Author: tuquynh

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Speaking

IELTS Speaking – Food

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The questions in part 1 are easy, so the examiner cannot be sure of your level yet. You can give very easy answers, but this is a chance to make a good impression. If you give simple answers, the examiner will not know if you are Band 4 or maybe Band 5. If you give specific answers with explanations and examples, the examiner will think you could be Band 6 or Band 7!

 

Giving examples is great for explaining ideas, and it is much easier to give example than explain reasons. It is useful for those who find it difficult to explain things or tend to give short answers. If you give an example, you are just describing something you know about and that takes very little mental effort. Saying because is much harder as you now need to think of the reasons. Be easy on yourself!

 

As you can see from previous post on IELTS Speaking – Family, the speakers give examples of their family members’ characteristics. For example, the first speaker said “She’s really outgoing and sociable – she’s always going out with friends and colleagues.”

 

The speaking test is not formal, so you can give personal examples. You can talk about your experience or an event in the past. If you don’t have any experience or ideas related to the question, think about someone you know who has that kind of experience.

Question: Do you enjoy studying English?
Answer: Oh yes! I went to England last year and loved being able to communicate with local people. And knowing a second language means you have access to a whole new culture, new books and films.

Question: Have you got any interests or hobbies?
Answer: Not really. I like watching football and I read books quite often. I usually read books like self-help books, keys to success, spiritual books and cook books.

Question: What types of jobs are most popular among young people in your country?
Answer: I’m not sure about the right answer. But I think the most popular jobs are sales and marketing because many of my friends work in this sector. Also, I have many friends working in the IT industry so I suppose software programmer is a promising career for young people.

 

Practise giving examples for the following questions: 

  • Can you cook? Do you enjoy cooking?
  • What’s your favorite food/ meal?
  • Do most people eat vegetables in your country?
  • Are there many vegetarians in your country?
  • Do you think we worry too much about what we eat?

You can use vocabulary related to Food from two other lessons:

IELTS Vocabulary – Food

IELTS Writing – Food

 

Learn more:

IELTS Vocabulary – Family

IELTS Speaking – Describe your family member

Categories
Writing Task 2

IELTS Vocabulary – Food

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Many experts advise that you should never learn a single word by itself but learn groups of words that “travel” together. It’s simply because we don’t communicate using individual words, we communicate with phrases and sentences. So, instead of giving you a list of words, I’d ask you to learn new words through reading and listening. By doing that, you will learn how to apply those words in different contexts.

You can learn many new words and phrases related to nutrition by reading this IELTS essay about whether everyone should turn to vegetarian diet.

Listen to the following recording. You will hear some common expressions about food and eating. You can listen to it as many times as you need. After completing the transcript, you can click on the blanks to see the answers.

 

 

My mother radically changed her eating habits a few years ago. In the past, she ate a lot of(food that is not nutritious/healthy) and was overweight. Sometimes she would try to(eat less food and healthier food), but it would never last. But now she understands how unhealthyare – they’re full of(chemicals added to food) that contribute to weight gain and heart problems.

Nowadays, she eats aincluding a lot of(meals that are healthy and nutritious) that she prepares herself. She doesn’t buybecause she thinks the prices are outrageous, but she stocks up on(fresh fruits and vegetables) so that she can grab an apple or some veggies when she wants a quick snack (something small and fast to eat). She has also learned toand watch her portion sizes (how much food you take).I often stop by her house when I’m in the mood for a. The other day she made a hearty stew (a thick soup with lots of flavors and ingredients) that was full of beans and vegetables. My brother, who has a(the capacity to eat a lot), had a(a second portion) – but I found the stew so filling that I could barely finish my bowl.

My mother recently told me that she’d like to try some. I was surprised to hear that, because a few years ago she had a bad experience after getting(when you get sick because of contaminated food) at a Japanese restaurant. So tomorrow I’m taking her to a Brazilian steakhouse. I told her to eat light meals (small meals) during the day so that she doesn’tfor dinner (eating food earlier, and then not being hungry for a meal later).

 

Learn more:

IELTS Writing – Food

IELTS Vocabulary – Family

IELTS Reading – Family

IELTS Listening – Family and Children

IELTS Speaking – Describe your family member 

Categories
Writing Task 2

IELTS Writing – Food

ielts-class-net-ielts-writing-task-2-food

The following essay is extracted from Achieve IELTS 2 (Student’s Book). Read the essay and then try to summarise the points for and against vegetarianism. By summarising what you read, you can develop your paraphrasing skill, which is extremely important in IELTS and studying at international university.

  1. Why, according to the author, some people choose to become vegetarian or vegans?
  2. Why, according to the author, not everyone should turn to vegetarian diet?

Today many people are vegetarian of some sort of description, from people who eat mainly vegetables, along with dairy products such as milk, cheese and eggs, to vegans who do not eat animals or any animal products at all. In this essay I am briefly going to look at the argument for and against eating animals from moral, health and environmental perspectives.

The first and foremost reason is that eating meat is murder. Some people think it is wrong to take the life of another creature for pleasure, and as we can get the same proteins and nutrients from other food sources that can get from eating meat, the only reason to eat meat is for pleasure. Alternatively, it could be argued that what we eat is a matter of personal choice according to how we feel and what suits our bodies best. Some people enjoy life more and feel healthier when they eat meat.

This brings me on to the second point: health issue. It is said that we can get all the nutrients from plants that we can get from meat. In other words, we can obtain the same proteins and nutrients from other food sources that we can get from eating meat: proteins from pulses like lentils and beans; calcium, protein and other vitamins from dairy products; vitamins, minerals and fibers from vegetables. However, plants on the whole are very poor sources of protein, especially protein containing amino acids. These are available in some plants, but not in great quantities. Conversely, there are plenty of proteins containing amino acids in milk, eggs and fish which is why many vegetarians still eat animal products.

Now let’s look at the environmental issues. Perhaps the most serious reason for becoming vegetarian is ethical. People go hungry because a lot of land is used to grow food for animals rather than people. For example, in the US, 157 million tons of food per year – all suitable for human consumption – is fed to animals. This produces just 28 million tons of animals protein in the form of meat. Then again, if we look at this more closely, it is clear that millions of animals on farms are bred for food. To put it simply, if people became vegetarian, there would be no need for these animals and we would have to kill them all. Rather than saving these animals, it would result in killing them instead of looking after them responsibly and killing them for a good purpose at the end of their natural life cycle.

In conclusion, I believe that is it everyone’s right to eat what they want. However, cutting down on the amount of meat we eat has benefits for our health and our environment and is fairer to other animals.

Categories
Speaking

IELTS Speaking – Describe your family member

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The following recording is from Collins Speaking for IELTS. Listen to three people talking about their relatives and answer the questions below.

 

Speaker 1 
Who is her closest family member?
What are the positive characteristics of her mother?
What are the examples of those characteristics?
What are the negative characteristics of her mother?
What are the examples of those characteristics?

Speaker 2 
How was the relationship between the speaker and his cousin?
Why did they grow apart?

Speaker 3 
How is the relationship between the speaker and her mother-in-law?
What are the positive characteristics of her mother-in-law?
What are the examples of those characteristics?
What are the negative characteristics of her mother-in-law?
What are the examples of those characteristics?

Note:
The speakers do not only list the characteristics of their family members but also give examples of some of them. Giving example is a good and easy way to extend your ideas. You should try to describe one of your family members based on the questions above. You should also use the expressions learnt from the recording.

 

Next post: IELTS Writing – Food

 

Learn more:

IELTS Listening – Family & Children 

Listening to main ideas – Family & Children

IELTS Reading – Family

IELTS Vocabulary – Family  

Categories
Listening

Listening to main ideas – Family & Children

ielts-class-listening-family-childrenIn order to listen to details, first you have to be able to catch the main ideas of a lecture, or a conversation, etc.

Yesterday I posted a recording about “How children learn to behave” (click here if you want to listen to it).

Here are some main ideas of the lecture:

The lecturer focuses on three of the ways that children acquire their behaviour: through rewards, punishments, and modelling.

Award can be defined as a positive reinforcement for good behaviour. Most parents reward their children unconsciously.

Punishments are the second important way in which a child is socialised. All of us have probably been punished in our lives.

Both rewards and punishments are controversial. Some people think that children should not be rewarded for doing something that is their responsibility. Similarly, the lecturer doesn’t think that banging can teach children anything.  Children who come from homes where violence is used to solve problems are much more likely to abuse their own children when they become adults and have their own families.

The third way that children are taught to act is through modelling. Modeling is probably the most powerful way that children learn social skills. Children’s first role models are their parents. Parents can set a good example by showing children the kind of behavior they expect.

Parents are not the only people teaching children. Other family members and friends are also models. Children learn from each other, from their teachers, and from society itself. TV can send children a lot of negative messages.

Conclusion: The most important thing for children is to grow up in an environment where there are fair rules that are clearly established and followed consistently by everyone. If the child knows what the expectations are, he or she will find it much easier to acquire ‘good behavior.’ And if the child is loved and exposed to strong, positive role models, the child will quickly begin to grow in a healthy way.

 

Learn more about Family & Children:

IELTS Vocabulary – Family

IELTS Reading – Family

Categories
Listening

IELTS Listening – Family & Children

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Doing practice tests is not enough to improve your listening skills. You should listen to a wide variety of sources and choose the topics of your interest. I believe that learning language can enrich your life in many ways.

The following is an extract from a lecture about “How children learn social behaviour” (Academic Listening Encounters, 2004). Listen to the recording and take note as you listen. You can read the main ideas I’ve written down here after completing your note.

 

 

If you want to read more about Family, you can try my recommendations here.

If you want to learn more vocabulary about Family, you can try this exercise.

Have fun learning English!

Categories
Reading

IELTS Reading – Family

As said earlier in the post IELTS Vocabulary – Family, this is one of the most common topics in both Speaking and Writing Tests. This is because IELTS focuses on social problems, and family is the fundamental unit of any kind of society.

The followings are some articles that I compiled to help you learn more about family-related issues. They might be too difficult for you at the beginning as there are many academic words and complex sentences. “No pain, no gain”. Reading the academic articles helps to improve your vocabulary and your writing. Believe me, the more you read, the easier it gets.

1. Marriage and Family

This material consists of many articles about marriage and family. It would be great if you have time to read all of them. You can also choose to read the topic of your interest. I would recommend the first section “Marriage and Family in Global Perspective” as it will give you an overview of this social institution around the world.

2. Family Influences on Delinquency

This article discusses family factors that may have influence on juvenile delinquency (teenage crime), such as poor parent-child relations, family size, etc.

3. How we learn to behave 

This is an article  (p.20 & 21) in the book “Academic Encounters”. It explains two important ways of socialisation: by sanctions and by modelling.

Here are the detailed steps on how to read:

  • Step 1: Read the articles and underline main ideas. You do not need to understand every words in order to comprehend the whole article. Try to guess the meaning of new words from the context. However, you would need to look up the meaning of some key words which are repeated many times.
  • Step 2: Write a summary of the article you just read. This is the best way to memorise knowledge while also practising your writing skills.
Categories
Writing Task 2

IELTS Vocabulary – Family

Family is one of the most common topics in IELTS Writing and Speaking. You might be already familiar with the vocabulary regards to this topic. However, you need to use uncommon words, i.e. nuclear family, in order to obtain a high score in Writing.


Listen to the following recording and complete the transcript. You can listen to it as many times as you need. After completing the transcript, you can click on the blanks to see the answers.

 

Your parents and(brothers and sisters) are your– and your includes all your relatives – uncles, cousins, great-aunts, etc.

You can use ato diagram the relationships among your family members. A person who is related to you by a long series of connections can be called a [5].

If you’re lucky, you have aor a– these expressions refer to a family that has good relationships, where everyone loves each other and helps each other. If you were raised in a loving family, then you probably had a– that means you had nothing to worry about when you were young.

On the other hand, a family in which the relationships are bad or unhealthy can be called aIf the children experience abuse, poverty, or problems with the law, we can say they had a

Perhaps the parents went through a – that means a separation in which there were bad/angry feelings between the husband and wife. It’s also possible to have a, with a prolonged legal battle involving lots of conflicts about the separation of the former couple’s(money and possessions). The decisions about the separation of assets are made in the. A family in which there are divorces or separations is sometimes called a.

Sometimes the mother and father fight overof the children – that refers to who has the primary responsibility of caring for the kids. A judge can grant– that means the ex- husband and ex-wife share the responsibility – orto only one parent. For example, a judge might award sole custody to the mother, and the father has to pay– regular payments to help with expenses for the kids.

If it was adivorce /separation – that means the ex-husband and ex-wife agreed to separate without fighting – then they will probablywith each other (meaning to have a polite relationship without …………….).

If a woman gets pregnant without being married or in a relationship, then she will become a single mother. Some women in this situation choose to have an, and others prefer to give the baby up forThe time when the baby is planned to arrive is called the– you can also say the baby is due in mid-October, for example.

After the woman has the baby (or to the baby), the baby is given to the, who willthe child orthe child as if it was their own. Sometimes, when the adopted child is older, he or she tries to find their birth mother ([29]).