Top reasons why people fail the IELTS exam

Last year, two million people took the IELTS exam with the hope of achieving the score they needed to work in an English speaking country or study at university. Nowadays, many universities in non-English-speaking countries also require students to take the academic IELTS exam. While the title of this blog is slightly misleading in that there is technically no pass or fail score for the IELTS exam, it does not detract from the fact that individual institutions set their own requirements according to the specific language needs of the course or profession. 

The IELTS exam is an evaluation, so whatever score a person achieves is supposed to be a reflection of their ability. Not achieving the score you need is not technically a fail, but an indication that perhaps you are not ready for the exam or that you need to develop your language skills further.

This article outlines some of the main reasons why people do not achieve the score they want. 

1.       Trying to prepare for the exam without improving their English

Perhaps the most common mistake that I have come across is from students who want to fast track the learning process and just ‘prep’ for the exam. Exam prep is a necessary thing, but it is not the only thing. This practice is comparable to trying to bake a cake by mixing all the ingredients into a bowl at the same time, turning the temperature of the oven higher to speed up the preparation time, and then adding plenty of chocolate to the finished product.

Prepping techniques are most effective when you already have a good command of the language and you want to add some advanced vocabulary or make sure you can write an essay with the time limit. However, the fancy use of conjunctive adverbs and paraphrasing questions will not enhance your score if the essay is riddled with basic mistakes.

Those students who don’t see the need for practicing and improving their English language is a skills generally don’t improve their English. Take the time to improve your sentence structure and use of tenses.

2.       Not learning from their errors

Everybody makes errors when they are learning a new language. The key is to acknowledge this and expect to make errors. This requires a mindset of humility and honesty. You cannot be sensitive to constructive criticism if you want to get the best out of your teacher. You must be aware of the errors you make and constructively analyze your mistakes and review them.

It’s okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. This is also a continual process, which is why it has to be a mindset rather than a ‘temporary fix’. Before long you will have made significant progress and will be drawing compliments from your teacher.

3.       Not studying outside the classroom

This is particularly important if do not live in an English-speaking countries. It is crucial to expose yourself to practical, real-world situations. Read current affairs journals such as Time and Newsweek. Choose a few blogs based on your interests and read them regularly and consistently. Listen to native speakers on TV, the radio, YouTube or in person if you can. Somehow, you must make sure that the rules and principles that you learn in the classroom are being embedded in the subconscious part of your brain so that you can apply them effortlessly. This can only come through practice, and the more realistic the practice the better.

Remember that the IELTS exam is an evaluation that is trying to simulate your ability to perform in real-world situations, so practice your English in real-world situations.

4.       Not addressing the question

Making sure that you fully understand the questions being asked of you is key. A slight misunderstanding can lead to you giving a completely irrelevant answer. A good way to practice this is by taking a list of questions, have your teacher read them to you one by one, and then ask the same question back to your teacher using different words.

In the reading section, be careful not to confuse the instructions. A common area is regarding the ‘not given’ option, which can easily be mistaken for a ‘no’ answer in some questions. This is an example of a situation in which exam prepping can be useful, but not as a replacement for improving your basic skills.

5.       A lack of confidence

This is perhaps where exam prep is at its most effective. Once you are confident that you language skills are up to par, the next step is to make sure that you can perform at you best during the exam. That same confidence must accompany you to the exam if you are going to perform at your best. Going over as many sample exam questions as possible with your teacher is a huge confidence booster. You will probably find that questions sound very familiar to you once you.

Another tool that is only effective after sharpening your language skills is visualizing success. Visualize yourself thinking clearly, answering the questions confidently, planning your essays and finishing within the time limit and, most importantly, maintaining your composure.

At Speakeasy, your native-speaking teacher will tailor your classes to help you achieve your goals and stay motivated. Learn from the comfort of your own home, take lessons during your lunch break or even while travelling abroad. As long as you have a Skype account and internet access, you can attend classes and study in an environment most convenient for you.

Visit our website for more information on our one-to-onecourses www.speakeasy121.com. Explore our video tutorial course on Udemy to learn more about the most commonly used idioms in English-speaking countries, as well as tips for business English.

All About Collocations

Collocations are combinations of two or more words that are used together frequently. For example, in business you might regularly come across theses combinations of words:

Make a profit/make a loss
Close a deal/close a meeting

It’s very important to develop an understanding of words that regularly occur together when learning English because there are many irregularities in the language. For example, you can play football and chess, but you can’t play karate. Also, you can make your bed, but you can’t make the cleaning. Concerning articles, if you play the guitar, then you play an instrument.

Using tools such as textbooks, blogs and dictionaries can teach us the meaning of the word, but not how to correctly structure a sentence around it. For this reason, it is better to learn complete phrases rather than lists of single-word vocabulary. If you prefer to pick up vocabulary by reading, then make a note of the complete sentence, not just the vocabulary word, because the context can also affect the meaning. This allows you to learn the words that are commonly used with the vocabulary word, thereby increasing your chances of using it correctly and being well understood.

A very effective way to improve the structure of your sentence when speaking and writing is to study the most frequently used collocations in the English language. Here are some examples:

Want + to + verb - “Robert wanted to eat something before the meeting”
Want + a + noun - “Karen wants a car for her birthday”
Need + to + verb - “I need to speak with Dr Stowe”
Need + a + noun – “I need a drink”
Need + some + uncountable noun – “that man needs some medicine”

There are many different structures for collocations in English and the best way to address the issue is by personalizing your list of relevant phrases based the things that you like or need to talk about. Here are just a few of the most common collocation structures to get you started:

adverb + adjective - “completely satisfied”, “extremely disappointed”
adjective + noun - “regular exercise”
noun + preposition + noun - “a bottle of water”, "Game of Thrones"
noun + verb - (passive voice sentence always require this structure)
verb + noun - “pay attention”, “take the initiative”
certain verb + gerund - “Elizabeth dislikes travelling by plane”

At Speakeasy, you can tailor your classes to specifically target any area you want, or let your teacher bring your weaknesses to your attention. Your teacher, a native-speaker, will work with you to achieve your goals and stay motivated. Learn from the comfort of your own home, take lessons from your office at lunch time or even while travelling abroad. As long as you have a Skype account and internet access, you can attend classes and study in an environment most convenient for you.

Visit our website for more information on our one-to-one courses www.speakeasy121.com. Explore our video tutorial course on Udemy to learn more about the most commonly used idioms in English-speaking countries, as well as tips for business English.

How to improve your intonation

Intonation describes how the voice rises and falls in speech. A falling pitch is associated with certainty, and a rising pitch with uncertainty. The improper use of intonation can be very misleading. For this reason, it is perhaps better to speak in a monotone manner than to use intonation incorrectly. However, it is preferable to master intonation and use it as a tool to better express oneself in English.

Most of the time, you need to remember to start high and end low for declarative sentences. The emphasis (or stress) is normally placed on the first syllable of the last word.

“John didn’t tell her the password”

The same word or phrase can take on completely different meanings depending on which syllable is stressed. Take the phrase “John didn’t tell her the password” could imply several different things depending on the intonation.

“John didn’t tell her the password” - someone else told her the password.
“John didn’t tell her the password” - John told someone else the password.

“John didn’t tell her the password” - John told her something else, not the password.

Even with just a single-word statement, different meanings can be implied. If the word 'okay' is said with a rising pitch, it is likely to be heard as a question or as someone asking for confirmation. If the same word is said with a falling pitch, it is more likely to be heard as confirmation or a discourse marker.

In interrogative sentences, we generally start low and end high; however, the ‘peak’ of the sentence can also fall on the word with the most relevance. Take the following sentences.

“What was the address?”
“What was the address of that building?”

The stress stays with the word address in the second sentence, even though it is not the last word because it is more relevant to what the speaker wants to find out.

Some questions may give you a choice between two options, in which case the stress is placed on both options more or less equally, but the first option is said with a rising intonation and the second is said with a lower intonation.

“Was it number 13 or 31?” 

Although correcting intonation is relatively straight forward and does not require a long period of time, it does require concerted focus. Record yourself speaking, listen to it and make the necessary corrections. This might be tedious, but it is one of the fastest and most effective ways to correct your intonation. Mirror the pace at which natives speak as well. This will allow you to be better understood and should also contribute to mimicking their intonation too. 

The teachers Speakeasy can cover this topic with you more extensively than the tips in this article. Our teachers have real world experience of working in the business world, from the financial sector to NGOs. As long as you have a Skype account and internet access, you can attend classes and study in an environment most convenient for you.

Visit our website for more information on our one-to-one courses. Visit our successful video tutorial course on Udemy to practice your intonation and listen to native speakers, as well as for advice on speaking business English.

What’s the best way to start a business email?

A well-written business letter can potentially make or break a business deal, so you’ll want to create a good first impression with the salutation or start of the letter.

One of the best ways to engage your reader is by thanking them right from the start. It sets the right tone and makes the reader feel appreciated, which is particularly vital if you require future help from them. This is easier and more natural if you responding to an email. You can thank them simply for being aware of your product or service, for showing concern about something or constructive criticism; you can even thank them responding quickly to an earlier email that you had sent.
          “Thank you for showing an interest in our service/product.”

          “Thank you for your feedback.”
          “Thank you for swift response.”

If the email is formal, then ‘Dear + Mr/Mrs/Dr/etc. + Name’ is the safest way to begin. It is very neutral and will not ruffle any feathers. The worst case scenario is that the reader will think you are polite and formal. ‘Dear All’ or ‘Dear colleagues’ are good ways to start an email addressed to a group of people you work with.

Casual greetings such as ‘Hi + Name’ are more acceptable through email than in era when most business correspondence was done by letter. They are also a good ice breaker and can set the mood well for friendly, open and honest interaction. However, some people find these types of greetings to be a bit too casual. This is rather risky if you do not know the recipient and the letter is of a formal nature for example a job application or cover letter.

‘Good Morning/Good Afternoon/Good Evening’ are common and acceptable ways to begin an email with someone you already know and have some interaction with. In my personal opinion, they are a bit bland and there is no guarantee that the person will read your email at the time of day specified, simply because that is when you wrote it. That said, a bland or neutral opening will not overshadow the content of the letter, and there is a good chance that the reader will have some sort of immediate notification through their smartphone when the email arrives, thus reading it at the time of day it was sent.

The next important step is to make sure that you clearly state the purpose of your email in the first paragraph:

          “I would like to bring your attention to…”
          “I must apologize for…”

You can also use adverbs or adverb phrases as precursors to set the tone for the rest of the message:

          “Unfortunately, we will not be able deliver order on time…”
          “Regarding the information you requested…”

At Speakeasy, our teachers have real world experience of working in the business world, from the financial sector to NGOs. As long as you have a Skype account and internet access, you can attend classes and study in an environment most convenient for you.

Visit our website for more information on our one-to-one courses. Visit our video tutorial course on Udemy to learn more about the most commonly used idioms in English-speaking countries, as well as tips for business English.