This is the third sample report (Task 1) which follows IELTS guidelines for the Writing section of the Academic Module.  The graph in this case deals with three categories of gas emissions that contribute to air pollution. It is a longer report than what a candidate would have time to draft (230 words approximately), but the reason for this is to give candidates more words to underline and add to their list of phrases to use in such types of writing tasks.   You can begin by reading my post 

This is the second sample report (Task 1) which follows IELTS guidelines for the Writing section of the Academic Module. 

This, I hope, is the first of several sample reports to come. They follow the guidelines for the IELTS Task 1 writing section which asks candidates to write a summary of data presented in a graph or diagram.  Task 1 can therefore be seen as consisting of two subcategories of tasks:  a graph, chart, table or a diagram, map, image showing a process or object In this series of reports, I'll focus on the first type which deals with graphs so that candidates can see how facts can be grouped together and presented in an orderly manner.  You can begin by reading my post  

When we want to either recommend a specific person or course of action for a B2 or C2-level English examination we have to be clear that we don't confuse these types of letters or emails with the typical, business recommendation letters prospective employers or administration offices at universities might require candidates to give. At the exam you are about to sit, you will probably be required to play the part of someone who has been asked to a)  nominate a peer for a position at school or at a club, or put someone's name forward for an award that is to be given or b) suggest, among many other things, the best place to go on holiday or some activities that should held during a specific event which is set to take place, how to spend money at one's disposal, and so on. The following post should help you organize such a letter or email (even an oral statement, if necessary) as well as give you some useful phrases you should keep in mind when writing your...

Seeing as the World C up is a major obsession for people of all nations and all ages, it's a good t ime as ever to refresh or learn a few football (or soccer, if some of you prefer ) phrases used i diomatically in everyday speech in Engl ish .

Let's look at the meaning of the word "dilemma", its origins and synonyms.

As part of the series of blog posts on letter/email writing (read the previous one on letters of complaint here ), the present post will turn towards formal letters giving information and making suggestions. Such letters, like letters of complaint, fall under the category of transactional letters. The list of useful phrases for such letters can be used for tasks you have to write as part of an English examination (FCE, CPE, IELTS, to name a few), but in addition to this, can improve your speaking skills any time you are asked to give information or suggest a few things in a polite fashion.  First of all, let's take a quick look at how a letter which provides information is organized.

Whether it's to complain about something you bought or a service you found was unsatisfactory, as part of your job or because you are preparing to take an exam in English at B2 or C2 level, it is a fact that you should know the basics about writing or even orally expressing your dissatisfaction.  The following post should help you organize your letter or email (even an oral statement, if necessary) as well as give you some useful phrases you can use.

In Task 1 of the Academic IELTS exam, candidates are asked to summarize a diagram, graph, table or chart of some sort (oftentimes more than one) in a descriptive text of at least 150 words.  As previously mentioned in my blog post IELTS: How To Grade Your Writing , examiners are looking for a wide lexical range, which in layman's terms means vocabulary. They want to see that a candidate can use a variety of words or phrases to navigate through a factual, academic description. Therefore, a selection of words are bound to be required by candidates so that they can clearly present the most important facts seen in the rubric (i.e. the question given).  In the case of process descriptions , this selection of words is not easy to pinpoint. The only phrases that may be of use for students are ones that have to do with 

Please read the first two paragraphs from Grammar: The Subjunctive by way of introduction to this series of blog posts regarding grammar. I nversion is yet another grammatical construction that shows a more advanced knowledge of the English language. It usually appears in grammar textbooks the year before and during which a candidate is set to sit a B2-level examination (IELTS 5.5-6.5, FCE, ECCE, MSU-CELC, ESB, LRN) but mo re often than not is not very well grasped by students, making it a rarely tested item at th is level.  If candidates are likely to encounter a single question whi ch tests inversion on a B2 test , meaning that they are not expected to have mastered it, they are most certainly expected to have learnt it well enough at C2 level to not only recognize it in a sentence, but use it as well in both the oral component of the test and as part of any writing task they are required to produce.

You'l l find all types of explanations of the subjunctive in books and on websites that have probably more erudite scholars working on grammatical issues than I , however, I tend to sim plify grammar to its lowe st common denominator so that stude nts don't decide to power off the minute they hear me say the word "grammar " during a lesson.  So if i t's scholarly, linguistic, super duper comprehensive explanations you're after, please refer to other sites that champion top-notch academics who will tackle gramma tical structures the way they're meant to be tackled. A s for me, I 'm here to teach the basics so that if you're trying to learn grammar to pass an English examination or basically to understand what a grammatical phenom enon is, how it's used and when it's used, you can do so without too many gaps in understanding. The subjunctive is a grammatical structure (to be m ore precise it is a mood, not a tense) which denotes mor...