Thursday, December 14, 2006

Essay Topics

  • Some people say the parents should except schools to conduct their children's behaviour and tell them what is 'right' or 'wrong'. Others say schools should take this responsibility. Please give your point about it.
  • To what extent should economic planning be influenced by the need of environmental conservation.
  • Education is the single most important factor in the development of a country. Do you agree?
  • What kind of listening challenges do overseas students face in tertiary education? What recommendations would you offer?
  • Should wealthy nations be required to share their wealth among poorer nations by providing such things as food and education? Or is it a responsibility of the governments of poorer nations to look after their citizens themselves?
  • In some countries the average worker is obliged to retire at the age of 50, while in others people can work until they are 65 or 70. Until what age do you think people should be encouraged to remain in paid employment? Give reasons for your answer.
  • The rising levels of congestion and air pollution found in most of the world cities can be attributed directly to the rapidly increasing number of private cars in use.. Discuss possible ways to encourage the use of public transport.

Monday, December 11, 2006

General Training - Writing Task

Task 1


You are due to start a new job next week but you will not be able to because you have some problems.

Write a letter to your new employer.


In your letter:


  • explain your situation

  • describe your problems

  • tell him/her when you think you can start

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task and you need to write 150 words.



Speaking


Part 1

Type of topics:

Family, home, work, study, hobbies, about the candidate's country, food, friends.
The duration of this part would be around 4-5 minutes

You will be asked about the most interesting places in your hometown. What type of jobs people do in your hometown? What type of jobs did people do during your grandmothers time? Whether it's a good place to live in. Then she/ he will ask about the type of accommodation that is available and about the type of accommodation you live in, how much the rent is etc.

Part 2

Task Description

The candidate will be given a task card together with a piece of paper and a pencil to make notes.

This will last for about 3-4 minutes.

The candidate will be given 2 minutes to prepare. The candidate will have to speak for 2 minutes . The examiner may stop before 2 minutes.

Some topics:
  • Describe a teacher who has greatly influenced you in your education. Where you met them, what subject they taught, what was special about them. Explain why this person influenced you so much.
  • Describe something you own which is very important to you. You should say where you got it from, how long you have had it, what you use it for and explain why it is important to you.
  • Describe a film or a TV programme which has made a strong impression on you: You should say: what kind of film or TV programme it was, eg: comedy. When you saw the film or TV programme, when the film or TV programme was about and explain why this film or TV programme made such an impression on you.

More topics will be posted shortly

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Two types of tests

There are two types of tests - Academic and General. Academic test is required for candidates who wish to study in a foreign University. General is mainly required for migration purposes.
For these tests the Listening and Speaking will be the same but the Reading and Writing tests are different.

Here is the rough band score, this could change a little bit according to each test and location.

  • Listening

Band Score Raw score out of 40
5 16
6 23
7 30
8 35

  • Academic Reading

Band Score Raw score out of 40
5 15
6 23
7 30
8 35

  • General Training Reading

Band Score Raw score out of 40
4 15
5 23
6 30
7 34

IELTS 2006

Hi All,

I created this blog to share some useful information and material with IELTS candidates. I will be sharing whatever material I have and hope others will do the same.

IELTS stand for International English Language Testing System. I am sure all who plan to sit for this exam know the meaning of IELTS but thought of mentioning it anyway.

There are 4 sections in this exam such as Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Great news for students is that starting May this year IELTS can be taken at anytime as there is no 90 day waiting period to retake the examination, which is a great relief to all the candidates.

The link to the IELTS official site is http://www.ielts.org/