.Also some tutors said to me that my writting is usually about 6.5 to 7.5 .Do you thing that the rating had to do with the fact that I was sitting the test for the first time?Do you know if the examinee has sat the test before?Thank you in advance.

 

[an74]

I know exactly what you mean since I had the same problem myself and partialy still do.The thing is that you have to learn to think in English.You have to turn your mind language to "english mode ".To succeed in that you have to practice English in every chance you have in your daily life .Actually you have to imerse yourself into the specific language in many ways.Read books for fun (not text books ),listen to podcasts repeatedly (lets say the same podcast , 4-5 times per day for a week ,so by the end of the week you will know the podcast by heart),download and watch repeatedly tv series (I recomend two and a half men ,it's fun and they speak quite clear),keep a notebook with you at all times and note down not only the unknown words but the words you would like to know ,watch BBC for at least half an hour everyday.Finaly ,you can repeat instantly what you hear in your mind.The hard part in the test is at the end when you have to read and listen to all of the information at the same time.That is the only think that confuses me a bit but you know ,Rome wasn't build in a day.Good luck with the real thing.

Excellent thanks for your good advice

 

[sharpe88]

Spyros, examiners do try to be friendly and helpful (um, not all though). As far as I know though, examiners are *not* supposed to make small talk with the candidate outside of the test and it certainly shouldn't affect your score. However, examiners are human and biases happen so it's always possible. For part 2 Speaking, if you talk sufficiently for at least one minute it's not necessary to go the full two minutes.

As for your writing mark, it's quite hard to say. Note that the scores round down; that is to say is you score for example 6.5/6.5/6.5/6.0 for a writing task, your score will be 6.0 for the task.

And yes writing the test for the first time can be stressful, and as with any test your performance may not be to the same level that you have practiced.

Dear Sharp88

First of all I would like to thank you for sharing.I think it is very important to get information about the real thing from peple who do that for a living.I also would like to ask you a couple of questions germane to the test itself and how an examinne can be ranked to a specific band.
I sat the test about a year ago (general module ) and I have to admit that eventhough I was very stressed ,the examiner was very nice and friendly to me.At some point ( I am refering to the speaking part as you understand) ,when I was asked to speak for the two minutes I stucked ,so she waved me friendly to continue.Also ,when the interview ended ,the examiner asked me friendly some questions about the reasons I am taking the test and other personal issues.I answered her that I am thinking of immigration because I have a family to suport and nowadays I am strungling due to the financial crisis in Greece.My question is ,is there any chance that she judged me more willingly because of our conversation?Also could that conversation be part of the test? I am asking because allthough I am a good user regarding speaking I really thought that I blew it since I stopped at the point where I was supposed to elaborate for the two minutes.By the way I was ranked 6.5 which as I mentioned it was a plesant surprise for me.On the other hand ,I thing that in the writting part I was judged too strict because i got myself a six and I had a lot of preperation made before.Also some tutors said to me that my writting is usually about 6.5 to 7.5 .Do you thing that the rating had to do with the fact that I was sitting the test for the first time?Do you know if the examinee has sat the test before?Thank you in advance.

 

[spyrosbestplumber]

Hi sharpe ,I would like to hear your opinion on the following.I 'd appreciate any comments.

IELTS Writing TASK 1 HANDOUTS

Opening a Formal / Semi-Formal letter :
1. I am writing with regard / reference to …
2. I am writing in connection with …
3. I am writing to express my concern / satisfaction / dissatisfaction about …

Closing a Formal / Semi-Formal letter :
1. An early response would be much appreciated
2. I would appreciate if you can resolve this matter immediately
3. Thank you for your time and consideration
4. I look forward to a favourable reply from your side
5. I hope you will look into this matter promptly / ungently
6. I look forward to ‘your reply’ / ‘hearing from you soon’

Closing a Personal letter :
1. Hope to hear from you soon

Express pleasure / satisfaction :
1. I was delighted about / by …
2. I thoroughly enjoyed …
3. … was very impressive / enjoyable

Express needs / wants / desires :
1. What I am looking for is …
2. What would suit me best is …
3. I am very keen to …
4. I would be grateful if you could …

Express Gratitude :
1. I would like to thank you for …
2. I highly appreciate …
3. I am grateful to you for …

Type of Letter Purpose Statement
Giving information I am writing to advise that …
Requesting information I am writing to request information about …
Giving Instructions I am writing to explain how to …
Relating an event I have been asked to give details of the accident …
Giving good news I am very happy to tell you that …
Giving bad news I regret to inform …
Complaining I am writing to complain about …
Describing I am writing to describe what I remember of the …
Advising or Suggesting I would like to offer some suggestions about …

Giving Information :
1. It gives me great pleasure to be able to …
2. I am pleased to be able to …
3. I am happy to announce …
4. Please be advised / informed that …
5. Here is the information you required / requested / asked for …
6. Attached please find the information you required / requested / asked for …

Giving Good news :
1. I am delighted to be able to advise / tell / inform you that …
2. I am pleased to advise / tell / inform you that …
3. It gives me great pleasure to advise / tell / inform you that …
4. I have some great / good news to share with / tell you…


Giving Bad news :
1. I am sorry to say that …
2. I regret to advise / tell / inform you that …
Giving a reason
1. This is due to …
2. This is owing to …
3. This is because of …
4. This is the result of …

Requesting Information :
1. I would appreciate it if you could send me information on …
2. It would be appreciated if you could …
3. It would be (most) grateful if you could send me information on …
4. Could you please send / forward / supply information on …
5. Would you please send / forward / supply …
6. Would you be so kind as to …
7. Would you mind sending / forwarding / supplying me …
8. Please may I have some information on …
9. Please send / forward / supply the information on …
10. Send / forward / supply the information on …
11. Give me information on …
12. I want information on …
Being Explicit
1. In particular, I need to know …
2. Actually I need information on …
3. The information I require is …
4. What I require / need / want is …

Giving Instructions :
1. Please remember to clean the …
2. Please arrange to have the iron repaired …
3. Please have the car repaired by next Friday …
4. Please clean the …
5. I would like you to clean the …
6. I want you to clean the ...

Complaining :
Announcing a complain
1. I am writing to complain about …
2. I would like to make a complain about …
3. Unfortunately, they were some problems with …
Make a Point
1. I would like to remind you that …
2. I would like to point out that it is …
3. I am unhappy about / do not like …
4. I am not comfortable about / with …
5. … is not what I ‘expected’ / ‘was expecting’
6. … does not suit me / my needs
7. … is too + <adjective>
8. Although I stated that …
9. Despite my request for …
10. Even though I telephoned you about …
Warning
1. Unless something is done about this, I will be forced to take the matter to …
2. Unless you do something about this, I will have to …
3. If you fail to take adequate / proper action, I will …






Making Suggestions :
1. I would suggest that you …
2. Perhaps / maybe you could try to …
3. Have you thought about …
4. You should / might …
5. Why do not you …
6. You might like to …
7. What about to doing / having / going / trying …

Apologizing :
1. I regret that …
2. I am sorry that I …
3. I regret to inform you that I …
4. Please forgive me for …
5. Unfortunately / Regrettably I …
6. I am extremely sorry that …
7. I apologize for the trouble …
8. Please accept my apologies for …
9. Please pass on my apologies to …
10. Give my apologies to …

Politeness :
1. May I …
2. Would it be possible to come at 8 and not 7:30 pm ?
3. Would you mind if I changed the meeting time ?
4. Would you mind turning down your music as I cannot …
5. Could I / you come at a later more convenient time …

Formal Letter Template

Dear Sir / Madam,
I am writing this letter as a response to your advertisement / article in X newspaper.

I am writing this letter as I would like to commend on your article in X newspaper.


First of all / Secondly / Moreover / Furthermore / Also / However / On the other hand

Finally, ____ is a very controversial subject and so very difficult for someone to state opinion. Nevertheless, I think that ___.

Yours Sincerely,

Con Zoolander

Informal Letter Template

Dear John,
How are you? How is your family? Have you finally finished with your exams at the University? If you have I hope you did great.
It was really happy to hear from you! Well, I think I can give you my opinion on your problem...

First of all / Secondly / Moreover / Furthermore / Also / However / On the other hand

Finally, I hope I have helped with my ideas. I hope I see you soon. Do not forget my super birthday party is coming up. I will expecting you!

Your friend

Con Zoolander


IELTS Writing TASK 2 HANDOUTS

State your opinion
Set Phrases Verbs Adjectives Adverbs
in my opinion agree certain definitely
from my point of view believe positive certainly
in my view think convinced probably
to my way of thinking understand sure conceivable
to my mind suppose persuaded maybe
it seems to me that guess confident perhaps
to me hope possibly
it is my opinion that imagine seemingly

Examples :
1. It seems to me that fathers can take care of children just as well as mothers can.
2. I suppose that some children could benefit from art and music education.
3. I am certain that over reliance on cars has led to many problems in our society.

Generalizing and Qualifying
Generalizing Qualifying
all in all in a way
as a rule more or less
basically so to speak
by and large for all intents and
for the most part purposes
generally to some extent
in general to some degree
on the whole up to a point

Examples :
1. All in all, children learn better when they have a formal relationship with their teacher.
2. Generally, people pay too much attention to fashion.


Connecting and Linking words

Time Degree Causes and Effect
before most important so
after first thus
since primarily for this reason
next principally as a result
then above all because
soon in the first place because of
at the same time less important since
while second due to
meanwhile in the second place therefore
to lesser degree consequently
owing to
so that

Examples :
After the new highway was built, the village of Palm Grove began to grow. People still worked in
the fishing industry. At the same time, a few new hotels were built. Then, more and more
tourists started arriving to spend their vacation time at the beach. Soon, the village was crowded
with visitors from other places.





Explanation Adding more information
in other words in addition
such as more
to clarify besides
like furthermore
for instance also
for example as well as
that is whats is more
to illustrate
namely
1. The first step in the process is tapping the trees ,that is, making holes in them so the sap can come out. There are different ways to collect the sap, for example, using old-fashioned buckets or using modern plastic tubing. Using buckets is more time consuming, so most people nowdays use plastic tubing. In other words, people prefer using the more efficient method.
2. Home cooked meals are generally more nutritious than store bought or restaurant meals. They also tend to be tastier. Furthermore, preparing meals at home contributes to the improvement of family relationships.

Comparison Contrast
similar to different from
similarly nevertheless
just as although / even though
like unlike
likewise yet
in the same way but
at the same time as in contrast to
also however
almost the same as even so
common with however
correspond to in opposition to
resemblance less than
resemble more than
to be parallel to otherwise
1. Many people believe that art and music classes are just as important as academic classes.
Although, there is a validity to this point of view, I disagree with it. Art and music are important,
but academics are even more important. Academic classes give children knowledge that will
need in their future professions. Likewise, academics teach children important cognitive skills.
Art and music classes, on the other hand, do not help children develop professional skills.
2. Landline phones and cell phones are devices used for communicating with people in other places. The biggest difference between a landline phone and a mobile phone is that a landline stays in one place whereas / while, a mobile can go anywhere. Moreover, a landline always stays in your home or office. A mobile phone, however, can travel anywhere with you. In contrast to / unlike a landline phone, a mobile is easily misplaced.

Cause Effect
accordingly have an effect on
as a result hence
because owing to
because of reason for
consequently since
due to so
for this reason therefore
thus
The use of drugs amongst teenagers can have severe consequences. For this reason, drug use is
strictly prohibited in almost all countries throughout the world. Drugs can have an effect not only to individual concerned, but related family members and friends as well. Therefore, it is treated as a serious crime and is disliked in our modern day society.



Voice
Active Voice
Parents should limit their children’s computer time.

Passive Voice
Children’s computer time should be limited.

Samples
1. Some people are not bothered by violent TV programs, but others avoid them.
2. If we do not like a particular TV program, we can easily change the channel.
3. While many people avoid watching violent TV programs, other do not mind them and watch them frequently.

 

[Rekha Arun]

hi,
Can you plz give me some idea on Academic writing task 1 and 2.

Thanks
Rekha

 

[zubairishaque]

Hi sharpe88.

I am preparing for IELTS (General Training) exam. Could you please suggest me which is the best among below to follow:

Cambridge
Kaplan
Barron
Oxford
Target Band
Official IELTS and so on....

As I know practicing in all will be perfect. But I need the most popular brand name.

Any senior`s who written IELTS, pls suggest.


Thanks.

 

[Shaukat57]

Hi sharpe ,I would like to hear your opinion on the following.I 'd appreciate any comments.

IELTS Writing TASK 1 HANDOUTS

Opening a Formal / Semi-Formal letter :
1. I am writing with regard / reference to ...
2. I am writing in connection with ...
3. I am writing to express my concern / satisfaction / dissatisfaction about ...

Closing a Formal / Semi-Formal letter :
1. An early response would be much appreciated
2. I would appreciate if you can resolve this matter immediately
3. Thank you for your time and consideration
4. I look forward to a favourable reply from your side
5. I hope you will look into this matter promptly / ungently
6. I look forward to ‘your reply' / ‘hearing from you soon'

Closing a Personal letter :
1. Hope to hear from you soon

Express pleasure / satisfaction :
1. I was delighted about / by ...
2. I thoroughly enjoyed ...
3. ... was very impressive / enjoyable

Express needs / wants / desires :
1. What I am looking for is ...
2. What would suit me best is ...
3. I am very keen to ...
4. I would be grateful if you could ...

Express Gratitude :
1. I would like to thank you for ...
2. I highly appreciate ...
3. I am grateful to you for ...

Type of Letter Purpose Statement
Giving information I am writing to advise that ...
Requesting information I am writing to request information about ...
Giving Instructions I am writing to explain how to ...
Relating an event I have been asked to give details of the accident ...
Giving good news I am very happy to tell you that ...
Giving bad news I regret to inform ...
Complaining I am writing to complain about ...
Describing I am writing to describe what I remember of the ...
Advising or Suggesting I would like to offer some suggestions about ...

Giving Information :
1. It gives me great pleasure to be able to ...
2. I am pleased to be able to ...
3. I am happy to announce ...
4. Please be advised / informed that ...
5. Here is the information you required / requested / asked for ...
6. Attached please find the information you required / requested / asked for ...

Giving Good news :
1. I am delighted to be able to advise / tell / inform you that ...
2. I am pleased to advise / tell / inform you that ...
3. It gives me great pleasure to advise / tell / inform you that ...
4. I have some great / good news to share with / tell you...


Giving Bad news :
1. I am sorry to say that ...
2. I regret to advise / tell / inform you that ...
Giving a reason
1. This is due to ...
2. This is owing to ...
3. This is because of ...
4. This is the result of ...

Requesting Information :
1. I would appreciate it if you could send me information on ...
2. It would be appreciated if you could ...
3. It would be (most) grateful if you could send me information on ...
4. Could you please send / forward / supply information on ...
5. Would you please send / forward / supply ...
6. Would you be so kind as to ...
7. Would you mind sending / forwarding / supplying me ...
8. Please may I have some information on ...
9. Please send / forward / supply the information on ...
10. Send / forward / supply the information on ...
11. Give me information on ...
12. I want information on ...
Being Explicit
1. In particular, I need to know ...
2. Actually I need information on ...
3. The information I require is ...
4. What I require / need / want is ...

Giving Instructions :
1. Please remember to clean the ...
2. Please arrange to have the iron repaired ...
3. Please have the car repaired by next Friday ...
4. Please clean the ...
5. I would like you to clean the ...
6. I want you to clean the ...

Complaining :
Announcing a complain
1. I am writing to complain about ...
2. I would like to make a complain about ...
3. Unfortunately, they were some problems with ...
Make a Point
1. I would like to remind you that ...
2. I would like to point out that it is ...
3. I am unhappy about / do not like ...
4. I am not comfortable about / with ...
5. ... is not what I ‘expected' / ‘was expecting'
6. ... does not suit me / my needs
7. ... is too + <adjective>
8. Although I stated that ...
9. Despite my request for ...
10. Even though I telephoned you about ...
Warning
1. Unless something is done about this, I will be forced to take the matter to ...
2. Unless you do something about this, I will have to ...
3. If you fail to take adequate / proper action, I will ...






Making Suggestions :
1. I would suggest that you ...
2. Perhaps / maybe you could try to ...
3. Have you thought about ...
4. You should / might ...
5. Why do not you ...
6. You might like to ...
7. What about to doing / having / going / trying ...

Apologizing :
1. I regret that ...
2. I am sorry that I ...
3. I regret to inform you that I ...
4. Please forgive me for ...
5. Unfortunately / Regrettably I ...
6. I am extremely sorry that ...
7. I apologize for the trouble ...
8. Please accept my apologies for ...
9. Please pass on my apologies to ...
10. Give my apologies to ...

Politeness :
1. May I ...
2. Would it be possible to come at 8 and not 7:30 pm ?
3. Would you mind if I changed the meeting time ?
4. Would you mind turning down your music as I cannot ...
5. Could I / you come at a later more convenient time ...

Formal Letter Template

Dear Sir / Madam,
I am writing this letter as a response to your advertisement / article in X newspaper.

I am writing this letter as I would like to commend on your article in X newspaper.


First of all / Secondly / Moreover / Furthermore / Also / However / On the other hand

Finally, ____ is a very controversial subject and so very difficult for someone to state opinion. Nevertheless, I think that ___.

Yours Sincerely,

Con Zoolander

Informal Letter Template

Dear John,
How are you? How is your family? Have you finally finished with your exams at the University? If you have I hope you did great.
It was really happy to hear from you! Well, I think I can give you my opinion on your problem...

First of all / Secondly / Moreover / Furthermore / Also / However / On the other hand

Finally, I hope I have helped with my ideas. I hope I see you soon. Do not forget my super birthday party is coming up. I will expecting you!

Your friend

Con Zoolander


IELTS Writing TASK 2 HANDOUTS

State your opinion
Set Phrases Verbs Adjectives Adverbs
in my opinion agree certain definitely
from my point of view believe positive certainly
in my view think convinced probably
to my way of thinking understand sure conceivable
to my mind suppose persuaded maybe
it seems to me that guess confident perhaps
to me hope possibly
it is my opinion that imagine seemingly

Examples :
1. It seems to me that fathers can take care of children just as well as mothers can.
2. I suppose that some children could benefit from art and music education.
3. I am certain that over reliance on cars has led to many problems in our society.

Generalizing and Qualifying
Generalizing Qualifying
all in all in a way
as a rule more or less
basically so to speak
by and large for all intents and
for the most part purposes
generally to some extent
in general to some degree
on the whole up to a point

Examples :
1. All in all, children learn better when they have a formal relationship with their teacher.
2. Generally, people pay too much attention to fashion.


Connecting and Linking words

Time Degree Causes and Effect
before most important so
after first thus
since primarily for this reason
next principally as a result
then above all because
soon in the first place because of
at the same time less important since
while second due to
meanwhile in the second place therefore
to lesser degree consequently
owing to
so that

Examples :
After the new highway was built, the village of Palm Grove began to grow. People still worked in
the fishing industry. At the same time, a few new hotels were built. Then, more and more
tourists started arriving to spend their vacation time at the beach. Soon, the village was crowded
with visitors from other places.





Explanation Adding more information
in other words in addition
such as more
to clarify besides
like furthermore
for instance also
for example as well as
that is whats is more
to illustrate
namely
1. The first step in the process is tapping the trees ,that is, making holes in them so the sap can come out. There are different ways to collect the sap, for example, using old-fashioned buckets or using modern plastic tubing. Using buckets is more time consuming, so most people nowdays use plastic tubing. In other words, people prefer using the more efficient method.
2. Home cooked meals are generally more nutritious than store bought or restaurant meals. They also tend to be tastier. Furthermore, preparing meals at home contributes to the improvement of family relationships.

Comparison Contrast
similar to different from
similarly nevertheless
just as although / even though
like unlike
likewise yet
in the same way but
at the same time as in contrast to
also however
almost the same as even so
common with however
correspond to in opposition to
resemblance less than
resemble more than
to be parallel to otherwise
1. Many people believe that art and music classes are just as important as academic classes.
Although, there is a validity to this point of view, I disagree with it. Art and music are important,
but academics are even more important. Academic classes give children knowledge that will
need in their future professions. Likewise, academics teach children important cognitive skills.
Art and music classes, on the other hand, do not help children develop professional skills.
2. Landline phones and cell phones are devices used for communicating with people in other places. The biggest difference between a landline phone and a mobile phone is that a landline stays in one place whereas / while, a mobile can go anywhere. Moreover, a landline always stays in your home or office. A mobile phone, however, can travel anywhere with you. In contrast to / unlike a landline phone, a mobile is easily misplaced.

Cause Effect
accordingly have an effect on
as a result hence
because owing to
because of reason for
consequently since
due to so
for this reason therefore
thus
The use of drugs amongst teenagers can have severe consequences. For this reason, drug use is
strictly prohibited in almost all countries throughout the world. Drugs can have an effect not only to individual concerned, but related family members and friends as well. Therefore, it is treated as a serious crime and is disliked in our modern day society.



Voice
Active Voice
Parents should limit their children's computer time.

Passive Voice
Children's computer time should be limited.

Samples
1. Some people are not bothered by violent TV programs, but others avoid them.
2. If we do not like a particular TV program, we can easily change the channel.
3. While many people avoid watching violent TV programs, other do not mind them and watch them frequently.

Excellent stuff!!!!!

 

[muhib]

hey buddy, thanks for your info

any tips for writting score to get higher? from 6.5 which I got to maybe 8 ??

 

[apkp]

Hi,

I'm an English trainer and IELTS examiner who happens to be sponsoring his wife over for PR.
Since I'm here anyway you can let me know if there's any questions about the test and I'll try to answer.
Note, my knowledge is about the test itself, not NOC, CLB, CELPIP, TEF, or immigration in general (I'm here to learn).

If you have questions about improving your scores please try to be specific.

Hi,
I have a question in my mind that i want to clear.
i passed 12th in 2004 with 67% marks, due to some domestic problems i had to work after that. now i want to know that is this possible to give IELTS academic for me if i want to do a degree course in commerce though ILETS.
Please reply