Four Subtle Changes Occurring in English

Have you noticed these 4 subtle changes which are occurring in English?

http://shar.es/AaVdu

How can you best prepare for the IELTS test?

As most of you will know, there's a huge amount of misinformation about IELTS online.

Take care not to waste your time looking at silly "tips" on unreliable websites.

To prepare for the IELTS test you must:

1. Familiarise yourself with information about the test from the official sources:

http://www.ielts.org/

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-qualifications/ielts/how-to-prepare/

Also:

http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/

http://www.ieltspractice.com/

http://www.idp.com/ielts.aspx

http://www.els.edu/en/DiscoverELS/IELTS

2. Continue to work on building your English language skills daily (reading, writing, listening and speaking)

3. Practise the test. Some feedback on your speaking and writing from an experienced IELTS teacher may be helpful but is not absolutely necessary.

4. Join an IELTS class locally or online if needed.

That's it!

If you have questions, feel free to ask :).

Speaking Topics: Travel

"Trip Advisor" is a popular travel review website. Today, their "Travelers' Choice 2013 Top 25 Landmarks - World" list was released.

Can you guess which world landmark was at the top of the list?

Check here http://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-Attractions-cLandmarks-g1-a_Mode.expanded to see if you were correct!

Have you visited any of these places?

Which five of these landmarks would you most like to visit? Why?

What can we learn from visiting other places and cultures?

Being Prepared for Discussion in Speaking and Writing: Another Great Resource (Time Magazine)

If you've been practising the speaking and writing sections of the IELTS test, you'll be well aware that you need to be able to discuss a range of topical issues. This requires both awareness and language.

Throughout this blog you'll find numerous recommendations for free online reading and listening resources to help develop both your awareness of such issues and the language needed to express your ideas in English.

Another such resource is Time Magazine. Their "most popular stories of the week" page is very useful:

http://www.time.com/time/most_popular

If you wish, you can choose to have the week's top ten stories sent to your email.

Enjoy learning about the world while you improve your English language skills!

English Language Learning Tips - Listening Test Skills

Here are some great tips for your listening test from Cambridge English Language Assessment:

http://www.youtube.com/user/cambridgeenglishtv?feature=watch

Which tip did you find most useful?

Cambridge English Examinations

The IELTS test is just one of the tests from Cambridge English Language Assessment (formerly known as University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations) in which you may be interested.

Cambridge English Language Assessment is a not-for-profit department of the University of Cambridge.

"Cambridge English Language Assessment offers the world’s most valuable range of qualifications for learners and teachers of English. Over 4 million people take our exams each year in more than 130 countries. Over 13,000 universities, employers, government ministries and other organisations around the world recognise Cambridge English qualifications as proof of English language ability."

Their website is http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/ .


You can follow Cambridge English Language Assessment here:

https://www.facebook.com/CambridgeEnglish?

twitter.com/CambridgeEng

youtube.com/CambridgeEnglishTV

More information about Cambridge English Exams and Qualifications can be found at http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-qualifications/

Learn about the world while improving your English: United Nations Radio

Here's a great resource for improving your English skills as you learn about the world:

http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/

"UN Radio has a daily 10 minute programme, with a news bulletin and two features, which is uploaded onto our website and iTunes at around 1800 GMT on Monday to Friday. We also have three regional magazine programmes; UN and Africa, UN calling Asia and Women as well as Caribbean News Report individual stories specifically for the Caribbean region. The programmes are all 10 minutes long and can be downloaded as stand-alone programmes for rebroadcast.

Is there a fee to use UN Radio material?
No, we never charge for our content; it is always free.

How can I access the content?
All our content is accessible online. It can be downloaded free of charge after registering."

Listening daily to good models of English is very important to the development of your spoken language. It's also essential to keep up to date with world affairs in order to be able to hold a discussion in the IELTS Speaking test and support your views in the Writing test, Part 2 (essay).

Top Five Free English Language Learning Websites

Trying to bring your English language skills to the next level? Check out the top five free websites recommended by OpenLanguage:

"Top 5 - English Language Learning Websites

There are thousands of free English resources online; some can be extremely valuable tools but it can be difficult to sort through all of the material out there to find the gems. The resources we have listed below will help you improve your speaking, listening, reading and writing."

Go to http://blog.openlanguage.com/2013/05/27/top-5-english-language-learning-websites/

***Note: the link to the VOA (Voice of America) website seems to be broken. It should be http://learningenglish.voanews.com/ .
.

First "IELTS Official" Ask the Experts Live Chat on Facebook

IELTS Official on Facebook is holding their first ever ‘Ask the Experts’ live chat session on 07 June at 13.30-14.30 BST.

You have the rare chance to ask IELTS experts your questions about the General Training Writing task.

Find out the time of the session where you are: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

You'll need to find and like "IELTS Official" on Facebook to join: https://www.facebook.com/IELTSOfficial

Free series of IELTS preparation lessons from GoodAtESL (Youtube)

Check out this very useful free series of IELTS preparation lessons from GoodAtESL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZPLzhKNBw0&list=UUWNN4WInIfOczqIl5uQyq7Q

Learn English/Prepare for IELTS with experienced teacher online with Skype

Here is my web page, for anyone interested in learning English or preparing for IELTS with me online with Skype:

http://www.englishteachinglive.com/index.html

Need help with spelling?

How's your English spelling?

Check http://www.ugru.uaeu.ac.ae/spelling/ielts/ielts.htm if you could use some help!

New Facebook Page for IELTS Preparation

You can find the new IELTS_Live page on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/pages/IELTS_Live/459147834166466

Click "like" to follow the page and opt to receive notifications if you would like updates to appear in your Facebook newsfeed.