The most challenging type of question in the IELTS Reading Test is True, False, Not Given questions.

In the TFNG questions, a factual statement is given, and you will be asked whether the information in the statement is true, false, or not given in the text.

This type of question is a part of the Academic as well as the GT IELTS Reading Test.

 

In this blog post, I am going to share with you an effective strategy to understand these questions better and eventually select the correct answer.

Section 1

• • Understanding TFNG Questions

Section 2

• • True, False, Not Given Effective Strategy

Section 3

• • Example of Solving TFNG Question

 

Section 1: Understanding TFNG Questions

 

Remember one thing, the better you understand the question, the easier it will be to answer.

So let’s first understand what words “true”, “false”, and “not given” actually mean in the context of the IELTS Reading test.

True: The statement is considered to be true if it matches the information given in the passage.

False: If the statement is opposite to what is mentioned in the passage, then the answer is going to be False.

Not Given: If the statement neither matches nor is opposite of what is given in the passage, then the answer would be “Not Given”

 

Keep one thing in mind, the passage is based on facts, so either the information in the statement should exactly match with the passage or it should be completely opposite.

There is no possibility of a “similar” or “nearly similar” statement. That’s why it is critical to understand the statement clearly.

 

Section 2: True, False, Not Given Effective Strategy

 

Always use this 3-step method for each of the statements given in the question:

1. Read the statement carefully and focus on interpreting its meaning. In your mind, in your own native tongue, explain the statement to yourself. This will help you to understand the exact meaning of the statement.
2. Then, read the passage and select the section which talks about the information present in the question statement. Try to avoid interpreting the answer from the “nearly similar” statements in the passage.
3. If you find that the information in the statement is clearly matching with the facts stated in the passage, then select TRUE. This is easy. But to select FALSE or NOT GIVEN, see the passage and ask yourself, “Is the opposite of statement is true?” If yes, then, go for FALSE, otherwise, select NOT GIVEN.

 

Let’s look at an example.

 

Section 3: Example of Solving TFNG Question

 

Are the Following Statements True/ False or Not Given about koalas according to the text below:

1. Koalas are vegetarian
2. There are more koalas in the southern parts of Australia
3. Koalas may have 1-3 babies during their lifetime
4. Koalas are mainly awake at night
5. Koalas get drunk from gum leaves
6. Koalas do not drink water normally

1 & 2. Although bear-like koalas are not bears. They are mammals, so feed their young milk and are marsupials, which means that their babies are born immature and they develop further in the safety of a pouch. They are tree-dwelling, herbivorous marsupials, which average about 9kg in weight and live on gum leaves. Their fur is thick and usually ash grey with a tinge of brown in places. Koalas in the southern parts of Australia are considerably larger and have thicker fur than those in the north. This is thought to be an adaptation to keep them warm in the colder southern winters.

3. Younger breeding females usually give birth to one joey each year, depending on a range of factors. The joey stays in its mother’s pouch for about 6 or 7 months, drinking only milk. After venturing out of the pouch, the Joey rides on its mother’s abdomen or back, although it continues to return to her pouch for milk until it is too big to fit inside. The joey leaves its mother’s home range between 1 and 3 years old, depending on when the mother has her next joey.

4 & 5. Koalas are mostly nocturnal. They sleep for part of the night and also sometimes move about in the daytime. They often sleep for up to 18-20 hours each day. There is a myth that koalas sleep a lot because they ‘get drunk’ on gum leaves. However, most of their time is spent sleeping because it requires a lot of energy to digest their toxic, fibrous, low-nutrition diet and sleeping is the best way to conserve energy.

6. The koala gets its name from an ancient Aboriginal word meaning “no drink” because it receives over 90% of its hydration from the eucalyptus leaves (also known as gum leaves) it eats, and only drinks when ill or times when there is not enough moisture in the leaves i.e. during droughts, etc.

 

Use these question statements above to select True, False, Not Given answers on your own first, and then match your answers below.

 

Answers:

1. Koalas are vegetarian= T (herbivorous means only eats plants; eats gum leaves)
2. There are more koalas in the southern parts of Australia = NG (koalas are bigger in size in southern Australia, but the number of koalas is not mentioned)
3. Koalas may have 1-3 babies during their lifetime =NG (they do not talk about how many joeys they have)
4. Koalas are mainly awake at night = T (mostly nocturnal, which means awake at nighttime)
5. Koalas get drunk from gum leaves = F (it’s a myth, which means it’s false)
6. Koalas do not drink water normally = T (they usually get their water from gum leaves)

 

In this blog post, I have shared the strategy for solving only TFNG Questions of IELTS Reading.

In my full course, Ultimate Guide to Hacking IELTS, I go deep into the strategies, hacks, and techniques to help you learn all 4 sections of IELTS in a smart way to get 8+ Band.

The course has 84 video lessons of 14 hours. You will also get access to a vault of student essays and video call recordings for speaking test practice of VIP students.

Hop in below to see what all you are going to get in the Ultimate Guide To Hacking IELTS:

In IELTS Speaking Part 2, your task is to speak on a topic for a maximum of 2-minutes. You can stop the speech after you cross 1-minute by saying “that’s it”.

If you’re unable to complete your speech within 2-minutes, the examiner will stop you and move on to the next question.

However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

If you were fluent and had a well-structured speech, going over the time limit won’t affect your score much.

Even I went over the time limit and the examiner had to stop me, but I still got an 8 Band in IELTS Speaking.

 

In this blog post, I will teach you everything you need to ace your IELTS Speaking Part 2 for 8+ Band.

Section 1

• • Smart Strategy for IELTS Speaking Part 2

Section 2

• • 7 Tips for Speaking Confidently

Section 3

• • Model Answer

 

Section 1: Smart Strategy for IELTS Speaking Part 2

 

Answer Each Prompt for 30 Seconds

Speaking on any topic for 2 full minutes is extremely difficult.

In fact, if you give me any topic to speak on, and immediately say “Go”, I will struggle to speak on it as well.

Our minds are not wired that way. We can’t keep making stuff up as we go. Least of all, in a pressure situation when an examiner is scoring us.

However, if you look at the prompts given beneath the question, and consider each of them as one small question on which you have to speak for just 30 seconds, everything changes.

Instead of looking at IELTS Speaking Part 2 as speaking for 2-minutes on an unknown topic, look at it as answering 4 questions in 3-4 sentences each.

Using this strategy will not only help you to speak for 2-minutes comfortably, it will also help you to give your speech a proper structure, leaving a better impression on the examiner.

We will see an example of it in Section 3.

 

Section 2: 7 Tips For Speaking Confidently

 

1. Simple Over Complex

Most people try to impress the interviewer in their test, which is the wrong mindset. IELTS is completely different from your job interview.

In IELTS, unlike a job interview, your opinions, thoughts, and facts do not matter. What matters is how you present those facts. In simpler words, it doesn’t matter WHAT you say, it matters HOW you say it.

The trick to stay confident in speaking is to use simple words and speak in short sentences.

Trying to use high vocabulary when you are not a confident speaker will result in you struggling to speak with confidence.

Instead, if you stay simple, you will find yourself more confident and will walk away with a better score.

 

2. Fluency Does NOT Mean Fast

If you have ever watched an important personality giving a speech, notice that the person is not speaking fast at all.

For example, go and search ‘Obama Out’ on YouTube and watch the first 2-3 minutes of his final speech at the White House.

Is he speaking fast? No, he is speaking very slowly. Yet he is one of the best public speakers in the world.

Fluency is not about speaking fast, instead, it’s all about thinking and then speaking without any hesitation.

Fluency is all about taking your time to think, and then speaking.

Not only will it help you get a better score, but it will also help you to be able to stretch out your speech to 2-minutes.

 

3. Don’t Speak. Tell

The IELTS Speaking Test is supposed to be a normal conversation between you and the examiner. Much like how you would talk to a friend.

What most people do in IELTS speaking is that they get so self-conscious that they end up talking to themselves instead of the examiner. This is the perfect recipe for disaster.

Imagine a conversation between you and your friend. And observe yourself speaking.

You speak with expressions on your face, your hands and eyes move in a certain way when telling them about something, and there are natural poses and nods.

That is exactly how you’re supposed to speak in your test.

Don’t speak with a blank face like you’re being forced to tell something, say it like you actually want to tell the examiner about the topic and want them to understand what you’re telling them.

 

4. Correct Your Mistakes

People make small mistakes when they speak all the time. When you’re giving an exam, no matter how much you’ve practiced, you’re bound to make small mistakes here and there.

But don’t worry, instead just pause your speech, correct your mistake by repeating the sentence, and carry on with the rest of your speech.

This will show the examiner that you really do know your grammar and vocabulary, and the mistake was just a slip of tongue.

 

5. Develop Ideas

When you get the task card, you have 1-minute to prepare.

In this 1-minute, your task is to develop ideas on the topic.

Practice this at home. Take a list of topics, give yourself 30-seconds, and develop as many ideas as you can.

Developing ideas is a skill that comes through practice.

 

6. Invent Details

This approach will not only help you to utilize 2-minutes well, it will also give depth to your answer.

What you need to do is create details around your sentence; details like location, date, or any other descriptive marker.

Let’s take this sentence as an example, “I bought a toy for my nephew.”

Instead of it, you can say “Last week, I took my nephew to the toy store and bought him a cool fire truck.”

See how I added details and made the sentence lengthier?

Yet, all I did was add a location, a time period, and a description of the toy.

 

7. Add A Story

Lastly, it’s always easier to answer confidently when can plug in personal memory and tell it to the examiner in the form of a story like you would do to a friend.

This will easily help you spend 30-60 seconds.

This strategy is easier than inventing details because it is much easier to tell a story, rather than inventing details and speaking at the same time.

 

Section 3: Model Answer

 

Let’s now look at a sample question and an answer, and apply our Smart Strategy of 30-seconds for each prompt to it.

 

Q) Describe a sport you would like to learn

You should say:

• What it is
• What equipment is needed for it
• How you would learn it
• What would you do after you have learned it

 

Model Answer:

 

Prompt 1:

The sport I like to learn is called Cricket. It is the most famous sport played in South Asia, but I have never been able to pick it up when I was younger. But I have been watching it on TV since childhood. I think now that I have some time after my work, I would like to invest it in learning a new sport.

 

Prompt 2:

Although there is a lot of equipment that is needed to play it, such as pads, helmet, gloves, but the two essential equipment is a bat and a ball. Since I am just starting, I plan to start with a tennis ball, instead of a proper cricket ball which is rather dangerous for someone who is not good at batting yet. As I keep getting better at it, I will move to a proper cricket ball, and start investing in buying the cricket gear as well.

 

Prompt 3:

There is a cricket club that has recently opened up in my neighborhood. They have a lot of state-of-the-art facilities, like a bowling machine. I plan to take membership of it and spend 2 days in a week to practice batting by using bowling machine to throw the balls. After a few months, I will join the practice team of a club to get more experience of playing with actual bowlers, as well as start learning other aspects of the game, such as fielding.

 

Prompt 4:

After I have learned it, I would like to join an amateur team of my cricket club and start playing some actual matches to develop my skill further. Eventually, I would like to join my company’s cricket team. We have a corporate league in which all companies send their cricket teams for fun and social matches. That is a great way to do networking with seniors in your own company, as well as seniors in other companies. I think this sport will open up many opportunities for me to not just have fun, but also form a professional networking group.

 

 

This might look like a very difficult task when you see it as speaking for 2-minutes.

But as I was answering each prompt separately, I was only thinking of answering each small question in 3-4 sentences.

It is a skill to be able to answer like this, and once you’ve practiced a bit, it will become one of your most favourite sections of IELTS.

Just as when you become good at cricket, you don’t avoid playing it. Instead, you love playing it.

This will happen with your IELTS Speaking test as well. You will start enjoying it 🙂

  

In IELTS Writing Task 2, your task is to write an Opinion Essay of 250 words within just 40 minutes.

Now all the guides will tell you to focus on things like grammar, vocabulary, task response, coherence, and cohesion.

But what do these terms even mean?

Honestly, you don’t even need to know that to score 8+ Band in IELTS.

What an IELTS Opinion Essay really demands is an effective structure – a simple strategy to write an argument for both sides of the opinion essay.

 

In this blog post, I am going to teach you everything you need to write an effective Opinion Essay for 8+ Band in IELTS Writing.

Section 1

• • Types of Opinion Essays

Section 2

• • Writing Strategy That Always Works

Section 3

• • Writing Tips to Enhance Your Score

 

Section 1: Types of Opinion Essays

 

AGREE / DISAGREE ESSAY

In this type of Opinion Essay, you get a topic statement, and you are asked to what extent do you agree or disagree with it.

You will be required to give some points in favor of and some against the statement. Your job is to discuss both the sides with a solid structure that I will provide in the next section.

Here are some of the examples of the topics for Agree/Disagree Essays:

• Schools are spending more time teaching traditional subjects such as history. Some people think they should rather spend more time in teaching skills that can help students find a job. To what extent do you agree or disagree.
• It is necessary for parents to attend parenting training course to bring their children up. Do you agree or disagree?
• Young people spend their free time shopping. This has negative effects on young people in society. To what extent do you agree or disagree

 

ADVANTAGE / DISADVANTAGE ESSAY

In this type of essay, a question statement is given, and you will be asked to state some advantages and disadvantages, or whether advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and vice versa.

You will be required to take a side and write your reasons for it.

As you can see in the example topics below, these are worded differently, but they are essentially representing the same thing. The benefits outweigh the problems means the same as the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

You’ll approach Advantages/Disadvantages Essay exactly the same way as you’d approach Agree/Disagree or any type of Opinion Essays.

Here are some of the examples of Advantages/Disadvantages Essays:

• Many people go abroad for higher studies. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? (You have to write disadvantages of going abroad as well as advantages)
• In some countries, foreign languages taught at primary schools. Do the advantages of learning a new language outweigh the disadvantages.
• Today more and more students are deciding to move to a different country for higher studies. Do you think that the benefits of this outweigh the problems?

 

DISCUSS BOTH SIDES ESSAY

In this type of essay, a viewpoint or an opinion is already given, and you will be asked to discuss both sides by writing paragraphs for each outlook, stating your opinions, and explaining why you hold that view.

Here are some examples:

• Some people think governments should take measures regarding the healthy lifestyle of individuals. Others think it must be managed by the individuals. Discuss both sides and give your opinion.
• Most countries allow 18 years old to start driving a car. Some say it is good to allow at this age while others think that the age of to start driving should be at least 25. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
• Nowadays food has become much easier to prepare. Has this change improved the way people live? (Hint:write about how it has improved and how it has not improved)

 

Section 2: Writing Strategy That Always Works

 

This section is going to suggest a structure that you can use to write a clear and cohesive Opinion Essay to score 8+ Band irrespective of what topic is given.

Structure: Always write 5 paragraphs, and divide them like this:

• Introduction
• First Body Paragraph (side you disagree with)
• Second Body Paragraph (side you agree with)
• Third Body Paragraph (side you agree with)
• Conclusion

 

Let’s break down each paragraph one-by-one for better understanding.

 

Introduction

While writing an introduction, you will always do two things:

1. Paraphrase the topic
2. Give your thesis

 

Tip #1: There is no reason to write a longer introduction. The key to a good score for your essay is to write strong body paragraphs. You will be marked down if your essay includes unnecessary information or a lack of focus.

Tip #2: In the first sentence of your introduction, always paraphrase the topic. Do not simply copy the topic from instructions. Write in your own words.

Tip #3: The second sentence of your introduction is your thesis.  Let’s go deep down into what is THESIS.

THESIS is your opinion on the topic i.e. whether you agree or disagree with the statement. 

I recommend that you:

Always “take side” of the topic

There are two reasons why I recommend this:

1. Agreeing with the topic is always a popular opinion. By going with the popular opinion, it is always easier to write an essay because chances are, you have heard other people, news channels, or articles talking about it from the “side of the popular opinion”.
2. Examiners are also humans. They also have popular opinions, so if you agree with the popular opinion, you will most likely agree with the examiner’s opinion, and hence examiners will feel good reading your essay. That’s how human psychology works. You see when humans support something and someone challenges their opinions, subconsciously our mind starts to build defenses and start thinking about the counter-arguments. You surely don’t want your examiner’s mind to do that and end up getting a lower score.

 

Example

I am going to use the sample topic and stick to it for the rest of the essay structure.

Topic: Many people believe that social networking websites have had a huge negative impact on both individuals and society. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Here’s how your Introduction might look like:

It is believed that social networking websites have adverse effects on individuals as well as on society. Although these websites have several advantages for the people, I believe that the associated negatives outweigh the positive impact of these websites.

 

First Body Paragraph

When you are writing your body paragraphs, you can choose either of these two versions to construct each of the body paragraphs:

• Either you can write two reasons why you agree or disagree.
• Or you can write one reason with an example.

The first body paragraph in the Opinion Essay is the side which you disagree with.

Always remember to plan the structure of the first body paragraph before writing.

Either think of two coherent reasons, if you are going with the first version and expand on those reasons by adding details, or think of one reason and one example to support that reason.

In the sample paragraph below, I am going to use two reasons method to build my first body paragraph:

Undoubtedly, websites, such as Facebook, have helped people in many ways. Firstly, these websites enable people to make voice and video calls at virtually no cost. This has allowed people to frequently communicate with their loved ones who live in different countries. Secondly, social media websites have brought accessibility to news and entertainment to everyone regardless of their capacity to afford it. Through websites like YouTube, everyone can access the best content that is being produced anywhere in the world.

 

Second and Third Body Paragraphs

In these two paragraphs, you argue for the side that you agree with. Therefore, while planning for these paragraphs, always think of either four reasons to support your thesis or two reasons with an example for each.

Here’s an example of the second body paragraph, in which I am going to use one reason and one example to support it further:

Nevertheless, social networking websites have some obvious disadvantages. Firstly, these have made people’s lives more sedentary. Before the inception of social networking websites, I used to go to the local park to meet my friends. However, now I can just chat with them through social networking sites, owing to which I stay at home most of the time, and do not go out much. According to recent research conducted by Social Media Agency, 35% of people have become more obese in the last decade because of an increase in their sedentary lifestyles.

 

Moving on to the third body paragraph, I am going to state one more reason and support it through an example:

Moreover, the sense of community has been reduced due to social networking websites. People do not form groups, even in their immediate neighborhood, and it is quite apparent that most people today do not even know with whom they are sharing their walls. For example, in my neighborhood, earlier people used to spend a considerable amount of time playing in the common ground and sharing lunches. However, such gatherings cannot be seen nowadays as people enjoy being online, instead of finding time to meet others.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, your task is to summarize your essay and wrap up your supporting arguments.

To write an effective conclusion:

• Repeat the thesis from the introduction, but in a paraphrased way to avoid repetition of the same words.
• Summarize the points that support your thesis – the ones used in your second and third body paragraphs.

Here’s how the conclusion of our example topic might look like:

In conclusion, social networking websites have resulted in a more negative impact on people’s lives. They have resulted in the increase of more sedentary lifestyles and the loss of sense of belonging to a community.

 

Section 3: Writing Tips to Enhance Your Score

 

1. Understand The Question

To ace the IELTS Writing Task 2, it is important that you understand what the examiner wants and write a structured essay in response to that. This is the first, but often overlooked step. A lot of people end up writing a memorized essay, instead of what the question really asked for.

Online resources are huge, often with conflicting and contrary information, so finding reliable sources to learn from is important. Here at AustraliaYours, I teach everything that I’ve used to secure 8.5 Bands in IELTS myself – and since 2017, 2500+ students have used to increase their scores.

 

2. Use Formal Language

In IELTS Writing Task 2, the use of a formal writing style should be preferred for writing the essay.  While writing an essay using formal language, introduce, explain, and support each point thoroughly with the help of well-crafted sentences. No short forms should be used for the sake of simplicity (use “do not” instead of “don’t”).

 

3. Always Plan Before Writing

Many people face stress and anxiety before IELTS Writing Task 2 as the time limitation tends to get on their nerves. Calm yourself down and give yourself good 3-5 minutes to plan your essay before you start writing. If you jump right into the writing without planning, you have to frequently stop in between and think about the ideas to write, which will eventually lead to a lack of structure in your essay and wastage of time. Save your time by planning your essay.

 

4. Use Linking Words

To get 8+ Band in Writing, use a range of linking words in your essay. These words will help you to connect your ideas in a paragraph, and make your opinions clearer. Few examples of linking words are:

(To emphasize): Specifically, particularly, furthermore, moreover.

(For reason or causes): Because, owing to, due to, since.

(To conclude): Thus, therefore, consequently, to sum up.

 

5. Manage Your Time

During the IELTS Writing Task, one of the biggest concerns of students is Time Management. For an IELTS candidate, an effective time management strategy is an essential skill to get a high score in the exam. You will have 40 minutes to plan and complete a well-structured essay. Do a lot of practice beforehand to understand what time limit feels like. Lack of preparation will lead to anxiety and stress that may hinder your thinking on the test day.

  

In this blog post, I have mentioned a strategy for writing an outstanding 8+ Band Opinion Essay to ace your IELTS Writing Task 2.

In my full course, Ultimate Guide to Hacking IELTS, I go deep into the strategies, hacks, and techniques to help you learn all 4 sections of IELTS in a smart way to get 8+ Band.

IELTS is a skill. Like any other skill, you can prepare for IELTS in a smart way. It can be deconstructed and learned very quickly if you only focus on the critical elements.

In this post, I am going to share with you tips and strategies that will help you get 8+ Band in IELTS.

 

I know the feeling when you open any IELTS guide book and it tells you that you are scored on Lexical Resource, Cohesion, and whatnot.

What do these terms even mean? The secret is: You don’t need to know.

You also don’t need to have a high vocabulary, or understanding of adjectives, pronouns, verbs, etc.

There is a smarter way to prepare for IELTS.

The same way I got 8.5 / 9 Band in my IELTS, in the first attempt, and all these other readers of AustraliaYours got similar or even higher scores.

By the way, the PDF version of this post 11 Smart Hacks To ACE IELTS is available to download for FREE.

You can download it for free below:

Let’s now dive into some hacks that you can use to quickly take your score to 8+ Band:

2 Hacks For IELTS Writing: Tips To Get 8+ Band

Hack # 1: The Structure

If your IELTS exam is tomorrow and you are reading this section today, I want you to take only one thing to prepare for IELTS out of this: Writing is all about Structure.

Your examiner is your audience. When your audience reads anything that you’ve written, it experiences one of the two states: pleasure, because of a smooth reading experience, – or headache, because of a messy reading experience.

If you read any blog post on AustraliaYours, it’s written in a way to make it a pleasurable experience for you. Each of my blog posts is an 8+ in the IELTS Writing Test.

How to create a solid structure in your Writing Test?

1) You will always have 5 paragraphs. Each paragraph will be focusing on just one thing.

A paragraph can be as short as two lines. It doesn’t have to be a big block of text.

There will always be one introduction paragraph, 3 body paragraphs, and one closing paragraph.

We will look into the detail of what goes into each of the paragraphs for each scenario when we prepare for IELTS in the video course.

2) You will use simple English.

This is counter-intuitive to what you are taught elsewhere. Everybody else tells you to focus on learning new words to increase your vocabulary.

There are two reasons I will not tell you to do this:

• The amount of time you will waste in learning new vocabulary will not have any significant impact on your IELTS score. Instead, if you focus on learning smart hacks and techniques, you will see a disproportionate increase in your score.
• Wrong use of a difficult word in your writing will get you negative marks, but the use of the simple correct word will not affect it negatively. If anything, it will add to an overall flow of writing and help you score more.

Hack # 2: The Planning 

There’s a famous quote by Abraham Lincoln,

If I had 6 hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first 4 hours sharpening the axe.

I can completely understand that when you are already faced with the challenge of time constraint, if I tell you to spend first 3-5 minutes just planning your letter or essay, you will not agree with me.

Even if you agree now, on the test day you will already be nervous, and under the pressure situation, you will dive straight into writing to make the most use of every single minute you have.

But if I tell you that an essay that will take you 40 minutes to write, can be written in 20 minutes if you spend 5 minutes to plan first – making it a total 25 minutes task – would you?

This is exactly what the difference is between writing without planning and after having a structured chain of thoughts.

In Writing Task 1: Letter, your planning will include answering all 3 bullet points given in the topic with just 1 line.

For example,

If the topic says Write a letter to the hospital. In your letter:

• explain why you would like to do unpaid work at the hospital
• say what type of unpaid work you would be able to do
• give details of when you would be available for work

You will first use 3-5 minutes to answer each of these questions in 1 line.

• explain why you would like to do unpaid work at the hospital
  1 line: I’m passionate about helping other people because it makes me feel good about myself
• say what type of unpaid work you would be able to do
  1 line: I can take care of wounds by providing antiseptic and bandage
• give details of when you would be available for work
  1 line: I can start working from next month

Once you have this planning completed, you will just expand on your 1 line answer by inventing details (numbers, dates, places, examples, etc) around it.

You will expand your 1 line into 2-3 lines by adding context to it, and you will have your 150 words crossed with a very well-structured, well-planned letter.

Here’s an example of adding details to the first bullet point’s 1 line answer:

• explain why you would like to do unpaid work at the hospital
  1 line: I’m passionate about helping other people because it makes me feel good about myself

Since childhood, I have been extremely passionate about helping people around me. Whenever I used to play in the streets with other kids and if someone used to get hurt, I used to be the first one to rush towards him for assistance. As I grew up, I realised that helping other people gives me the most satisfaction in life.

That’s already 57 words!

–

We will go into detail of constructing essays effortlessly for both writing tasks, tips, exercises, and examples when we prepare for IELTS in the video course, to make sure you get 8+ in your Writing Test.

3 Hacks For IELTS Listening: Tips To Get 8+ Band

Hack # 1: Never Make Notes

A common approach many people take is that they start taking notes as the audio is being played. They do it out of fear because they think they won’t be able to remember what is being said.

You might be thinking that the Listening Test is the test of your memory. How well you can remember the information. That is totally not true! Instead, the Listening Test is your ability to listen for only the thing you want to listen to.

For example, if I ask you a question: “How much did Virat Kohli score in the last match?”

Then I turn the volume on and you hear commenter speaking, “India has won the match with a splendid 3rd wicket partnership between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Together they put on 159 runs in just under 20 overs. Kohli was unbeaten at 89, while Sharma contributed 70 runs to the partnership before being caught at the boundary”. 

If you were making notes of this entire commentary, you would jot down a lot of entirely useless technical information. And because you were busy writing, you might even end up confusing the scores of both the batsmen.

Instead, if you had just read the question and known exactly what you were listening for, you would have patiently listened until the commenter announced Kohli’s score. You would have listened and answered, “89”.

You will train yourself to only listen for the answer.

Remember in the pressure situation, your memory will be very less. By the time the audio has reached the third sentence, you will have forgotten what the first sentence was about.

Hack # 2: Tone Gives It Away

This might take some practice for you (I’ve given examples when we prepare for IELTS in the video course). The tone of the speakers helps you figure out the answer.

Answers are spoken loud and clear so everyone can understand them.

If the speaker in the audio speaks something very fast or swallows his words, that you find it difficult to understand or keep up, the answer is never there.

For example

If you have a question: ___________ will form the jury for the competition.

You will hear in the recording, “the writing competition will be judged by the famous authors from the literary club”.

The words famous authors will be emphasised in a way that they stand out in the entire sentence for your mind to process.

Hack # 3: Write-And-Scrap Strategy

The number one trick IELTS uses to confuse listeners is giving wrong information… and then correcting it.

For example, if you ask me about my mobile number, I will say “0123 456789“.

But in the IELTS recording, very often the speaker will say, “0123 768954. Oh sorry, I’ve changed my number recently. It’s actually 0123 456789”.

The speaker will intentionally give you wrong information, and then the correct one.

How do you answer such questions? The strategy you are going to use is called Write-And-Scrap Strategy.

At no point, you should be waiting for the correct answer and only write when you have that. That’s because you would not know if the first answer being given is correct or incorrect.

The moment you hear the first answer, you will write it at the same time. But as the narration goes on, and the speaker changes the answer, you will write the new answer and then scrap the previous one.

If you wait for the correct answer without writing the first one, you will have forgotten the first sentence by the time recording reaches the second or third sentence.

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We will go into detail of actual strategy to solve questions, more hacks, tips, exercises, and live-demos when we prepare for IELTS in the video course to make sure you get 8+ in your Listening Test.

3 Hacks For IELTS Reading: Tips To Get 8+ Band

Hack # 1: Not All Questions Are Created Equal

There are only 5 different types of questions in the Reading Test. Only 1 type of question requires you to have a full understanding of the passage.

All the other 4 types of questions require you to locate information.

For these 4 types, you can pretty much answer all questions by understanding as less as 20% of the passage only.

That’s why for each section, you will first flip over the passage to skim the questions and find out whether you need to understand the passage at all.

Note that I’m not asking you to read each question in detail to understand it’s meaning. Just skim through questions to understand what type of questions they are.

Also, once you skim through the questions even before looking at the passage, you will develop a general idea of what the passage might be talking about. With that idea at the back of your mind, when you read through the passage, it will just make much more sense than it would have otherwise.

Hack # 2: Heading + First Sentence = Full Passage 

In reading passages, a common mistake that most people make is that they try to skim through the entire passage quickly to get an idea of what’s written in this passage. That’s a terrific waste of time!

You will instead read the heading first, and then the first sentence of each paragraph.

If the first sentence is very short, for example, less than one line of your sheet, then you will read the first two sentences.

Also, instead of reading them fast, you will read them slowly and absorb them. This will take just 10-15 seconds per paragraph, but you will get a very good idea of what this entire passage is talking about.

Remember from Hack#1 – you do not need to understand the meaning of the full passage for 4 out of 5 types of questions. Reading the first sentence only will save you up to 80% of the time that you would otherwise waste in reading full passages.

After some practice, you will discover that you will end up reading only 40-60% of the total passages when answering the questions. So why should you waste time trying to understand the full passages?!

Hack # 3: The Ultimate Match Making

Each question has keywords to tell you exactly where to look for the answer. So even before you look for the answer, just look for the keyword.

For example, if the question is, “A trunk shot shows a group of people facing camera” – True, False, or Not Given?

You will first identify that the keywords are trunk shot. How do you know that? Because all the other words, such as group, people, camera, are just common words that will appear several times in the passage.

You will quickly go back up to the passage and find the words trunk shot, and underline them.

Because of Hack#2, 8 out of 10 times, you will know exactly which paragraph the keyword might be in.

Some of the useful keywords to note are names, dates, numbers, and places. These are easy to locate.

Once you have the keywords underlined, read the question again to understand what the question is asking.

Then read one sentence before the keyword, the sentence in which the keyword is, and one sentence after the keyword. More than 90% of the time, you will find the answer within 3 lines of the keyword. Usually, in the same line as the keyword.

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We will go into detail of each of the 5 types of questions, strategy to solve them, more hacks, tips, and exercises when we prepare for IELTS in the video course to make sure you get 8+ in your Reading Test.

3 Hacks For IELTS Speaking: Tips To Get 8+ Band

Hack # 1: Simple Wins Over Complex

If you are like most people, your biggest concern is walking in the interview and trying to impress the interviewer. This is the wrong mindset for IELTS!

IELTS Speaking test is different from job interviews because in job interviews, your intellect matters. Your ideas, facts, and opinions should be right.

In the Speaking Test, you can be totally lying, making up stories, and saying things that are unpopular, and still score high. How you say it matters, not what you say.

You don’t have to impress the examiner with your knowledge and intelligence. You are just scored on your fluency in English.

And what’s the best way to be fluent? By being simple.

Don’t try to use difficult words to show your range of vocabulary, or try to construct complicated sentences. These will take a lot of your time in preparation and won’t contribute highly towards your score.

Instead, if you can answer each question in simple words using short sentences, you will score very high.

Hack # 2: Fluency Doesn’t Mean Fast

Do me a favour and search ‘Obama Out‘ on YouTube. This is Barack Obama’s last speech at White House dinner. This is a masterclass in speaking.

Is he speaking fast?

Not at all. Instead, he is speaking the slowest you might have ever heard anyone speak. And yet, he is the best public speaker in the world.

Fluency is all about first thinking, then speaking without hesitation.

This is a game-changer mindset.

Speaking Test demands a structure more than anything. You need not speak fast, but you should be clear and precise. Take your time to gather your thoughts and then choose the right words.

I’ve included a real-time demo of my interview in the video course to help you prepare for IELTS by demonstrating this and all other hacks, tips, and strategies.

One more thing, your accent does not matter. South Asians generally have this inferiority complex that our accent is not at par with the western accent. Well, that might be true when you are trying to score a date with a westerner 😉  But for IELTS, there are no superior or inferior accents.

Hack # 3: Tonality Is The Secret Key

The use of tonality is the number 1 difference between a good speaker and a great speaker. No one tells you this!

It will take a bit of practice, but would you have practiced if you weren’t even aware of it?

Tonality is the way we modify our emphasis on certain words to create a better mental visual in the listener’s mind.

Let’s take a sentence, “I live in a large house on the far end of the town”.

Emphasise LARGE and FAAAAAR, and you will change the entire image of this sentence.

In the normal way, the listener has to process the words to make sense of what you are saying. But by adding tonality, the listener’s mind will automatically create an image of your house and its location.

As a result, the listener’s mind will believe that you are a good speaker, and you are going to get a high score.

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We will go into detail of the structure to answer each type of question, more hacks, tips, live-demos, and exercises when we prepare for IELTS in the video course to make sure you get 8+ in your Speaking Test.

In the complete online video course, with 84 video lectures and assignments, I share with my students hacks, tips, strategy roadmaps, examples, and live-demos of implementing techniques to score 8+ in all the 4 modules of IELTS.

Here’s what they have to say:

There is a smart way to prepare for IELTS, and we go right into it to help you ace IELTS so you can finally fulfil your dream of living abroad.

You can access the course below: