Our Canadian friend S has shared the two parts of IELTS exam she remembered (Writing and Speaking).

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a letter)

You have trouble paying rent for the house where you live. Write a letter to your landlord explaining your current financial situation and ask for a house change.

Writing Task 2 (an essay)

Some people say that to become a good teacher, you should acquire enough training, while others say that teaching capabilities can be developed with experience. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Speaking test

Interview

- Where are you from?
- Do you like guests?
- Where do you like to spend time with them, at home or outside? Why?
- Tell me about your house.
- What would your dream house look like?
- What are your goals for the near future?

Cue Card

If you were to start a business, what kind of business would it be? Please say

- How do you know about it?
- What would inspire you to do it?
- What is the advantage of this business?

Discussion

Don’t remember.

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As we all know, learning from other people’s experience is a very effective technique, and here is your opportunity to find out how Giulia (from Italy) and Ahmed (from Bangladesh) were able to get Band 7.5 in their IELTS exams. As winners of our ‘Best IELTS result’ competition, Giulia and Ahmed were asked to share their advice. Here it is:

Giulia said:

“I would suggest to all the IELTS candidates to improve most of all their abilities in time management, because I think that it’s very difficult is to do your best, especially in the writing part, in such a short time. In order to do that it is useful to do as much exercise as possible keeping an eye on the watch. For the writing part, I found it very helpful to learn a list of linking expressions to use in every situation and some synonyms for the most common words, since they make the text look more fluent.

During the speaking, improvising is better than keeping silent. And, I know it might look obvious, but still it’s important to live the English language day by day, reading newspapers and talking with native speakers.

Last, but not least, it’s fundamental not to panic!”

Ahmed said:

“I was not born in a native English speaking country. However, I have effectively used specific techniques in order to get better at my English skills. I have been always trying to implement any particular technique in each of the 4 modules before the exam. For example, I have practiced the “Mind Mapping” technique in both Speaking and Writing modules.

Other activities such as listening to music and the news regularly in English have increased my lexical resources. I believe my biggest strength is in writing, as everyone has their own. I have always tried to pretend that I’m writing something even when practicing for a different module. I always recorded my speaking and tried to listen to it later to check for errors.

IELTS-Blog has also provided me with the latest questions from different countries, which enriched my knowledge too. I would sometimes write down the lyrics of a song just to check how am I doing with my English Listening. Scanning, Skimming, Analyzing, Identifying specific information have been the main keys for my Reading.

All in all, I encourage each and every one out there planning to sit the IELTS exam to make an organized effort and to understand the format of the test.”

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The questions below were remembered and share by P, who had an IELTS exam in Mumbai, India recently.

Speaking test

Interview

- What is your name?
- Where do you come from?
- Please, describe your city.
- Is your city a good place for younger generation?
- How many languages do you know?
- Is it difficult to learn a second language?

Cue Card

Describe a city/town that you like to visit. Please say

- What town is it?
- Why do you like it?
- How do you know about this town?
- What attracts you the most in this town?

Discussion

- What are the differences between rural and urban lifestyles?
- What other benefits do you get from the city except for health, education and transport facilities?
- When more people move from rural to urban areas, what would the consequences be?

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The IELTS exam below was shared by M from the UAE.

Listening test

Section 1. A person was inquiring on the phone about a hotel’s facilities for a birthday party.

Section 2. Health centre manager was guiding a new receptionist, describing the type of patients and doctors in the health center and the floor plan of the building.
Questions: diagram / map labeling.

Section 3. A student and a tutor were discussing the wind turbines used in Australia, their specifications, advantages and disadvantages.

Section 4. Don’t remember.

Reading test

Passage 1. Theory and the causes of extinction of apes around the world.
Questions: match quotations to experts’ names.

Passage 2. Development of the mathematical tables and models to solve problems.

Passage 3. How music therapy can heal people. Scientific reasons and expert opinions on curing diseases and illnesses such as burns, autism in children and so on, using music.
Questions: filling in blanks, True/False/Not Given, matching exercises.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

We had a table showing four African countries’ oil production over four years. We were asked to summarize the information.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Nowadays, young people are admiring media and sports stars even though they don’t set a good example. Do you think this is a positive or a negative development?

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You may remember Venkatesh Neelakantan from India, one of our competition winners last month, who took the third place with a band score of 7.5. Here are some tips Venkatesh was happy to share about his way of studying:

“I am absolutely delighted to hear the news. Thank you very much for the certificate and the appreciation. It is indeed one to be treasured.

In my opinion, making English a part of everyday life is very important. One needs to think in English, see more English channels, converse extensively in English. Even if it is throwing a spontaneous tantrum, let it be in English. It is OK to make mistakes, but the conscious attempt to better oneself should be definitely made. English should be so entwined that it should become the second nature. This enhances the ability to grasp new words and phrases easily.

Secondly, reading a lot of editorial articles from good newspapers helps. In Chennai, India I used “The Hindu”. This is a leading newspaper and contains articles written in a very good English.

Thirdly, referring to websites and read others’ opinions and advice is important. In that regard, I would undoubtedly say that your site IELTS-Blog is a one stop shop to seek answers for all the questions I had in mind. It is a kind of a mega mall where I got not only exam tips, but also sample essays and other valuable pieces of information from other contributors. I would suggest readers to run through your entire website and grasp as much as possible.

Last but not the least, aim higher! The mind should be tuned to a perfect 9. As the saying goes “Aim for the stars and you may reach the sky”. This is what I did.

Hope my suggestions help others in excelling in their IELTS pursuit.

Good luck to everyone and my heartfelt gratitude to IELTS-Blog.com”

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The following Speaking questions were shared by our friend D from India (thank you!).

Speaking test

Interview

- What is your name?
- What shall I call you?
- Do you work or study?
- What is your job?
- Is it difficult to find such a job in your country?

Cue Card

Describe a situation that angered you the most. Please say

- Where and when did it happen?
- What exactly made you angry?
- How did you handle this situation?

Discussion

- When you replay this situation in your mind, do you still feel angry?
- Do you think expressing your emotions is important? Why?
- How do people in your country express their emotions?
- What are the effects of positive or negative emotions on health? Explain both.
- Do you like to dance?
- Why do you like dancing?
- When do people in your country usually dance?

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Our friend D from Melbourne has shared the parts he remembered of his recent IELTS exam (Writing and Speaking).

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

We had a table showing the proportion of population above 60 years of age in 6 different regions.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Nowadays companies put more emphases on social skills in the recruitment process. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Speaking test

Interview

- What city are you from?
- Please tell me about your city.
- What do you like the most about the city?
- Is it important for older people to do physical exercises?
- Do you exercise every day?
- How helpful is it?
- Do you plan to exercise in the future?
- How active are you?
- How often do you cook at home?
- Do you think home culture is important for people?

Cue Card

Describe your favorite restaurant. Please say

- What decoration style does it have?
- What kind of food is served there?
- Whom do you go there with?

Discussion

- What is the main difference between restaurant food and home cooked food?
- Is it important to teach children to cook?
- What is the best way to teach them to cook?

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These are the speaking questions from the IELTS exam in Taiwan we shared yesterday.

Speaking test

Interview

- What is your house like?
- What kind of house would you like to have in the future?
- Do you like fashion?
- Do you think you would like to buy some designer’s clothes for yourself?
- What kind of clothes were you wearing in the past, that you don’t wear anymore?
- Do you often read local or international newspapers? Why?

Cue Card

Talk about a product from another country that you want to buy. Please say

- What kind of product is it?
- What country is the product from?
- Why do you want to buy it?
- Is it convenient for you to buy this product in the place where you live?

Discussion

- Do you think nowadays more people want to buy imported goods?
- What kind of imported goods do people in your country buy often?
- Why do some people refuse to buy imported goods?
- What are the benefits for companies in a global market?
- How does the Internet affect the growth of business?

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Our kind friend from Taiwan has shared a recent IELTS exam, enjoy:

Listening test

Section 1. A conversation between an apartment renter and the building’s assistant manager about call tariffs and Internet fees.
Questions: filling in blanks and multiple choice.

Section 2. A botanical garden owner showing her garden.
Question: multiple choice.

Section 3. A conversation of two students on the requirements for the presentation.
Questions: filling in blanks, short-answer questions (no more than X words).

Section 4. About the construction of the first railway in Australia.
Questions: filling in blanks, multiple choice.

Reading test

Passage 1. A research on managerial roles.
Questions: True / False / Not Given, choose the appropriate letter for right answers.

Passage 2. The discovery of the first analogue computer.
Questions: filling in blanks, match people’s names to their phrases.

Passage 3. A research into visitor-employed photography VEP
Questions: match title for each paragraph, match names of people to the relevant phrases, multiple choice.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

We were given a table that described the percentage of population over age 60 in 8 regions all over the world between 2000 and 2005.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Employers now tend to prefer employees with good social skills in addition to good qualifications. Social skills are getting more and more important compared to qualifications. Do you agree or disagree?

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The IELTS exam in India (below) was shared by our kind friend N, who remembered the Writing and Speaking sections.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a letter)

Write a letter to the clothing shop manager and let her/him know about the problem you have noticed with the clothes you bought in from his/her shop, which is located in another city far away from your home town. In your letter

- Explain the problem you noticed.
- Say what you felt when you noticed the problem.
- Explain what you would like the manager to do.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Radio will no longer be able to hold its presence as television and Internet media will replace it very soon. Do you agree or disagree?

Speaking test

Interview

- What is your name?
- Do you work or study?
- What is the nature of business of your company?
- Do you like to write letters or emails?
- Do you use a laptop to write a letter or do you use a pen?
- To whom mostly do you like to write?
- Do you like collecting letters?
- Do you think collecting letters is a good habit?
- Do you live in a village or a city?
- Tell me something about your home town.
- What do you do to keep yourself fit?
- Do you like running?

Cue card

Tell me about a journey you have taken when you were a child, please say

- Where you went
- With whom you visited that place
- How you went there, and
- What you did there.

Did you enjoy your vacation?

Discussion

- Do you like to travel to the same place again?
- What kind of transport do people of your city use mostly?
- Do you think that using motorcycles is a good option for traveling?
- Who do you think travels most, a person from a city or from a village?
- Do you think that standards of transportation will improve in the future?

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