The Difference between IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training Exam

We often get the question from people who are about to take the IELTS exam on what the difference between IELTS academic and IELTS General Training exam is? And which test they should take? So here is a brief overview of the two different IELTS formats.

IELTS General Training Exam

The General Training IELTS Test focuses on English in more of a professional setting. This could be in environment as secondary school, workplace and immigration.
The majority of IELTS General Training test takers are professionals who are looking to work in a country where the language is English. Some countries also require an IELTS score for immigration purposes.

IELTS Academic Exam

The IELTS academic test is for students who are looking to study at a University level in a English speaking country. Many admission offices require a certain level of IELTS score to be able to attend their University.

The IELTS Academic test is used by colleges and universities in these countries Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and United Kingdom.

Improving your English on a Tight Schedule

Are you struggling to find the time to learn, study, and improve your English skills? It’s not easy to put time aside to study when you have a job, family and other obligations. The good news is that you can soon learn English on the go. ePrepz is about to launch an interactive English course so that you may study whenever you have time to spare. In the meantime there are several things you can do to work on your English skills.

We are big believers in the concept of effective study time rather than (excuse the language) screwing around. For example I would take a couple intensive 10 minute sessions a week rather than 3 hours of bore repetition. This means you can study on your lunch break, on your way to work or whenever you have a little time to spare.

Is there something you’re passionate about? Maybe a sport, movies, music, fashion? With the innovation of the internet you can talk about what you love with hundreds of other people who love the same thing, in English! Join a forum, community or blog and obtain the benefits of having improved English. It won’t even feel like you are studying!

Set your surroundings to English settings, for example your internet browser, TV settings, shopping list. Write English words on small note cards and place them around your room. By customizing your surroundings to English you will improve your vocabulary faster than you can say banana!
Make sure that you spend some time every day before going to bed reviewing what you have learned that day.

Don’t get discouraged, just with a little practice every day you can do wonders for your English skills.

Stay updated on the release of ePrepz online English course by following us on Facebook or Twitter.

How to Improve your TOEIC Vocabulary

Is there such a thing as increasing your TOEIC vocabulary, you may ask. Of course not but there is such a thing as increasing your English vocabulary and when doing that you automatically improve your TOEIC vocabulary.

Students often struggle with TOEIC exam due to their limited English vocabulary. You can describe the importance of the vocabulary as the heart of any language skill, without knowing a broad set of words it’s hard to communicate your opinion.

When you decide to take the TOEIC test you should get yourself a notebook where you keep track of all of the new words you learn while studying for the TOEIC.

Flash cards can be used to memorize new words and its definition, while newspapers can provide a context where the words are used. Another useful way to improve your vocabulary is to read books in English.

Brainstorming synonyms for a word can also be a useful way to increase your word bank. For example a couple of synonyms for the word “cold” would be:

Arctic

Frosty

Nippy

Chilly

Shivery

Most importantly don’t try to cram a bunch of words the week before taking the TOEIC, study ahead of time so you have chance to make a positive impact on your test score. These are some simple ways you can improve your vocabulary and as a result increase your knowledge of the English language.

Learning new words can be trough note cards can be a bit boring after a while so try to mix it up and give yourself plenty of time to process all this new information. By doing so you will be able to put all these new words in to action trough writing or speaking English on a higher level.

5 Ways to Raise your TOEFL Score

There is no magical way to raise your TOEFL score, all you can do is practice to improve your Learn how to Raise your TOEFL ScoreTOEFL test taking skills and increase your knowledge of the English language. In this post we will provide you with 5 different resources and tips that could help you improve your knowledge of the English language for free.

Write at least 100 English words every day
There is no shortcut to improving your score on the TOEFL writing section. The fastest way to improve your English writing skills is to practice your writing every day. Joining a discussion forum online regarding a topic you’re passionate about is an easy way to put you in an environment where you can do just that. Other simple tools that will help make sure you write every day is to start a diary of some sort or create a blog online.

Watch TV shows in English
Do you have a favorite British or American TV show? Why not watch your show in English! You could decide to watch one show every day at hulu.com. The great thing about the shows at Hulu is that you can decide to watch it with closed captions (text) which will help you understand the storyline and enjoy the show! This is a fun and often underrated way to improve your listening comprehension in English.

Learn complete English sentences
Students often go crazy with flash cards when practicing for the TOEFL. Being able to understand a text relatively fast is very important in both the Listening and Reading sections of the TOEFL test. One thing that can really slow you down is trying to understand a passage word by word. Another factor that makes this even more important is that the TOEFL is a timed test, which means that you might be in a time crunch to understand the content you are reading.

So when you are memorizing the meaning of English words make sure you are able to put them in a sentence within the right context. For example, instead of just memorizing the word “factor” think of sentences where the word can be used. For example “The wind was an important factor in today’s race.

Read your daily newspaper in English
Do you keep up with the news? How about only reading English newspapers until you take the TOEFL exam? By reading the news in English you will steadily improve your reading comprehension. Sites like CNN or Guardian serves as perfect free reading material.

Stop translating to your own language
When learning new words or when you find a sentence you don’t quite understand, make sure that you first try to figure it out in English. By translating words or sentences to your own language first you slow down your ability to comprehend information in English. It is very rare that students have extra time during the TOEFL test. If you don’t know a word, look at the context of the sentence and the words around it.

By following some of these tips you will improve your overall English skills and raise your TOEFL score in no time!

How to Get a Good Score on TOEIC Short Talks and TOEIC Conversations

TOEIC short talks and TOEIC conversations are part of the TOEIC listening section. These tips will help you maximize your score on the TOEIC short talks section and the TOEIC conversation sections.

TOEIC Short Talks Tips

Listen carefully to the introduction to the talk; it will tell you what the main topic will be. Always look at the questions while you listen, don’t look away.

Questions you should ask yourself while you are listing are,

What is the main topic?

Who is speaking?                                                             -

What is the main theme?

What is happening?

Where there any announcement being made?

What kind of people would be interested in this talk?

You will also be asked detailed questions, questions that ask about specific points of the talk.  It’s important that you still understand the main topic and the context.

Detailed questions usually begin with words like: why, where, what, and how much. You will also be asked negative questions; these are questions that you will have to answer through your own conclusions by rule of elimination. For example which of the following is not true?

Inference questions will also show up in this section, these types of questions are not based on the information you will receive in the talk. Instead you will have to draw your own conclusions to answer the questions.

Different types of TOEIC short talks

Public Announcements

News, Weather, and Public Service Bulletins

Commercial Messages

Business Talks

Recorded Messages

TOEIC Short Conversations

Questions to expect in the short conversation section are:

Overview Questions that begins with: what, who and why

Location questions that begin with: where are?

Occupation questions that begins with: what are they, who are they.

Topic questions that begin with: what are they talking about?

Activity questions that ask what will or is taking place.

Detail and inference questions similar to the ones in the short talk are also included in the TOEIC short conversation section.

To get a good score on the TOEIC Short Talks and TOEIC conversations it is important to know what kind of questions to expect. Once this has been accomplished you can work on your listening comprehension skills by listening to English and analyzing what you are listening to based on the questions you will see on the TOEIC. The main factor to score well on the listening section is to be able to understand the English language when you hear it.

So if you are seeing any movies this week watch it in English, or go to You Tube and watch videos in English. The more you familiarize yourself to listening to English language instead of your native language the more you will understand and improve your listening comprehension.

Hope these TOEIC short talk and TOEIC conversation tips are helpful to you and good luck on your exam!