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Idiomatic Vocabulary

This section gives some idiomatic vocabulary in English, as a blog, or list to which I regularly add. This vocabulary is also given (in more detail) in the page ‘Idiomatic Vocabulary’ (under the ‘Vocabulary’ Section). So, you have the same input twice, since both forms can be convenient. However, if you are accessing the information here, it is… Read More »

Featured Article

Cultural Insights to Australia

Hello Everyone. In the ‘IELTS Vocabulary’ section, I mentioned seven rules to learning vocabulary. Rule 7 is by reading. And here is some light, easy, and interesting reading pieces – all about … the country shown below.   Yes, Australia. My country is huge, diverse, and has a fascinating history, which all means there are many insights I… Read More »

Let’s do Collocation Again, Okay? (7 of 12)

  Let’s do Collocation Again, Okay? (7 of 12)   Collocation is the key to getting a higher IELTS Writing and Speaking score, but it is not easy. Students often do not collocate words very well (which is why they don’t receive IELTS 7 or 8). To have ‘a sense of collocation’ (= IELTS 7), you need to have some familiarity with English. So, start reading all my pixnet posts, and getting this familiarity, right? …

Andrew老師平日雅思(英文)課程即將開課

  1.平日雅思寫作和聽力課程  上課時間 ~ 每週一三五晚上7–10：15 pm  授課日期 ~ 10月14日 至11月15日 課程時數 ~ 至少49個小時 ( 一堂課3hrs15mins共15堂課 ) 學費 ~ 17500元 ( 每小時均價357元 + 兩本上課用書600元 )   2.平日雅思閱讀和口說課程 上課時間 ~ 每週二四晚上7–10：15 pm 授課日期 ~ 10月15日至11月14日  課程時數 ~ 至少33個小時 ( 一堂課3hrs15mins共10堂課 )   學費 ~ 11000元 ( 每小時均價333元 + 兩本上課用書600元 )   PS. 以上兩個課程可以擇一報名也可以只選擇單一技巧報名，詳細課程訊息以及團報優惠規則請同學參考Andrew老師的網站aisielts.com   …

Andrew’s IELTS Study 週日密集班即將開課

週日密集班課程資訊   *授課日期 : 10月13日~1月12日。   *上課時間 : 每週日9:30am~12:45pm，2:00pm~5:15pm   *課程時數 : 至少78個小時 ( 一堂課3hrs15mins，總共24堂課 )   *學費 : 28000元 ( 每小時均價359元，上課用書一本300元，同學也可以自行購買 )   *團報優惠 : 兩人同行一人折500元，三人同行一人折1000元 ( 詳細團報規則請參考AIS網站 )。   課程詳情請參考 Andrew 老師網站 : aisielts.com …

Let’s do Collocation Again, Okay? (6 of 12)

Let’s do Collocation Again, Okay? (6 of 12)   Collocation is the key to getting a higher IELTS Writing and Speaking score, but it is not easy. Students often do not collocate words very well (which is why they don’t receive IELTS 7 or 8). To have ‘a sense of collocation’ (= IELTS 7), you need to have some familiarity with English. So, start reading all my pixnet posts, and getting this familiarity, right?   …

Let’s do Collocation Again, Okay? (5 of 12)

Let’s do Collocation Again, Okay? (5 of 12)   Collocation is the key to getting a higher IELTS Writing and Speaking score, but it is not easy. Students often do not collocate words very well (which is why they don’t receive IELTS 7 or 8). To have ‘a sense of collocation’ (= IELTS 7), you need to have some familiarity with English. So, start reading all my pixnet posts, and getting this familiarity, right?   …

Let’s do Collocation Again, Okay? (4 of 12)

Let’s do Collocation Again, Okay? (4 of 12)   Collocation is the key to getting a higher IELTS Writing and Speaking score, but it is not easy. Students often do not collocate words very well (which is why they don’t receive IELTS 7 or 8). To have ‘a sense of collocation’ (= IELTS 7), you need to have some familiarity with English. So, start reading all my pixnet posts, and getting this familiarity, right?   …

Let’s do Collocation Again, Okay? (2 of 12)

Let’s do Collocation Again, Okay? (2 of 12) Collocation is the key to getting a higher IELTS Writing and Speaking score, but it is not easy. Students often do not collocate words very well (which is why they don’t receive IELTS 7 or 8). To have ‘a sense of collocation’ (= IELTS 7), you need to have some familiarity with English, and the words must fit together just like the pieces in the above picture. So, start reading all my pixnet posts, and getting this familiarity, right?   In the meantime, the following exercises will help. …

Let’s do Collocation Again, Okay? (1 of 12)

  Let’s do Collocation Again, Okay? (1 of 12) Introduction to Collocation Okay everyone, it’s time (once again) to return to collocation. But let me begin by (re)introducing this concept. Let’s look at the public version of the IELTS Band Descriptors. These state that for your Writing Vocabulary Mark … …

Let’s do ‘Concision’ Again, Okay? (16 of 16)

Let’s do ‘Concision’ Again, Okay? (16 of 16) In this final post (in this series), we conclude by giving the answer to the three ‘over written’ paragraphs given in the previous post. Here they are.   Here’s the first paragraph. …

FREE OBSERVATION TOMORROW for IELTS Writing Task 2 // Concision 15 of 16

  Hi everyone. 1. Did you know the girl next to me in the picture above (although she looks a bit like a boy) got … IELTS NINE for Reading, IELTS EIGHT for Speaking (which really surprised me, as she was a rather quiet bookish girl in class), IELTS EIGHT for Listening. But, let me tell you, she worked really hard, too. I remember seeing her IELTS coursebooks (the ones written by me of course) covered with writing and translations of every difficult word into Chinese. Yes, this student went through EVERY single word of every book, so she was willing to put in a lot of time and effort. …

Let’s do ‘Concision’ Again, Okay? (13 of 16)

  Let’s do ‘Concision’ Again, Okay? (13 of 16)   Let us use this post to ‘fix’ the ‘overwritten paragraphs’ from the previous post, Post 12. Remember, we want it to be as trim and neat and clear as the hedge in the above picture. …

Let’s do ‘Concision’ Again, Okay? (12 of 16)

Let’s do ‘Concision’ Again, Okay? (12 of 16)   Remember, you need to make your writing as trim, neat, and defined as that hedge in the picture shown above. That means doing some work, as that lady is the picture is doing, to think before you write, to cut away words and phrases that repeat, are unnecessary, or unclear.   …