I’m guessing that you hate grammar. Most people do. So many rules and so many exceptions to the rules! Sometimes you need to learn by heart and sometimes you need to just hear it and feel it. One of the things that you need to learn by heart until it becomes second nature is correct use of pronouns. Reflexive pronouns in particular seem to cause a lot of problems.
You should be keeping both a written and a spoken diary. Practice using pronouns correctly in your writing and in your speaking.
Sometimes we mis-speak. This happens to native speakers as well as language learners. If we mis-speak in our native language (say the wrong word or use the wrong tense), we usually go back and self-correct.
Should you do this in the IELTS test?
One of my students was worried that if he went back and corrected himself, it would make the examiner realise that he had made a mistake in the first place. Right?
What do you think? Do you agree with him?
NOPE! Wrong. The examiner will realise straight away that you have made a mistake. So the best thing you can do is to go back and correct it.
‘ I took five really good picture on my holiday, pictures, five pictures. They all take, were taken in Cyprus.’
is better than …
‘ I took five really good picture on my holiday. They all take, in Cyprus.’
However, don’t get so worried that you correct everything or try six different versions just in case one is right. The idea is to simply have an awareness of your errors and correct them sometimes. If you do it a few times in the test, it will benefit you.
IELTS SPEAKING TIP 4
Which writing task do you prefer?
Which one is most important?
How long should you spend on each task in the test?
Well, the recommended time is 20 mins on Task 1 and 40 mins on Task 2. Both tasks are important, but most marks are allocated to Task 2 so you need to get a good mark on that to have any chance of getting the overall IELTS score you need.
One way to manage your time in the test is to start with Task 2. That way you can ensure that you spend enough time on it.
IELTS WRITING Tip 1
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