Students' questions

Here are some useful questions from this week:

1. What is the difference between "By contrast" and "In contrast"?

There is no difference. You can use either.

2. Can I use idioms like "pain in the neck" or "it was raining cats and dogs" in academic speaking part 2 and 3?

It really depends on the context, and there are various types of idiom. Read this lesson for more information. Note: I'd definitely avoid saying "it's raining cats and dogs" because no English speakers really use this expression nowadays.

3. What percentage of the writing score is task 1?

Task 1 is worth one third of the score (33%).

4. What should I write in the conclusion if the question only asks me to discuss (it doesn't ask for an opinion)?

Don't write an opinion. Just repeat / summarise the main points that you discussed.

5. Will I get a half point in the listening test if the answer is half correct?

No, there are no half points. The answer is either right or wrong.

6. Is "15th November" two words or three?

It's two words, or one word and a number.

7. Is it ok to write "T, F, NG" instead of "true, false, not given"?

Yes, it's acceptable, but I would write the full word because that's what the question tells you to do.

Comments

[Mehemmed]

Who could say my approx band score for following essay,cause I'm self-studing candidate,I don't know my score.Please help me.

Some people think that universities should provide graduates with the knowledge and skills in the workplace .Others think that the true function of a university should be to give access to knowledge for its own sake, regardless of whether the course is useful to an employer.
What, in your opinion, should be the main function of a university?
Today everyone wants to get a good job, therefore they try to study at university. As we know university is the one of the main institution of the education sector. There is a debatable issue related with functions of universities. In other words, it is believed by some people that universities should teach the main knowledge and skills which will be necessary at work. However, others think that students should be willing to learn these abilities and the duty of universities is to give access for getting it.
I think universities must provide essential abilities which will help graduates at the workplace. I have reasons for it.
First of all, if a student is accepted by a university, it means he or she can learn profession good enough, this student has capacity for it and can be a skilful employee in the future. In this case teaching main knowledge and skills to the students is duty of the university. Otherwise, what this university work for? A student can learn theoretical knowledge by your own.
Second of all, it is clear that employers claim a practice from potential workers. Meanwhile, it is also apparent that new graduates do not have any practical skills. For that reason, universities also have to provide working skills which will be helpful when graduates search a job.
All in all, I would like to mention that the function of the universities is to prepare skilful and knowledgeable employee and I think universities have to do this as good as they can.

[Adel Ansari]

Hello Simon.
I have problem to open your web site. It is not block whereas it's not working. I use proxy sites to open it.
Although, it will not letting me to forget checking your useful web everyday.
Thanks

[Simon]

Hi Adel,

It works fine here, so I think it must be a local server problem where you are. Maybe try again later.

[Faisal]

Hi Simon

I would like to thank you so much for your site. I've just got my result, I got what I need. I have a question, Is it true that Writing & Speaking evaluation differ from center to other? in other word How the Writing & Speaking are evaluated?

Thanks

[Hemn Merany]

Hello Simon,
I would like to show my appreciation of your tips and lessons. Also, I would like to ask if you have a time to make a lesson about different kinds of essays and how can we recongise the differences by looking at the essay question in the IELTS exam?

Besy wishes

[jack]

in the listening test, if the answer is "textbook". can I write the text book, or textbook or text-book? which one is correct?

[TO HONG YEN]

hi simon, I just recieved my résult. i want to share with you, Lis 5.5; reading, writing, speaking 6.5. Im happy with it.
thank for this web and your useful advice

[Joseph]

hi simon
I am confused what is difference between by contrast and on the contrary

[Eri]

Hi Simon,

I wondered can you tell me in percentage was what would be a majority? Also with similar words like the words 'Few' and 'Many' for example, Can you some how make it clear for me to understand these words in relation to some of the Ielts Questions. These words are a grey area for me as they are very close as in meaning. I'm hoping that you can make it clear so that i can understand what some of the Ielts Question are looking for.

PS
Your e-book is really useful by the way.
Thank you very much for your book and your useful advice.

[Simon]

Hi guys,

There are some good questions here! I'll answer in a lesson this weekend.

...

Well done To Hong!

...

I'm glad you like the ebook Eri!

[ESSA]

Hello , This is ESSA , I'm glad that I got a lot of information that I need to improve my writing skill from this website. I'v question if you do not mind .

What are the requirements that examiners usually look at it while they are correcting Task 1 and Task 2 which we need to include it in our writing to get high score ?

Thanks

[ZIAUL HUDA]

Dear Simon,
Can you put some listening section 4 exercises, It would be advantageous to many IELTS Students.
Hoping to hear back from you soon.

[Simon]

Hi Essa,

If you search online for "ielts public band descriptors", you can find PDFs of the marking system.

There's also plenty advice in my lessons here on the site.

...

Hi Ziaul,

Yes, I'll try to include some in future lessons.

[simona]

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
pls explain it

[Anne]

Really like the blog, appreciate the share!

[ggg1990]

I just need to ask, if there is something I’m missing out in terms of what the examiner is looking for in regards to Writing and Speaking in IELTS.

In my case, I do not believe it’s a matter of English proficiency but perhaps more of giving the examiners what they want?

Please see the table below for my previous IELTS results:

Dec 2011(academic)
– L - 8.5, R -8.5, W- 6, S- 9
Feb 2012 (academic)
– L - 8, R -8.5, W- 7.5, S- 7.5
July 2012 (general)
– L - 8, R -8, W- 7, S- 7.5

The first time I took it in Dec, I didn’t really study for it, just had a breeze through the format and I realised that I probably got 6 for writing because I wrote too much for Task 1 writing (I don’t like to write boring reports so instead of just plainly describing the graph (which is what they probably wanted) I did an analysis on it and included my own thoughts and hypothesis.

Second time I did it, knowing the format, I gave them what they wanted and got a 7.5. ( Did I miss a grammar somewhere?
Would you be able to tell me what constitutes an 8? (zero grammar mistakes??) How many mistakes am I allowed to make in order to get just 8?

For the speaking, I felt somewhat wronged, having had a perfect 9 before and down to 7.5 in about a month’s difference.
Clearly, the grading is subjected to the examiner’s opinion????
I appealed for a remark but to no avail.

And of course, I got my lowest results in a General paper (which I thought was super easy).
I thought it’d be easier to score but apparently they have more strict marking guidelines in the General paper compared to the Academic??? (I’m thinking they probably have a quota for the number of people they want to grade an 8 to; for migration purposes.)

I’d like to hear your thoughts on all the above.

Please advise, my concern is getting all 8 in every aspect for IELTS.

Thanks.

[Simon]

Hi ggg,

I think the only way to find out where you're going wrong (or where you could do even better) is to get someone to have a look at one or two of your essays (or perhaps some transcripts of your speaking answers). As you said, it's probably not a language issue, but a case of approaching the exam in a more effective way. If you can't find a good tutor where you live, email me (ieltssimon@gmail.com) and I'll put you in touch with an experienced colleague who offers essay correction and feedback by email.