Useful Websites & Resources for IELTS

This page contains useful links to the best IELTS websites to help you develop your IELTS skills, IELTS information and tips as well as English language. These websites cover both the Academic and General Training IELTS tests with useful resources to help you practice at home.

IELTS Official Websites

• The Official IELTS Website
  • http://www.ielts.org/
• British Council Website for IELTS (the BC is one of the three owners of IELTS)
  • https://ielts.britishcouncil.org/
• IDP Website for IELTS (IDP is one of the three owners of IELTS)
  • http://www.idp.com

Find an IELTS Test Center & Application

• Find a Test Center near You
• IELTS Test Dates
• IELTS Application Form
• Application information

Free IELTS Practice Tests Online

Authentic papers published by IELTS.

• IELTS Listening Practice Test
• IELTS Reading Practice Test: Academic
• IELTS Reading Practice Test: General Training
• IELTS Writing Practice Test: Academic
• IELTS Writing Practice Test: General Training

IELTS Band Score Descriptors 

These are the assessment criteria for IELTS writing (both academic and general training) and speaking. Each marking criterion is explained for each band score. These public band scores are published by IELTS to help you understand the requirements of each band score and to learn how you are assessed by the examiner.

• IELTS Band Scores Explained (listening, reading, writing and speaking)
• IELTS Speaking: Public Band Score Descriptors
• IELTS Writing Task 2: Public Band Score Descriptors
  • IELTS Writing Task 2: Band Scores Explained from 5 to 8 with Tips
• IELTS Writing Task 1: Public Band Score Descriptors

IELTS Answer Sheets

It is useful to practice doing a full test using the answer sheets before your test. Remember you get an extra 10 mins for transferring answers in listening but no extra time for transferring answers to the answer sheet in reading.

• IELTS Listening Answer Sheet
• IELTS Reading Answer Sheet
• IELTS Writing Answer Sheet
  • Task 2 Answer Sheet
  • Task 1 Answer Sheet

Other Useful Links

• IELTS Academic Reading Practice: PDFs
  • Matching Headings – Passage 1
  • Summary completion and T/F/NG – Passage 2
  • Matching Paragraph Info & Short Answer Questions – Passage 3
  • Answer Key to all Passages
• Listening and Reading Topics (this may not be IELTS but it will help you improve your skills)
• Listening Topics and Practice (a great website for plenty of  general listening practices (not IELTS) on all different topics at easy, medium and difficult levels)
• Listening Quizzes (good for extra practice)
• Funny Stories: these stories are informal and the vocabulary in them will help you with your speaking
• Spelling Practice (improve your spelling with quizzes for all levels)
• Grammar Practice (great practice exercises to improve most aspects of your English grammar)
• Basic Pronunciation Practice (minimal pairs etc)
• Learn English with the British Council: free exercises for all skils
• BBC World News (good for developing academic reading as well as some listening. Also good to keep up with current world issues)
• The Economist (Science, Business, Economics, News etc)
• The New Scientists (Technology, Science, Environment etc)
• The National Geographic (Animals, Environment, Travel, Photography etc)
• Focus Magazine Online (Science and Technology)
• BBC Radio (Interviews with People)
• Ted.com (Non-Academic Talks from various People)

YOU CAN LEARN ENGLISH EASILY!

When you were a baby, you could learn any language easily.This ability is never lost ; it just waits to be unblocked. Learn English on our Memory-Compatible Courses to unblock this huge potential.

One language - one person, many languages - many persons in one body!

READ ABOUT OUR MEMORY-COMPATIBLE PROGRAMS

TOP 20 SENTENCE PATTERS OF ENGLISH

There are around 20 top sentence patterns of English. Learning these patterns will teach you how to combine short,  basic sentences into longer ones and so to express your ideas in a more elegant way.

PATTERN 2 

Subject - Verb - Direct Object or Subject Complement ; Subject - , ( in the place of the omitted verb ) - Direct Object or Subject Complement

This pattern can be used when you don't want to repeat the same verb in the second or third clause. To use it successfully, you have to develop your feeling whether the sentence sounds clear or not. If it does not, it might be not the right time to use this pattern.

EXAMPLES

His mother told him to rent a car; his sister, to pack the suitcase.

For many of us, the new math teacher was a savior; for others, a pain.


PROFESSIONAL EXAMPLES

'Thought is the blossom; language , the bud; action, the fruit.' Ralph Waldo Emerson


ALSO READ OUR POST ABOUT PATTERN 1


Source : adapted from " The Art of Styling Sentences' by A. Longknife & K. D. Sullivan   Find this book on Amazon

CHECK YOUR VOCABULARY

 Hi ! Do you know that you should have a certain size of your vocabulary to score 6.0 - 7.0 IELTS ? For example, to score 6.0 IELTS your vocabulary should be somewhere around 5000 - 6500 word families min. Here is an excellent Vocabulary Test  to do a preliminary check-up. 

Vocabulary Test Recognition 1-14k

Vocabulary Test Productive 2k-14k including UWL ( University Word List)

HOW TO LEARN ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION ?

  The majority of English language courses still focus on Listen & Repeat model ; students listen to samples of correct pronunciation and try to repeat them. However, there are some researches that show that this model is NOT effective ( click here to read more...).
  You cannot just listen and repeat if you want to learn correct pronunciation. Even if you listen to native speakers very often, your brain does not get enough information on  how to produce the same sounds. You can only fake these sounds as a parrot does!
  What does your brain need to know in order to produce correct English sounds ? It needs the exact information on where to place the tongue, lips, jaws and teeth for each sound. Let's look, for example, at sound 'a'. Each language has its own way to pronounce this sound. The tongue, lips, jaws and teeth move differently in different languages. So sound 'a' in Arabic or Farsi sounds not like 'a'  in English or Hindi.
  If you want to reduce your accent, to learn correct pronunciation, you need to learn how to move your tongue, lips, jaws and teeth to make each sound. It's very similar to learning gymnastics. Your muscles must learn a new way to move !
  In our courses we use special Pronunciation Gym Training to learn the sounds well. Once you learn how to make each sound, you can easily use the IPA chart ( a special ' alphabet' of sounds) to memorise them and read phonetic transcriptions in dictionaries.
  There is a very useful application for iPad, Apple iPhone, and Android OS devices to practise the IPA chart. You can download it free of charge ( click here to learn more or download ).
  But remember that you cannot learn sounds as a parrot does, by  listening and repeating only. Learn how to move your tongue, lips, jaws and teeth FIRST! Get it done right!
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☛ Pronunciation Gym Training  is included in all Lingua Lab courses☝.

IN THE COMING MONTH - DECEMBER 2011

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            Complete  IELTS  Preparation  Courses

• Reading , Writing , Speaking , Listening
• Grammar & Vocabulary
• Exam Skills
• Memory Training

' Score  Improvement Training for IELTS '
       SIT for IELTS  Courses
   for students who want to improve their IELTS score  
         4week-modules


' Speaking Training ' Short Courses & Practice Sessions 

• Learn How to Start and Keep Up Conversations
• Build Your Vocabulary 
• Reduce Your Accent
• Develop Fluency and Increase Accuracy

' Academic Writing '  &   ' Academic Writing Plus '
      Intensive 3-day  Seminars

• Learn How to Write Essays for IELTS
• Get Essay Templates
• Learn Special Vocabulary Sets
• Get All Difficult Points Explained

IELTS/TOEFL  Consultations
Quick Help and Advice for Students who are preparing for the Exams

• Check What  Your Current IELTS/TOEFL Score Is
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• Learn What and How You Need to Improve

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WHAT ABOUT YOUR IELTS/TOEFL ?

      Memory-Compatible IELTS/TOEFL Courses


The IELTS/TOEFL exams require students to demonstrate not only their knowledge of English language but also the general knowledge of science, art, history, global issues and so on. To get the IELTS band 6.0 (and above), or an equivalent TOEFL score, a student needs to process a lot of material about the related topics.
However, all standard IELTS/TOEFL preparation courses focus on Grammar. Vocabulary, and the Four Skills ONLY. That is not enough because on the day of the exam students still don't have enough information in their memory to write  good essays in the Writing Module and to answer correctly 40 questions in the Reading Module.
Lingua Lab teaches the Memory-Compatible Courses which prepare students totally to get the required score. These intensive courses are prepared for each student individually after testing his/her Memory.

TO REGISTER OR TO ENQUIRE ABOUT OUR IELTS/TOEFL COURSES POST YOUR REQUEST HERE AND WE WILL GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU.