Alexa Wilkinson

Alexa Wilkinson

I'm an Assessment Manager at Cambridge Assessment. I have previous EFL teaching experience in many countries including Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the UK.

Location UK

Activity

  • Hi @AbdurrahmanAl-Jamal - thanks for your comment. It's definitely a good idea to familiarise yourself with a variety of English accents - as each IELTS Listening test always uses a mix of accents including British, Australian, New Zealand and north American.

  • That's a good point @NimaDaryabar - this is similar to the reading task from last week, the grammar can give you clues. For example, in Q7, we know the answer needs to include a noun - an adjective on its own would not make sense. Furthermore, we know that the answer needs to be plural, because there's no indefinite article before the gap.

  • @paolaandreamantillaagredo Hi Paola - there is a good resource that you can find online called the Academic Word List, which is a list of common words in academic texts.

  • @MyriamB Hi Myriam - Remember that it is above all a speaking test - and that the questions/topics do not have specific 'correct' answers. Hopefully you will have something to say on the given topic - but you can also admit that you don't know much about the topic (so long as you speak well whilst doing this!), or you can, as you have suggested, make something...

  • That's a good point Amir - it's always useful to read what follows the gap, as well as what comes before it, as there could be grammatical clues in either of those places which will help you to find the correct answer.

  • Hi Mahdi, there is a link (it says 'Read the text here.') above the questions that you can click. It is best to open it in another tab, so that you can move easily between the text and the questions.

  • @MyriamB
    Hi Myriam, it's not possible to ask for another task card in Part 2 of the Speaking test. The topics of the task cards are very carefully chosen to ensure that they're of general interest to everyone. They're also extensively trialled to make sure that they can support a two-minute talk. 

    It's also important to remember that you're being tested...

  • Hi Lyudmila - the speaking test isn't testing you on your listening skills so if you misunderstand the question, you won't lose marks. However you should listen carefully to the examiner’s question. If you haven’t heard all or part of the question, or have misunderstood, you can ask the examiner to repeat the question.

  • Hi Yuliia - in general, yes. In Parts 1 and 2 you have the chance to talk about yourself and your own experiences a lot. Part 3 is an opportunity to show that you can also talk about more abstract concepts. Of course, you can use 'I' in phrases like 'In my opinion' and 'I think/believe' - but you should try to talk about people in general, rather than...

  • Hi Sophie - in Speaking you are not awarded scores for each part, but for the Speaking exam as a whole.

  • Hi Lyudmila - the Speaking test will include a wide range of topics, so I'm afraid there isn't one set list. They're very general topics which all candidates should be able to talk about without any special knowledge. While it's definitely true that a good knowledge of the world is useful in that it will give you things to talk about, it's also important to...

  • @SvetlanaRomanova - they are definitely useful expressions - just be careful that you don't over-use them, or use them inappropriately!

  • @LyudmilaAnsimova-Sutcliffe - This is very useful advice - for writing task 2 as well as speaking! It is unlikely however that the examiner will ask you anything about Covid-19 or lockdown etc. as they always avoid potentially sensitive topics.

  • Do you think that accuracy is the only thing that matters when speaking? Are there other elements that are also important?

  • Hi Moriko - You can find your study group – or join one, if you haven’t already – by clicking on the Study group icon near the top of this step.

  • To paraphrase means to use your own words. It is very important that you do this. If you copy the words from the question it can affect your score.

  • That was a spelling mistake that the writer had made. The examiner was commenting that they didn't understand what word the writer intended.

  • Hi Mariana - 'has fallen' is the present perfect tense - but the time for this graph was all in the past, therefore the past simple tense (fell) is the only acceptable tense.

  • @ClaudiaA and @ShowanNemati - these are both excellent ideas!

  • Grammatical Range and Accuracy refers to how many different grammatical structures you can use and how many mistakes you make with grammar. It also covers punctuation. Vocabulary and Spelling are covered by Lexical Resource.

  • Hi Nadia - Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1 - so your final score in writing is calculated taking this into account.

  • Hi Ivan - it depends on the question, sometimes you are asked to discuss both sides as well as give your own opinion, other times you are asked to only give your opinion. But there's no harm in stating both sides of the argument before explaining your own position - in fact, this could strengthen your argument. We would recommend you write a clear, relevant,...

  • @ALEXANDRAALEXANDRE That's right Alexandra, you shouldn't use bullet points in either of the writing tasks.

  • Hi Elisabeth, in Task 1 you have to write AT LEAST 150 words, and in Task 2 you have to write AT LEAST 250 words. There's no maximum word limit.

  • Hi Kuang Thu Zaw - Lots of people have mentioned vocabulary as a weakness for writing. What do you think we can do to help develop our vocabulary?

  • Hi Kolu Bungah - Lots of people have mentioned vocabulary as a weakness for writing. What do you think we can do to help develop our vocabulary?

  • Hi Showan Nemati - Lots of people have mentioned vocabulary as a weakness for writing. What do you think we can do to help develop our vocabulary?

  • Hi Saba - it's definitely very useful to do lots of reading! If we read about different topics it can help us with ideas. If we want our reading to help with our writing, we need to read 'actively' - not just focusing on the ideas but also paying close attention to the structure, the vocabulary and the grammar. I like to read things at least twice - the first...

  • Hi Rebecca - Lots of people have mentioned vocabulary as a weakness for writing. What do you think we can do to help develop our vocabulary?

  • Hi Héctor - that's great that you have lots of ideas! Do you make a plan before you start writing? We're always told that it's a good idea to make a plan, but often we don't do it because of time constraints! However, a good plan can really help you to structure your writing. I like to plan in 2 stages. First, I brainstorm as many ideas I can (in any order),...

  • Hi Wenyi Du - doing a weekly/daily piece of writing is an excellent way to practice writing, especially if you choose a different topic to write on each time. Lots of people have mentioned vocabulary as a weakness for writing. What do you think we can do to help develop our vocabulary?

  • Hi Saw Malar - you don't need to be online at the same time as the other members of your group - you can read what they have written and leave comments even if they are not online at that time.

  • Hi Lyudmila - you don't need to be online at the same time as the other members of your group - you can read what they have written and leave comments even if they are not online at that time.

  • Hi Rohinie - you don't need to be online at the same time as the other members of your group - you can read what they have written and leave comments even if they are not online at that time.

  • Hi hlaing min thet - to join a study group, simply click on the ‘Study group’ icon near the top of this step.