IELTS-IELTS Advice and guidance, everything you need to succeed on your IELTS exam

My new blog

2011-04-02T21:13:00.000-07:00

Check out my new blog at my dedicated blogsite:

http://www.ieltsielts.com

My brand new blog at www.ieltsielts.com

2011-03-14T03:17:00.001-07:00

After a few years of blogger, I've finally succumbed to the WordPress world of blogging and have created a dedicated blog space at www.ieltsielts.com. If you subscribe to this feed through FeedBurner, you've got nothing to worry about as I will still be streaming my material through that account. For everyone else, please follow me at ieltsielts.com to see the latest IELTS related stuff I'm working on.

Thanks!

Ryan

Spoken performance enhancers

2010-11-30T04:51:00.000-08:00

Here is a nice little video series pointing out how to respond correctly on your spoken examination. (Note: I was not able to find all videos in this series, so what you see here is just parts 4, 5 and 7.)

Spot the mistakes in this student's speaking response

2010-11-29T05:40:00.000-08:00

This student makes a number of mistakes in here response. Can you spot a few areas?

IELTS Speaking - Can you spot a few areas where this student could improve?

2010-11-28T04:39:00.001-08:00

Take a look at this video. This student performs pretty well, but there are some areas in need of improvement.

Positive:
-very few hesitations
-no bad pauses
-no short answers or unnecessarily long answers
-very natural use of English idioms and phrases

Negative:
-a few grammatical errors
-she gets tongue-tied at moments

Qualifying words

2010-11-26T04:00:00.000-08:00

For those of you looking to improve your writing and reading, take note of some of these alternative ways to describe the quality of something.

Time/Rate of occurrence	Never, rarely, seldomly, once in a blue moon, occasionally, sometimes, often, next to always, always, without fail
Conditional	Only, except, if, on the condition that, provided that
Order	Before, after, first, second, third, final, last
People	Women, men, male, female, professional
Negative	Non-, un-, not, no
Quantity	Surpassing, over, under, few, too much, too little, not enough
Supporting/Refuting	Anti-, but, yet, however, on the other hand, with this, in favour of
Possibility	May, might, could, potentially, possibly, probably, must, certainly
Importance	Necessary to, need to, ought to, have to
Comparison	More ... than, bigger, smaller
Additional info	Further, in addition, also, as well

Two common mistakes made by IELTS exam takers (speaking section)

2010-11-24T06:56:00.001-08:00

I can't tell you how many times I've seen IELTS students use sentences like:

"He told me you are smart."

Please don't become a victim of bad spoken grammar habits.

My hat goes off to Rebecca, who makes a very nice summary of reported speech here. I've also included another video of hers regarding speaking about future events. Commit these two tips to memory and practice them daily as you train.

Learn English and Study ESL Online: Intermediate Listening

2010-11-18T06:22:00.000-08:00

Good pauses!

2010-11-02T04:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a vid that exemplifies good pausing. As you can see, the exam taker takes a brief second after each question to respond. This makes her look relaxed, confident and much more fluent than a speaker who tries to answer too quickly or who pauses with 'um'.

IELTS speaking exam video

2010-10-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

I've been told this student scored 7 on their speaking exam following this performance. Their language demonstration here is pretty impressive. When watching, please note the number of colloquailisms she uses. She sounds very fluent and pauses only enough to properly prepare her answers (these are healthy pauses).

Listening skills summary

2010-10-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

Some great tips from Dominic Cole!

Another speed-reading video...

2010-10-24T05:41:00.000-07:00

I am hooked to these now! Here is a short course (you'll have to go to YouTube for the rest of the series).

Good summary of some speed reading techniques

2010-10-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

An old vid but a good one!

2010-10-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

Here's an old video (I'm sure many of you have seen it before) with some great IELTS-related tips for the spoken portion of the exam.

If you're going to pay your IELTS examiner a compliment, do it correctly...

2010-10-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

A couple examples regarding how to give a compliment to someone in English without sounding fake or insincere...

Nice little summary of 4 commonly misused words (thanks, James!)

2010-10-05T03:49:00.000-07:00

IELTS Task 2: How to write at a 9 level

2010-02-21T06:23:00.000-08:00

You can buy my new eBook for only $5 USD here! It will be emailed to you automatically after payment is complete:

Cleaning up a student's essay ...

2009-09-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

News from China

2009-05-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

Long time no see. :)

Thank you very much for your friendly messages and comments on my IELTS material and IELTS YouTube videos. As some of you may know, YouTube and Blogger have been blocked in China. Thus, I can not upload new videos or respond to any of the messages or posts sent to me through these websites. I am using a proxy server to make this post, and I plan to post updates to this blog as often as I can, but the connection is incredibly slow.

To respond to the many requests I receive regarding online help with IELTS prep, I have reduced my essay coaching price to 10 USD per essay correction. Those I have been in contact with will receive an email from me shortly with your essay assignment question. To those interested in joining our group, please email me.

Good luck!

Ryan

YouTube problems

2009-04-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

I am very sorry for the lack of updates as well as the lack of new videos on my YouTube site. If you haven't heard, YouTube has been blocked here for the past 3 weeks. I am very sorry that I have not been able to get back to those who have sent me questions or comments.

As soon as this ban is lifted, I will upload new IELTS tutorial videos.

For the time being, why don't you add me as your friend on Facebook. :)

Very good video on vowel pronunciation

2009-01-22T06:39:00.000-08:00

This is probably the best video I have seen online about proper vowel pronunciation. I used this video and its tips in my classes last week and the students all found it very helpful.

IELTS Letter Writing

2008-12-26T22:25:00.000-08:00

I have recently been watching a few of RebeccaESL's online lessons and they are great! Here is her take on the IELTS letter writing section of the exam...

Neat virtual online test

2008-12-07T22:18:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. Sorry for the lack of updates recently.

As I was trolling the internet, I came across this neat virtual online test. It test the reading portion of the IELTS exam and even has a small countdown timer to ensure you complete the task within the alloted time!

Check it out by clicking here.

Tips for the IELTS speaking section

2008-11-13T08:45:00.000-08:00

Here are some helpful tips for the IELTS speaking section of the IELTS exam. The YouTube user is 'voxguru' and he has a number of helpful videos that you might also want to check out (click inside the video window to go to his YouTube user's page).

A nice message to my YouTube account

2008-10-27T21:56:00.000-07:00

A very nice message from 'kakosuranosx' on YouTube:

Hey Ryan! Hows going?
My friends and I miss your video lessons a lot. I hope you back to post soon. We like your lesson a lot. We always visit your site on Internet. We think you are a great English teacher. I had a english test last week, and I couldn't believe it when I saw my grade. It was awsome. My teache spoke good things about the text. Your videos helped me a lot. I am very happy. Thank you. Please, post more videos so that we can learn more about composition with you. :)

Thanks for the message!

IELTS exam section 1 vocab booster resource

2008-10-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some helpful videos that can help strengthen your vocab, particularly for section 1 of the IELTS exam. Clicking inside the video box will take you to the corresponding YouTube page.

Check out some other lessons of this type at www.businessenglishpod.com

Doing well in the IELTS speaking section involves stressing words where appropriate...

2008-10-17T23:35:00.000-07:00

I am sure I have posted her lessons before, but Jennifer's teaching has helped numerous speakers develop their English and speak much more like a native speaker. She has a number of videos on the importance of stressing words in your sentences and I find them particularly helpful for my students. Here is one of them. For more, please visit her YouTube page at

Real IELTS course (dubbed version)

2008-09-18T00:18:00.000-07:00

Someone in China uploaded and ENTIRE IELTS oral course on the internet! Here is the first video. The instructor speaks very quickly, but I watched the first lesson (about one hour) and found a number of good tips that will also be helpful for you. The instructor occasionally refers to some textbook. I am not sure what textbook this is but I do not feel it is necessary to have this to understand what she is talking about.

For the rest of the videos (over 8 hours), check out - http://www.youku.com/playlist_show/id_819090.html

Sozoexchange - Speak English like a native speaker

2008-09-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

These videos provide a good resource you may wish to use to improve your speaking. The team behind them uploads a new video daily, so there is always a lot of fresh material.

You can find more pronunciation videos at Sozoexchange's YouTube website (click inside the video box to visit).

Good luck!

I love receiving emails like this!

2008-09-05T09:51:00.001-07:00

Hi Ryan,

Your youtube course videos helped me score 8 out of 9 in IELTS writing section.

Thanks a lot.

Kumar

Helpful little video with grammar tips for writing

2008-08-08T23:18:00.000-07:00

I like this guy's videos! The tips might be a little basic for most students preparing for the IELTS or TOEFL exam, but they act as a good review none-the-less.

Check out this YouTube user's other videos on his YouTube page by clicking inside the video window below:

Some general writing tips

2008-08-05T01:12:00.000-07:00

I came across this very helpful vid on YouTube. Some great tips that many students unfortunately fail to make note of prior to their IELTS exam.

Fixing problems in your essay

2008-07-29T11:28:00.001-07:00

Just a small video on how to fix some common problems in your IELTS essay.

Help with IELTS reading

2008-07-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

I came across this helpful video describing how to better understand the vocabulary in your IELTS reading.

How to start the sentences in your essay...

2008-07-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of short vids I put together outlining some suggestions to help start the various sentences in your IELTS essay.

IELTS reading skills

2008-07-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

Here is a nice video I found that summarizes the different reading skills you will need for the IELTS exam - skimming, scanning and reading in detail.

The new IELTS-IELTS.com page!

2008-07-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I have decided to use blogger.com to help me keep this website organized.

Using blogger.com, I will be able to update this page much more regularly. I hope this will make it more useful to you as an English student.

Please also feel free to leave comments on my blog posts and to visit my other website at www.englishryan.com.

Have a great week!

Ryan

How to write an argument essay thesis

2008-07-13T06:08:00.001-07:00

A few nice messages I have received

2008-07-13T06:07:00.001-07:00

From AngelArif:

Dear EnglishRyan:

I've scored 8.5 in writing section of IELTS...I was greatly benefitted by the style you showed in your videos...I wish your best from my heart... May Allah help you and be successful in this world and next.

From musicloverboi:

Thank you very much for posting such superb videos. Because of it, I scored a band 8 for IELTS with an individual score of 8 as well for the writing module. =D

How to decide what type of essay to write

2008-07-13T06:04:00.001-07:00

A small vid I put together on how to decide what type of essay to write.

Scoring on the IELTS exam

2008-07-13T06:03:00.001-07:00

A very nice summary of the IELTS exam

2008-07-13T06:02:00.002-07:00

Here is a brief video that summarizes the different versions of the IELTS exam and their purposes nicely.

Writing an IELTS discussion essay together...

2008-07-13T06:02:00.001-07:00

Here is a small video series I put together a while ago demonstrating how to write a mock IELTS essay. I think the whole thing is around 30 minutes or so.

IELTS discussion essay tutorial

2008-07-13T06:01:00.001-07:00

Some helpful IELTS prep downloads...

2008-07-13T05:59:00.001-07:00

Here are a few helpful files with example exams and responses. Teacher comments are also provided. If you are preparing for the general level IELTS exam, I suggest checking out the writing section. It has a pretty thorough overview of what you are expected to do in response to the graph given.

Good luck!

Writing an IELTS argument essay

2008-07-13T05:57:00.000-07:00

3 videos demonstrating IELTS exam letter writing

2008-07-13T05:55:00.000-07:00

2 videos outlining how to structure your argument essay

2008-07-13T05:51:00.000-07:00

Another essay video

2008-04-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

Hello!

I finally got around to making another essay video and will try to make another couple this week.

Bye for now!

Ryan

Cold again in Shanghai

2008-03-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to updating the www.ielts-ielts.com page I created a few weeks ago and also wrote two lessons for www.englishryan.com.

Besides that, just spent the weekend relaxing and eating 'zong zi'. Zong zi is a Chinese food made of rice wrapped in a leaf, and it tastes awesome!

It's cold (again) in Shanghai, so I spent most of the weekend studying Chinese. I am now trying to learn the characters, but it is REALLY difficult. For example, check out this video:

Argh!

Laundry list of apologies

2008-03-16T08:50:00.001-07:00

Maybe I should entitle this blog the 'apology' blog seeing as that is all I ever seem to write in it. :D But sorry that there have been so few updates. I spent the weekend outside with some friends, taking advantage of the awesome weather (t-shirt time!)

Last week, I taught some lessons on how to express yourself when you are annoyed by something. We used phrases like:

It bugs me when...

I find it irritating when...

My pet peeve is...

I am just sitting down to make lesson plans for the coming week and thought perhaps an interesting topic would be how to express yourself when you like something. So here are some phrases you can try out:

I love it when...

It's awesome when...

I find ... ... very pleasant.

----------

Have a great week!

Ryan

Active forum

2008-03-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

I came across this forum http://www.usingenglish.com the other day. It is a great resource and is always active with both teachers and students. If you have any English related questions, check it out!

Ryan

Some new updates

2008-03-10T00:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry again for the lack of updates. I wrote and recorded a few new lessons today and will get them up after work this evening.

Ryan

IELTS page up

2008-03-06T09:29:00.000-08:00

I have finally put together a page dedicated to IELTS prep. There is not much on it now, but I will get some more vids up this weekend. Check it out at - http://www.ielts-ielts.com

Good luck!

Ryan

I love Shanghai

2008-03-02T02:33:00.000-08:00

Beautiful day here in Shanghai! Going to hit the bund (Shanghai waterfront) later

Hope you are having a nice day, too

Ryan

Upcoming topics...

2008-02-29T10:39:00.000-08:00

Thanks to those of you who sent me the kind comments (you know who you are).

I am running dry on audio lesson ideas, so if you can think of any interesting topics, pass them my way!

I just finished a small article on the comic book character Tintin (will record, edit and upload it tomorrow).

Wan an (Goodnight)

PS - Spring has finally arrived in Shanghai!

A few small updates...

2008-02-26T06:52:00.000-08:00

I am sorry that I have not been posting new lessons as regularly as I should. I have been trying to make some small changes to the website. Tonight, I will be posting:

- a link to an English forum on Alibaba.com that I frequent (visit often). So if you would like to interact with me and some other great English teachers, check it out!

- a new audio lesson

- a new game lesson

All the best!

Ryan

New lesson posted

2008-02-23T14:12:00.000-08:00

Just posted a lesson about the world's wealthiest women. It is 6:15 am here in Shanghai, and I am going to bed. :D

I wanted to get a few game posts up and an extra post, but it is just too late. I do not have any classes booked tomorrow, so I should have time to do it then.

Goodnight

My first blog post...ever!

2008-02-19T08:36:00.000-08:00

Hi, this is Ryan from EnglishRyan.com. I put together this blog so that I could let www.EnglishRyan.com visitors know what was going on with the website and when they can expect posts to occur (and to share a little information about my life in Shanghai) :D

I have been trying to get at least 2 audio posts up every week, one video post every month and random postings in the 'game lessons' and 'extra lessons' sections. Sorry my posts have been a little slow lately. I have been so busy with work and trying to encourage EnglishRyan.com ranking on Google that I have not had much time for anything else (although I did make it to the city of Hang Zhou on the weekend - it was so beautiful!)

Please let me know what you think of the website and what you think could be improved.

Have a great week!

Your friend,

Ryan