Recognise the Graph and Start Writing

By Nov Panha

candidates are asked to write about: a line graph, a pie chart, a table or a bar chart. My presentation covered some basic points about writing the introduction and the body paragraph for Writing Task 1.

I began with showing the audience the fastest and easiest way to prepare an effective introduction. I suggested that they note some important points. They then had to complete some exercises which were shown on a projector screen. By attempting this exercise, the audience would be able to acquire the two main sentence structures for the Writing Task 1 introduction. Moreover, I wanted to help the audience gain an awareness of the overview. I showed them the most crucial key components in writing it and some do’s and don’ts.

Another interesting point is that there are three main features of the task’s body paragraph. The first feature is comparing information. This requires candidates to pay attention to the grammar and the shape of the graph because some information does not need to be compared or stated. The second feature is how to embed statistical data into a sentence. Students must learn and remember this technique. The third feature is how to include some favourable comments in the writing in order to make it more convincing. Finally, I talked about the importance of linking devices.

I chose this topic because of students’ concerns about IELTS Writing Task 1. I have met students in the Guided Individual Learning Centre (GILC) who have complained about these problems in this task. Most students found this task “difficult” and “complicated”. I researched the topic and focused on IELTS Writing Task 1. I was then given the opportunity to give a GILC Talk and share some practical tips. These tips are essential for advanced level students.

I did not expect the audience to easily acquire all the points that I presented. However, I hope that students will at least be able to prepare an effective introduction for IELTS Writing Task 1. At least it is a starting point to carry them to the next stage of IELTS writing.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
—Laozi, Chinese philosopher

How to Achieve 8.5 on IELTS Listening

By Ong LyHuy

My presentation was divided into four parts. The first one was about introducing the participants to the IELTS Listening question types that I categorised into four types.

The second part was general tips that can be applied to most of the question types. I then emphasised and gave more tips for the four specific question types. Those tips included tracking direction, time management, and my way of underlining keywords for them to compare to what they are taught in the classroom. The fourth and final part was a brief talk about practice alternatives for IELTS besides the GILC. I wrapped the session up by introducing the Language Learning Advisor program.

There were a few reasons I chose this topic. First of all, listening was my highest score for IELTS. I achieved 8.5. After a lot of trial and error, many mistakes and failed attempts, I became more confident and familiar with listening tests. Secondly, there was my experience with listening. Out of all four skills, even when I feel like my reading, writing or speaking needs improvement, I still have the enthusiasm for listening practice. The reason is that listening is a very easy test. Unlike reading, writing and speaking, the answers will be told in a chronological order, which means that I don’t have to think about it much. Because of this, I have practiced a lot. Furthermore, I followed all of the tips from my teachers and friends. Consequently, I found some time-efficient approaches to the questions, some errors in what I have been taught, and I also came up with a few new ones as well.

What I expected from the audience was that they would perform better and become more confident when practicing as well as taking the actual IELTS Listening Test. Participants should have a better idea of what to accomplish after receiving their question paper. Additionally, they would also be more cautious of unexpected information as well as unexpected instructions. Furthermore, tracking the listening would be easier for them, especially how to follow the speaker during a map or diagram completion task and how to recognise the different speakers during conversations that have many speakers. Hopefully, the participants will experiment with my tips when they practice and see if it works for them and also be able to achieve the desired band scores on their upcoming IELTS.

Fast Track your IELTS Reading

By Chea Vengkeat

There were three mains parts that were covered in the seminar and five tips you should know about IELTS Reading, IELTS practice materials,

and the different types of question in IELTS Reading – including how to approach some of them.

I started the discussion by asking “Who thinks IELTS Reading is easy?” I answered the question after I had listened to the audience’s responses. To motivate them, I told them that IELTS Reading can be hard and easy depending on your effort. The more effort you put in the higher score you can get.

I improved from 6.5 to 8.5 by practicing for two months and so can you. I continued by explaining the five tips that I think are essential in preparing students for the test. In the second part of my talk, I showed them what materials I have used and where to get them. I ended the talk by showing them what question types to expect and how to approach the hardest ones. 

I chose this topic because I achieved a score of 8.5 on my IELTS Reading, and I personally think that with some tips IELTS Reading can be astonishingly easy. Of the four skills tested, I achieved a band score of 8.5 for both IELTS Reading and Listening. However, I chose reading for the presentation because even though reading can be tricky, it is easy to gain more marks from and can be made very easy with practice. I wanted to show them what I did, the tricks I learned and that when they use them, I can change their perspective into thinking that reading is easy because it actually is.

I expected just one outcome from my audience which was for them to get a good score on reading. I showed them some tips, including how IELTS Reading is assessed. They could use this information and set a goal for themselves. They can then go to the bookstore or download books from the internet – material that I used to practice – to familiarise themselves with the test. For the difficult question types, I showed them tricks to tackle them. By setting goals, practice and with knowledge of the questions types, they will definitely achieve a good band score.

Speak Out of the Box

By Khov Saing Y

My talk was about speaking tips. I covered four main problems people might come across during speaking and also a little bit of my own way of learning the speaking skill.

The four tips were: why we lose confidence and how to maintain it, repetition of words and why we can’t seem to stop using certain specific words or phrases and how to avoid repetition, pronunciation and how to improve it, and grammar.

I chose grammar because most of us struggle with it. Grammar affects our speaking that is why I talked about grammar as the last common problem candidates came across. I am also a person who finds grammar difficult and I am weak at it.
So I decided that as I am weak in grammar then my learning perspective would provide good advice for the audience. I learned how to use a different grammar range in speaking and my experience in achieving this would be helpful to students.

The last part of the talk apart from the four tips was about how to use each technique effectively. I mentioned how to speak from a new perspective which involved the examiner’s point of view as well.

I expected the audience to use what I said as a guiding light. It is true that people have different mindsets and also opinions which mean that some of the audience might find it hard to do what I said. However, some might think it’s a good idea. Furthermore, I hope that the mistakes I made in the talk made the audience look at me from an examiner’s perspective and realise what are my weaknesses. They would then know what they need to improve because they have already put themselves into the examiner’s shoes.

IELTS Reading: Give Yourself a Chance to Score 8.5

By Ear SocheatKanha

The presentation was divided into five parts. These were desired IELTS Reading band score, general reading tips, question types, IELTS Reading tips, and some notes for the test.

The first part of the presentation was about setting a goal for the exact band score that students desired. Trying hard with no direction is like a ship without a compass and setting a goal can motivate learners.

During the presentation, I focused on tips for previewing, vocabulary and time management. In addition to this, I also emphasised tips for IELTS Reading since I thought most of the audience were going to have this test very soon. There were students who were actually fluent in English. However, he or she would have been puzzled by questions about the test and therefore get a lower band score especially for reading. Furthermore, of all of the four skills, I would say I am most comfortable and confident with giving tips about reading. That is why I want to share what I know about reading tips with the audience so they to take home at least something that might be helpful in one way or another.

Finally, I am grateful for the help from others who have taken the test. I am fully aware how encouraging and favourable it is to have someone give you tips and advice. In the talk, I mentioned unfamiliar advanced words that students might come across during the test and that “vocabulary size is not everything”. I also showed the audience how to guess the definitions of those words. My real intention in the talk was for them to develop the ability to read through words and understand what the general meaning of a sentence or paragraph is without knowing what every word means. As a result, test takers could shorten the time they spend on reading each passage, especially for the high-scoring IELTS candidates.