Simon's holiday!

I'll be away on holiday this week, so I'm going to take a short break from the blog. This means that the daily lessons will stop until Monday 20th August, and I won't be able to answer any questions that people put in the 'comments' below lessons.

The ebook is still on sale, and anyone who buys it this week will receive it within 24 hours of making the payment.

Keep working hard, and I'll see you on the 20th!

Comments

[Bob]

cool, enjoy your holiday!

[Minh Khanh]

Hope you have a happy holiday.Hope to see you soon...

[allan]

that's great, i guess you really need it, enjoy!

[Zeladea]

Happy holidays enjoy

[mz]

hi every one i just wanted to share this essay with you, and i would appreciate any comment.thanks
Modern lifestyles mean that many parents have little time for their children. Many
children do not get as much attention from their parents as children did in the past.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?

A common concern nowadays is how modern lifestyles can have a negative effect on family life. A particular worry is that parents no longer are able to provide sufficient care and support to their children. My own view is that this is generally true ,but not always so.

On the one hand, busy parent`s lifestyles have some adverse effects on children`s upbringing. While traditionally the husband was the breadwinner of the family and the wife stayed at home to take care of her children, this ordinary family role now has completely changed. Nowadays, women go outside to work side by side with men, leaving her children alone or with nannies. As result , parents spend less time with their children, for example,they are no longer eat meals together as used in the past. Also working parents tend to have less opportunity to supervise and watch their children`s behaviour .

On the other hand,many hard working families may still find the time to spend with their children. These families put more value on raising children , and it cause them agreat sense of achievement when they bring up their children in a perfect way.For example ,in some low income families, parents are still considerably involved in their children`s life so they know their children`s friends. From my own experience,i grew up in family where both parents are full time worker ,but i barely remember a day where i hadn`t saw one of my parents,and they where always available for us when we need them.

In conclusion, although the busy lifestyle has resulted in a situation where families are less close than before,i also believe that there are cases where parents extremely busy but still managed to be involved in their children`s life. It should be the parent duty to balance their working and family life particularly if they decided to have children

[Kofo]

Have a wonderful holiday Simon!

[Reza]

Dear Simon
Have fun and I have best wishes for you.

Regards,
Reza

[Malika]

have a Wonderful Holidayy .!!

[gangchil]

Hope to have a remarkable holiday.
i am from Bangladesh and i have no Visa Or Master card,instead i have a virtual card.this card allow to pay the exam fees for MRCP Or PLAB eexam.can i use the card to pay for ur e book?i really need the e book.
thanks.

[Qizhi Huang]

Have a lovely holiday, Si!

[daehee pyun]

happy holiday and keep safe..

[hye mi baek]

have a good holiday, Simon !!

[Seema]

Have a great holiday .........................................E-joy

[Alex]

Hi Simon,

I am a bit confused about whether "due to the fact that" could be used in IELTS writing.

At http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/dueto.html
It says:
Although “due to” is now a generally acceptable synonym for “because," "due to the fact that” is a clumsy and wordy substitute that should be avoided in formal writing. “Due to” is often misspelled “do to.”

[mciven]

Have a lovely holiday Simon..!!

[vivek]

Have a wonderful holiday Simon!!

[Neda]

Enjoy your holiday!

[Thang Huynh]

Enjoy and relax!!!

[Raj]

enjoy yourself Simon,,have a good time,,

[Thai Kien]

Hi Simon,

I just want to say thank you so much for your lessons. It guided me through the IELTS last two weeks (4th August). I had overall 6.5 band score, (Listening: 7.5, Reading: 7, Speaking: 6, and 5.5 for Writing). I followed closely to your advice and tutors, which got me quite satisfied.

Once again, many thanks to you and wish you a wonder vacation, :).

Thai Kien - Vietnam

[Sơn]

Wonderful holiday ^^

[jo]

Have a nice time... I wish to see you soon......

[Ahmed Montaser]

Dear Simon,
I would like to thank you very much for your time and effort you are putting here. I was able to score 8 in IELTS thanks to God and to your study material. My scores in different sections were as follows ( R:9, L: 8.5, W: 7.5, S: 7.5). Now I can apply to my postgraduate examination:)
Again, thank you and Enjoy your holiday!

[Venkat]

Hi Ahmed,

Congratulations! That is really a nice score.
Can you share how you have prepared and what was your experience in the exmination? I am also aiming for similar score, your advise and experience would help me and others as well.

Thanks,
Venkat

[Prasiddha]

Hi Simon,

First of all, Happy Holidays.....

I want to share my score too.. I got overall 8 (R:9, L:8.5, W:8, S:7).

I managed to get this score just by following your tips in this website. Many of my friends went to take coaching classes but I knew that your website is far better than any institutes if only we can follow it properly.
Anyways, Many thanks to you and god bless you....

Prasiddha

[Ahmet]

Hi Simon,
I would like to thank you for the extremely informative lessons(especially the writing section) that you've been giving.Thanks to this website i got

Listening: 7.0
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 7.0
Speaking: 8.5
Overall: 8.0

Thanks for everything Simon and have a wonderful holiday!

[Rahim]

Hello dear Simon,

I'm very grateful to you for your all support. Wish you a wonderful holiday.

Only I can't understand one thing, " Why one does it? "

God bless you.

Best Regards
Rahim.

[gangchil]

Hi Ahmet,
nice to know ur score.i am preparing for the test and i need same score as u got.can u pls share ur preparation skills to us.i am preparring myself with the help of this site.how can i get good score(7 or above)in writing and reading?
pls share here to us.

[snow]

Hi Simon,
i am wondering if there is a "no" in the text and a "little" in the t/f/ng qusetion.what's the answer?f ,t or ng?what if "no" in the question and "little"in the text?thx a lot!

[Gayathri]

Hello sir..!
Happy holidays..!..I got my score its 7!..Your lessons helped me a lot..thanks a lot sir..!!!!

[Ahmet]

Hi Gangchil,
Well, for the writing module(task 2) i followed simon's instruction by using ten minutes to plan my essay and make ideas.i think that is the crucial point to make your essay well-organised.I also didn't use very complex sentences and wrote a clear but short conclusion.
As for the reading part,All you have to do is first read the question then find the answer in the passage.So dont read all of the passage.Remember you dont have to understand all of the passage to answer the questions.I finished the reading module in 35 minutes so you wont have a problem about the time with that method. I think These are the key points.
I hope you reach your goal!

[koko]

thank u simon..i made an overall score of 8.0 (R-8.5, L-7.0, W-7.5, S-9.0)....I can now become a registered nurse in the uk.yipie

[gangchil]

Thanks Ahmet,
Thnks for the reply.
I dont have any tutor to make a check by him.is it possible to get a good score like urs,without any tutor? i mean,is the self study is enough if someone be dedicated to achieve a good score?
looking forward to hear from u..thanks

[Alka]

Hi Ahmet

Congratulations !!

I would also appreciate your detailed preparation about all module .

I found listening section 4 quite difficult as I didn't get time to read further before tape started.

I always find reading time short for me , so how you managed to complete it before time .
Writing , I am unable to create complex sentences . Can you see one of my essay here
*Comments are appreciated"
One of the major problems facing the world today is the growing number of refugees. Developed nation of the world should tackle this problem by taking more refugees. To what extend do you agree or disagree? Use your own idea, knowledge and view.
It is undeniable that numbers of refugees are increasing worldwide enormously. It is a huge problem for developing as well as developed countries. I opine that along with some restrictions, developed countries should provide their significant contribute to tackle this issue.
On the one hand, more refugees crossing border and coming in any country occupy the available resources. This leads the shortage of current resources and government of that nation need to spend more funds to fulfil the requirement which could be used in some other area of development .Moreover, expatriates get jobs in the migrated country and they shorten the job opportunities of local candidates. It increases the unemployment and poverty. Which sometimes leads to criminal activities .Apart from this, it is not a piece of cake for them to learn new language and accept a new culture.
On the other hand, new people with high skill set provide benefit for countries economical growth by producing high quality product and delivering good services. This kind of skill set is sometimes unavailable in natives. Also, for the sake of humanity it is really necessary for the rich nations to support and take care of refugees. If they will find new nation supportive for them, they will be very loyal towards their new nation. If refuses will not move in other countries, they might end up with sever poverty and illnesses.

In my opinion, Developed nation should come forward to help these people but there should be some restriction on number of refugees comes in to prevent overcrowding, Unemployment among natives. This phenomenon should not be an obstacle in the path of anyone’s success.

Thanks Alka

[Ahmet]

Hi Gangchil,
You definitely can achieve a good score without a tutor just by applying simon's advise.

Hi Alka,
For the listening part just scan the questions ahead to get the idea.Also concentration is very important in the listening module so if you missed an answer just let it go and focus on the next one.I explained my reading strategy to Gangchil so you can find it there.As for the writing module i think your essay is fairly organized but i would advise you to think about what youre going to write first then find a couple of examples to write and elaborate them instead of writing a lot of examples.Apart from that there are a few grammar errors in the essay.If you correct them you would be fine .So this is my advise.

[gangchil]

so many thanks Ahmet...may Allah watch over you.

[Simon]

MESSAGE FROM SIMON:

Thanks to those of you who wished me a good holiday. I had a really nice break, and 'recharged my batteries' for the new academic year!

Also, well done to those of you who shared your scores on this page. It's great to hear that people have been successful after following the lessons.

...

Hi Gangchil,

I'm not sure whether you can use a virtual card. It depends on what PayPal allows in your country. When you choose the country name it will give you a choice of payment types.

...

Sorry if I haven't answered other individual questions about grammar and vocabulary. I do read everyone's questions, and I'll try to answer the most useful ones in a blog post once a week (probably on Saturdays).

[sharu]

Happy holiday simon!!

[sreejith]

hi simon
i appeared for my exam last mont im new to your site,finding ity really useful im trying to improve my writing im very unlucky that i lost it two times ne for .5 my last exam question
tourism is good but it often creates disturbance between people to what extent you agree/disagree
certainly looking forward to get more help to improve my writing