A common mistake among English learners is that they tend to overuse certain words because these words seem to suit every situation imaginable or due to the fact that learners lack variety when it comes to vocabulary. One such word which is often used more than it should be is the word "nice". Take the following examples: "How was your day?" - " Nice ."   "Did you enjoy your meal?" - "It was nice , thank you." "What do you think of the new substitute teacher, Mr. Jones?" - "I think he's nice ." "This room looks very nice indeed. Did you have it refurbished?" In all of these situtations, a different word could have been used that would clarify the speaker's thoughts. 

In my 20 or so years of teaching, I've come to the conclusion that the IELTS Speaking component is the most innocuous part of the test. Other English-language examinations last longer, have more complicated tasks which need to be fulfilled, include two candidates who are assessed simultaneously and involve other factors that could create more stressful conditions for candidates. The IELTS is straightforward -- which means there's a catch.  The proof lies in the following case: I had one particular student whose parents (one of them, to be more precise) was a native speaker of English. This student, a girl, had been brought up in a foreign country where English was taught as a secondary language in schools, but who spoke English at home with her native English-speaking parent. She was, in effect, bilingual even though there were sporadic errors in more advanced grammatical structures and, as is natural, gaps in more advanced vocabulary. However, her pronunciation was impec...

D o You Know the IELTS Marking Criteria for the Writing Sectio n? When I first started working 20 or so years ago, it was teaching high school graduates who were applying through UCAS to attend a university in Britain and whose mother tongue wasn't English . The IELTS, therefore, was a 'must' for them.  Through my experience dealing with both year-long students, with whom ample time preparing was available, and intensive course candidates who needed to sit the exam in a few weeks time, I learned that writing was the area most were having trouble coming to grips with. This, apparently, seems to be the case with the majority of IELTS candidates around the world as well, as I've been seeing a lot of discussion on forums, social media groups and other online communities in general about the writing section on the IELTS exam lately . The overwhelming question is "How do they [the examiners] grade the writing?" and the usual post is one where an essay...