Hey! Today, Nick and I take a look at what we think are the letter prompts from the new Cambridge IELTS 17. (In other words, although the book was published in July, we were unable to get our hands on a copy so are relying that these are the real questions based on a third source!)

We will look at each question in turn to analyse which tone you will need to adopt, and how you should approach each bullet. Plus, we discover how important to read ALL of the bullets and PLAN your letter before you start writing.

Useful Links

• Support the podcast and access BONUS episodes here -  https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/patreon/
• Download my free ebook "An ex-examiner's guide to the Band IELTS Descriptors": https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ielts-examiner-ebook-mark/
• Watch the free video lessons on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLz9Dbe4NEIu5OCy0WA1sg

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Remember, My IELTS Classroom offers a range of IELTS services:

• IELTS Video courses: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/writing
• IELTS Essay Corrections: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/marking
• Free blog lessons: http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com

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Hey! I have noticed over the last few years that students really struggle to write letters that are genuinely informal. Even good students who follow all of the language rules for informal letters send me letters to mark that feel "cold" and "stiff" and simply still " too formal". Why is that? Well, that is what I sat down this week to ponder, and the result is this podcast!

Today, Nick and I will show you how you can turn your good informal IELTS letters into great ones by making PERSONAL COMMENTS. Yes, those are often the missing element in a great IELTS letter. We will give you examples of good letters that contain no comments and then show how adding small references to your personal relationship with the recipient can really make a huge difference to your tone. And, why is tone important? Well, it is the quality of your tone that more or less dictates your score for Task Achievement, which is one quarter of your overall score for General Training Task 1.

You can read more about today's episode at:  https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ielts-informal-letter/ 

Useful Links

• Support the podcast and access BONUS episodes here -  https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/patreon/
• Download my free ebook "An ex-examiner's guide to the Band IELTS Descriptors": https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ielts-examiner-ebook-mark/
• Watch the free video lessons on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLz9Dbe4NEIu5OCy0WA1sg

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If you are on Apple Podcasts, help us to help more people just like you by rating and reviewing our show. Reviews let other students - just like you - find our information-packed episodes and start their IELTS journey in the best possible way.

Remember, My IELTS Classroom offers a range of IELTS services:

• IELTS Video courses: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/writing
• IELTS Essay Corrections: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/marking
• Free blog lessons: http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com

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Hey! We're back this week with a look at some common problems students (who haven't taken our writing course!) run into with essay writing.

In today's episode, we look at some common problems with organisation, grammar, and ideas which can prevent YOU from scoring a 7.0. in writing on exam day.

In this episode, we will

1. talk about the 5 mistakes Nick and I find most often in First Assessment essays
2. explain some basic pointers about how to correct these errors 
3. point you in the right direction to our podcast library (already over 100 episodes!) so that you can go into more detail and stop these errors permanently

Useful Links

• Support the podcast and access BONUS episodes here -  https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/patreon/
• Download my free ebook "An ex-examiner's guide to the Band IELTS Descriptors": https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ielts-examiner-ebook-mark/
• Watch the free video lessons on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLz9Dbe4NEIu5OCy0WA1sg

Rate and review My IELTS Classroom
If you are on Apple Podcasts, help us to help more people just like you by rating and reviewing our show. Reviews let other students - just like you - find our information-packed episodes and start their IELTS journey in the best possible way.

Remember, My IELTS Classroom offers a range of IELTS services:

• IELTS Video courses: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/writing
• IELTS Essay Corrections:https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/marking
• IELTS Speaking lessons: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/speaking
• Free blog lessons: http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com
• Free Podcast episodes: https://myieltsclassroom.buzzsprout.com
• Support the show by becoming a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/myieltsclassroo

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Today, Nick and I give IELTS Cue Card Feedback to 7 of our listeners. We will highlight some common errors and give expected scores based on the recordings.

You can read more about today's episode at:  https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ielts-cue-card-feedback-2021

Episode notes
Last week, I sent out a call on social media for our listeners to record themselves attempting three speaking part two questions. So today, Nick and I will be giving IELTS cue card feedback baed on the public band descriptors.

In this episode, we will

1. do a short quiz to review the basics of Speaking Part 2
2. explain which band descriptors the examiners focus on most in this part of the test 
3. give  IELTS cue card feedback to 7 students, including band scores and advice on which areas to focus on to improve

Useful Links 

• Join our next 5-day intensive speaking course:  https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/speaking
• If you are just starting IELTS, then find out more about what happens in the exam in our Introduction to IELTS Speaking episode : http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/introduction-to-ielts-speaking/
• You may find our episode about the speaking band descriptors useful as well: http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ielts-speaking-band-descriptors/

Rate and review My IELTS Classroom
If you are on Apple Podcasts, help us to help more people just like you by rating and reviewing our show. Reviews let other students - just like you - find our information-packed episodes and start their IELTS journey in the best possible way.

Remember, My IELTS Classroom offers a range of IELTS services:

• IELTS Video courses: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/writing
• IELTS Essay Corrections:https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/marking
• IELTS Speaking lessons: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/speaking
• Free blog lessons: http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com
• Free Podcast episodes: https://myieltsclassroom.buzzsprout.com

Support the show

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Hey! Last week, Nick and I completed an Academic reading passage from Cambridge 17 Test 4. Today, we thought that we would do the full listening from the same test.

• Click here to download the questions for the lesson

Join us as we complete each section of the test. We will starting by outlining how we would approach each part and reminding you of the best way to approach each one. 

Then, we will give you a chance to listen and answer the questions, before giving you our answers and discussing why some items were easy and others were difficult.

This is a great chance for you to put your listening skills into action!

Useful Links

• Support the podcast and access BONUS episodes here -  https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/patreon/
• Download my free ebook "An ex-examiner's guide to the Band IELTS Descriptors": https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ielts-examiner-ebook-mark/
• Watch the free video lessons on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLz9Dbe4NEIu5OCy0WA1sg

Rate and review My IELTS Classroom
If you are on Apple Podcasts, help us to help more people just like you by rating and reviewing our show. Reviews let other students - just like you - find our information-packed episodes and start their IELTS journey in the best possible way.

Remember, My IELTS Classroom offers a range of IELTS services:

• IELTS Video courses: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/writing
• IELTS Essay Corrections:https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/marking
• IELTS Speaking lessons: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/speaking
• Free blog lessons: http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com
• Free Podcast episodes: https://myieltsclassroom.buzzsprout.com
• Support the show by becoming a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/myieltsclassroo

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Join Nick and I today as we go through the Cambridge IELTS 17 Academic Reading – Timur Gareyev – blindfold chess champion 

In the test, we will discover that although there are definite “rules” for each type of question, there are times when IELTS may break those, so you should be prepared for everything!

Plus, if you have never seen our unique Read Once, Read Well technique (then where have you been!), then this is your chance to see it in action here!

We will read excerpts from the passage in the podcast, but you will get more out of the lesson if you attempt the reading yourself first. You can find a copy of Cambridge IELTS Reading - Timur Gareyev – blindfold chess champion on this link

Useful Links

• Download my free ebook "An ex-examiner's guide to the Band IELTS Descriptors": https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ielts-examiner-ebook-mark/
• Watch the free video lessons on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiLz9Dbe4NEIu5OCy0WA1sg

Rate and review My IELTS Classroom
If you are on Apple Podcasts, help us to help more people just like you by rating and reviewing our show. Reviews let other students - just like you - find our information-packed episodes and start their IELTS journey in the best possible way.

Remember, My IELTS Classroom offers a range of IELTS services:

• IELTS Video courses: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/writing
• IELTS Essay Corrections:https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/marking
• IELTS Speaking lessons: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/speaking
• Free blog lessons: http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com
• Free Podcast episodes: https://myieltsclassroom.buzzsprout.com
• Support the show by becoming a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/myieltsclassroom

Support the show

In IELTS Speaking  Part 3, the focus moves away from you to the world around you. This means that you must be able to  speak about abstract topics, which is not easy even for high-level test takers. 

If you want to take part in next week's episode, you can record your answers to the IELTS Speaking Part 3 questions at the end of this blog post: :http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ielts-speaking-part-3/

Episode Notes
In this episode, Nick and I explain how to approach these questions well by looking at the types of question you will be asked, the common topics covered, and the right and wrong way to answer the questions in this part of the test. We will discuss 

1. The basic facts about Speaking Part 3
2. What type of language you will need to address the questions
3. What good responses to the questions in this part of the test look like
4. Common topics in IELTS Speaking Part 3
5. What to do if you have no ideas for a question

Useful Links 

• Join our next intensive speaking course: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/speaking
• Introduction to IELTS Speaking http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/introduction-to-ielts-speaking/

Rate  and review My IELTS Classroom
If you are on Apple Podcasts, help us to help more people just like you by rating and reviewing our show. Reviews let other students - just like you - find our information-packed episodes and start their IELTS journey in the best possible way.

Remember, My IELTS Classroom offers a range of IELTS services:

• IELTS Video courses: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/writing
• IELTS Essay Corrections:https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/marking
• IELTS Speaking lessons: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/speaking
• Free blog lessons: http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com
• Free Podcast episodes: https://myieltsclassroom.buzzsprout.com

Support the show

Hey! You are in the IELTS reading exam and everything is going well, when suddenly you find a word that you do not recognise, but you know is important. What do you do? Do you pause and think for a few minutes? Do you skip the word and continue reading? Or do you quickly make an educated guess using one of the 5 techniques offered in this podcast?!

Yes, today Nick and I look at a bottom-up reading skill – how to understand vocabulary from context. This is not something that IELTS tests direct in either the Academic or General Training exam, but it is a skill that can help any test taker.

In this episode, we will 

1. Discuss the difference between bottom-down and bottom-up skills
2. Give you 5 techniques to help you guess meaning from context
3. Test your knowledge of prefixes
4. Look at a short text to put these skills into practice.

Useful Links

• Support the podcast and access BONUS episodes here -  https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/patreon/
• Download my free ebook "An ex-examiner's guide to the Band IELTS Descriptors": https://mailchi.mp/myieltsclassroom/examiner-guide-to-ielts-band-descriptors

Rate and review My IELTS Classroom
If you are on Apple Podcasts, help us to help more people just like you by rating and reviewing our show. Reviews let other students - just like you - find our information-packed episodes and start their IELTS journey in the best possible way. 

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Hey! Maps have long been a possible question-type in Academic Writing Task 1. However, until recently, 99% of maps focused on changes that happened in a town. In recent exams, however, there have been more maps tha focus on changes to specific buildings or road systems.

The problem is that many students still try to use the same key features and organisation for these maps as traditional town maps. The result? A very poor report! Today, Nick and I discuss how you can find better key features for building and road maps, and how you may want to organise these in an entirely different way if there are few changes to the original structure.

This is an interactive lesson - click to view the blog post that contains the maps: https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/academic-writing-task-1-maps-2022/

Useful Links

• Support the podcast and access BONUS episodes here -  https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/patreon/
• Download my free ebook "An ex-examiner's guide to the Band IELTS Descriptors": https://mailchi.mp/myieltsclassroom/examiner-guide-to-ielts-band-descriptors

Rate and review My IELTS Classroom
If you are on Apple Podcasts, help us to help more people just like you by rating and reviewing our show. Reviews let other students - just like you - find our information-packed episodes and start their IELTS journey in the best possible way. 

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Hey! It's time again for Nick and I to generate ideas for some recent IELTS essay questions. Today, we look at 6 real IELTS Essay Questions 2022, which were all taken from exams in July and August.

You are welcome to sit and passively enjoy the episode, but you will get a lot more out of the lesson if you actively take part.

You can find the questions at  https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/real-ielts-essay-questions-2022/

Useful Links 

• Learn more about brainstorming ideas - http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/how-can-you-think-of-ideas-for-your-ielts-essay/
• Download our free guide to the band descriptors here - https://blog.myieltsclassroom.com/ielts-examiner-ebook/

Rate and review My IELTS Classroom
If you are on Apple Podcasts, help us to help more people just like you by rating and reviewing our show. Reviews let other students  find our information-packed episodes and start their IELTS journey in the best possible way.

Remember, My IELTS Classroom offers a range of IELTS services:

• IELTS Video courses: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/writing
• IELTS Essay Corrections:https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/marking
• IELTS Speaking lessons: https://www.myieltsclassroom.com/pages/speaking
• Free blog lessons: http://blog.myieltsclassroom.com

Support the show