Tony Clark
I manage IELTS-related research and other projects. Before doing this, I was an IELTS preparation instructor in Japan, Morocco, Italy and Hungary.
Location Cambridge
Activity
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Tony Clark replied to Camila Loureiro
Keep up the good work Camila, it will come :)
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Tony Clark replied to Hecham Alsyad
Good idea, familiarity is often a great help
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Tony Clark replied to Gustavo Vázquez
Welcome Gustavo - that is an admirable goal, good luck with your studies
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Tony Clark replied to Harshita Bhatnagar
Welcome Harshita, I hope we can help you achieve your goal
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Tony Clark replied to Hansol Ryu
Hello Paul, and welcome. Good luck with your dream, whatever it is. It will be interesting to study two kinds of IELTS, not many people do that - it's a good opportunity
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Tony Clark replied to Odion Peter
Welcome Odion. We will help you improve for the exam - best of luck
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Tony Clark replied to Aziza Er-radi
Welcome Aziza! I hope we can help you
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Tony Clark replied to Abdullah Bin-Melha
Great to hear that Abdullah, welcome to the course
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Tony Clark replied to Jessica Denis
Welcome to the course Jessica
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Tony Clark replied to patience Andem
Welcome to the course Patience - I hope we can help you reach your goal
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Tony Clark replied to Ruth Chinangwa
Hello Ruth, welcome to the course
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Welcome Bright. 6.5 is a good start, try not to be too hard on yourself. With advice, hard work and preparation I am confident you can increase your score
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Tony Clark replied to Ahmad Tatalo
Welcome Ahmad, here is some information about the IELTS exam for you: https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/prepare-test/understand-test-format
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Tony Clark replied to Flor Zamora
Perfection is always difficult Flor, but it is good to aim high!
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Tony Clark replied to Rajen Jani
Understanding the exam format and what is required of candidates is the first step, here is some useful information for you: https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/prepare-test/understand-test-format
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Yes Gheysel, completing reading tasks quickly is challenging. I recommend timing yourself doing tasks every day and try to speed up. Also, don't worry about understanding everything, there is too much in the texts to do so. Just look for the information you need
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Tony Clark replied to Elm Vekilova
Good to hear you're enthusiastic, that is a really big part of learning English / exam preparation. Fluency comes, with time
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Yes Chui, it can be a bit tricky to interpret these at times, it's because they were originally designed for examiners - before the public version was released to help students. I would say 'uses enough different words to describe something accurately' would be a simplified paraphrase of that sentence
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Yes Trang. Brainstorming can be a helpful way to speed this up. Practise everyday by choosing a random topic (and one that you don't know well) and seeing how many ideas you can come up with in 2 minutes
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Reading about common topics definitely helps. Without gathering information about a subject it would be difficult to write a strong essay, and it takes longer to search for ideas. Have a look at example essays and try to see which topics are recurring, and that you feel you need more knowledge about to discuss with confidence
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Good idea Vipul, to use Write and Improve. here is a link for anybody who is interested: https://writeandimprove.com/workbooks#/wi-workbooks
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Yes, it's very important to reach the minimum number of words, otherwise you will lose marks. I agree though, time management is one of the biggest challenges. I always tell students to time their practice essays, and mark on the paper / screen which point they reached each time (before continuing the essay of course). This normally gets better as a course...
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Yes Mostafa, constructing an essay can be difficult. Also, the structure of an essay can be different between countries, so direct translation can be problematic for some people. The ways you suggest to help you are good. I also think that planning an essay properly before writing is key to getting the structure right - I do it when I write, even in my first...
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Addressing unfamiliar topics, or topics which are not the most interesting / inspiring to us is a common problem. However, it is quite a good skill to learn I think. It prepares you for study after IELTS. For example, some assignments on a Master's course are interesting to write, but not all of them (in my experience). Learning how to overcome your lack of...
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It may help to look at the IELTS Band descriptors if you haven't already seen them. Then you can see what the examiner is looking for at a higher level in Writing Task 1: https://www.ielts.org/-/media/pdfs/writing-band-descriptors-task-1.ashx?la=en
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Tony Clark replied to Abraham Kamel
Yes Abraham. Try to make a quick, clear plan before you start writing. Even just spending a couple of minutes doing this can help you organise your thoughts, and to maintain focus on the topic in hand. It is good you have a lot of thoughts, without these thoughts in the first place, writing well is even harder
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Tony Clark replied to R. Aretha Nasroen
Yes, this can be difficult - sometimes, if we are too self-critical, it can act as a barrier to communication, and stop us demonstrating our language. I wouldn't give up though, even if it is innate - this can be overcome. You can retrain your brain to break this habit which has formed. Regularly taking time to visualize yourself speaking fluently in an exam...
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Tony Clark replied to Nashima R
Yes, Nashima, a comprehensible accent is important, more important than sounding like a native speaker
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Thanks Husam, a very thorough definition. I agree that speaking and writing are linked, definitely.
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Tony Clark replied to ahmed allam
It might do Ahmed, although I suggest being careful with idioms - if there are too many it may sound unnatural too.
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Non-verbal communication, a good point Nantume. This, along with thinking before giving a response, are 'extra' speaking skills - great to develop these too
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Tony Clark replied to sudeep jain
An interesting perspective, Sudeep. I suppose you could view it as a story, in a sense
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Interesting point Claudia, it reminds us that effective speaking and listening skills are dependent on each other
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Tony Clark replied to Robina Naz
Minor mistakes are acceptable Robina, we all make them sometimes. I agree that communicating our point of view efficiently is the key
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Tony Clark replied to Olga Niziol
Exactly Olga, the goal of the conversation is especially important, and each of these points such as formality of language must be considered depending on the context. If what we say is accurate but not appropriate, we are not demonstrating the best of our abilities
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Tony Clark replied to Mai Nguyen
Good answer Mai. Yes, of course it does depend on context, the purpose for language use and the target audience. Without knowing these, the issue of what good speaking is cannot be thoroughly answered.
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Tony Clark replied to cecile N
Yes, Cecile, speaking must enable communication. It sounds simple, but of course this is not always the case
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Tony Clark replied to Khoa Truong
Yes Khoa, I agree - clear communication resulting from well-used grammatical and lexical structures is key
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Hi Mohammed. Do you mean you write too many or not enough words? I always suggest counting them as you practice, at the end of each essay. You can also time yourself, and see if you can improve as you learn. It's important not to write too few words (under the minimum) or you will lose points
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Good question Jessica. You are free to take whatever position you want, but your points should be supported with examples. This makes your writing more convincing for the reader, and shows that you are able to organise a clear argument. Welcome to the course.
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Tony Clark replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
Welcome Talgat. I see from these comments that a lot of people want to improve speaking and writing skills in particular. That's good to know. I'm sure we can help you achieve your goals.
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I hope so Joanna, welcome to the course
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Hi Cristian, welcome to the course. I'm glad you enjoyed Europe. Yes, I believe that IELTS and this course will help improve your confidence when speaking. When you realised you were able to participate in your interviews, you got a good feeling as you see the results of your learning. You are correct, grammar skills form a strong foundation for language use.
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Tony Clark replied to Mahasin Suleiman
Happy to meet you too, Mahasin, welcome to the course
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Tony Clark replied to awara rasul
Hi Awara, welcome. Here is a link to find out more about the IELTS exam and format: https://www.ielts.org/about-the-test/test-format
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Tony Clark replied to Vasif Verdiyev
Hi Vasif. Yes, writing will be an important skill to develop. Tips to help you do this will follow. Welcome to the course.
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Hi Galal. Yes, the productive skills of speaking and writing are essential to develop for postgraduate level. We will help you achieve this goal. Welcome to the course.
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Tony Clark replied to Mosab Mohammed
You are welcome Mosab, we are happy to help you improve. Welcome to the course.
