测试

雅思口语第二部分的话题通常是我们很熟悉的内容，而不是复杂的专业知识或者学术话题。至于话题卡的文字描述，一般是比较简单的，不会出现太难的词汇或者语法。

根据我的授课经验，在这里为考生们归纳出一些常见话题：

1． 描述人物：邻居、亲戚、朋友、老师、成功人士等。

2． 描述地点：学校、图书馆、博物馆、建筑、旅游点等。

3． 讲述事件：节日、儿童时代、事件、技巧/技能等。

4． 描述物件：动物、照片、礼物、电器、拥有物品等。

5． 谈论习惯：购物、运动、音乐、电视电影、饮食、着装、阅读、业余爱好等。

6． 过程/使用说明：电脑、CD机、家电、设备等。

7． 描述梦想与设想：理想家园、工作、旅游点、娱乐或学习场所等。

根据这些常见话题，考生们针对性地在课内课外练习，必然会对考试结果甚至是将来的国外生活带来积极的作用！

Daisy Chen

Here is a list of the important reading skills for your information in the IELTS reading study:

Skim and analyse the questions at speed.

Skim the instructions to check for changes.

Use the questions to summarise the text.

Understand the relationship between questions.

Leave the questions you cannot do and return to them, when you have finished the study.

Be fast and accurate.

Skim and scan the text easily.

Move around the text with ease.

Ignore words, which you do not understand.

Predict as you skim or scan and check your answers.

Manage your time efficiently.

Complete the Answer Sheet accurately.

Now, predict how many of these skills you have mastered. I am sure that this list will be helpful to your reading practice study. Check your progress regularly by yourself and be aware of what you need, in order to improve your language skills, to reach your final destination.

Daisy Chen

In the IELTS Speaking exam many times you have to talk about an experience or situation that has affected you.  One of the best ways to talk about that is to use "impression".  But how do you use it properly or well?

Classes at KAIEN have had a deep impression on me.

A deep impression.  Something actually affected your life that it made an impression on you.  You won't be the same because of it because of the impression that it made.  People can make a deep impression.  Ideas can make a deep impression.  Events can make a deep impression.  I hope this article leaves a deep impression on you. 

The new Chinese movie impressed me a lot.

You thought the movie was really good and it made you think long after you saw it.  Not many movies today do this to us but there are some here and there.  I saw the movie "The Painted Viel" a while back which was about a foreign husband and wife in China a couple hundred years ago who were helping Chinese peasants deal with Cholera, a deadly disease.  That movie impressed me because I thought about the movie a month or so after I saw it.  I hope this article impressed you. 

The construction of the Olympic venues in Beijing are impressive.

The buildings being built and that have been built in Beijing for the Olympics are amazing and when I see pictures of them I am shocked at how interesting and beautiful they are.  People at home ask me about them and they are equally shocked and feel that they are amazing.  Nice job Beijing!  I hope my writing skills are impressive.

You got a 7 on your IELTS exam??  Impressive!

Wow!  Good job!  If you can get a high grade on the IELTS exam you did a great job.  I think in Chinese this would be best described as 厉害.  Or you can just say, "WOW" in English.

And after reading this article I hope you say, "Impressive!"

Your Impressive IELTS expert:

Cliff

In the IELTS speaking exam, many people become nervous.  What can you do about it?  How can you conquer being nervous?

1. Practice. 

That’s why we say that Practice makes perfect. If you practice all the time you will build your confidence and no matter who you talk to in the IELTS speaking exam, you won’t sweat!

2. Build your confidence

This only takes practice and experience. You have to want to succeed or else all the practice is wasted. Look at yourself in the mirror when you are speaking. Record yourself or video yourself speaking. Speak to other foreigners at KAIEN. Speak in class. The more mistakes you make the more confident you will become!

3. Practice.

Do a bit of practice everyday. Say something to someone in English everyday. Write a diary, make an audio diary on a tap or MP3. Just practice speaking all the time.

4. Imagine the IELTS examiner is only wearing their underwear!

We often use this method in America to conquer our fear of speaking in public. You just imagine that the IELTS speaker isn’t wearing anything or just wearing their underwear. THEY should be the ones nervous and embarrassed, NOT YOU!!! You should feel confident that you are wearing clothes and there is nothing you should worry about!

5. Practice.

Obviously practice is important. Do it. Just do it.

In the latest IELTS Speaking Exam, according to our IELTS experts here at KAIEN, the question for section 2 was a Happy Event. I wrote several options you could talk about if you are stuck and can’t think of any yourself.

1. A wedding.

Your uncle’s wedding, your aunt’s wedding, your brother or sister’s wedding. You could talk about a wedding that you’ve seen on TV or ask your mom and dad about their wedding. If you’ve never seen or been to a wedding I’m sorry to hear that.

2. A birthday party

Your birthday party or a teacher’s birthday party, or a friend’s birthday party or your cousin’s birthday party. If you’ve never had a birthday party or you’ve never been to a birthday party, I’m so sorry to hear that.

3. A party

A dance party, class party, school party, social party, political party, neighborhood party, any kind of party which was happy. If you’ve never had a party I’m very sorry to hear that.

4. a family gathering

This could be any holiday or festival where the family gathered together. Or perhaps a time when the family just happened to be together. Maybe there was a photo taken of all the family together. Perhaps there was a new baby for everyone to see or a marriage that had just happened. When the family comes together it should be a happy time. If it isn’t I’m sorry to hear that.

5. A trip to someplace.

This could be any place that you’ve been to that was fun or exciting. The last time you went to Huangshan. The time you went to visit Suzhou. Last year when you went for the first time to Hangzhou. That time during the last October holiday when everyone in China when to the water city of Zhouzhuang and you had to fight the crowds all day but you were with your friends so it wasn’t a problem. Or even the last time you went to the Shanghai museum with your cousin and some strange foreigner from America so that you could practice your English. It was a fun day of practicing. If you’ve never been on a trip to some place, than I’m sorry to hear that.

6. a holiday or festival

Spring Festival, MidAutumn Festival, Labor day May holiday National day, Mother’s day. So many choices of happy time during those days. Children’s Day, Teacher’s day, Double 9^th day, Dragon Boat Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day. Perhaps you could have a happy time on these days. If you never had a happy time on these days than I’m very sorry to hear that.

7. an experience or outing with classmates

A trip to a park, a day trip with your school mates, a trip to a museum, a trip out in nature, a trip to KFC, or whatever. If you’ve never had a happy experience with your classmates than I’m sorry to hear that.

If you had this question on the IELTS speaking Exam, what would you talk about?  Post your comments!

When I’m nervous I …

1. …I forget what to say. I can’t remember anything that I’ve already prepared.

2. …I am silent because I forget what to say.

3. …I make dumb mistakes. I practice so much but because I’m so nervous I make mistakes that I never make!!

4. …I need more time to think what I’m going to say.

5. …I speak Chinese. That is a bad thing, I know.

6. …I lose my fluency. My teacher told me that my fluency is good and the words just flow from my mouth but when I’m nervous I stutter, stammer and hesitate a lot!

7. …I seem to stutter and stammer and my speaking is not fluent or coherent.

8. …I say less. In class I often speak a lot but when I’m nervous I often speak a lot less than in class.

9. …I speak in a simple way. In my KAIEN class I speak in a very high level and technical way with many structures and good vocabulary words, but when I’m nervous I forget everything and just speak in simple sentences.

10. …my body stiffens or shakes uncontrollably. I don’t understand, but my body just takes over and I can’t get comfortable.

11. …I swear. I never swear in everyday life, but when I’m nervous I tend to swear and say bad words.

12. …I speak nonsense. My thoughts are coherent and clear but when I’m nervous I don’t know what in the world I’m saying, it all comes out like gibberish.

When you are nervous, what happens to you?

1. That’s all.

2. Over.

3. Finish.

4. Game Over.

5. End.

6. mmmm.

7. 好的

8. 差不多了

9. 拜拜 (bye bye)

Many time students who are taking the IELTS speaking Exam just don't know how to finish what they want to say.  Many times in class I hear these 9 things.  I don't ever want to hear them again.

Students should know that native speakers never use these methods when finishing a topic or completing a conversation. Don’t say them. Never say them. Just forget these! Come to talk to me in class if you want to know good ways to finish your IELTS conversation. Or post your ideas below.

List of Headings题通常会给出我们若干个备选的标题(Headings)，有时侯考生阅读起来感觉困难大，是因为给出的标题很长，其实这种情况下，我们可以先把复杂的标题用一两个简单的词语来替代，这些词语可以称为关键词(key words)．

    要注意的是，List of Headings题里的关键词，词语不一定是Headings所表示含义的＂核心词＂，而是回到文章中去寻找．定位的定位词．

    我们选择定位词时，要紧记的重要标准是---易找原则，也就是说，所选的词语在阅读的原文应该是很容易找到的．

        在这里，我建议考生缩定以下几类词语作为＂关键词＂:

        1. 特殊印数体词语，比如，大写字母．斜体字．粗体字．阿拉伯数字．特殊符号等．

       ２．以人名和地名为代表的表示名称的词语．

       ３．时间状语等表示时间的词语．

      随着我们的阅读练习和学习，你会发现，很多时候，陌生单词只会造成小标题精确意义理解上的偏差，并不会影响到关键词的选择．因此，即使我们做题时遇到不认识的单词，依然可以巧妙地将List of Headings题的正确答案找出来．

Daisy Chen

从考试的发展趋势来看,听力部分的单纯的填空题越来越少,而填空题与摘要,表格,地图,图例题在一块的出题比率却越来越大.考生碰到这些揉和在一块的题型往往心烦意乱,手足无措.根据我的教学经验,现在向大家提供一些解题思路:

1. 看清楚题目的要求,尤其是用词的个数.

2. 有标题先看标题,划出核心词,一般以空前空后为主.掌握好顺序原则.

3. 联想其同义词和近义词,根据空前空后的相关信息来判断和预测须填内容的词性,词义和词类方向.

4. 一边听一边抓住核心词和它的同义近义词,要同时注意相类似的句子结构.

5. 用简写式缩写或者画图来记录笔记,只要你自己能明白的就可以了,回头再来补充.

6. 对于没有听到的又确定已经错过了的题目,要采取"割肉"的原则.

7. 一定要检查.根据常识原则,对没有听到的词,填上一个算一个,总之不能空着.

                                                                                  Daisy Chen

技巧:

一,读题:考生要知道题目问什么,大概是什么答案.你需要在3-5秒内搞清楚结构意思.

二,猜题:知道缺什么成分就听这个内容,比如who, where, what等相对应的部分.

三,听题:一句一句听,一边听一边写.这一技巧的顺利进行需要考生平时的刻意的练习.

四,写题:多做听写的练习,2-3遍容易,尽量要听出答案来.记笔记时,练习写简写或者缩略形式.

五,查题:看看有没有拼写等错误.这个至关重要,听到了答案但没写对的话,努力就等于零.

禁忌:

一,不要听过难的练习素材,例如说BBC,CCTV-4,CCTV-9.如果你听不懂,再多听也效果甚微,而且你会容易丧失自信.

二,不要一心多用,我们毕竟不是"身经百战",个个身手不凡,没有那么利害.

三,不要每天连续听超过两个小时,否则你肯定觉得累!勉强再听也只能是麻木无反应的!

四,不要断断续续地做听力练习,因为当你的感觉刚来,随便中断的话,注意力和感觉就会不见了.

                                                            Daisy Chen

In the IELTS speaking exam there are three ways to explain that you are going abroad.  Many times students don't know what to say or how to say it.  Here are three reasons that people generally go abroad.  Some of you might be going abroad with a combination of two different reasons.  Some might have a combination of all three.  But it's good to know how to explain all three.

1. I’m going to study in University in Sydney Australia. I’ve heard a lot about Sydney and I’m very excited to go and see the city. I’ve heard the people are very nice and the food is different than Chinese food but I think I will get used to it. I’ve also heard that studying at the University is going to be difficult. There are many people who I’ve talked to who tell me that I have to work hard and study really hard.

2. I’m going to Canada to work. I’ve already graduated from University here in China, I went to TongJi University, but I’ve heard there are many opportunities in Canada for well educated Chinese people. I think that working overseas will greatly improve my chances for getting a good job later on when I return to China. I haven’t gotten a job yet, but some of my relatives have told me that they are communication with some employers in the Toronto area. I’m looking forward to working and living in Canada.

3. I’m going to immigrate to New Zealand. I think living and studying in China is not suitable for me at this time. My parents tell me that the Chinese education system is not good and that life in New Zealand has more to offer than China does. I don’t know if I agree with them 100% because I like my life in China and I have many friends here. But I think they want what’s best for me so I will do what they tell me. Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing New Zealand because I’ve heard that it is very beautiful there.

Why are you going abroad?  What is your purpose?  Post your answer and practice saying it in your own words.

阅读都是看了题目再看文章的。顺着题目去找答案。因为最有用的一条信息就是，雅思阅读的问题是按照内容的顺序来问的，所以在找答案的时候基本知道应该去哪段找。顺着藤，一个一个的瓜就都摸着了。

阅读没有额外的时间去誊写答案,所以如果对自己的速度不怎么自信的话最好写完一篇马上誊写答案.3篇文章里至少有一篇会牵扯到抽象概念的深入探讨(考试说明),所以在心理和知识上要做好准备.3篇文章的难度不一定是递增的,所以起码先扫一遍来决定做题顺序.另外,虽然很多老师都说阅读要先看题,我个人的建议是先花5分钟至少看懂各段的主题句,明白文章的思路结构,做题的时候就会轻松很多,还有一个好处是,不会受题目的干扰.

一个礼拜，基本要每天一套听力，一口气做完，对答案，然后针对错误的地方再听一遍，自己分析一下错误的所以听清没什么问题.精力要高度集中,下手要快,听懂一题之后不要多想,马上看下一题,毫无征兆的走神恐怕是最无奈的一种失误,这次我在做地图题的时候也犯过,好在仅仅是1,2道题的事。
积极的心理暗示对于听力帮助很大,要有充足的信心去听懂每一个单词,另外顺便说句,建议大家平时练习的时候以听懂每个单词为目标.一次不行再听一次,实在不行才看手稿.

                                    Andy Liang

According to my teaching experience, I would like to tell you a list of some common topics in the IELTS Listening test.

The survival situation in section 1 and section 2, and the academic situation in section 2 and section 4 include these specific topics:

Survival situation:

                             accommodation

                             travel/ shopping

                              bank

                              location and direction

                              cafe/restaurant

                              description of people or items

                              radio/TV programme

                              conference or festival and its organization

                              health care

Academic situation:

                             enrollment and lecture at University

                             campus life

                             library

                            course/subject

                           environment

                           scientific issues

                           zoology

                          archeology

                          inventor/invention

                          social problems

                          research and report

                         agriculture

                         scientific experiment.

                                                                                           Daisy Chen

多项选择题是我们熟悉的雅思阅读的题型.这种题目可以用来对篇章的大意,细节,词汇,指代和推理进行提问.在雅思阅读考试里,选择题常常用来考查考生区分篇章中的事实与意见的能力.

  根据教学的授课经验,让我和大家分享一些应对选择题的小技巧吧:

  首先,你要仔细阅读题目,判断问题的考点和找出其中的关键词.

  接着,快速流览到相关的段落.

  然后,根据已知的信息做合理的推论.合理的推论必须合乎常识,因此你要充分地利用自己的常识.

  此外,你可以排除两个不可能的选项,在剩下的两个选项中斟酌.相信自己的第一感觉!

        要清楚的是,雅思的选择题与我们以往接触的选择题不同的是,它所给的选择不一定是4个,而正确答案也不一定是1个,尽管答案为1个的几率相当高. 就阅读题型而言,选择题通常属于细节式的问答题形式.

       你的应对阅读选择题的技巧是什么呢?欢迎你的讨论和意见分享.

                                                                                         Daisy Chen

上次谈到过口语第一部分有关的基本情况,现在我们继续探讨一下回答时所需具备的技巧.

比如考官问你:"说说你的家乡." 这个问题看似简单.你必须记住,考官问这个问题并不是因为他/她想要了解你的家乡.对于考生的个人,考生的生活或者考生说的任何内容,其实考官并不是特别感兴趣.他/她是在完成工作,也就是说按照评分标准给考生的口语打分.所以我们要记住,口语考试的回答内容本身并不是关键.关键的是你回答问题时所展示的语言叙述能力.在第一部分的看似简单的问题回答技巧方面,你的叙述应该包含详尽,准确的信息,而且论点需要以某种方式展开论述.

现在我们来看看这个回答"说说你的家乡" 的例子:

I come from Shanghai. I am native of this city. Shanghai is a commercial city of China. In Shanghai there are  many business buildings. Shanghai local snacks are very famous--- I always eat them with my family and friends.

这样的回答问题在哪呢?

我觉得答案简短, 没有任何连接词,短语,习语, 没有丰富的词汇表达.语法虽然正确但都是基本语法.句子结构简单,缺乏时态的变化.并且按照评分标准,此答案也没有体现任何本土的英语口语的风格.

重温一下口语的评分标准吧: 1.流利性和连贯性 2.词汇 3.语法的变化性和准确性别 4.语音.

你们能想想怎样来回答"说说你的家乡"这个问题吗？请大家把你认为好的答案写下来留言给我.然后我们会回复,并跟各位讨论一些答案的可能的得分情况.

                                                      Daisy Chen

Many times in the IELTS speaking exam students must talk about change.  Generally this happens in section 3 of the test but you can talk about change anytime you want really.

Let me use the example of Shanghai.

1.  A lot has changed in Shanghai over the past 20 years.

2.  There are more and more changes happening in Shanghai nowadays.

3.  In Shanghai, it's easier to travel to different parts of the city than it was a couple years ago.

4.  In Shanghai, it's harder to find old buildings because everything is changing.

How about the example of KAIEN:

1.  Kaien has grown so much in the past 10 years, from a small school in the Changning district to a huge respected school with 5 locations around Shanghai!

2.  There are more and more cool things happening at KAIEN like freeonlineenglish.com and the IELTS website and the IELTS blog and stuff like that!

3.  At KAIEN it's easier to practice your listening than before, now we have freeonlineenglish.com!

4.  At KAIEN it's harder to find unmotivated students nowadays, it seems like everyone is motivated to learn English!

Work hard talking about change and you will get a higher and higher grade in your speaking test!

Your IELTS speaking expert.

Cliff.

I am one of the speaking teachers for our IELTS Two group. Today, I would like to share some information of Part Two in the speaking test with you.

One of the challenging aspects of Part Two is the huge number of potential topics. Naturally with such a wide range of topics every student has certain topic areas that he/she is comfortable with and others that they he/she finds more difficult.

Actually, one important aspect to recognize is that many of the Part Once topics are recycled as the topics in Part Two.This is to your advantage because it means you can use Part One language in your Part Two. One the other hand, there is no danger of repetition in Part Two because if you are given a certain topic in Part One you will not get the same topic in Part Two. For example, if the examiner asks you about "music" in Part One, you will not get the Part Two topic " Describe your favorite music style...".

Besides, there are a number of different ways to deal with Part Two. From my point of view, the best strategy is a candidate can focus directly on the features detailed in the marking system and produces as many of these features as possible in the 2-minute time frame.

                                                                                Daisy Chen

A lot of times in the IELTS speaking exam you have to give examples.  You have to tell the IELTS examiner about your opinion about something and then give examples.  If a students says, "Shanghai is a dangerous place." but gives no examples of dangerous places in Shanghai, that is a really bad thing and the student should expect a 2 or a 3 on the IELTS speaking exam.

So a good phrase you should all know for giving examples is: "One of the most dangerous places in Shanghai is..." and that will allow you to think and talk at the same time.

Here is the list that my students put together for "dangerous" places in Shanghai.

1.  One of the most dangerous places in Shanghai is driving in a car downtown.  There are too many crazy people and too many bikes and too many other cars.  There is too much going on that the driver must concentrate on everything and nothing at the same time.  It's too crazy and too dangerous.

2.  Another one of the most dangerous places in Shanghai is a dark street where there are thieves.  Be careful, take care and watch your back.  Always know where you are and who is around you at all times.  Always glance backwards and walk quickly.  If you are with someone else, focus on each other but not too much so that you forget the people around you who might be picking your pocket.

3.  The third most dangerous place in Shanghai is the subway during rush hour.  A small person can easily be swept away by the crowds of people.  Stand your ground and walk quickly.  Never fall down or pick something up or else you will suffer.

Sorry, but one of the most interesting posts lately will have to stop now.

Hope this helps.  I hope this is one of the most useful posts on the IELTS blog.

Your IELTS expert.

Cliff.

很多同学问到听力如何提高的问题，个人觉得要提高听力能力，首先是要解决词汇的问题。同时要熟悉听力教材中和日常口语中所出现的句型和表达法，把增强语感放到重要位置上来加以强调。没有足够词汇量,听力不可能提高。没有一定量的句型，也会造成理解上的障碍。所以词汇是第一步，同时要扩大对句型的掌握。以下给出几点对提高听力有帮助的建议供大家商榷：

1． 大量积累词汇量：词汇是英语学习的基础。俗话说“巧妇难为无米之炊”没有米再聪明的人也做不出可口的饭菜。

2． 加强朗读训练：正确的读音与正确的听音有很大关系，自己有了正确的语音语调，才能更好地听懂材料中的内容。有听同事说人的听力速度和自己的阅读速度是成正比的，且不说是否是经过科学研究得出的结论，但也不无道理。所以平时多一点朗读，可以跟着录音朗读，看着阅读材料朗读。不但提高了听力连口语也一起提高了，一箭双雕的事何乐而不为呢！

3． 精听： 通过精听模仿英美人的说话,模仿他们的语音语调, 对所有的句子和单词都能在第一时间作出反映，从而对照改正自己的语音语调.这一练习可以从比较简单的句子开始,例如PRE 与FOUNDATION的听力教材在做出题目的基础上，同时也可以作为很好的精听材料。因为这两个级别的教材在选材上偏重于基础知识和基本技能的培训。

4． 泛听：除了精听之外，泛听的作用也不可忽视，因为精听要求全神贯注来听,而泛听只需听懂大意就行了。因为针对考试，更需要的是理解之下捕捉重要和需要的信息。平时练习的时候听的内容要杂,面要宽，可以不局限在听力教材上，根据自己的爱好和程度来选择一些东东，听听CCTV9，ICS ，甚至歌曲，DVD 都可以。也许一开始听懂不多，因为语速真的很快.但是坚持下来，会发现它比音乐还要好听,自信心也会成倍增加。拿出水滴石穿的精神还怕铁竿磨不成针嘛！

5． 扩大自己的知识面：了解英语国家的一些背景知识，风土人情，例如出现的一些谚语。PRE听力中有出现一句：do not cry for the spoiled milk , 很多同学在选择答案时就只是去找和MILK 有关的选项，而忽略了句子本身的含义。还有一些有背景的东西比如baby boomer , lost generation .等等都是需要平时有一点积累和了解的。

总之一句话：熟能生巧（practice makes perfect ）练多了自然就好了.

                                                                               Lily Wang

PRE 和FOUNDATION 的学生在学习过程中总是太过于急于求成,杀鸡取卵的心态很重.总觉得无论是教材的编排,还是老师的授课,与真正的雅思考试差别很大.总是希望老师能够给予更多可以快速提高分数的技巧与捷径.烤鸭们的心思是可以理解的.毕竟金钱和时间哪样都宝贵呀.

但大家往往都忽略了一点,之所以在入学考试后被分派在这两个级别,说明大家在基础上或多或少存在一点欠缺.如果还是一味的投机取巧.急功近利.那样只会把自己的这些欠缺掩埋起来.但又无法掩埋的深到可以彻底忽略不记.一旦到了考试,这些缺失就会不失时机的冒出来, 让你痛苦不已,措手不及.直接导致又一次被烤.而且往往是掩埋的越多冒出的机率越大.故而对于PRE 和FOUNDATION 的学生还是希望在这一两个月的学习过程中:扎扎实实打好基础.做好听说读写所需要的词汇的积累,掌握好语法及句型结构,了解清楚雅思考试四个部分的基本结构和框架.水到了自然渠成.做好了前期准备,在后期的学习中加以完善,充实.理想的分数自然便成了你的囊中之物.”NO PAIN, NO GAIN ” 打好了坚实的地基何愁建不起华丽的高楼大厦呢!!

                                                                                                    Lily Wang

It is easy for some students to ignore Part One in the speaking test because they think this is the easiest section, and the questions are mainly about the candidate himself or herself. Actually, Part One is also as important as the other two parts especially it is crucial to show a good impression to the examiner at the beginning of the test.

Here, I would like to tell you more about Part One in the IELTS Speaking test:

The number of questions in the test states clearly that in Part One of the speaking test, candidates are usually asked between 3 and 6 questions by the Examiner. The fewer questions you will answer, the more questions you will be asked during the 4-5 minutes. Therefore, you should try to say a bit more, to show that you are willing to talk at the beginning of the speaking test.

The examiner asks the candidate four questions, including the candidate’s name and his/her hometown. Those are the most common questions we normally practice in class or by ourselves. For example, family, hometown, school, hobby and personal habits. The exam information shows that we should have the confidence to talk about those familiar topics, which are relevant to ourselves and our daily lives.

Maybe some of you are already told by our teachers at Kai En about the information mentioned-above. If you have more ideas or questions related to Part One, please leave me your comments and I would like to discuss with you.                                                      

                                                                    Daisy Chen

These few days when I was checking my students’ writing, I frequently encountered sentences like “I’d like to say this is not a good phenomenon” “people go to the supermarket easy”, which demonstrate kind of casual and subjective writing style that doesn’t agree with what IELTS requires. I have two suggestions that might help to solve their problems:

1. Try to avoid the typical vocabulary for informal writing and speaking. Personally, I advise students not to use expressions and sentences like: “In my opinion, I think” (it is unnecessary repetition here and will be discussed next time.), “you can say”, “what do you think?”, “I bet” “we can say”. Such language makes the examiner feel as if you are speaking rather than writing and will surely get you a low score.

2. Use more objective sentence structures like “It is …that… ”which is probably one of the most preferred sentence types for IELTS writing. For instance, a sentence like “people say that parents have more influence on children than teachers do” can be changed into “it is believed that parents have more influence on children than teachers do”. Several examples are listed here:

It is said/believed/thought that…

It is obvious/apparent/evident that…

It is undeniable/undoubted/widely accepted that…

It is easy /difficult/ for people to…

It is true that…

It can be argued that…

Another sentence construction can be applied as well:

There is no doubt that…

There is an element of truth in the fact that…

Students should always keep in mind that they are supposed to write for a well-educated audience, which means they should provide a formal and persuasive writing with more factual evidences and less personal biases or prejudices. In order to achieve that, they need to try to be as objective as possible by using more proper sentence constructions. I hope this writing can be of some use to the students who are still head aching for IELTS writing.

                                                                                                    Jessie Zhou

对于听力中关于数字的一些题目，比如ROOM NUMBER IS 218，那么磁带读出来的有两种可能：TWO ONE EIGHT OR TWO EIGHTEEN,也有可能时TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN但是绝对不可能是TWENTY ONE EIGHT,所以如果你觉得磁带里读出来的是TWENTY ONE EIGHT你就应该考虑一下是不是21A。所以有时候耳朵听到的也不全是完全正确的，还是要根据上下文判断一下往最相近的发音上靠，往往会有意想不到的收获哦。

雅思不管是听力还是阅读，信号词一定要注意，比如：but,although,though,however,first,second,third,next等等都是至关重要的，如果你听到的那个单词感觉是答案，但接下来你又听到了上面的信号词，那么你听到的那个单词肯定不是答案，而答案肯定是在信号词后面，所以我平常在教学当中，如果有些学生的听力不太好，我就选择先让他们听是否有信号词，然后再听到底哪个是正确答案。

Following这个单词至关重要，因为它在考时间的时候用的最多，而往往学生在考试的时候心情紧张时间又短，所以出现一个和主题最相近的年代就赶快写下来以为是正确答案，殊不知如果再往下看一句，真正的正确答案往往隐藏在下面的Following 当中，所以以后再做这种有关时间的题目一定要认真仔细的看有没有 Following这个词。还有注意的有extra & half 这两个单词的用法也是一个出题点.

说几个通常会考到的对应词:

fortnight = two weeks = half a month,

a quarter = 25% = 15 minutes,

a dozen = 12 ,

a century = 100 years, a decade = 10 years,

a couple = 2, double = 2 times , triple = 3 times 等等.

                                                                                        Stacy Wang

许多学生总是叫苦喋喋，说在雅思的学习过程中，单词对他们而言总是一道难关。有了技巧，但是没有一定的词汇量，做题时还是无从下手。

这里我就要和大家分享一下轻松搞定单词的方法。我将所有的词汇都分为4大类，即听力词汇，阅读词汇，写作词汇，口语词汇。可能大多数的学生还是不能了解何为听力词汇？又何为阅读词汇？所谓的阅读词汇，就是你在阅读的时候，看着觉得眼熟，知道其意思的词。但是如果换作别人口述给你听的时候，你就不一定在脑子中反应出这个字（所以说，这个字还未成为你的听力词汇）。如果在输出的过程中（写作文，说话）你无法熟练，甚至无法使用到这个字的话，那很可怜，那也只是你的阅读词汇。

所以说，如果你想在雅思考试中，在这四个方面都胜任一筹的话，就要做到凡是接触到一个考试高频词汇，就要将它变为你的听说读写四方面的词汇，使其在你的英文表达中融会贯通。

怎样搞定词汇?

从一个陌生的单词，到融会贯通的是使用，这要经历一个较长的过程。（同学们，表怕，这个“较长”指的是要下一定的工夫才能掌握）。

让我从头说起，（尤其是一些时间较为紧迫的“雅友”们）怎样才能搞定雅思的词汇。除了做一些相应的应试练习以外（我们凯恩的教材非常有用），你们还可以找一些真题的阅读（不要多）来练练笔。因为这些阅读中的词汇就是雅思考试中出现频率比较高的词汇。

怎样具体实施?

在词汇的积累的过程中，要求的是质量而不是速度。所以，在开始做阅读的时候，要静下心，给自己足够的时间去精读一篇文章。（请同学们不要在半当中做一些诸如褒电话粥，上网打游戏之类与雅思无关的事情。）先花一刻钟或是二十分钟将文章看一遍，了解大概意思（这时候千万不要查字典，或是文曲星）不认识的字就要靠自己的揣测及合理的推测来了解文章。然后，就在认认真真将一本字典和笔记本放在书桌上（不要使用电脑词典）.看到有关键字不认识的，就把记录在笔记本上，然后翻看字典查阅。

                                                                 Jennifer Feng

Having been teaching IELTS writing for a year, I find the biggest problem with their writing is that they don’t know how to write in a western way. Most of them tend to do simple translation work, one of whom, in particular, wrote Chinese first and translated it into English, which usually took him an hour to finish task two writing. Here, therefore, I’d like to give a brief introduction about how to write with an English logic. The basic structure goes as follows,

Introduction

l General statements
l Thesis statement
l Preview of arguments
Body
l Logical order of paragraphs
l Transition signals between paragraphs
l Clear line of argument
Conclusion
l Summary of the main points
l Paraphrase or restatement of the thesis
l Final comments/ recommendations on the topic

The general statements give the reader background information about the topic of the essay, which should be interesting enough to capture the reader's attention. The thesis statement introduces the main idea of the essay, which may be applied differently according to the writers’ own needs:

1. state the main topic of the essay
2. list the subtopics of the main topic
3. mention the method of organization
4. the last sentence of the introduction

For each paragraph in the body，students need to give the main idea with the first sentence, which is referred to as the topic sentence. Following that are the supporting ideas.

In terms of the conclusion, students need to restate their point of view in a way interesting or impressive enough for the examiner go give a fairly good score. That’s the general way of the English writing. I hope it’s helpful for the students and begin learn to write with an English rather than Chinese logic.

                                                                                                   Jessie Zhou

We were talking about this in class today so I thought I'd give my students an idea of what one of my most unforgettable days was...

One of the most unforgettable days of my life was the day I arrived in Zhengzhou, Henan Province.   It was my first year in China, actually I had been in China for about a week when this moment happened.  I had been in Beijing for a couple days and I had to get to Zhengzhou, the capital of the Henan Province for my job.  I was with some friends and I had a lot of luggage.  I got off the train and walked with all our stuff out to the main exit of the Zhengzhou Railway station.

Now, in Beijing I was shocked to see huge billboards and posters with Chinese words on them but my eyes went immediately to the English next to the Chinese words or under them to help me to understand.  But the moment I walked out of the Zhengzhou Train station with my luggage I was confronted by a HUGE display of huge billboards with Chinese words.  All of them, I couldn't understand.  No English was provided.  At that moment I thought to myself: "I'm really in China now.  This is where I'm going to live for the next year."  I'll never forget that moment.

Your IELTS expert

Cliff

For my Class:

Answer: A postage stamp.

What are important for writing an Introduction of Task 2---an Argumentative Essay in the writing test? 写议论文的引言段要注意什么？

There are many ways of writing an Introduction for Task 2. The common ways include restatement, topic analysis, topic defining, background information offering, and question setting and so on. Whatever you are going to adopt to use in writing an introduction, you should keep this in your mind: 引言段的写作方法很多，常用的有复述、分析题目、就题目下定义、提供背景信息或者设问等等。但无论你采用哪种写作手法，都应该记住以下几点：

1. a topic should be introduced by a general statement and the background information should be offered by using the key words or synonyms of the question.写一句概述句(背景信息)来介绍主题,不要原原本本照抄题目,可以用题目中的关键词的同义词来写.

2. write a thesis statement to indicate the purpose of writing. Both the general and thesis statement needn’t be expanded here.写全文中心思想句说明写作意图。

3. avoid straying away from the topic. No matter how attractive a writing material is, you shouldn’t use it if it cannot support your ideas effectively.千万不要跑题。

4. don’t copy the question here.不要照抄题目。

5. balance an introduction and a conclusion by writing 3-4 sentences respectively. 不要写成头重脚轻的文章，写3-4句话就可以了。

                                                                         Daisy Chen

Pronunciation practice.

Say these sentences ten times really fast to help you with your pronunciation.

1.  I write a diary on a daily basis.

2.  The pilot was very polite.

3.  Do you have any nieces and nephews?

4.  The people in Ningbo are nimble because they exercise everyday.

5.  I bought a boat but I didn't buy a brand name boat so it broke.

6.  He's a magician not a musician! 

7.  The snake was eating a snack.

These sentences will help you practice your pronunciation on words that are commonly difficult for students learning English.  Practice and tell me if you can think of more!!

Your IELTS speaking Expert...

Cliff

对图片配对题，首先将问题与图片联系起来，分析问题之间的逻辑关系，了解所听语篇的情景以及答案所需的信息。然后分析每一组图片的主要特点和相异之处，同时在心中将其翻译成文字，并把这些文字视为信号词句。在聆听时留意辨认信号词，同义词和近义词。

对于配对题中的辨认方向或者位置题，需要首先确定出发点或起点，并且熟悉用于指示方位的表达。弄清说话人沿途所指的参照物，注意以说话人所指的方向和参照物来作出判断，而不是以自己为参照。弄清需要辨认的是同一方向的不同目标还是不同方向的不同目标。注意方向指示经常会被重复或者强调。

对文字配对题，首先要留意例题，浏览配对文字材料，划出被配对栏目的关键词，并把他们视为问题的信号词。接着再划出配对栏目的关键词，并把两个栏目的关键词综合分析，预测所听语篇的话题。尤其注意听清楚配对栏目中的关键词的不同的表述方式，比如说他们的同义词，近义词或者相关描述性词语，以便对号入座。如果没有把握，则充分利用常识和对语言的整体理解来合理推测可能的配对模式。

Daisy Chen

关于平常做题中出现的一些小毛病，比如有些学生会有这样一种想法：平常毕竟不是考试，做起题来永远是马马虎虎的，其实平常做题你是什么样的心态，养成这个习惯了到考试的时候不见得你会立马改过来，所以平常做题都要养成一个良好的态度，每个同学在平时都要有自己的一个做题方法，比如做classification这种题，有些人习惯先找题目中的key words而有些人习惯先从文章里找出来作者啊或者其他提示出来的一些信息，两种方法都对，但是自己一定要知道自己适合哪种方法，因为毕竟一个小时的时间完成3篇阅读不是一件容易的事情，能节省一点时间是一点，一分钟的时间虽然不多，但不容忽视.

阅读里面有多种题型，建议大家发下卷子之后先扫视一下每篇文章的题型，在时间不是很充分的情况下挑一些自己比较拿手的题目做，因为在平时做题当中你肯定会发现有自己比较喜欢或者比较擅长的题型，这样正确率会比较高一点，如果你的词汇量够大，但是理解能力不太强，比如像填空这种题型，文章里的对应词只要能找出来，正确率应该不会太低.

                                                                                                          Stacy Wang

对于听力中关于数字的一些题目，比如ROOM NUMBER IS 218，那么磁带读出来的有两种可能：TWO ONE EIGHT OR TWO EIGHTEEN,也有可能时TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN但是绝对不可能是TWENTY ONE EIGHT,所以如果你觉得磁带里读出来的是TWENTY ONE EIGHT你就应该考虑一下是不是21A。所以有时候耳朵听到的也不全是完全正确的，还是要根据上下文判断一下往最相近的发音上靠，往往会有意想不到的收获哦。

雅思不管是听力还是阅读，信号词一定要注意，比如：but,although,though,however,first,second,third,next等等都是至关重要的，如果你听到的那个单词感觉是答案，但接下来你又听到了上面的信号词，那么你听到的那个单词肯定不是答案，而答案肯定是在信号词后面，所以我平常在教学当中，如果有些学生的听力不太好，我就选择先让他们听是否有信号词，然后再听到底哪个是正确答案。

Following这个单词至关重要，因为它在考时间的时候用的最多，而往往学生在考试的时候心情紧张时间又短，所以出现一个和主题最相近的年代就赶快写下来以为是正确答案，殊不知如果再往下看一句，真正的正确答案往往隐藏在下面的Following 当中，所以以后再做这种有关时间的题目一定要认真仔细的看有没有 Following这个词。还有注意的有extra & half 这两个单词的用法也是一个出题点

说几个通常会考到的对应词:

fortnight = two weeks = half a month,

a quarter = 25% = 15 minutes,

a dozen = 12 ,

a century = 100 years, a decade = 10 years,

a couple = 2, double = 2 times , triple = 3 times 等等.

                                                                                        Stacy Wang

I was talking to one of my old IELTS students recently about his IELTS speaking test and he told me about how he had answered some questions. He was asked to talk about his family and he told the examiner that he didn't get along with his father and seldom visited his mother. He was asked to describe his hometown and told the examiner that it was old, dirty and polluted and that the people were very poor and lived in horrible houses. It made me think of the importance of being positive. No one really enjoys talking to someone who is negative and complains a lot. In the IELTS speaking test be positive. Positive people are seen as confident and successful so don't be negative. The IELTS examiner will have a much better impression of your and will be more likely to give you a high score if you are positive.

Brian, Kai En IELTS expert.

Paragraphing for the writing:

This is a very easy thing to do but it can have an enormous effect on the clarity of your writing. This is even more important for task 2. In task 2, you will be writing more and it is therefore more important to divide your writing up into divisions to make it easier to read.

Very often people use no paragraphing and the examiner is faced with a “sea” of writing with no breaks from start to finish. For me, the best writings are those where there are paragraphs separated by an empty line and also indented. In this way, your ideas are separated clearly. It shows and gives organization to your writing and makes it more readable. You should aim to have 3 or paragraphs plus the introduction and conclusion.

Planning

Many students that I have taught have regarded writing an essay plan as a waste of time. The only answer I can give is that I depends on the individual. If you are a good essay writer who can automatically organize your ideas and structure in your head so well that you can produce a good structured essay without planning, then I say that’s fine not to write an essay plan.

Also if you’re really short of time and you need to get writing on page, then you don’t want to waste time on planning. However, if none of these conditions apply, then 1 or 2 minutes thinking about your ideas and how you are going to present them will not be wasted. I’m not saying that you should spend 10 minutes on this. Just take a scrap of paper and jot down some ideas that you are going to use in your essay.

Then you can divide the ideas into 3 or 4 paragraphs in a logical order. This shouldn’t take you long and the structure that this will give your essay will be well worth the time that you spend doing it.

                                                                                        Katherine Zhang

在写作考试的平常练习当中,我们应该问问自己这个问题,以便更好地检测自己的学习方法和效果,比如避免重写的问题.

考试时,我们没有时间重写一遍作文,因此,要学会动笔写之前必要的三几分钟的写作构思,下笔之时按照想好的写作方向去写,这样既避免了离题或者偏题,又避免了重写而时间不够的尴尬.

同样重要的是在日常的写作练习里,我们要意识到动笔时250字大概是多少,考试时,我们要确保字数不少于规定的250字.其实,不管是日常的练习还是考试时,我建议考生不要写得太多.

经常有些学生会问我们老师,背诵考试中出现的范文有没有作用?首先,考试当中的作文题目的要求往往很长,因此,我们要想了解作文题的话题其实并不难,但要找出作文题中的确切重点却往往很难.有些考生经常死记硬背做过的练习或者考试题目中出现过的文章,企图在自己考试时再默写下来,而没有意识到所写的作文内容已经偏题了.另外,这些考生在默写时,出错的数量会增多,一定要小心!所以,关于死板地背诵范文我并不赞成,大家应该学习并尽量记住好词好句,关键倒是学会如何恰到好处地使用.

说到这里,请不要误会考试时我们不需要仔细重读并更正一遍所写的内容.在平时的练习和模拟实践中,我们每次写完一篇文章,都应该立即重读,更正一遍,这样一来,在真正考试时,就会习惯成自然了.

                                                                                                    Daisy Chen

首先,让我们来回顾一下听力考试的四大部分的内容.前两大部分的内容一般具有社会性.第一部分通常是对话,比如说两个人在商店里的对话;第二部分是独白,例如电台的广播节目;第三部分通常是教育类或者培训类为背景的对话,如大学导师关于某一话题的辅导课,有时候说话者会多达三到四位;第四部分是独白,比如一个和一般性学术课题有关的讲座或者讲话.

现在,我要谈谈在听力考试部分常常碰到的几个问题,看看你们是否也有同感?

1. 练习素材: 如果你没有大量的雅思书籍进行练习的话,可以使用剑桥种类考试的听力材料来练习.尤其是市面上流行最广的<<剑桥雅思考试全题型预测试题集>>.本书有经验丰富的雅思考官编写,模拟试题的结构和形式与修改后的雅思考试的试卷结构完全一致.你可以把它当模拟练习做.另外,你还可以听听收音机看电视,尽可能多用英语和别人交流.

2.读考题: 有些考生往往不仔细看答题说明,或者只是粗略地流览一下.他们想当然地认为考题中的说明与平时在课本上所做练习的说明是完全相同的,于是出现看错题目说明的现象.你一定要仔细阅读所有的答题说明,理解好每道题的题意.雅思听力的答题说明往往是清晰易懂的,通常都列有例子.

3.注意力: 你会不会觉得第一部分容易,没有很仔细地听,结果答错了一些题目,最终影响了得分呢?如果你想得到7分或者7.5分这样的高分,最好能答对前面两大部分的所有题目,因为这两部分是最简单的.所以,你从一开始就要集中注意力留心听了.

4.预测: 试想想,当我们用母语与人交流时,可以预测对方会说什么.这在说话当时的情况下很容易做到,因为我们是参与者,知道上下文.而在雅思听力考试当中你只听不说,就有些难度了,因为你没有积极地参与到对话中.不过,你只要稍微集中一下注意力去听,还是可以预测听力考题中说话者大概会说些什么.

5.变化: 做题时,你一定要小心说话者前后的变化.有时,说话者在给出信息后,又紧接着改变了主意.这时,你的答案也要跟着改变了.

                                                                                           Daisy Chen

对雅思阅读考题有所了解的朋友们都知道它的学术内容和难度是拿取高分的障碍之一.有些考生即使掌握了很大的词汇量,也不见得能顺利实现自己的目标成绩.因此,针对性的重要阅读技巧就不容忽视了.

现在,我想谈谈你可能已经听过很多次的但依然很重要的四个阅读技巧.

一,熟悉文章的主题.在平时的阅读练习当中,当你通读文章时,多练习在脑子里概括其中心思想,特别是有些情况下你会注意到某些中心思想需要用好几句话来表达.每篇文章的标题和副标题都应该反映该文章的主题和阐述方式.考生需要找出每个段落的主要观点,概况要点,从而对整篇文章有一个全面的了解.

二,略读(skimming).略读即是快速阅读,有选择性地阅读文中最重要的部分,从而掌握文章的结构,即文章是如何成篇的或如何分段的,了解文章的大意.具体运用这一技巧时,你可以仅仅阅读某段文字的标题,图表以及某些句子---比如第一句和最后一句.通过运用略读,你可以了解这段文字的大意.通常你只需花很少的时间,关键是寻找有关这段文字大意的线索: 留意和who, what, when, where, why 和how这六方面的问题,这样会很有帮助的.

三,挑读(scanning).挑读是指寻找文章中的具体信息.挑读的目标并不是通读全文,而是找寻那些包含你所需信息的部分.你可以用眼睛扫视文章,以求很快找到特定的信息和容易识别的信息,即是寻找特定的具体的信息.标题句能帮到你找到这些.

四,找出主要观点和支持性观点. 雅思阅读的文章取自英语国家现实生活中的报章杂志等等.很多时候,文章的作者通过使用单词,短语和段落来组织篇章结构,从而帮助读者更好地领会文章的内容.因此,你还要学习如何识别段落之间的连接词.这将有助于你发现到主要观点和支持性观点之间的一些区别, 从而帮助你更好地定位和考题相关的位置,快速地找到答案所在.

                                                                                                                 Daisy Chen

Students at Kai En have a great opportunity to study IELTS in small classes. This means you can interact with the teacher regularly and get personal attention. We also provide an IELTS blog, so that our students can ask questions and discuss topics related to IELTS study or to overseas study. I suggest you look at the blog every day and write some comments.

1. You can read the IELTS articles and write your own comments.

2. You can request topics for discussion.

3. You can share your ideas with other IELTS learners.

This will also help you to improve your writing skills. You can ask any questions you want. So why not begin using the IELTS blog to discuss important questions.

Let me know what you want to talk about and I will help you share ideas through our blog.

Brian, Kai En IELTS expert

正误判断题是有些考生害怕的听力题型之一,它在最近几年的听力题中出现的频率相对来说是较少的.其实这种题和阅读中的True/False题目不一样.听力中的正误判断题一般只是对绿音中的一些陈述做了一些小的改动,然后让我们判断正误.

其实我们不必对此感到害怕.在做题的过程中我们可以运用一些小技巧:

1. 在听前30秒钟内快速阅读各个句子,找出并划出关键词.

2.在做题的时候关注关键词,也就是黑体字,同时对题目做出预测.

3. 在听的过程中,关注同义词,近义词和信号词.

4.特别注意时间,地名,人名,数字等信息,并把这些重要信息一一记下来.

5.凡是在原文中有多个并列成分,而题目中却只有一个或少于原文中的并列成分数的,均为False.

6.按题目顺序来答题.

在这里,我想解释一下"信号词".所谓"信号词",就是指那些在口语里用来衔接人们说话思路以帮助别人理解的词汇.在听力过程中,跟在信号词后面的往往是某一道甚至几道题的答案.关注信号词会大大提高我们的正确答题率.有些在30秒钟之内无法读完题目的朋友们,尤其要特别注意听信号词了.在平时的听力练习当中,我们要留意近来雅思考试全真试题中出现的高频信号词.

                                                       Daisy Chen

Students often worry that they won't have enough to say in the IELTS speaking test and also in the IELTS writing test. In fact, this is a common problem because many of the people taking the IELTS test are students and teenagers. During the IELTS writing tests you may be asked to talk about or write about topics that are not usually interesting to teenagers, like the environment, economic development, technology, etc. The best way to deal with this is to read some magazines for about 3 months before you take the IELTS test. Look for magazines or websites that discuss common topics in the IELTS test. This will give you more information so you will be able to write and speak more during the IELTS test. This reading will also help you improve your reading skills for the IELTS test.

Remember, in the writing task 2, having a good argument is an important part of getting a high score. Certainly if you want to get above 6.0 in your IELTS writing test, you should be able to provide clear writing structure and have a well organized argument. Spending time reading about common IELTS topics may result in your receiving 1.0 higher score in the IELTS test.

Brian, IELTS expert at Kai En

Actually many students in China think that good communication means using a lot of big words and speaking fast. This isn't correct. Good communication means that you are able to express your ideas clearly and that other people can understand what you are saying without difficulty. In many cases, this doesn't need a lot of big words. Speaking fast often means that you repeat what you say or your ideas are not clearly organized. When I communicate with my Chinese colleagues here at Kai En, I enjoy talking to someone who:

1. Organizes what s/he is going to say and says it clearly and logically.

2. Speaks clearly, without repeating what s/he says - speaking fast is not as important as speaking clearly.

3. Doesn't try to impress me by using big words because in many situations s/he doesn't use these words correctly.

If you really want to communicate well, think, organize what you say and use suitable vocabulary. This is good advice for English communication and it is good advice for taking the IELTS speaking test. The IELTS speaking examiner also focuses on how well you communicate.

Send me any questions you have on this topic.

Brian, Kai En IELTS expert

Chinese students who study abroad are often very successful in their study because they are diligent and dedicated and because they have good study habits. However, being successful in the classroom is only a part of your overseas experience. You should also take advantage of living abroad to learn new things and meet new people. Chinese students who study in the UK for example sometimes find it difficult to make friends. My students often tell me that English students are friendly, but not easy to make friends with. The most important point here is to be patient. In western society people are used to being more independent and like to get to know others gradually. Chinese students, on the other hand, may feel that when you have talked to someone five times, they are your friend. Don't make this mistake. If you are too eager to make friends with a foreign classmate, that classmate may feel uncomfortable. Remember foreign students like privacy and space. If you try to get too close too fast, you will frighten your foreign classmate. My advice is to get to know your foreign classmates slowly and take time. Only then will you make real friends.

My name is Brian and I'm from Ireland, but I've been in China for a long time so I know a lot of problems that you might have when you study abroad. If you have any questions, just ask.

Brian, Kai En IELTS expert

My students at Kai En are usually nervous before taking the IELTS speaking test. They are worried about the IELTS examiner and consider what the examiner will be like. However, it's important to remember that the IELTS speaking examiner wants you to do well in the test. He/she hopes that you can get a good score. This means the examiner is on your team. Also remember that the speaking examiner wants to have a conversation with each candidate, so don't think of the IELTS speaking interview as simply a question-answer situation. You should try to make the conversation as natural as possible like a chat between two friends. The examiner will try to create a natural conversation. You should also try to do this. You can do this by actively listening. When the examiner speaks, nod your head, respond by saying things like - 'I see'. 'Really'. 'That's interesting'. Make good eye contact. Use natural body movements when you are talking. The more natural your conversation is, the higher your IELTS speaking score will be.

If you have any questions about how to be more natural in the IELTS speaking exam, write to me and I can help you.

Brian, Kai En IELTS speaking expert

There are a few things that IELTS speaking examiners hate, but certainly one of them is when the IELTS candidate doesn’t listen to the question carefully and just gives a memorized answer. For example, the question is ‘Describe some of the changes that have occurred in Shanghai in the past ten years?’ The IELTS candidate answers – “Shanghai is a modern and international city. Many foreign companies have invested here and there are many opportunities to find a job in an international company. The transportation facilities in Shanghai are good and the traffic is convenient. The standard of living is high and there are many places to go to relax.”

Although the English is good, the IELTS examiner will not award a high mark because the student didn’t answer the question. The IELTS candidate has talked about the topic of the question – Shanghai, but has not dealt with the question – describe the changes. [The key words in the question are – describe / changes / Shanghai.] The examiner is assessing the ability to describe change from the past to the present, but the IELTS candidate hasn’t done this. Rather he or she has just described Shanghai today.

Don’t make this mistake. Listen for the key words in the question and make sure you answer the question and not just talk about the topic.

Write to me if you have any comments about this.

Brian, Kai En IELTS expert

In the IELTS speaking exam there are three ways to explain that you are going abroad.  Many times students don't know what to say or how to say it.  Here are three reasons that people generally go abroad.  Some of you might be going abroad with a combination of two different reasons.  Some might have a combination of all three.  But it's good to know how to explain all three.

1. I’m going to study in University in Sydney Australia. I’ve heard a lot about Sydney and I’m very excited to go and see the city. I’ve heard the people are very nice and the food is different than Chinese food but I think I will get used to it. I’ve also heard that studying at the University is going to be difficult. There are many people who I’ve talked to who tell me that I have to work hard and study really hard.

2. I’m going to Canada to work. I’ve already graduated from University here in China, I went to TongJi University, but I’ve heard there are many opportunities in Canada for well educated Chinese people. I think that working overseas will greatly improve my chances for getting a good job later on when I return to China. I haven’t gotten a job yet, but some of my relatives have told me that they are communication with some employers in the Toronto area. I’m looking forward to working and living in Canada.

3. I’m going to immigrate to New Zealand. I think living and studying in China is not suitable for me at this time. My parents tell me that the Chinese education system is not good and that life in New Zealand has more to offer than China does. I don’t know if I agree with them 100% because I like my life in China and I have many friends here. But I think they want what’s best for me so I will do what they tell me. Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing New Zealand because I’ve heard that it is very beautiful there.

Why are you going abroad?  What is your purpose?  Post your answer and practice saying it in your own words.