Neil McLaren
I live and work in Bratislava and have been teaching for more than twenty-five years. I’m the Social Community Manager in charge of the British Council’s global social media channels for learners.
Location Bratislava, Slovakia
Activity
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Neil McLaren replied to MariaAlessandra Pecora
Definitely @MariaAlessandraPecora - you can find recipes for them here: https://www.futurelearn.com/comments/68751113
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Neil McLaren replied to Gloria L
It's lovely @GloriaL - very aromatic!
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Neil McLaren replied to Raquel Varela
Masala just means a mix of spices @RaquelVarela and you can make your own at home from spices that you can easily find - check my comment here for recipes. https://www.futurelearn.com/comments/68751113
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Neil McLaren replied to felix N
You can make your own easily @felixN - see my answer here: https://www.futurelearn.com/comments/68751113
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Neil McLaren replied to Yuriy G
You can easily make your own @YuriyG - see my answer here: https://www.futurelearn.com/comments/68751113
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Neil McLaren replied to Sabine Lucas
See my answer here @SabineLucas : https://www.futurelearn.com/comments/68751113
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Neil McLaren replied to Martha Romero
See my answer here @MarthaRomero : https://www.futurelearn.com/comments/68751113
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Neil McLaren replied to Kalina Maneva
They're just ready-mixed blends of regular spices @KalinaManeva . You can probably find all the individual spices where you live, then mix them yourself using any of these recipes:...
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Neil McLaren replied to Julia Allert
I know what you mean @JuliaAllert - I've never been a dunker and none of my family do it either! I never really understood the attraction of soggy biscuits! And it always surprises me to hear that Claire, Tina Chris and Sally dunk!
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Neil McLaren replied to Nataly Golubyk
Glad you liked it @NatalyGolubyk . It's one of my favourites and I'm sure you'll enjoy it when you make it :-)
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Neil McLaren replied to Piyaphong Panphorm
Excellent @PiyaphongPanphorm
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Neil McLaren replied to Vlad Tkalenko
Definitely @VladTkalenko . It's good to read things that are a LITTLE difficult, where you understand the main points but maybe don't know some vocabulary on every page, but there's no real benefit in reading things that are TOO hard so that you feel you're not sure what is going on and you have to check the dictionary every other sentence. You won't enjoy the...
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Yes, congratulations @AlexeyAntipin ! It's great motivation to really focus on all four of these courses - they can make a real difference to your test experience.
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Neil McLaren replied to Thandeka Ngwenya
If you practise, you definitely will @ThandekaNgwenya
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Neil McLaren replied to Ifeoma Chidi-Ochiagha
Try again with the second one @IfeomaChidi-Ochiagha
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Neil McLaren replied to Amna Alabdulla
Don't worry @AmnaAlabdulla - the more you practise with the techniques we share, the easier it will become.
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Neil McLaren replied to Amna Alabdulla
That's great @AmnaAlabdulla - that's the right approach.
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Neil McLaren replied to Luiza Talamini
Twitter is great for improving your skimming and scanning skills @LuizaTalamini , and of course is also useful for finding longer articles that interest you by following up on shared links. But yes, as you say, you should also add longer, more diverse articles into the mix.
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That's great to hear @OluwatosinAdeoye
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Neil McLaren replied to Обид Асадов
Yes @ОбидАсадов reading for pleasure will definitely help you develop your skills, build your vocabulary and more. As we talk about during the course, it's good to mix the two - reading for your own enjoyment, but also reading the types of factual text and articles that you will meet in the test.
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Neil McLaren replied to Ivana Lenardic
Yes @IvanaLenardic , that's right. The only time this does not apply is in things like matching headings etc where the task applies to the whole text.
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Neil McLaren replied to Ivana Lenardic
Excellent @IvanaLenardic !
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Neil McLaren replied to Vlad Tkalenko
That's fine @VladTkalenko at this stage of first seeing the text you're only expected to have a basic understanding of they main points, not a detailed one.
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Neil McLaren replied to Vlad Tkalenko
Absolutely @VladTkalenko , the more you read in your daily life the easier it becomes to get used to quickly skimming texts. Don't worry about your second point - skimming is only the start - it gives you the general idea of the text and the topic of each part, but don't expect to understand more. That comes next when you focus on specific parts of the text...
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Neil McLaren replied to Amna Alabdulla
Well done @AmnaAlabdulla !
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Neil McLaren replied to Nteyo A
That's still an excellent score though @NteyoA !
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I don't think the word 'popular' belongs there @ThomasFUNG . Can you think of another way to say your opening sentence?
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That's a very good start @AlexandraTyler . I'd think a little about the order you place things in your sentence. For example, 'in one particular country' - would it be better earlier? And I think you need to split this into two sentences, not one.
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Well done @RosaSevilla - very clear!
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Careful @BaryyA - the MATERIALS don't tell you that, the graph does. So how could you say that in another way?
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That's great @RosianedaSilvaAfonsoLopes . Now you need to find some short, intersting writing opportunities for the other days in the week!
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Neil McLaren replied to Suzanne Law
That's really where reading and listening come in @SuzanneLaw . As you say, practising output is one thing - and essential - but you need input too, and by watching, listening to and reading content that is related to the types of topics covered in IELTS you can build your writing and speaking skills too.
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Neil McLaren replied to Alex David
Yes, it's a good plan Alex. But if you find that heavy going, don't be afraid to take a little time off and try some of the other writing exercises we suggest. It will all help!
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Neil McLaren replied to Oleksandra Golubova
Yes @OleksandraGolubova , during the course we share those.
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Neil McLaren replied to Elena Lu
Yes @ElenaLu , although there is no age limit for IELTS, it's not recommended for students younger than 16, partly for that reason.
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Neil McLaren replied to Elena Lu
That's often a problem @ElenaLu . It's why we spend quite a bit of time on really thinking about the question, brainstorming ideasthen expanding on them before even starting to write.
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Don't worry @RosianedaSilvaAfonsoLopes . Everything we cover for Task 2 will help you for the General test. All the skills that we help you develop apply to both tests. For Task 1 in the General test (the letter) you can find all the resources you need to practise here: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/understanding-ielts-writing/6/steps/1032942
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Neil McLaren replied to Agnieszka O.
The work we do on this course will definitely help you with those things @AgnieszkaO. But the first step is to START using English every day, even if it's only for 20 minutes or half an hour. If you practise all four skills throughout the week, it will help you a lot with the problems you mention.
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It will definitely help @HaiboLiu , but as we say, don't worry about yor mistakes here - jump right in and comment. People will be interested in what you have to say, not in whether or not it has some mistakes!
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This course will definitely help you to clearly identify why that is happening and what areas you need to focus on to get your writing closer to your other skills @GanapathinathanPillai
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Neil McLaren replied to Andrei Popescu
That's a good start @AndreiPopescu
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Neil McLaren replied to Alexandra Kostina
Hi @AlexandraKostina you can use a pen or HB pencil in the Writing test, but you must use an HB pencil in Listening and Reading to write the answers on the answer sheet.
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Neil McLaren replied to Mohamed Munth Kamara
Yes @MohamedMunthKamara , and that means you can erase any mistakes and make changes easily.
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Neil McLaren replied to Octavio Varillas
Exactly @OctavioVarillas
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Neil McLaren replied to Patrycja C.
Good advice @PatrycjaC.
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Neil McLaren replied to Patrycja C.
Sounds like you have a good system @PatrycjaC.
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Neil McLaren replied to Patrycja C.
That's true @PatrycjaC. By the end of the course you'll have tried both and really you should just choose the one you are most comfortable with.
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See my comment here too @AdamaGideon https://www.futurelearn.com/comments/67029263
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Well done @benedettasirelli !
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So it should be @agathafum - that's a great result.
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Excellent work @MichaelChude !
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Yes @Micheld.S.Mesquita , @GreensBk , @BorgesMachado and @NteyoA that one is tricky! See my answer here for more detail on that. https://www.futurelearn.com/comments/67029263
As Nteyo says, 'gender equality' would be correct in the terms of meaning, but the instructions say write ONE word only. -
Neil McLaren replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
The noun phrase in the audio says 'problems with inequalities in terms of gender' @AnwlwMoyo , and that would have to be paraphrased as either 'gender issues' or 'gender inequality issues'. It could not be 'inequality issues' because that would change the meaning and be much broader - there are many types of inequality. As you can only use one word, then...
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Neil McLaren replied to Vitor Aguiar
Hi @VitorAguiar , you don't actually need a Facebook accont to watch the live events - if you follow the link you can watch without having to sign in. But as Neeraj mentioned, you can watch them all, both live and older recorded ones on YouTube if you prefer.
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Neil McLaren replied to Rehab Alyousuf
I'm afraid there is only one answer @RehabAlyousuf - practice, practice and more practice! All the advice we have given on this course will help you, but you still need to put in the hard work of identifying where you have probems and then working to improve them. You can do it!
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Neil McLaren replied to Encarnacion Gil
Very clearly explained @RumiI
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Neil McLaren replied to Nesrin Hajiyeva
Five mistakes is an excellent score @NesrinHajiyeva - equivalent to Band 8.0 , so higher than you need for most purposes. You can use this to calculate https://www.ieltspractice.com/ielts-score-calculator.php
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Neil McLaren replied to Natalia Meczenowa
Don't worry @NataliaMeczenowa , with practice you will imprve that score. You can always check your results using this claculator to see what Band Score you would get https://www.ieltspractice.com/ielts-score-calculator.php
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Neil McLaren replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
That's a good score @AnwlwMoyo - 7.0
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Neil McLaren replied to Vitória Pellizzari
Not not allowed @RehabAlyousuf, but it's not necessary. You can have a pencil, pen, your ID, and an eraser on your desk.
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Neil McLaren replied to Elena Lu
They're in the next step @ElenaLu !
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Neil McLaren replied to Ella van Melis
I'm afraid not @EllavanMelis . But you can move backwards and forwards through the computer test, highlight parts of the text, make notes etc.
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Neil McLaren replied to S A
Glad to hear that @SA and @DavidPius
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Neil McLaren replied to S A
Exactly @SA - short term memory is limited. That's why it's important to focus on identifying the important parts of the text, underlining key words etc. as you go.
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Neil McLaren replied to Alexandra Kostina
Good advice @AlexandraKostina . You're right - it's very important to break the test down into manageable parts and take it step by step.
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Neil McLaren replied to Rosa Sevilla
I'm glad to hear the course has helped @RosaSevilla
