Well, here we go with the next of the IELTS ‘logic’ posts. Remember, in IELTS essays, one of the biggest problems is a lack of logical thinking, especially if you memorise material from the many IELTS ‘magic books’ out there.

Always remember, IELTS Task-Two essays require a detailed and coherent argument. It must make sense! You need to have the ability to know what makes sense and what does not. Here are five more sentences, but each one has a logic issue. Can you see what it is?

(繼續閱讀…)

Last night, I put the first of the ‘Logical thinking in IELTS Writing Task 2’, and it seems no one has read it. Hmmmmm. Actually, everyone seems to read my wife’s occasional entries, written in Chinese. Well, my wife is an English teacher, has studied English (like you all), and has been involved alongside me with IELTS for almost 20 years, and she knows what helps you learn, and what doesn’t, and also knows the tricks and traps of all the bad teachers out there. So, she writes some very solid advice which you should definitely be reading … but …. how about reading some of my posts? Remember, they are written in English, and they are designed to help you. Are all you guys just avoiding reading in English?

Here’s an experiment. This post is in English, but the subject includes the words , ‘Beautiful female students’, so let’s see if that makes anyone read this.

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One of the biggest problems in IELTS essays is a lack of logic. IELTS Task-Two essays requires a detailed and coherent argument. This means it must make sense!

At this point, I have to mention the dangers of memorisation. Students often memorise phrases and sentences, and put these pieces together pieces. These are usually from the ‘magic IELTS books’ [See ‘The Magic Easy Answer Everything Book’ series], meaning that the authors themselves are corrupt and dishonest, and usually not good writers. The end result can be a complete lack of logic. Entire essays make no sense! The result would be IELTS 4.

(繼續閱讀…)

Yes, just when I thought it was safe to teach IELTS Preparation at my studio, who returns to usurp my class – you guessed it – it’s ‘Examiner Pigeon’!

You might remember that this friendly, attention-seeking little show-off has entered my classroom before, basking in all the attention of my students, thinking he could take over completely.

But, I don’t feel threatened yet, since my students do NOT speak pigeon-language, so my job is still safe. For now.

(繼續閱讀…)

Answers to ‘Back to Collocation. Yes, Again (6 of 6)’

1. Some criminals exhibit extremely violent behavior.
2. A nuclear explosion could completely destroy cities.
3. Capital punishment needs to be abolished.
4. Cigarette packs show the pictures of lung cancer.
5. The contribution which teachers make is immense.
6. This can lead to serious consequences.
7. Museums can help people understand the world more deeply.
8. This may cause a great loss of money.

Hi everyone.

   Sorry about the long delay before continuing this collocation series. I’ve been very busy with the start of the new AIS courses. Anyhow, I’ll put the new entry on now. Remember, collocation, or more specifically, bad collocation, is one reason people cannot achieve IELTS 7 or 8. It’s certainly something to work on, so here is the next set of sentences for you to look at.

Time to Practice

Can you ‘fix’ the following sentences by changing (or removing) the coloured word? There may be different ways to answer this.

1. This will make patients desperately give up hope of being cured.
2. Knowing the truth can actually make stress.
3. Patients need to know the opportunities of surviving the operation.
4. This bad news will bring an impact on their lives.
5. The newspapers have shown this several times.
6. Many young people today want to keep single.
7. These young people want to meet new friends.
8. Many people want to raise pets.

Answers to Collocation 4 of 6

1. Exercise is a good way to improve health.
2. He was identified as a suspect in the crime.
3. People face the dangers of nicotine addiction.
4. The solution can be easily achieve.
5. Most criminals are sent to prison. [We are sentenced for a crime, or sentence to a specific punishment.]
6. The law can infringe on the rights of others.
7. It doesn’t deal with the fundamental causes of the problem.
8. They will continue to undertake criminal activities.

Hi everyone.

   Well, it’s back to collocation. Collocation, or more specifically, bad collocation, is one reason people cannot achieve IELTS 7 or 8. So, here is the next set of sentences for you to look at.

Time to Practice

Can you ‘fix’ the following sentences by changing (or removing) the coloured word? There may be different ways to answer this. You can find the answers in the next ‘collocation’ post.

1. Exercise is a good way to establish health.
2. He was nominated as a suspect in the crime.
3. People face the joys of nicotine addiction.
4. The solution can be easily done.
5. Most criminals are sentenced to prison.
6. The law can damage the rights of others.
7. It doesn’t deal with the essential causes of the problem.
8. They will continue to conduct criminal activities.

Answers to Collocation 3 of 6

1. The sunshine is very intense/strong on higher mountains.
2. The two cars collided into each other.
3. Mountain climbers admit to the risk.
4. The public make the highest contribution.
5. The river current was strong.
6. Everyone makes some mistakes.
7. Museums have wonderful/timeless/priceless masterpieces. [‘Significant’ is not strong enough.]
8. Museums offer extracurricular learning.

Hi everyone.

    Well, it’s back to collocation. Collocation, or more specifically, bad collocation, is one reason people cannot achieve IELTS 7 or 8. It’s certainly something to work on. Here is the next set of sentences for you to look at.

Time to Practice

Can you ‘fix’ the following sentences by changing (or removing) the coloured word? There may be different ways to answer this. The answers will be in the next collocation post.

1. The sunshine is very serious on higher mountains.
2. The two cars crushed into each other.
3. Mountain climbers admit to the risk.
4. The public do the highest contribution.
5. The river water was rushed.
6. Everyone does some mistakes.
7. Museums have significant masterpieces.
8. Museums offer extracurricular teaching.

Answers to Collocation 2 of 6

1. We can warn about the health risk of cigarettes. .  [‘Promote’ is for positive things.]
2. Compulsory military service can strengthen the military.
3. Some criminals commit serious crimes.
4. This will prevent them from making the wrong decision.
5. It is their right to do it.
6. This disease could affect their health. [‘Influence’ is for positive things.]
7. They want to make/give an apology.
8. Children can use water pistols to have fun.

Hi everyone.

   Well, it’s back to collocation, as I said last night. Collocation, or more specifically, bad collocation, is one reason people cannot achieve IELTS 7 or 8. It’s certainly something to work on, so here is the next set of sentences for you to look at.

Time to Practice

Can you ‘fix’ the following sentences by changing (or removing) the coloured word? There may be different ways to answer this. The answers will be in the next ‘collocation’ post.

1. We can promote the health risk of cigarettes.
2. Compulsory military service can enhance the military.
3. Some criminals commit big crimes.
4. This will prevent them from doing the wrong decision.
5. It is their freedom to do it.
6. This disease could influence their health.
7. They want to have an apology.
8. Children can use water guns to have fun.

Answers to Collocation 1 of 6

1. Young people need to find themselves.
2. Doing this can help solve the problem.
3. In the near future ….
4. Students all have to face this situation.
5. It is important for the death penalty to be used.
6. When there are serious crimes, people are often shocked.
7. Letting prisoners free creates a risk.
8. This causes declining sales.  [‘Contributes’ is for positive things.]

In the last post, I introduced my version of the …

“IELTS Ten Super Instant Easy Everything Magic Book”.

I hope that, by now, you get the point. There is no such book, and every book that follows the eight ‘magic book’ rules is a book you should avoid. And there are so many books like this now, since the authors can make easy money. But do you really want to use your money and time (and risk your IELTS mark) in this way? Think carefully.

This does, however, raise the issue of what books you should buy. Basically, buy any IELTS book produced by Western publishing companies. These books will break all the ‘magic book’ rules, which basically means they are REAL IELTS books. For example, they will be written in English, and the authors will have real credentials, and the books will follow modern teaching practices. A follow-up rule is to avoid EVERY book written in Chinese, and which originates from Taiwan or China.

But what about my IELTS books, and I have written six of them. Are my IELTS books ‘IELTS Magic Books’?

Well, check out the links (Teacher Andrew’s IELTS Books), and you will see that my books are called:

• IELTS Reading
• IELTS Speaking
• IELTS Writing Task One
• IELTS Writing Task Two
• IELTS Test Practice Book 1
• IELTS Test Practice Book 2

Hmmmm. I’m using intelligent and honest titles. Well, that breaks the ‘Magic Book’ Rule 5. And on the back cover, the books read …

This Practical IELTS Strategies Book is above all (as the name suggests) practical and strategic, giving a clear and achievable framework to maximising your score in the IELTS [specific skill] test.

Hmmmm. I’m making an intelligent and realistic claim. So, that breaks ‘Magic Book’ Rule 6. In fact, to cut a long story short, my books break all the eight ‘magic book’ rules. My IELTS books …

1. are written in English (so that they develop your English skills),
2. are full of exercises to be done (to also develop your English skills),
3. constantly presents material and exercises which demand the readers to think,
4. are full of specific, realistic, and meaningful advice, requiring the reader to do something,
5. have honest titles,
6. have honest claims about the effectiveness of the books,
7. have listed the solid credentials [Please click on that term] of the author – credentials which are real (!), and which no one else has,
8. are written by someone who has a very good idea of what they are writing about, and is very aware of the consequences that bad advice can give.

But my books are not magic books. My books don’t treat the readers like idiots, or insult their intelligence, but actually teach the readers and help them maximise their score in the IELTS test.

My IELTS books are real.

Find the meaning of the underlined words, also repeated below.

• to cut a long story short (v)
• solid (adj)
• credentials (n)
• to treat sb. like an idiot (v)
• to insult sb.’s intelligence (v)

The three verbs given above, showing idiomatic use, are very good for IELTS Speaking – but idiomatic use of English particularly needs appropriate use. Click Idiomatic Vocabulary for more information about this.

In the last few posts, I talked about the …

“IELTS Ten Super Instant Easy Everything Answer Book” syndrome,

… and the claims often on the front cover that the books which read …

‘Approved by IELTS examiners’, ‘recommended by IELTS examiners’, or ‘endorsed by all IELTS examiners’.

I made the point that no author (especially a Taiwanese or Chinese author) of any book can make any claim about what IELTS examiners would like. We can, however, know that, as professionally trained EFL teachers and products of Western culture, IELTS Examiners would totally reject any approach which used extensive Chinese explanations, and memorisation of answers. Such an approach would be unacceptable in their professional training and teaching experience. [See ‘The Dangers of Memorisation in IELTS Speaking’ 1–5].

We can thus know that, putting it simply, the claim that ‘all examiners approve of my book’ means that the author …

1. is prepared to lie, shamelessly and obviously,
2. is prepared to insult all IELTS examiners (who would never approve of the book, and never approve of the comment),
3. is (by assuming people will believe this) treating the readers like idiots.

These three points tell you that such an author should be avoided at all cost, and not be someone who you should trust in such an important events as your IELTS test.

Here, I’m going to quote someone else. I was checking a website about IELTS (https://www.ieltsadvantage.com/), but it’s written by a westerner (a British person), who seems to have a lot of experience and real qualifications, and if such a person has been teaching IELTS for a long time, then one could assume that person is an IELTS examiner. Such a person might also know the truth, and here one thing he says.

I know I have already said this, but it is such a big mistake it is worth saying more than once. If a teacher tells you to memorise answers, that teacher does not know what he or she is talking about and you should find a new teacher. Also, if you read a text book or website that advises you to learn some scripted answers, throw that book in the bin and never go back to that website. Learning scripts is the best way to get a band 0. Instead you should focus on developing your speaking skills, so that you will be able to respond to any situation in the exam and life in general.

Wow! This could have been written by me, too. But again, it’s just the truth. It is just reality. It’s what honest people who really know what they are talking about will have to say, and they will all say the same thing.

The authors of IELTS magic books are, obviously, a different sort of people. They live in a different sort of world. Nothing written on the covers of their books has to be true, or even make sense – it just has to lure you into their world of make-believe, a world where you don’t have to think much or try hard, a world where you are never challenged or made to grow.

The trouble is, the students in this world don’t live happily ever after. They may eventually end up at my studio, saying, “I’ve studied IELTS for over a year now, and I still get the same mark.”

It’s time to think, everyone. The next post will look more positively at real IELTS books, and how to identify them, and how they can help.

[To be continued in the next post.]

Find the meaning of the underlined words, also repeated below.

• extensive (adj)
• shameless (adj)
• to insult (v)
• to lure (v)

In the last post, I mentioned the …

“IELTS Ten Super Instant Easy Everything Magic Book” syndrome.

Let’s look at another aspect of these books. Part of the ‘Magic Book Rule No.5 (= having a title which guarantees an impossibly high band scores in a very short time) is a claim on the front cover that the books are ‘approved by IELTS examiners’, ‘recommended by IELTS examiners’, ‘endorsed by all IELTS examiners’, and so on, and so on.

Hmmmm. An interesting claim. Time to think, everyone. Do you really believe this? Really? I mean REALLY? I hope not, since straight away you would have to find a good answer to the following questions.

1. How did all the IELTS examiners in the country even know about the book?
2. How did they all get the book?
3. Why would they want to read it?

There are no good answers to these questions. And if the IELTS magic book uses (1) memorisation and is (2) written in Chinese, you have to immediately puzzle over more questions.

4. How did all the examiners in the country read the Chinese writing?
5. Even if they knew about the book, and could get it, and could understand it, and did read it, would they really like such a book?

Time to think more about Question Five. To become an IELTS examiner, one must have a recognised TEFL qualification – such as the Cambridge TEFL Certificate, and have at least 3 – 5 years experience (preferably more) of teaching to adults in accredited teaching centres. This means that IELTS examiners are products of modern TEFL methods.

So, what does this mean? It means that there is not a single IELTS examiner in the world who would ever endorse a ‘memorisation’ approach given in a book, since this approach plays no role in modern teaching theory, and is not considered acceptable in the classroom. Any teacher who used this in their training course would be automatically failed. Remember, I’m a Cambridge-accredited teacher trainer, and I have failed trainee-teachers before (when I conducted Cambridge CELTA teacher training courses at Monash University).

So, I can provide an answer to Question Five, about whether IELTS Examiners (even if they knew about the magic book, could get it, could understand it, and did read it) would really like such a book.

The answer is that not a single examiner in the world would EVER recommend these magic books. They would tell you to burn them, and bury the ashes in a deep hole where they can’t do damage.

So, that’s one question definitely answered. I’ll try to answer some more in the next post.

[To be continued in the next post.]

Find the meaning of the underlined words, also repeated below.

• to guarantee (v)
• to endorse (v)
• to puzzle over (v)
• accredited (adj)
• ashes (n)

In the last post, I introduced the …

“IELTS Ten Super Instant Easy Everything Magic Book” syndrome.

… and explained how to get an IELTS 7, there would have to be a lot of study, a lot of time, and a lot of effort on your part. But why spent time and effort when you can get it all at once with an IELTS magic book? There are lots of them out there, so just buy one, right? Great idea, right? Maybe I need to define the term. What is an ‘IELTS Magic Book’?

Here are rules which must be followed to make an ‘IELTS Magic Book’. The book must …

1. be written in Chinese (so that it is particularly easy to read),
2. be full of passages to be memorised (preferably 100% full of it),
3. never demand the readers to think for themselves,
4. if there is any advice, it must be bland and obvious (“Check your grammar at the end”), and never require work or thinking,
5. have a title which guarantees an impossibly high band scores in a very short time,
6. have wild claims on the back about the effectiveness of the book,
7. have wild claims ‘proving’ the expertise of the author(s) – who can vaguely and meaninglessly identify themselves as ‘IELTS experts’, and/or give a list of weird and wonderful claims which no one can really prove or disprove, such as that the author is …

• Chief syllabus designer for Yale Graduate School of English Excellence, [Who are they?]
• Designated Representative and Spokesperson on IELTS from the University of Eastern Buckinghamshire, [Uh, really? You mean, if I contacted this university, they would confirm this is true?]
• Provider of Editorial services to English Forever Magazine, [Never heard of it]
• Consultant on Protocol in English Liaison Department of the Taiwan Ministries of Education, [Er, does such a department even exist?]
• Member of the Glasgow Review Board Teaching Team in Taiwan, [Er, sorry to be difficult here, but the whole term doesn’t even make sense]

… and all these credentials must be written in Chinese, so that they become absolutely indecipherable.

Finally, the IELTS Magic Book must be …

8. be written by someone who never actually marks IELTS Writing for real; and who never has to listen to people in a real IELTS Speaking Test – in short, be written by people who have no direct experience or knowledge of the results which their magic book will cause – or more simply, don’t know what they are talking about.

When I began teaching IELTS over 20 years ago, the IELTS Magic Books were ‘How to get IELTS 6’. However, it was soon realised that the title, ‘How to get IELTS 7’ would sell better than the ‘IELTS 6’ books. So, the next generation of books had that ‘7’ in the title. Then it went to ‘IELTS 8’. Now, it’s gone to IELTS 9 – a whole series. I suppose all these magic books have now gone as high as they can, or maybe they can go higher?

Actually, they can go higher. Yes, unbelievably, you can do better than just ‘IELTS 9’ books. I had a friend translate the cover of one ‘magic IELTS books’ (since it’s all written in Chinese, of course). This cover informs us that not only is the book (from cover to cover full of passages to memorise) good for IELTS, but it’s also good for TOEFL! And not only that, it’s also good for job interviews! Okay, the ‘magic IELTS book’ has become the ‘magic everything book’, and I’ve learnt something about life. It seems one can succeed in life and communicate with fellow human beings by reciting a series of memorised responses.

Huh?! Are you kidding me?

[To be continued in the next post.]

Find the meaning of the underlined words, also repeated below.

• bland (adj)
• expertise (n)
• vague (adj)
• indecipherable (adj)
• to recite (v)

The ‘IELTS Ten Super Instant Easy Everything Magic Book’ (1 of 5)

I had a student a few days ago who said,

“I bought all these IELTS Books from mainland China, but I now realize they are all junk, and I threw them away.”

Of course they are all junk. But there are so many self-proclaimed IELTS ‘experts’ out there now, and it seems that anyone of them can now write a junk book (in Chinese), promise everything like magic [hence the above picture], get their friends to use the social media to say how good the book is, and the author makes a lot of (your) money.

Uh oh, this is a danger sign everyone – a big danger sign. You need to be very aware of the risks here. So, my student’s comment made me think that it’s now time to go back to some consumer advice. Yes, in this post, I’ll look at the …

“IELTS Ten Super Instant Easy Everything Magic Book” syndrome.

Let’s just start with an obvious fact, so very obvious, but one which no one wants to think about. The IELTS Test is a test of your English ability, and the more ability you have, the higher mark you will get. How do you get higher in the IELTS test? You improve your English ability. That takes time, and practice, and a skilled teacher can certainly help. Let’s just take, at random, one aspect of IELTS Speaking, from the public version of the IELTS band descriptors.

Read that IELTS 7 part. If you can achieve that description, it leads to IELTS 7. Hmmmm. ‘Flexibly’ and ‘variety of topics’. That will definitely require knowing a lot of words, because there is an incredible number of topics one could have to talk about. Remember, ‘flexibly’ does not mean wrongly, strangely, unclearly, or incomprehensibly (the latter suggesting IELTS 4). ‘Flexibly’ does NOT mean memorising weird bits and pieces, and just blurting them out when they are unconnected and unrelated to the subject and logic of the sentence (suggesting an IELTS 5 = limited flexibility).

Yes, being able to talk ‘flexibly’ on a ‘variety of topics’ will require not only knowing a lot of words, but also having a lot of practice, and spending a lot of time. Months of it, at a minimum! But not just that. You will need a focused, systematic, and diligent approach to your learning.

However, many people want a quicker answer – the magic bullet – the single shot which guarantees everything. They want something that will give them a higher IELTS mark, despite their developing English ability (and maybe an unfocused and random approach). So, what about just using a magic book? As I said at the beginning of this post, there are lots of them out there, so why not buy one? Great idea, right? WRONG! So very very WRONG!

[To be continued in the next post.]

Find the meaning of the underlined words, also repeated below.

• random (adj)
• aspect (n)
• flexible (adj)
• incomprehensible (adj)
• to blurt (v)
• focussed (adj)

By the way, here are the answers to Being Concise (8 of 8).

1. Living alone may cause isolation and loss of emotional support. [10 words; originally 30]
2. Many people cannot afford a house or family. [8 words; originally 21]
3. These crimes can cause a permanent memory/scar in the victims’ minds. [11 words; originally 20]
4. Human rights organizations have tried unsuccessfully to abolish the death penalty. [11 words; originally 24]
5. Government has spent money to improve the museum environment for all visitors. [12 words; originally 25]
6. Museums show real history. For example, the Louvre in Paris. [10 words; originally 29]

Note: this last example is examined in my IELTS Writing Task-Two Book: Tip 16, Exercise 47, Part Two, Item 3.

In the previous post, I quoted from my own IELTS Writing Task Two book (Page 33, at the bottom). This page compares the sentence …

When people try to park cars in cities, they usually find it difficult. [13 words]

with …

Parking cars in cities is usually difficult. [7 words]

and concludes …

This new sentence is much shorter, and makes the same point. That is, the sentence is concise, and concision is a sign of a good writer.

This rule should be your rule in IELTS Writing. If a sentence can make the same point in fewer words, WRITE THAT SENTENCES! You then have time to …

• write more,
• say more,
• and achieve more of the task.

It’s time to practice, and in this final practice, let’s look at some longer pieces of writing.

Try making the following sentences more concise.

1. Living alone has many adverse effects. People who live alone may experience feelings of isolation. For example, when people start living alone, it could make them lose emotional support. [30 words]
2. Many people cannot afford a house. In other words, they do not have enough money to have a new family. [21 words]
3. These crimes can cause a memory which remains forever in their minds whenever the victims think about those past events. [20 words]
4. Human rights organizations have tried to abolish the death penalty, and they have launched several attacks, but so far they have not been successful. [24 words]
5. Government has spent money to improve the museum environment for not only local citizens, but also the tourists who visit from all over the world. [25 words]
6. Museums show real history. For example, when visitors go into one of the famous art museums such as the Louvre in Paris, they immediately see the reality of life. [29 words]

Here are the answers to Being Concise (7 of 8).

1. The astronauts may bring back harmful viruses. [7 words; originally 17]
2. Capital punishment is a deterrent against crime. [7 words; originally 17] [‘Making their desire to commit a crime less strong’ simply defines ‘deterrent’.]
3. Purchasing online is often more economical. [6 words; originally 11] [However, the sentence: ‘Products purchased online are often cheaper’ is clearer.]
4. [Examples of crime]. Thus, judicial systems exists. [4 words; originally 9]
5. Improving the environment and quality of life is the main difficulty. [11 words; originally 18]
6. Technology will inevitably change. [11 words; originally 4]