7 Tips on How to Improve your English Vocabulary

Building your vocabulary is absolutely essential if you want to improve your English proficiency. Words are the fuel of any language. There are many ways you can improve your English vocabulary at a rapid pace. Today we are going to share some of the best ways to improve your English vocabulary.

One of the most effective methods to improve your English vocabulary is to simply read English texts on a continuous basis. Make it a daily habit to visit English news websites to keep up with current affairs. To keep you motivated, read about something you are interested in.

By learning new words within their context it becomes easier to memorize the definition of the word and in what situations they can be used. The more you read the more new words you will encounter and learn.

When you are learning a new word remember to learn the root, prefixes and suffixes. You should also be aware of different grammatical forms of your newly learned word.

When doing your daily round of reading through English websites remember to write down words you are unfamiliar with on a notepad. After writing down a few words find the definition and practice using it with a sentence.

Another useful resource to improve your vocabulary is to watch videos in English with subtitles in your native tongue.

Avoid using the list to simply memorize the definition of the words. For a word to really stay with your vocabulary it’s important to practice using in different situations.

Try using the word in conversations, and make sure you pronounce it correctly. Construct grammatical sentences using the word correctly.

Another useful tool to memorize words are index cards, write the word on one side and the meaning on the other.

These are some of the ways you can improve your English vocabulary. Learn more tips on how to improve your English language proficiency.

IELTS Band Score: How the IELTS Exam is Scored

Lately we have been getting some questions about how the IELTS exam is scored. Today we are going take a look at the IELTS band scale and explain how your score is calculated on the IELTS exam. The IELTS exam is scored a little bit differently than other standardized English tests.

The IELTS test is scored on a nine-band scale. Each band refers to a different level of ability in English. So there is no “pass” or “fail” when taking the exam but rather an estimate on your level of English proficiency.

A good idea that will benefit you is to find out what score you will need on the IELTS before taking the exam. Regardless if you take the IELTS exam for immigration purposes or to get admitted to a University in English speaking country it will help you know what kind of score you are expected to achieve.

For example if you are taking the IELTS to attend a University you might want to check what the IELTS score requirement they have. Different schools have different score requirements. After completing your IELTS exam the score will be valid for two years.

IELTS Band Scale

9 Expert user
8 Very good user
7 Good user
6 Competent user
5 Modest user
4 Limited user
3 Extremely limited user
2 Intermittent user
1 Non user
0 Did not attempt the test

Each section of the IELTS exam (reading, listening, speaking and writing) will give you a score between 0-9 and then calculated together to give you an overall score.

If you receive an overall score of 8.25 or 8.75 your score will be rounded up to the nearest half band or full band. 8.25 becomes 8.5 and 8.75 becomes 9.

Learn more about the IELTS exam, check out our previous posts about the IELTS exam. Read more about the IELTS.

Tips for the TOEIC Writing Section

In today’s blog post we are going to dive in to the writing section of the TOEIC test and give you a few useful TOEIC writing tips that will help you get a better score on your TOEIC test.

The TOEIC writing section consists of 8 questions and has a time limit of approximately 60 minutes.

The first five questions will ask you to write a short sentence describing a picture.
Tip: Key factor when describing the pictures will be how relevant your sentence is to the picture and to write with proper grammar.

The two following questions will ask you to respond to a written request.
Tip: Key factor when answering to the written request will be how well you’re able to demonstrate your vocabulary knowledge and write a response that answers the request made.

The final question will ask you to write an opinion essay.
Tip: Always support your opinion with examples that your opinion is based on. Organize your opinion essay with an introduction, body paragraph and conclusion.

TOEIC Writing Practice Tips

• Practice your writing skills based on TOEIC questions before taking the exam.

• Practice summarizing articles and work on paraphrasing and switching up your vocabulary when writing.

• Write opinion essays on topics that are similar to you, remember to support your opinion with examples and evidence.

• Write a summary of an article with a 30-minute set time limit.

• Improve your vocabulary and practice applying it to your writing.

• Use phrases that give the reader an idea on what section of the essay they are reading. For example a common phrase to write in the introduction paragraph is “on one hand”.

• Join an online forum that discusses topics you are interested in.

These are just a few things you can do to improve your score on the TOEIC writing section.

Best of luck on your TOEIC exam!

TOEFL iBT Test Format

There are two main versions of the TOEFL exam, TOEFL PBT and TOEFL iBT. Today we are going to cover the format for the TOEFL iBT version.

As you probably already know, the TOEFL iBT test consists of four different sections that test various English language skills. The sections consist of: reading comprehension, listening comprehension, a speaking section and a writing section.

TOEFL Score
The TOEFL test score is between a scale of 0 to 120. Each section gives you a score between 0 to 30. Your score from the different sections are added together to give you your total score.

Listening 0-30
Reading 0-30
Speaking 0-30
Writing 0-30

Total 0-120

The difficulty level of the questions remains the same all through out the test and each question is worth the same amount of points.

TOEFL Reading Section
You will be allowed 60 minutes to read three reading passages and complete the questions. Each reading passage will have a 20 minute time limit. The questions are grouped together with the paragraph in question so you don't need to go back and skim over the full text. Sometimes the text will provide you with a hyperlink with definition for words that’s unfamiliar. To learn more about the TOEFL reading section click here.

TOEFL Listening Section
The next section on the TOEFL will be the Listening section. The listening section takes about 60 minutes to complete. You will be allowed to take notes on the TOEFL listening section so use that to your advantage. Each lecture last about 3-5 minutes while conversations tends to be a little shorter. To learn some TOEFL listening tips and tactics click here.

TOEFL Speaking Section
The TOEFL speaking section lasts for about 20 minutes. The questions will follow two different formats:

Independent tasks where you give your opinion on a topic for up to 60 seconds

Integrated task where you have to use information from sources provided to you by the test. You will have to answer 6 different questions in the TOEFL speaking section. To learn TOEFL speaking tips and tactics click here.

TOEFL Writing Section
The TOEFL writing section includes two different tasks: an integrated task is where you will base your essay from a lecture and independent task where you support your opinion on a topic.

The TOEFL writing section takes about 50 minutes to complete, 20 minutes on the integrated task and 30 minutes on the independent task. To learn TOEFL writing tips and tactics click here.

Remember that you will be given a 10 minutes break after the TOEFL listening section, so that might be a good time to visit the restroom and get a quick snack.

IELTS Essay Writing Tips

Today’s post is going to cover the IELTS essay section and will give you a few IELTS essay writing tips.

Before you begin, you should have a clear outline in mind. When having an outline to follow you are able to write faster and more efficient. Remember to prioritize quality over quantity. It’s better to write a text that is shorter and written correctly rather than having a long text that is written sloppy. By following a planned procedure you increase the quality of your content as well as how fast you’re able to write.

The IELTS writing section has a time limit, this means the time frame given makes it challenging to redo your writing and correct mistakes you might have made.

Be aware of the questions asked and make it your priority to answer it properly. Avoid giving general answers that does not give a clear specific answer.

Some key factors that you will be rated on when writing on the IELTS are:

Responding to the question: Always give a specific answer to the question

Coherence and Cohesion: Make sure your paragraphs are connected to each other

Use of grammar: Make sure that your text is grammatically correct

Use of vocabulary: Avoid using the same words over and over again.

Structure your writing in an introduction paragraph, body paragraph and conclusion. By following this structure you increase the coherence of the text.

The introduction paragraph will be the first part the examiner will read so it’s important to make a good first impression. Make sure your introduction is connected to the topic. Make sure that the question itself is presented in the introduction paragraph.

Share your thoughts and explain your position in the body paragraph. Give details and examples to support your opinion.

Finish up your text with a conclusion where you present a brief summary followed with your final conclusion.

Before handing in your IELTS essay, make sure that you have reviewed the entire essay in case you catch small mistakes you might have made.

These are some few things you should consider before taking on the IELTS essay section. We hope our IELTS essay writing tips have been useful to you and if you would like to read more about writing in English, click here.