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In IELTS Writing Task 2, one of the biggest challenges is idea stagnation. A test taker may stuck in the similar ideas and end up being unable to develop the writing and writing less than 250 words. This particularly happens when the topic being discussed is very specific and thus requires a high level of accuracy and relevancy. Take a look at this example: Some people argue that technological inventions, such as mobile phones, are making people socially less interactive. Do you agree or disagree? This is one of many examples of topic which is really specific. In your writing, you have to lists several impacts of technology, whether positive or negative, and they're all have to be relevantly related  to social life . Now, compare the previous topic with this topic below: Some people argue that technological advancements, such as mobile phones, have more negative impacts rather than positive impacts. Do you agree or disagree? This topic is a way broader than the last that one can ea...

"In IELTS Reading Section, there will be different types of questions we are going to have. Each type of question has its own challenge and thus require different methods. One of the most challenging type of question in IELTS Reading section is List of Headings" Challenge in List of Headings This kind of questions will require you to have extremely good method of keywording and paraphrasing, since the questions are not well structured as the  passage   and the information contained by the  paragraphs are jumbled.  So, you may have to start from the middle of a passage, initial paragraph, or even last paragraph when doing the first number. Some test takers have a real serious problem when they cannot grasp the general idea of a paragraph and end up reading the whole passage (while it is actually not necessary) or even worst, read and re-read the whole passage from top to bottom back to top to bottom (which is highly not recommended since it is such a waste of time and...

IELTS Speaking Section Good News and Bad News of Speaking Section Speaking is the last section in IELTS and for me personally, is the most casual section in IELTS. This, however, does not always happen that way. In some cases, several problems may appear and we may find it a little bit difficult or even, frustrating. I have been discussing with some test takers one problem that they usually have during the Speaking Section is avoiding the long pause and painful silence. This usually happens when we are running out of ideas. Sometimes, it can also happen when we already have the ideas and know what to talk about but we are still processing like finding the equivalent English words or dealing with grammatical accuracy. In this case, a real quick processing is highly needed and the way we arrange our ideas (using certain layout) will often determine our overall fluency. Problems related to IELTS Speaking - Arrangement of ideas For your information, the arrangement of ideas in Speaking (es...

The last section of IELTS test is the Speaking Section. Speaking Section is divided into three part: First Part - Talking about Familiar Topic The first part of the speaking will mainly consist of general questions about you, in which you will be asked about several topics such as your hobby, your job, your friends etc. Second Part - Self Presentation The second part of the speaking test is a self presentation, in which you will have one minute to prepare the speech and then present the speech for two minutes  without interruptions. The things that you need to talk about are listed in a cue card, consisting of a main topic and several sub topics. Take a look at an example below: Describe a time when you helped a person [this is the main topic] Who was that person Why he/she needed your help How did you help him/her What was the result of you helping that person [and these are the sub topics] Third Part - Discussion The last part of the Speaking Sections is the discussion, in which...

In IELTS, the second writing is an argumentative writing that requires you to write 250 words discussing certain topic. We already had some discussions regarding IELTS Writing Task 2 in the previous posts. However, the previous writings focused on questions that require you to take a stance whether you agree/disagree with the topic, decide whether something is beneficial or harmful (in other words, advantageous or disadvantageous), or whether you discuss a topic concerning the positive and the negative impacts. This is quite doable since you just have to look for a way to explain your argument by providing evidences, reason, and examples. Of course, balanced argument is also needed, but you know that balanced argument is actually used to give an emphasis on your own argument. The conclusion is, it is always easier to take stance. Even though, you may also be asked to discuss a topic without taking stance, like when you have these questions: a. Discuss both points and give your opinion ...