A Conversation with Someone who disagrees (x)

Here, I will finish my answer to the 11th comment from those people who do not agree with me, who might say:

‘Why should anyone trust you? You just want money!’

My Response

I admire your skepticism. Please show that skepticism with every IELTS Preparation (and always ask for their credentials!). As well as the four reasons in the previous post, you should also trust me because of …

5    my IELTS books.

There are six of them now, including two IELTS Test Practice Books, all written by one person, myself. Take a look at the books, and you will see they are the very opposite of all the ‘junk IELTS book’ out there. My books are full of content, with methods and systems, exercises and practice in a mixture of grammar, vocabulary, strategies, and IELTS test material. These books are obviously produced by someone who is an expert in his field, and spent a lot of time writing them [eight years, actually].

These books are published in Vietnam, and the Test Practice Books are distributed throughout South-East Asia and the Middle-East. I am currently working on the seventh (and final) book in my IELTS series: the IELTS Listening Book. After that, the whole set (7 books) will be published internationally.

These books are an absolute guarantee that I’m a dedicated professional, intend on helping others succeed in life.

You should also trust me because of …

6  my willingness to allow observation (showing I’ve got nothing to hide, and am fully confident that I should impress any intelligent and informed observers).

7  my website: aisielts.com

This website has grown to be a great resource for IELTS students, as well as a proof of all my claims and past history. (e.g click here). You should respect a teacher who actually provides proof of everything he says.

8  this pixnet blog.

This blog does not consist of empty boasts, meaningless guidelines, trivial gossip, false claims, and bad advice.

You will see that the blog is a solid and professional. It is a resource of IELTS and English practice material and advice, all designed to help you. You should realise that all the pixnet inputs took a lot of thought, preparation, and work to create, and show my experience and ongoing willingness to help you.

Only someone who is very professional would invest so much time in this.

Okay, now I’m at the half-way point of this series of 50 posts. I trust you’ve been interested enough to keep reading. Remember, reading and checking up the vocabulary at the end of eachpost is good for your English.

So, what happens in the next 25 posts? Well, it gets interesting. The next subject I will explore in depth is the ‘fake teacher’ syndrome. I promise you, if you care about your learning and your country, you need to read this.

Now, check that you know the meaning of the underlined vocabulary (also repeated below).

• to distribute (v)
• a guarantee (n)
• to be confident (adj)
• to boast (v)
• to be trivial (adj)
• to gossip (v)

If you want to find out more about me, go to aisielts.com .

A Conversation with Someone who disagrees (ix)

Let us continue (and finish) our imaginary conversation with that person who strongly disagrees with everything I have said. I will list the final comments, and give my answers. They are pointing at me now, and accusing me.

11^th Comment

Why should anyone trust you? You just want money!

My Response

I admire your skepticism. Please show that skepticism with every IELTS Preparation teacher you encounter (and always ask to see their credentials!).

My answer to your comment is that I don’t just want your money. Money is actually my secondary consideration. My primary consideration is …

…. to help you !

Yes, I want you to succeed in life. I want you to achieve your goals, and achieve everything that you can. That’s what makes the world a better place. That’s why I did the Cambridge CELTA course, then flew to Bangkok and began teaching (for very little money, actually) – and spent a year there, sweating in the heat and humidity of Bangkapi (on the outskirts of Bangkok). That’s why I taught in Caracus, Venezuela (check it up), South Korea, and Australia (at Monash University’s English Language Centre). That’s why I kept studying the art of teaching English to foreign learners, and keep training myself, and spent eight years writing my IELTS books (which don’t make me much money at all!). That’s why I am working on my next book: IELTS Listening – a huge job, and it won’t make me much money at all (again). I do, and have done, all this in order to become a better teacher, provide better resource material for students, and help people.

The trouble is, I’ve met too many people who made the wrong choices, wasted their time and money, and have gotten nowhere with people who DON’T want to help them. That’s why I speak out here. And why should you trust me? Let me be a bit more systematic in my explanation (rather than just generally give thoughts, as in the previous paragraph). Here are eight reasons (and there are more). You should trust me because of …

1. my credentials. [Please click on this word].

This is one of the most important reasons (hence it is given first). Remember, almost no teacher ever wants to show credentials. Ask yourself, “Why not?” And also ask yourself, “Shouldn’t people care about this?”

Would you go to a doctor who wasn’t really a doctor? What about a dentist? What if they were actually just people on the street just pretending to be doctors and dentists? In Taiwan, anyone can pretend to be a teacher; anyone can pose as an expert – and many people do. The reason they can get away with this is that no one seems to care about credentials! It’s time to start caring about them, don’t you think?

You should also trust me because of …

2. the proof I offer of my credentials. [Did you click on that word?]  Click again, HERE.

3. my experience.

4. my track record.

Check PTT, and read the feedback. Search for my name, and do all the research about me that you want. If you come to my classroom, I can show you a booklet full of testimonies from students from schools where I have taught in the past.

And in the next post, I’ll give another four reasons why you can trust me.

Now, check that you know the meaning of the underlined vocabulary (also repeated below).

• skepticism (n)
• credentials (n)
• to pose as sth./sb. (v)
• to get away with sth.
• testimony (n)

If you want to find out more about me, go to aisielts.com .

Hi everyone

Here’s a photo of the IELTS Writing & Listening Class, and it all finished last Friday, and it was great teaching them all. The IELTS Reading & Speaking Course finished the day before. Good luck guys (and girls). I feel so good that I was able to help you in life.

But it all begins today, Monday 26th, with Term 3. I’ve got two IELTS Writing & Listening Courses (afternoon and night), and the IELTS Reading & Speaking Course (starting tomorrow night). Well, I’m sorry to see the last of the people in the photo (although some of them are in the new IELTS Reading & Speaking Course), but I’m always happy to meet new people, too.

People are all different, in appearance, personality, intelligence, and skill-levels, but they are always interesting, and I always love helping them. Both Writing & Listening Courses are FULL (!!!), so I’ll be meeting 24 people today, and we’ll be having a GREAT time in the classroom. There’ll be jokes, laughter, interaction, and self-discovery, and the PowerPoints I have been developing over the last 12 years will make it all clear and memorable.

Tomorrow night, I’ll meet another 12 people [yes, the Reading & Speaking Course is FULL, too!), and do it all again. It will be very hard work, particularly all the correction of the IELTS Writing Assignments, but I LOVE teaching. What I really love is the feeling of helping others. My wife and I have met so many students who were not helped at all, and that’s so sad. That’s why we are happy to be here: dedicated professionals, trained, qualified, experienced, and dedicated to helping you. That’s why I work so hard, that’s why I’ve invested 12 years of dedicated work into PowerPoints development, and over 20 years of work in writing IELTS books, studying TEFL theory, and developing practical skills in teaching. Because the better I can help people, the better I feel.

Well, Term 3 is full, so it’s too late to join, but there’s the … 

Sunday Integrated IELTS Skills Course

… beginning April 29th.

And there’s Term 4, beginning April 30th, with the …

IELTS Writing & Listening,

IELTS Reading & Speaking.

Hopefully I’ll see you in one of these IELTS course, right?

A Conversation with Someone who Disagrees (viii)

Let us continue our imaginary conversation with that person who strongly disagrees with everything I have said. They are like the picture above, and they certainly don’t look happy, right? They may even get personal in their comments. I will list one of those comments, and give my answers.

Their 10^th Comment

I don’t care what you say. My school/teacher is wonderful, and I like the style of teaching they/he/she use.

Furthermore, this person says you’re no good at all, and none of your students ever learn anything from your class!

My Response

Always remember that the least effective methods of teaching English (that is, one based on mechanical memorisation, constant use of Chinese language to translate and explain meaning, and unthinking unchallenging inactivity by the students) require the least effort, least knowledge, least skill, and least commitment from both teacher and students. The teachers using this approach have easy lives, and so do their students, who just spend time in the classroom without learning much (but have been convinced to pay lots of money for it). The teachers chat in Chinese, give you Chinese printouts downloaded from the Internet, and fill in all the classtime explaining things in Chinese. Because of this unchallenging atmosphere, you might feel happy with these teachers, and like them as people. Most significantly, if these teachers have convinced the market that they are an ‘IELTS expert’, they can be getting rich in this way.

Obviously, these sorts of teachers don’t want anyone to know the truth about language learning. Money corrupts people, and makes them interested only in themselves. That means these sorts of teachers want to keep the thinking here in Taiwan locked in the 1970s, so they can keep earning their easy money. They don’t want their ‘rice bowls broken’, to use a Chinese idiom. Obviously, these people are the ones who will most aggressively object to my thoughts. So, if your teacher says any sort of 10^th comment, a wise response would be to ask for evidence that it is true – that is, ask those people to outline a coherent argument why they have that attitude, and to prove it.

The most important step is to then analyse what they say with COLD HARD LOGIC! I have read some of the counter-arguments (translated from the Chinese), and they make NO sense at all. I ask some of my friends, ‘Does that make any sense to you?’ and they say, ‘Even in Chinese, it’s not logical.’ However, then they shrug their shoulders, and add, ‘But I’m an intelligent person.’ Hmmmmmm.

Well, you might also ask that teacher to show you proof of their TEFL credentials, TEFL achievements, and TEFL experience. Ask to see the original copies of any documents (because people can claim anything, remember). You might then also compare those credentials (if they exist), to mine. [Just click on http://www.aisielts.com/about-om/about/my-credentials/  where everyone is displayed and proven]. You then have to draw your own conclusions.

Moving from the teachers to the students, everyone has a right to ignore my advice about the best teaching methodology – but think carefully about what I have discussed. Remember that comment: ‘But I’m an intelligent person.’ Don’t you want that comment to apply to you? Don’t you want to confidently make that comment yourself? Stubbornly insisting on your view when you have no evidence at all to support it is not intelligent. Allowing yourself to be easily tricked by others is naive. Those who get ahead in this world assess people and situations carefully, and weigh up the evidence with an open but critical mind. Successful people use that cold hard logic, and make choices based on that. If you want to be successful, you need to think carefully, and ultimately, the decision is yours.

We will look at the final critical comment in the next posts.

Now, check that you know the meaning of the underlined vocabulary (also repeated below).

[Wow, there’s a lot of vocabulary in this post!]

• to corrupt (v)
• an idiom (n)
• to be aggressive (adj)
• to be coherent (adj)
• to shrug one’s shoulders (v phrase)
• credentials (n)
• to be stubborn (adj)
• to be naive (adj)
• to assess
• evidence (n)
• ultimately (adv)

If you want to find out more about me, go to aisielts.com .

This person doesn’t look happy, right? They might even be saying, “You have no right to give your views on a blog.”

A Conversation with Someone who Disagrees (vii)

Let us continue our imaginary conversation with that person who strongly disagrees with everything I have said. They are like the picture above, and they certainly don’t look happy, right? I will list their comments, and give my answers.

Their 8^th Comment

I don’t care what you say. A Chinese-speaking teacher can explain everything to me, and understands me better. We share the same culture, and I definitely need someone to explain everything to me.

My Response

     I think I answered this comment in the 13^thand 14^thpost of this series. Go back and read them again.

Their 9^th Comment

You have no right to give your views on a blog.

My Response

Are you serious? [And yes, unbelievably, people have attacked me for this for real, saying those very words; ‘You have no right to give your views on a blog!’]

Maybe this is cultural – it is something a western person NEVER EVER would say. The comment goes right to the heart of freedom of speech, civil rights, and democracy. [Have you heard of them?] It’s absolutely amazing to me that people will actually say these words, and I’ll repeat them: ‘You have no rights to give your views.’ Those people would love Adolf Hitler, too. They wouldn’t like Martin Luther, and would probably be cheering as Jesus was crucified. We can’t allow trouble-makers like that to upset the apple-cart, right? Get rid of them quickly!

But, on the good side, the people who said these comments were definitely … hmmm … well, let’s just say, they were the sort of people who made me put that picture at the top of this page.

Anyhow, about the ‘no right to give your views’ comment, do I really have to explain? Well, here goes. People have blogs in order to give their views. That’s the point of a blog. You have the same rights on your blog. Only by giving views can people learn. Only by listening can they rise out of ignorance and unknowingness. When other people start attacking and suppressing free opinion, it gets VERY dangerous. It can lead to an environment full of lies and propaganda, run by businesspeople, money-makers, and self-interested groups. If no one can judge at all, then anybody can do anything. Telling someone not to intelligently judge and not to make comments is the same as telling someone not to think! This is what bad people from the teaching industry want you to be like: someone who doesn’t think. Having students who don’t think, don’t judge, and blindly believe is perfect for them. That’s how they are making so much money. However, it is not perfect for you!

Nothing gets better, and no one learns, unless people judge, assess, think, and above all, speak! It is VERY important to allow free speech. It is the most fundamental element of social progress, and democracy. Allow free speech! Embrace free speech! Be very happy that it can happen! But also judge what you hear very carefully; think about the motivation of those saying it, and check their credentials, sources, and background, and try to work out ulterior motives. As my website says [click this link], follow the three rules: be skeptical, critical, and demand proof. But allow people to speak, right?

Maybe you could also admire my courage for speaking out against the bad practices, dishonesty, and corruption in the bushiban industry. Remember, if no one speaks out, nothing will ever change, right?

We will look at another (critical) comment in the next post.

Now, check that you know the meaning of the underlined vocabulary (also repeated below).

• to crucify (v)
• to upset the apple cart (v – idiomatic)
• ignorance (n)
• to suppress (v)
• propaganda (n)
• to be fundamental (adj)
• ulterior (adj)

If you want to find out more about me, go to aisielts.com .

Does this person look like they will agree with me? Probably not, right? They don’t look particularly happy about anything.

A Conversation with Someone who Disagrees (vi)

Let us continue our imaginary conversation with that person who strongly disagrees with everything I have said. They are like the picture above, and they certainly don’t look happy, right? I will list their comments, and give my answers.

Their 7^th Comment

I don’t need a teacher to teach me English or vocabulary. My teacher shows me “how to get the answers in IELTS.”

And why are you attacking him/her?

My Response

You have to be very cautious about any teacher’s claim about ‘magic techniques’ to get ‘answers’. Many teachers only want to get your money, and will say anything to get it. Can I quote one students who came to us.

“My teacher said I could learn how to get the answers. But I couldn’t understand anything, and I couldn’t get any answers. Then I was told to keep doing more courses. When I eventually did the test I got a low IELTS mark. Now I realise I was tricked.”

Yes, tricked out of a lot of money (about $60,000 NT). Unfortunately, IELTS Preparation is an industry where big money can easily be gained by false promises and trickery. The truth is, in the IELTS test, “getting the answers” comes from being better at English. Yes, there are tips and strategies (and I teach those), but all these tips and strategies rest on the foundation of being better at English.

Your job is to assess the claims of any teacher, and use your common sense, and think very carefully. The three most important rules are …

1. check the credentials of that teacher,
2. ask for proof of these credentials (since any person these days can claim any qualification, right),
3. watch out for all the danger signs of bad teaching practices [and you can check some of my other pixnet entries for those – look for ‘Tricks to Watch Out For’], or go to …

Posts 33 – 35              Five Signs of a Fake Teacher,

… and …

Posts 36 – 43              Six Signs Which Should Make You Worried.

As this is only Post 21 (as I type right now), you will have to wait for these posts (which will eventually come in the near future – so be patient).

Moving on to the second comment: “And why are you attacking my teacher?”, my reply is that I am not targeting any specific person, but only explaining what you need to look for in a good teacher, and helping you to understand the nature of language-learning so that you, the consumer, can be better informed, and thus more intelligent. That’s very good for you, and you should be happy. I am not ‘attacking’, I am ‘informing’ and ‘educating’. Those are good qualities. I am only thinking of you. Maybe you should be thanking me for this.

However, obviously any ‘teachers’ who …

• don’t follow any TEFL-recognised method of teaching,
• do fit any accepted model of good language teaching,
• use deceit as a basis to their marketing,
• are deliberately tricking you,

… will all feel ‘attacked’. But I am not focusing on anyone specifically, just that type of teacher, and the nature of the teaching industry generally. And I have a right to do this, right?

A final thought is that, if your teacher is truly decent and honourable (and I hope they are), then they should agree wholeheartedly with all  these thoughts. Decent teachers want the best for you; decent teachers want to teach in a way that helps their students. The point is, if you have a teacher who doesn’t like my comments, it is a VERY dangerous sign. My comments are based on (1) good sense, (2) obvious logic, (3) TEFL research and theory, and (4) a regard for the students. Anyone who disagrees with me just doesn’t have some or all of these 1 – 4 qualities. And that should start you thinking, right? It should start you thinking very carefully indeed.

We will look at two more (critical) comments in the next post.

Now, check that you know the meaning of the underlined vocabulary (also repeated below).

• to be cautious (adj)
• a technique (n)
• a strategy (n)
• credentials (n)
• to target (v)
• to focus (v)
• wholeheartedly (adv)

If you want to find out more about me, go to aisielts.com .

A Conversation with Someone who Disagrees (v)

Let us continue our imaginary conversation with that person who strongly disagrees with everything I have said. They are like the picture above, and they certainly don’t look happy, right? I will list their comments, and give my answers.

Their 6^th Comment

My teacher is better because this person gives me all the answers. With your approach, no one gives you the answers, so I don’t learn anything.

My Response

My first thoughts are that you should think more about CLT and the learning process. Remember, a teacher who gives you all the answers is not teaching you, and you are not learning, because you are not trying, or not learning how to get answers. Let’s quote Benjamin Franklin.

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

Just giving you or explaining to you the answers = telling you the answer = you forget = you don’t learn = a low IELTS score. The ‘teacher’ who does this is taking the lazy way, and you are, too. And that’s sort of the problem: everyone wants the lazy way, the quick way, the easy way, but learning a language is not like that, right? I remember reading a comment from a student: ‘This teacher is wonderful because he gives you all the answers.’ Well, as a teacher trainer, all I can say is that that teacher is BAD because he gives you all the answers. And when you read such comments from students, you need to judge whether you actually want to follow the path of that student. Did that student succeed? How long did it take? How much did they spend/waste? Years? Hundreds of thousands of NT? Hmmmm. Time to think, and think carefully.

My second response is that in CLT, you do get all the answers. You just have to work for these answers (so that you actually learn!). You have to read the text, listen to the script, study your error-coded written work, look up your dictionary, or consult the textbook (= my IELTS books in my class, where Tip 19 in particular gives all the answers). For example, if you want the answer to an ‘Sp’ error in your writing, just use your dictionary. If you want the answer to a ‘T’ error, just go to Tip 19, Item 7 of the book, and read what it says. And so on.

My final response is … hmmmm, people are all different, and obviously there are lazy and impatient people who just don’t want to work, but want instant answers, and magic IELTS scores. People like that will not like CLT, and may go to ‘traditional’ teachers. But people like that will have to learn the truth the hard way: by going through teacher after teacher who all give exactly what these people demand. And will they achieve their goal?

Their progress will be slow, and learning will take a very long time, and these people will pay their teachers so much money, but at least they get the sort of teaching they want, and both them and the teachers will be happy with each other. You are both playing the game, following the old rules, falling into the old traps. But you are not challenged, not pushed, and not asked to think, and that gives many people security.

After months and months, or maybe years, those people might reach their goal, or they might not. But after all that time, they may begin to realise that those teachers who gave and explained the answers (all in Chinese) were just pretending to teach them, and they and the other students were pretending to learn.

You have to ask yourself, are you one of these people? Do you really want to become one of them? Are you sure you are not one of them right now?

We will look at another (critical) comment in the next post.

Now, check that you know the meaning of the underlined vocabulary (also repeated below).

• a script (n)
• to consult (v)
• to be impatient (adj)
•  security (n)

If you want to find out more about me, go to aisielts.com .

This person doesn’t look like they agree with me, right? In fact, he/she/it doesn’t look convinced at all. But you always have to ask yourself, who are these people? Do they really know about language learning? Are they qualified in this educational field? Do they have credentials to give an informed judgement? Are they making LOTS of money by keeping things exactly the same as 50 years ago – nice and easy for everyone, but resulting in no learning for anyone.

A Conversation with Someone who Disagrees (iv)

Let us continue our imaginary conversation with that person who strongly disagrees with everything I have said. They are like the picture above, and they certainly don’t look happy, right? I will list their comments, and give my answers.

Their 5^th Comment

Everything you say is ridiculous. If you just get in pairs and talk, all you hear is junk from other students.

My Response

Firstly, maybe you should respect your fellow students more, and realise that that ‘junk’ is actually a sincere and decent person attempting honestly to communicate with you. I’d say that deserves a lot more respect than you give it. It certainly gets a lot of respect from me as a teacher. I love hearing it; and I listen to it, too, noting down errors in grammar, word-use, and pronunciation, so that I can give feedback at the end of this speaking activity.

I say, well done young student, for having the initiative and courage and willingness to want to try to use a language as it is meant to be used: for real communication. You are truly beginning to ‘drive the car’. You have my respect and gratitude, and the person making that comment has a very bad attitude, and one which you should ignore.

My second thought about this ‘junk’ comment is that you don’t understand what’s actually happening in the classroom. Pair work is not just putting students in pairs, and saying ‘talk’. The CLT approach means spending a lot of time setting up the conditions to help those students talk. There is usually context setting, with pictures, question cues or structural guidelines, pre-teaching of important vocabulary, and drilling or ‘open pairs’ so that students can hear and practise first. In other words, there is effort and skill needed, and that’s why it is important to have a skilled, qualified, and experienced teacher managing the class.

For example, in my IELTS Speaking Course, you practise (1) functional use of language (such as expressing regrets, past advice, and past possibilities), (2) tenses (such as talking about what you last did, usually do, or what you have done), (3) conversational strategies (such as using discourse markers, buying time, or cueing), and topic-based speaking. Every activity is carefully set up and guided with PowerPoint slides to provide the framework for that speaking to happen, often with a careful exploration of the grammar involved. Remember,  I have over 20 years experience in doing this, and getting better all the time.

So, in response to that ‘junk’ comment, the answer is that you don’t hear junk at all. You develop your fluency, vocabulary, pronunciation, as well as grammar (in the feedback stage). That’s good for IELTS. The IELTS examiner will give you a mark for each one of those categories. That’s how you get a better overall mark in the IELTS Speaking Test, right?

We will look at another (critical) comment in the next post.

Now, check that you know the meaning of the underlined vocabulary (also repeated below).

• to be ridiculous (adj)
• initiative (n)
• a context (n)
• to regret (v)
• a strategy (n)
• to cue (v)

If you want to find out more about me, go to aisielts.com .

作者flyassassin (Charlie)

看板IELTS

標題

時間Wed Jan 24 21:35:24 2018

一、 前言

L:7、R:8.5、W:5.5、S:7→ O:7

經過了5個月的努力(2017年7月至11月底)，終於解脫了！去年11月底考完就想上來寫心得分享，苦於上班時間事情實在太多，擠

不出時間，一直拖到現在才上來寫。中間不服氣W只有5.5，還去申請複查，沒想到變成捐款活動

(第一次po長篇文，手動空白鍵盤版，排到眼花)

二、 背景

學測14級分，去年中旬考多益920分；國立大學畢業，目前從事公職3年。

大學時期沒什麼機會碰觸英文，不過英文一直是自己的興趣，三不五時遇到不認識的單字還是會忍不住去背XD

三、 使用教材：

(一) 劍9~12+精講

(二) Andrew教材*4 (每一本都有認真讀過+畫重點)

(三) BBC4電台

(四) 6 Minutes English

(五) IELTS Energy

(六) Economist雜誌(大推!!!)

(七) DMM (日版ENGOO，但是價格更經濟實惠)

(八) 雅思哥

(九) SIMON範文(這是我的痛!!詳情請看下面複查心 得)

四、 準備方式

(一) 聽力

聽力平常有空就會利用手機的Podcast聽BBC4、6 Minutes English還有IELTS Energy，主要是讓耳朵熟悉英語。不過主要還是

要有熱情才能持續，建議大家可以利用Youtube找自己有興趣的英文影片，邊休閒邊學英文，而且Y

但是我個人認為，在練習聽力的時候，一定要集中精神注意聽，不要把它當作背景音樂，這樣子的效果對我而言不是很好。與

其花20分鐘專心聽，也不要邊做其他事情邊聽60分鐘。

(二) 閱讀

原本覺得自己是有強迫症的人，一定要先看過題目之後，在開始把文章從頭讀到尾。我用這個方式做了劍9~劍10，一開始寫劍9

時，題型還不熟花了快2小時才寫完，而且錯的很多，但是寫到劍10時有明顯改善，大約花75分鐘

後來上Andrew老師課之後，老師說要先大致看過文章之後再去看題目。其實我一開始也覺得老師的方法應該不適合我，但是眼

見考試快到了，而我的閱讀時間一直無法穩定降至1小時內，就抱著姑且一試的心態，試了幾回劍1

最後我才了解到，其實閱讀英文學術性文章應該先掌握「閱讀邏輯」與「找所需資訊的能力」。文章何其長，又不是每一個段

落，每一個字都是你所需要的資訊，掌握這方法之後，對考試幫助很大。

此外，我每次寫完模擬題，都會搭配精講來訂正，由於精講的內容是有人幫忙整理好的，自己也不用額外去查單字，還可以順

便看一下作者的答題邏輯，節省了不少檢討時間。

有關單字的部分，我在每次的訂正都會把不熟的單字抄在自己的單字本，製作自己的單字本後，會發現其實雅思閱讀文章，常

出現的就那幾個單字而已，這方法很有效!!!

(三) 寫作

只拿5.5的寫作，實在是沒什麼好分享的…

但是有兩點可以跟大家分享，第一：字數一定要夠，第二：題目絕對絕對絕對要看清楚！但是有兩點可以跟大家分享，第一：

字數一定要夠，第二：題目絕對絕對絕對要看清楚！Task Respond很重要！不要人家問你A，你卻?

其實寫作是要訓練思維及論述能力，並不是要考你的背誦能力，了解題目要問什麼之後，先表達自己的論點(這邊沒有分對或錯)

，然後再去解釋為什麼你這麼想。英文的學術論文有一定的表達邏輯與概念，這部份多閱讀英文

簡單的文章結構圖：

Task1

第一段：改寫題目

第二段：找出明顯的趨勢或是特色做概述

第三段：對圖表進行更深入的比較與論述

Task2

第一段：改寫題目，並簡單提出自己看法

第二段：寫出一個主要概念，並寫出2~3句支持 這個概念的論點

第三段：同第二段

(四) 口說

由於本人有小口吃的毛病，說中文跟英文都會有，除了熟人比較不會有這症狀外，遇到陌生人、陌生長輩或是外國人更是嚴重

！

用DMM上課的好處是強迫自己開口說話，練習自己的膽量，其實重點是DMM跟ENGOO根本是相同的系統，但是價格卻是ENG

OO的2/3！以下是我自己總結出的想法：

1. 要有自信，講話慢一些、發音及咬字清楚一些

2. 不一定要用很難的字

3. 多用Discourse markers，像是generally,basically,you know等等，不要用Moreover或Not only but also，因為後兩者根本不

是母語人士平常聊天、講話會用的語句。這就有點類似，「我好餓，好想吃飯」與「我好餓，好想

4. 沒有Task Respond這個評分標準，所以並沒有一定的答案，可以很幽默的回答考官問題，甚至是說考官問你A，你可以答B，

但是你要解釋說為什麼你會答B。舉一個自己考試的例子，我在第3部分被問到：你覺得在家庭中，家?

5. 整個口試有點偏向聊天的性質，並沒有那麼學術性，考試時不要緊張，表現正常的自己，如果本身是個很幽默的人，可是盡

量展現自己的幽默感。能夠用語言展現自己幽默感的人，同時也代表對這語言掌握的熟悉程度很高。

五、 複查

IDP申請成績複查，不管複查幾科都是均一價4100元，2017年12月13日送件，2018年1月12日收到複查結果；相比之下BC審查則

為3200元，時間似乎拉長為6~8週。

在版上看到很多申請成功的心得，想說跟它賭一波，沒想到淚流滿襟，4100元打水飄了。大家如果要申請複查要三思啊!!!

還有很重要的一件事

寫作的題目如果問Agree or Disagree時一定要選邊站!!!

寫作的題目如果問Agree or Disagree時一定要選邊站!!!

寫作的題目如果問Agree or Disagree時一定要選邊站!!!

因為很重要所以說三遍!!!

上完寫作課之後，Andrew全家出國旅遊，我趁旅遊的空檔狂抄寫SIMON的範文…沒想到悲劇發生了….忘記老師上課講的要選邊

站…

由於W的評分標準有一點是task respond，如果沒有選邊站，而是寫兩個論點都很重要，會在這個評分標準被大扣分!!這點是我

跟近20年考官經驗的Andrew老師討論出來這次W會這麼差的原因……我的R跟W差了3分阿….

六、 Andrew上課心得

上完Andrew的課，最大的收穫在於對英文的熱情更加提升。與一般大補習班不一樣，小班制雖然在選課與補課較缺乏彈性，但

一方面也幫助了自己能夠照著老師所安排的進度一步一步學習，像蓋房子一樣，從基礎一步一步?

補習班有很多家，找到最適合自己的才重要！大家可以多比較各補習班的特性與教學方式，並善用視聽，了解課程是否符合自

身需求。上課的好處主要是節省自己摸索的時間, 強迫自己在課程所規劃的時間內學習。

七、總結

英文學習是條沒有止盡且漫長的路，但是卻是必備的工具。畢竟目前幾乎所有前瞻性的技術、學術、科學及相關期刊報導都是

用英文撰寫，英文則是幫助我們建立了與這些知識及技術相連接的橋樑。

與大家共勉之，祝考試順利！

與大家共勉之，祝考試順利！

—

作者chjun (authenticJ)

看板IELTS

標題

時間Sat Jan 20 20:42:41 2018

R:7.5 L:7.5 W:6 S:6 Overall:7

準備時間:Andrew寫作聽力班5週+自修1個月

背景:大學畢業/兩年前TOEIC845、TOFEL69(有考跟沒考一樣的分數)

考試地點:台北國際會議中心 (可以參考我當天考完後寫的筆試流程經驗分享

https://goo.gl/fNaEkA )

兩年前為了申請校內交換生考過托福，但當時太小看這考試，以為像多益一樣可以靠平常

實力應考，考前只在網路上寫練習題，結果考了一個難以啟齒的分數。這次因為沒有考慮

去美國的學校，還有覺得托福學術字彙太多，和機器說話很不習慣，去年10月時決定考雅

思。

Andrew寫作聽力班心得:

剛開始在網路上看了很多人介紹的補習班，發現好像多半是長期課程，而且資訊不太公開

，查不到價錢。後來覺得Andrew家教班最符合我的需求，小班制5周就上完一期，老師的

部落格上價錢和課程安排都寫得很清楚，也有介紹老師背景和教書經歷。我是在開課前約

10天傳Line聯繫師母報名，一班只收12人，報名時只剩下一兩個位子。當時老師在國外休

息中，所以無法試聽，一般來說是可以試聽90分鐘的課程，上課期間有遇過幾次來試聽的

同學。

寫作聽力班一周3堂課共5周，前面12堂是寫作課，task1和task2交叉上，有9篇作文的回

家作業，對我這種不喜歡寫作文的人來說是強迫自己練習的好機會，老師改完後上課時會

有一小段時間檢討和自己修改，老師主張自己改過才能真正學進去。最後3堂才是聽力課

，主要以練習題目為主，也會討論常見的主題。我上的是平日下午班，同學多半已經辭掉

工作在準備出國，在學生的話應該只有一位，程度差不多都在中上。因為是小班制，Andrew

老師都會記得大家的名字，即便不是口說班上課時也會有兩兩英文對話的機會，上課氣氛

不錯，課程結束後同學間也持續有聯絡。

考試準備:

聽力:

我個人覺得雅思聽力不難，因為除了學術內容外也有生活的對話，有一定程度的話想拿高

分主要靠細心，寫答案時要注意大小寫以及名詞要不要加s。考前練習了劍橋真題12、10

兩本的題目，語速和考題都很接近實戰，多練習會更熟練。聽力的內容都是照著題目順序

進行，我一邊聽的同時會將筆沿著對應的題目的句子移動，以免慌了手腳。

閱讀:

和聽力一樣我也是寫了兩冊真題，練習時主要是訓練速度，每一大題控制在20分之內。我

寫閱讀時會先掃視題目的類型，確認是要配對標題、填空等，花個3秒左右，並不會看題

目內容。讀文章第一遍時仔細看每個字，並一邊圈出特殊名詞、not、原因、排列…會是

關鍵的詞句。有一點要注意我練習的時候會將YES、NO簡略寫成Y和N，結果考試時竟然在

答案上也這樣寫!!!寫到一半突然驚覺才趕快擦掉重寫，所以大家練習時要想像成實戰，

習慣那手感。

寫作:

Andrew老師課堂上會搭配自己出的Task1和Task2兩本書，每種會出現的考題都會有方法和

範例，上完課能清楚掌握寫作題型和架構。補習時共寫了9篇作文，task1和2的各題型都有

練習到，而且Andrew老師非常強調要計時練習，會要求我們在作業寫上花費時間，理想狀

態是task1 20分鐘、task2 40分鐘。不過我考前一個月自己在家復習時太懶，都沒有自己

再寫過一篇完整作文，手感反而沒有像補習時寫作業那麼好，結果考試當下task1我竟然

忘記將圖表上確切的數字寫出來，都是描述大方向趨勢，最後整篇寫完才發現，但已經沒

有時間重寫，只胡亂加上數字，覺得這是我拿6分的敗筆。寫作一定要在考前持續練習，

並且在60分鐘壓力下完成，因為有太多學生寫不好都是因為平時沒有嚴格計時練習。

口說:

其實這次口說沒怎麼練習，但有看雅思哥預測的題目，第一和第二部分被問到的問題很準

，如果早點開始準備口說，我應該會每一題練習講一遍。回答時雖然一直在講，但無法想

出比較高程度的單字，自己覺得太白話是拿6分的原因。考前我有在youtube上看IELTS

speaking的模擬影片，這對模擬口試流程非常有幫助，能大致了解口試的進行過程，也可

以參考不同分數的考生是怎麼回答。

關於口試當天流程和口試題目我也有寫文章分享https://goo.gl/vRveD9

—

A Conversation with Someone who Disagrees (iii)

Okay, the Chinese New Year Holiday is now finished, and tonight the teaching of IELTS Preparation begins again, and the new Saturday IELTS Course starts this coming Saturday (and it’s full, just like the Sunday class). I’m going to get very busy, so while I have some time, let us continue our imaginary conversation with that person who strongly disagrees with everything I have said. They are like the picture above, and they certainly don’t look happy, right? I will list their comments, and give my answers.

Their 4^th Comment

But I asked my professor, and he said this CLT stuff is nonsense, and obviously every teacher has to use Chinese to teach me English. And my professor has a PHD in history! So there!

My Response

If your professor is smart, he would say,

‘Well, EFL methodology is not my field, so I can’t really comment.’

And if EFL methodology was your professor’s field, then he wouldn’t say what you said at all. He would absolutely agree with every word I say, because both your professor and I would be in the same field, and would have been taught similar theory, seen similar proofs, facts, and research evidence, and had the same sort of experiences in the EFL classroom.

Can I repeat what I said earlier: TEFL is a highly specialised field, and all the rules and principles cannot be easily or quickly understood by people who have not been trained in it, or studied it. The average untrained person thinks that ‘teachers must teach’, but when it comes to TEFL, the approach (as you now know) is completely different. [See the 11^th post of this series].

Remember, in CLT, teachers facilitate, provide the framework for practice, and manage activities where the students can actually play the leading role in the classroom. That’s the only way to actually learn. You, the learner, have to ‘drive the car’ to learn how to drive. Language is for communication, so you must use it for communication.

Remember the example I gave from when I was doing teacher-training courses at Monash University [Post Number 12], of how a senior teacher of philosophy had great trouble passing the CELTA course. Yes, it is somewhat ironic that it is teachers (often highly qualified in their specific fields) who find it most difficult to understand and apply the principles of CLT.

The conclusion is, don’t ask ‘conventional teachers’, no matter how qualified or experienced they may be in their specific field, about TEFL and CLT. It’s not their field. They don’t know, and the smart ones would say this.

We will look at another (critical) comment in the next post.

Now, check that you know the meaning of the underlined vocabulary (also repeated below).

• a principle (n)
• to facilitate (v)
• to be ironic (adj)
• be be conventional (adj)

If you want to find out more about me, go to aisielts.com .

Do you think this person will agree with me? Probably not.

A Conversation with Someone who Disagrees (ii)

Let us continue our imaginary conversation with that person who strongly disagrees with everything I have said. They are like the picture above, and they certainly don’t look happy, right? I will list their comments, and give my answers, and let’s move on to comment No.2 & 3.

2^nd Comment

The Grammar-translation method which I use is based on cultural dimension, and logical input is necessary in the IELTS test, so students need to have the underlying logic explained in Chinese in order to reformulate messages into good speaking, because they don’t have time to learn normally, so this approach is much better in their circumstances.

My Response

Those who defend their methods of teaching will sometimes use a lot of words, and strange argumentation. Your job is to really think about this, and decide if it actually makes sense. Please don’t assume it makes sense, even if the teacher claims credentials, qualifications, and expertise (which they usually lie about). Think carefully about the words, and analyse them yourself. Don’t just simply believe.

The 2^ndcomment makes no sense at all. When it is written in Chinese, it makes even less sense – in fact, often the justifications others teachers use for their bad approach (when translated to me in English) is absolutely indecipherable.

3^rd Comment

CLT isn’t perfect. Many people disagree with it, and criticise it!

My Response

Actually, most people who know what they are talking about accept CLT, and it is the most widely used teaching methodology in the world. However, there is no ‘perfect’ system, and everything can be criticised. For example, some people say CLT does not offer enough grammar/structure; however, the ‘soft’ version of CLT introduces a lot of this.

Others say there are no ‘rules’ in CLT, so nothing can be standardised or systematically taught to teachers.There is no ‘rulebook’.  I say, ‘true’, and this is what makes CLT such a difficult skill, and why experience and hard work is always necessary – and why many who may claim that they teach in this way, may not be good teachers at all. Everything all depends on the teacher!

To those who take CLT and their professional seriously, and have developed their skills to make it work in the classroom, the drawbacks of CLT are overcome, and the criticism can be easily answered. The obvious question I would like to ask these people who attack it is: do you have a better system? The answer is a definite ‘No, you don’t!’ You have no system which can stand any logical scutiny.

We will look at another (critical) comment in the next post.

Now, check that you know the meaning of the underlined vocabulary (also repeated below).

• a dimension (n)
• to reformulate (v)
• to be indecipherable (v)
• to criticise (v)
• a drawback (n)
• to overcome (v)
• scrutiny (n)

If you want to find out more about me, go to aisielts.com .

Hi everyone.

Yes, as the subject line states, AIS Term 1 is now officially over with the finish of the three weekday IELTS classes. Here are photos of two of them: the afternoon IELTS Writing & Listening, and the IELTS Reading & Speaking Course. There’s a few students missing from both of them [the media shy types, right?].

It was great teaching you all, and putting you on the path to IELTS success. Good luck in the future.

But both courses begin again with AIS Term 2, starting next week. Both classes are filling up, so contact us quickly if you want to join. They start on Monday and Tuesday, and then there’s the long Chinese New Year Holiday – lasting a full week, so there’ll be plenty of time to do your homework, right?

Just click on ….    AIS.IELTS.COM     to find out everything.

Hope to see you in my class.

Well, the Saturday IELTS Course finished last Saturday, and it was pizza for lunch! And below you can see me giving Brad my appreciation. Ha ha.

By the way, do you like my beard? My wife says it makes my nose smaller – (and that’s supposed to make me feel better). Hmmmmm. Well, while the weather is cold, I can put up with a beard, but when the weather gets hot, it gets hard to tolerate. In the meantime, I can be the ‘seasoned and professorial type’.

Anyhow, it was good having the pizza, but afterwards, we had to do the last IELTS Listening Class, and then it was all over. It’s a little sad after three months of getting to know them. All the best for the future, and let’s hope for IELTS success, right!

Remember, the next Saturday IELTS Course begins just after Chinese New Year, on Saturday 24th February. Hope to see you in my class. Just go to …

aisielts.com

… for contact details.

Do you think this person agrees with me? Probably not, right? This person is going to criticise me!

A Conversation with Someone who Disagrees (i)

Let us imagine that I am talking with someone who strongly disagrees with everything I have said. They are like the picture above, and they certainly don’t look happy, right? Remember, this ‘old system’ of grammar/translation/Chinese explanation/memorisation lives on in Taiwan, and some people are making so much money using it. The people who use it are not going to agree with anything I say, right? Going further, they might even attack me, with all sorts of interesting comments. Hmmmm. So, why don’t I list some of the things they may say, and give my reply?

I have 11 comments/criticisms which I will answer one by one, so this series of posts will go for a while – in fact, this ‘Q & A’ will take up the next 10 posts, after which I will make a final concluding post on this issue. So, here we go. Let us think about the first criticism from those who disagree with me.

1^st Comment

What you say is all very fine, but IELTS is different! We need to be taught logic and pronunciation. Memorisation gives you an understanding of the underlying logic of the language.

My Response

The ‘IELTS is different’ comment is interesting. It can be a standard ‘cop out‘ to justify anything at all.

“IELTS is different, so you need to [blah, blah, blah = (excuse for bad teaching, lazy methods, false promises of quick results, and minimal results for you)].”

You’ve got to listen carefully to the ‘blah blah blah’, and work out if it actually makes sense.

But here are a few questions. How is IELTS different? Different to what? Different to learning English? But IELTS is a test of English language proficiency, so the better you are at English, the higher your mark will be. Thus, getting a better score in IELTS requires learning English better. As I say in the conclusion of all my IELTS books, ‘how can writing (or reading or speaking) tips help if you still cannot write (read or speak)?

Many students have come to me saying, ‘I did this ‘[Put fancy course name here] IELTS course, but at the end I didn’t understand anything.’ Yes, those courses were sold upon the basis of … ‘But IELTS is different, and this course gives you special insider advanced magic knowledge to help you quickly …’, and so on and so on. But it was all a trick, of course.

In short, the ‘IELTS is different’ is a very suspect comment to make. It can simply be a flimsy way to confuse you from the fact that you need to get better at English, and you need a REAL teacher with REAL qualifications who will REALLY give you the skills of English/IELTS.

Regarding your comment ‘we need to be taught pronunciation’, I’m not quite sure what you mean. Pronunciation is all part of the CLT approach. If you are suggesting that your memorisation approach gives you good pronunciation, I can only say that in IELTS, the pronunciation band score recognises ‘a range of pronunciation features’ (=IELTS 8). This includes …

• chunking
• sentence stress, and
• intonation.

These features come from natural speaking, and a natural fluency. They don’t come from memorisation. It is futile having perfect pronunciation, but not being able to speak. And if you can’t speak, you don’t have ‘perfect’ pronunciation – you actually have very bad pronunciation. Remember, features of pronunciation come from being able to speak, so you always need to practise speaking! One quarter of your score is based on fluency.

As for your comment about logic, for IELTS speaking, logical answers come from honestly answering a question; it doesn’t come from memorisation, or constantly turning off your brain to access badly-remembered grammar. Anyone who says this is simply making it up to sound smart; however, there is no evidence or research to support this, and no common sense reason why it should work.

Regarding logic and IELTS writing, the teacher who claims you should copy other people’s essays many times to learn ‘logic’ is simply speaking like a person of the street who knows nothing about how languages are really learnt. Learning is a thinking thing – isn’t that obvious to everyone? Well, it should be obvious to everyone, so when you hear the ‘blah blah blah’, it’s time to start thinking carefully, right?

We will look at more two more (critical) comments in the next post.

Now, check that you know the meaning of the underlined vocabulary (also repeated below).

• a criticism (n)
• a cop out (n)
• to justify (v)
• to be suspect (v)
• to be flimsy (adj)
• to chunk [words together] (v)
• to be futile (adj)
• to be critical (adj)

If you want to find out more about me, go to aisielts.com .

Don’t you want to truly shine?

The Greatest thing about CLT

In the previous post, I describe how three of my colleagues tried to learn Chinese in a ‘traditional’ way, from a ‘traditional’ teacher, in a ‘traditional’ school, and how bad it was for them.

And this leads to the greatest thing about CLT. It’s the total opposite to that situation. CLT is wonderful. It empowers you, it respects you, it celebrates that you are an individual who can contribute to the class. You are not seen as passive and empty bottles; you are seen as intelligent human beings who are a resource for everyone! You can really shine (hence the picture above).

CLT is NOT based on nationality, race, or religion. It doesn’t play the insulting ‘you are Chinese, so you need a Chinese teacher’ game. CLT is based on the universal aspects of human nature, the common thinking processes, instincts, and knowledge of society and the world that everyone has.

CLT states that all human beings share the same set of human responses, and are driven by the same needs. We all smile, we can all laugh at a joke, and when a teacher holds up a picture, and we all recognise what we see.

Here’s one of my favourite quotes from the Learning-Teaching textbook which I used when training teachers.

As language teachers, we are privileged to work with a vital and fascinating subject matter. Language is the way we express our very being. It is the way we come to terms with the world. It is the way we make our understanding of life concrete. It is the way we make contact with other human beings.

Teaching English as a foreign language is indeed a great thing, and all teachers who do it should take it very seriously, and strive to do it in the best possible way. The problem is, they don’t!

The Problem: the BIG Problem

The problem is, the old system requires little effort, preparation, or skill, and requires you to keep paying money for course after course with very limited results. This is attractive to many teachers, schools, and organisations. 

The problem is, there is a whole industry out there based on this. Ethics are irrelevant when the money rolls in. So, the propaganda, the marketing, the networking, the deceitful advertising, the tricks and games continue. The whole teaching environment changes into methods of getting your money; not methods to actually help you.

Your job as a consumer is to work out what is true, what is false, and what is best for you. 

The next post will begin answering specific attacks people might make about all I have said.

Now, check that you know the meaning of the underlined vocabulary (also repeated below).

• to empower (v)
• to be passive (adj)
• to be insulting (adj)
• aspect (n)
• an instinct (n)
• to be priviledged (adj)
• to strive (v)
• ethics (n)
• propaganda (n)

If you want to find out more about me, go to aisielts.com .