please your help would be apperciated

Dear Mr. Tony and Dr Rasheed,
first of all i would like to be again a member of the new weblog ieltscoumminty 10 please Tony send me your invitationSecondly i will post this essaywhich i need to apply for advance education , look forward to seeing your precious corrections and cooments250-word essay explaining why the EMHCA (Executive Master Health Care Administration) degree is important to you? (This is one of the requirements in my master application)It is indisputable, that experience is very important to work, fourteen years experience I have had from tertiary 1000 beds hospital in Saudi, in addition to four years managerial experience. No one can deny that Executive Master Health Care Administration (EMCHA) Degree will empower my career, in this essay I will look at the importance of Mater Degree to my profession.I am blessed with a true of the value of the Master degree, it is important to me on personal and occupational levels, such people that drive our world to success every day and make it a better place. Applying for EMHCA degree is a big leap in approaching my potential, as it will prove me to make the most of my careerHowever, I have exposed to managerial issues since 2002, and have acquired a sense of duties and responsibilities , my accumulated practice and experience proved that I can do more efficient , this quality target , irrefutable that composed of two essential ingredients , the first being pratice the second is advance knowledge , as I believe ,that EMHCA degree is my ticket to the second . I m embarking on such mission, because I, by nature, m not settler, as I see it, knowledge is a life-long road not bounded by age number.Furthermore, the journey to earn this degree is granted to me, it will prove to be a primary milestone throughout my life in seeking to learn , I feel that to lead people toward the right way and be trustful , I should expand my knowledge , so I must genuinely earn the duty ,the trust and title they trust me with. I place the trust they have in me as one of my initial priorities in this profession for extraordinary reward of earning their valuable respect and confidence on meIn light of the above ,EMHCA degree is very important to upgrade my profession and to enable me performing my mission successfully and efficiently, thereby I will feel at the end of the day I am accomplishing my role toward my subordinates
Rasmieh Zeidan

please your help would be apperciated

Dear Mr. Tony and Dr Rasheed,
First of all,I would like to be (again) a member of the new weblog ieltscoumminty 10, again. Please, Tony, send me your invitation.
Secondly, I (will) shall post this essay, which I need to apply for advance education. Looking forward to seeing your precious corrections and comments.


250-word essay explaining why the EMHCA (Executive Master
Health Care Administration) degree is important to you? (This is one of the requirements in my master application)


It is indisputable(,)(G) that experience is very important to work. (fourteen years experience I have had from tertiary 1000 beds hospital in Saudi,) In addition to four years of managerial work, I have fourteen years of administrative experience in a 1000 bed tertiary-care hospital in Saudi Arabia.(No one can deny that) (Please, tone down your rhetoric) I am sure that Executive Master Health Care Administration (EMCHA) Degree will empower my career.(G) In this essay, I shall look at the importance of Master Degree to my profession.(Do you want to discuss the importance of the degree or experience to your profession?The title demands to establish the importance of your degree to you and support it with examples.)

I am blessed with (a true) the truth of the value of the Master degree, it is important to me on personal (and) as well as occupational levels.(G) (such people that drive our world to success every day and make it a better place.) (The sentence does not fit in the context. Does it?) Applying for EMHCA degree is a big leap in approaching my potential, as it will (prove)(WC) help me (to)(G) make the most of my career


(However) Owing to my degree, I have been exposed to managerial issues since 2002, and I have acquired a sense of (duties) duty and (responsibilities) responsibilty. My accumulated practice and experience has proved that I can do more efficiently.(Please, check adverb and adjective) This quality target , (irrefutable) ( Rhetoric!) (that) composed of two essential ingredients: the first being pratice and the second, advanced knowledge. As I believe ,the EMHCA degree is my ticket to the second . I am embarking on such a mission, because I, by nature, am not settler. As I see it, knowledge is a life-long (road)(WC) journey (not bounded)(WC) unaffected by age. (number.)


Furthermore, the (journey)(WC) opportunity to earn this degree (is)has been granted to me, it will prove to be a primary milestone throughout my life in seeking to learn. I feel that, in order to lead people towards the right way and to be trustworthy , I should expand my knowledge. So, I must genuinely earn the duty ,the trust and the title they trust me with. I place the trust(Repetition) they have in me as one of my initial priorities in this profession for extraordinary reward of earning their valuable respect and confidence in me.


In (light of the above) conclusion ,EMHCA degree is very important to upgrade my profession and to enable me perform(ing) my mission successfully and efficiently, so that I feel, at the end of the day, that I am accomplishing my role toward my subordinates.

Well done, again.
Keep posting!

The last post?

Campers

The caravan has moved on. The new weblog is: www.ieltstears.blogspot.com

Let's hope there will be tears of joy!

Your lack of response to my recent postings and Muthu's very kind report is disappointing, but not surprising.Everyone and anyone is welcome to join the new weblog: ieltscommunity10 (blog number 24243792). Blogmember has been invited and I will re-invite anyone who wants to join.As you are all 'in the groove', your advice and encouragement would be fabulous for my new IELTS Prep class starting tomorrow. What about all those good intentions? This is a very constructive way to keep in touch, we are, or most likely were, a community - remember?

That's all from me.I'll leave you alone now, you must have a lot on your plates at the moment!

Bye

Tony

Pathiran (Muthu) - IELTS Listening, Reading & Writing - General Training Module

Class

I have edited slightly Pathiran's (Muthu) IELTS (General Training) report. He has taken the trouble to send me his comments and advice. If you guys are 'serious', you would be well advised to read through this report and learn from it!

I'm still waiting to hear from you! Winter is over! You can come out of hibernation now!

ieltscommunity10 will be created over the weekend, you're welcome to join (but if you haven't supported your own weblog...??? - ah well!)

Enjoy the weekend and weather before it gets too hot (literally and metaphorically!)

Reactions, please!

Tony


Subject: My IELTS Listening, Reading & Writing tests held on the 11 March 2006.

Dear Mr.Tony and classmates,


Please accept my experience on the IELTS Listening, Reading and Writing examinations held on the Saturday 11 March 2006 as follows.

The venue for the examination was changed from the Rotana Hotel to The British Council. There was no problem because the information on the change of venue has been intimated on the same day of the Speaking test.

I had started from home with my mind filled with confidence and joy as I had had a good night’s sleep for slightly less then seven hours, reached the venue at 7.45am and waited outside the gate along with few other candidates until the gate was opened at 8am.The location of of my examination room and seat could be identified from the information board.
In the examination room the candidates were received by the Invigilator who advised everyone to hand over her their belongings and asked to carry ID, pen, pencil and eraser. On the table, each candidate’s name, roll number, code of the first language and type of examination were written. The answer sheet for the Listening and Reading was kept on the table. The Invigilator read out the time keeping instructions along with useful advice (such as try to answer all questions as wrong answers do not carry negative marks) and the do's and dont's for the Listening test. She also tested the level of the audio in order to be heard by every one seated. It took about 30 minutes for the candidates to settle down and all instructions given by the Invigilator. The test commenced at 9am as scheduled.

The Listening test started with a recording of a conversation (Q&A session) between a representative of a real estate company and a client who wants to rent a house. The time was given for writing the answer on the question sheet followed by 10 minutes of time to transfer the answers from the question sheets to the answer sheet. I had answered all the questions with ease and my time management was good. Since I had answered all questions with ease my confidence level had increased after finishing the listening test and got ready to face the Reading test. I was happy!

The GT Reading test contents were simpler in the starting sections and were harder in the last 2 sections due to its scientific phrases and large paragraphs with lots of information in it. I had problem in my time management because I took excessive time in first 2 sections and did not answer two questions at the end as well as having had to do some guess work. I think and suggest that answering the questions from the last sections in first is better like writing the part 2 first in the writing test. Bit of a disappointment!

I went to the rest room and came back with a fresh attitude by forgetting what had happened in the reading test. I settled down in the gap period prior while the Examiner collected the answer sheets from all candidates.

GT Writing test: Task 1(150words) was for writing a letter to a book distributor about a delay in the delivery of the book regarding “Why was the book delivery delayed?” “Why is the book important to you?” And “What do you want them to do”?

GT Writing Task 2 (250words): “The beauty of natural places such as beaches, mountain peaks and lakes is spoiled by people littering and throwing rubbish and cans. Why do people do that? What should governments do?” Give your experience as well.
I did the task 2 first in 40 minutes in 3 pages with an additional sheet I took from the Invigilator and later did the task -1 in 20 minutes.Thus the time was managed well. I was satisfied!

To summarize, my main strengths and confidence builders were from the IELTS preparation course conducted by Mr Tony Beale and my day-to-day use of English at home ,work place and in society.

IN BRIEF, PRACTISE. THINK POSITIVELY. GO WITH CONFIDENCE. FACE THE QUESTIONS BOLDLY. ANSWER THE ONES YOU KNOW FIRST, SKIP THE ONES YOU CANNOT ANSWER AND COME BACK TO THEM LATER. MOST IMPORTANTLY, MANAGE YOUR TIME!

I sincerely trust that the above information is of use to you and please forgive me for any errors.
I wish you all the best for your success in your forthcoming IELTS examinations and hope to meet you sometime in the future,

Have a good day,

Yours sincerely,

Muthu

Pathiran Sorimuthu sorimuthup@yahoo.com

Plus ca change . . . (c'est la meme chose!)

Hi there!

See, all those good intentions . . . Those freed up evenings have hopefully been spent in the Learning Zone. In the absence of any news / comments / feedback, I assume that you are all catching your breath.

I recommend that you join my new weblog, which I will set up today or tomorrow. This is intended for the next class, but you guys can contribute (if you want to!) I'll be posting full details of the new weblog in due course.


Ah well, we started with a flourish, but ended with a whimper. Will ieltscommunity10 be different? We shall see.

Pathiran hopes to send me his report on IELTS GT modules for: Listening/Reading/Writing - stand by for that (he seems to be someone who actions what he intends...)

It would be polite if someone from ieltscommunity9 at least comments on this post, let alone take the initiative to post something useful.

Life goes on.

Good luck


Tony

The window is closing ...

Well class, former class actually, you have taken your eyes off the ball already!

I have some free time this week, but you haven't taken advantage of this opportunity.

I start a new IELTS class on Saturday and will be very pre-occupied thereafter. I cannot guarantee a speedy response to any writing work submitted - such is life! Good old Dr Rashid is there ready to help, unless you are all too 'wet'!

Got to take Zeena to her violin lesson, bye!

Tony

Dear Dr Rashid /Mr. Tony
I would like to appreciate your great help to me by (auditing)editing my essay .I promise to re-write it (again) (either re-write or write again) and post , you don’t know how much (do I need) help and (a) support do I need to upgrade my English language not only for passing IELTS exam but in general as well.
Words are not enough to convey how much your efforts mean to me


Thank you again

Rasmieh Zeidan

GOOD LUCK TO ALL

Dear Mr. Pathiran,
thank you for the useful feed back . Ii wish you all the best for the rest of the exam
please keep up

Rasmieh

Speaking Test on 9th.March 2006 by Pathiran Sorimuthu

Dear Mr.Tony and Classmates, Greetings! It is good to know all of you through The IELTS preparation course.I have the pleasure in sharing with you my experience on the speaking test as follows, I went to the test venue(The British council) direct from my office without consuming my regular lunch.I was received by the TBC staff ,they asked to identify myself , sign in a form and told me to wait in the sitting area at 2PM.The tentative test time given to me was 3.40PM and informed that the actual test time could be earlier than that. The academic candidates are much higher than General ones. At 3.00PM,I was lead to the entrance of the examination room and asked to be seated right next to the door until the examiner comes out and receive me.The waiting time was 10minutes at this place. Finally the examiner came to receive me with greeting.He lead me to the examination room and was asked to be seated opposite to him.Prior to starting the conversation with me he did the speech recording himself for the name of the candidate, date of test,venue and type of the test module. Please find below the questions asked by the examiner, How can i call you ?where are you from?what are you?which part of Abu dhabi do you live?who lives with you,with friends or with your family?what do you like and dislike about the location of your house?are you happy in living in the area?what is the speciality in the area?do you meet people from different countries and are you happy in meeting them?are you planning to shift your residence to another place in the near future?where do you like to watch a movie,in the theatre or at home and why? where do students meet during their leisure time in these days?where do the students used to meet in the olden days?why some children are doing good and some are not?what is your advise for the well being of children?what should we do to improve the skills of the students appart from the regular school education? The examiner gives me the following speaking task to speak for 2minutes and told me that he may interrupt me to ask some questions. how did you learn to speak English?where did you learn?how often do you use English?why do you use English?where do you use English? do you like to go for the same job when you migrate to Canada?will you be happy to see people from different countries in Canada? The examiner stopped asking questions and said to me that the test is completed.I conveyed my thanks to the examiner and left the examination room. I should not forget to mention here that the IELTS preparation course did help me to face my Speaking test with confidence.Thank you Mr.Tony. I would also be posting my experience on the Listening,Reading and Writing test after the completion of my examinations on the 11th.March 2006. I believe that the above narration is informative and do appologise for any errors in my writing. Have a good weekend and best wishes for your foreth coming IELTS examinations ! Best regards Pathiran Sorimuthu(Muthu) sorimuthup@yahoo.com

The show must go on . . . and on ???

Dear Ieltslearners

The time has come, we approach our last session in room 7. I hope you all come - I'll have your certificates; a final end-of-course questionnaire; 'that' joke; you'll give me back your NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazines; we'll have a forum on your last writing and the tests yesterday; I'll talk about SPEAKING [Jamal is prepared to do a live speaking test in front of you all]; there is the final Listening from the purple Cambridge Test Book and I'll show you a marvellous photo of the Beale family (I promise!)

So, what next? I start a new IELTS 'Mission Possible' course on 18 March, In Sha Allah. The blog will continue in the meantime. Use blogmember to post any messages (email me for the username/password if necessary.) What are your plans? Why not make study groups to work together in the Learning Zone?

Thank you AHMED ALI! We hope for good news very soon. Will anyone be prepared to come and talk to my next class? Wow, that would be great!

I know I am a hard taskmaster. I expect a lot from you, myself, my family and that I can be impatient, tough, grumpy and intolerant of excuse makers - but hey, I never pretended to be perfect!

Anyway, you have a lot to digest. Let it sink in and have a go at IELTS before you lose your nerve. OK, so after 1st May there is no 90 day rule, but make some study programme to work on your IELTS weaknesses.

It would be lovely to have a reaction from you guys, but that seems unlikely . . .

Ah well, see you tonight for our swan song!!!

Over to you

Tony

should the wealthy countries help the poor nations ?

Should the wealthy countries help the poor nations?

Today, it is (seems to be a) debatable (issue about) who is responsible for (of) the poor countries in the world. Is it the responsibility of the third world nations or the wealthy government for (about) the big gap between rich and poor people? This essay will look at the arguments for and against helping poor nations. (Resmieh, have you corrected the mistakes I had highlighted?) [Fairly standard opening, clear thesis - does she deliver?]

There are many reasons for helping poor countries; first of all, there are humanitarian aspects (reasons), such as charity foundations, as religious obligations toward the poor countries. However, many rich countries donate money for political reasons, in order to get a good influence in poor governments' affairs (designs). In this way, they are able to control the supply of oil and other raw material resources. Moreover, the wealthy nations want to ensure markets for their own goods (produces) such as computers, TV, cars, clothes and so on. [Strong stuff, nothing wrong with having opinions, is there?]

Therefore, aid is not necessarily the best method to support a country, as I heard recently that the billions of dollars of aid do(does) not always reach the poor people who are really deserve it! On the other hand, charities in crisis situations do not (doesn’t) solve the existing poverty problem. In my view, (Hereby), there are many other ways to solve this problem such as, opening up a free market, allowing the third world countries to sell their products by themselves, removing restrictions from trade, letting developing countries (them) (to) buy the educational tools with low price . [Wait a minute, where are the arguments FOR rich countries helping the poorer ones? This is a 'for and against' / 'pros and cons' essay, isn't it? You have only argued, very convincingly, AGAINST the case for aid. Maybe the thesis should be changed?]

In conclusion , although there are many people supporting aid to (the help of the) poor nations , I strongly feel that the third world (they) can manage by themselves , just leave them alone without masking support. [This is all very well, but you have not given any evidence how the poor countries can support themselves and avoid being exploited by the richer countries. It seems to me that your 'rhetoric' gets the better of you and this is not a balanced essay. Nevertheless I applaud you for posting this work on the weblog and for blazing the trail for the slackers in the class!]

Lessons to be learned:

1. There is NO need to always have the automatic 'for and against' / 'pros and cons' argument essay.
2. Make sure the conclusion backs up and complements the introduction.
3. It is a worthwhile exercise to re-write your work on the weblog and get even more detailed feedback - especially as it is the weekend and you have some extra time to reflect and so do I!


Please I’ll be more than happy to read your comments and advice.

Any further comments, Dr Rashid?

Dear tony,
I missed the train today.

Although, there is no room for my input after your comments, I have a few things to say.

Rasmieh's maiden attempt is appreciable. More practice will polish her writing.

The concordance between intro and conclusion needs to be improved.

The positives of her essay are:
1- Her brave initiative to write and post on the blog. "A JOURNEY OF THOUSAND MILES STARTS WITH A SINGLE STEP.'
2- The format of the essay with 3:5:5:3 sentence intro, body and conclusion.
3- Content and clear opinion.

The areas to improve:
1- Grammar
2- Vocabulary
3- Cohesion and coherence.
Rashid Saleem



Thanks
Rasmieh

Bravo, Resmieh for taking this courageous step!

Over and out

Tony

Thank God It's Wednesday...

Hello people!

OK, no nagging, no complaining, no 'yellow cards'!!!

I know you're out there! You are relaxing and enjoying the start of the weekend for some, almost the weekend for others.

Have you looked at the handouts I gave you last night? How about re-writing a task 2 essay and posting it on the weblog? I think Dr Rashid has given up on you lot (I can't blame him!)

Don't switch off! Keep your focus and 'edge' going for the final week of the course. I'll still be around for you after we finish, but past experience tells me that you will be swallowed up by the 'duniya' and the best intentions in the world come to . . .

As things stand it looks like the Learning Zone is available tomorrow, Thursday - Young Leaners have classes in the morning and there is preparation for Computer Based IELTS in the afternoon. However, call the Front Desk at the BC and try to book one of the two PCs kept for outside use - it's 02 6910600, you can always work as a pair on ONE pc!!!. Between 2.00 and 5.00pm every afternoon, the learning Zone is always free. This evening, Wednesday, the Learning Zone is free up till 8.00pm - so how about it? (I just called the Front Desk).

After you finish with me (oh what a sad prospect!), you are still entitled to use the Learning Zone until you take the IELTS - bear that in mind!

OK guys, over to you and well done the Ain3wis!

Stand by for any further up-dates from yours truly

Tony

thanks for the invitation

Dear Mr Tony,
Thank you for inviting me to the web blog again. I still have difficulty to log by my name so i will be using the web blog member name. Thanks again. See you at the class.
Ahlam

When Saturday comes . . .

No escape from your housebound tutor who has been confined to 'barracks' for most of this wonderfully wet weekend.

What have you been up to? 11 of you, yes unbelievably, over 2/3 of the class have NOT replied to my invitation to join the weblog. HELLO? "Houston, we appear to have a problem!" You are missing out a golden opportunity to participate in a great learning experience, what a pity...

Anyway, I have corrected, highlighted mistakes and marked your Task 2 essays. Some of you are on track, a couple of band 6.0 for the full-time students who should be doing even better than that. The rest are between 6.0, 5.0 and 4.0. There is hope, but a lot of hard work lies ahead. We shall have a dictation tomorrow on 12 common spelling mistakes and a big session on what I expect for Task 2 essay writing (by the way, if you had had to write such an essay in your FIRST language would you have struggled as well?).
What else is cooking for tomorrow, I hear you ask?

1. We shall do a session on READING - looking at matching headings to paragraphs and get some more reading tips
2. We can look through that Sydney Opera House reading homework - I'll give you the answers...
3. We can recap on the Writing Task 1 handouts I gave you
4. I'd like to do some SPEAKING work on Section 2 of the IELTS interview [what about Ahmed Ali's super write up (Ibtissam/Jwan please note!!!) of his speaking test from Thursday?]
5. There is the first DEBATE when Mustapha/Jwan/Pathiran will argue with Ahmed/Rasmieh/Aswan on whether we need to have a university degree to get a good job and to perform effectively in one's chosen career. Everyone should try to read that KT article and think about the issues it raises.
6. Also it's time to swap your National Geographic magazines -only after you've told us in the class or on the weblog what you have learned.
7. Also it's time to have a report from one of the 2005 weblog greats, Yasmeen, and her advice as to how to tackle the IELTS - she got band 8.0 in the Academic IELTS in April 2005
8. We shall continue with the next two mock speaking interviews, Rasmieh and Pathiran, while the rest have another LISTENING (don't forget your purple Cambridge Practice Tests Book 1!!!)

See you there in Room 4, stand by for any news of relocating to Room 7, but for the moment assume we'll still be in Room 4.

The 11 silent ones have been warned, so come on, wakey wakey and get your acts together! You have NO excuse, do you?

Blogging out for the evening and will have a quick peek before I hit the pit!

Don't lose heart!

Tony

It is raining, thundering and lightening

Hello again my friends,
It is raining, thundering and lightening. It is a good sign for many people in particular, IELTS candidates. "Be optimistic", I said to myself. A lady came and called for my name Ahmed Aly" yes" Please sign here ' " Ok" It was my ID No. and informed me that the venue for the exam elements " Reading ,Listening, and writing " on 25/2/2006 has been changed to The British Council ,AlNasr Street ,Khalidiya,Abu Dhabi instead of "AL Maha Rotana " Hamdan Street, Abu Dhabi
Then I went upstairs second floor. Please wait here she said they will call you in a moment. I sat down .Tell you the truth Tony "My legs were like spaghetti" Ahmed Ali yes please come in. Tony, guess! What "A lady examiner" that's "ok" I know that I have to be more careful because women are always strict with the rules however; they are very emotional when you start to talk about your self. So I decided to keep the conversation long simple and lively and not to forget my sense of humor when necessary.
Part 1 is really easy and simple!" Tony echoed .She asked for my ID "What do you like to call you?" Ahmed, please. I said to my self the same silly questions "What? Where? When? I guess .hey Ahmed be patient.". I said to myself "introducing yourself to a lady is a hard job. In other words selling out yourself. Good luck!
I started to talk about myself in details with no hesitations or pauses I tried hard to keep it long as much as I could. Then she asked me "How do you see yourself in the next 10 years? I guess she wants to listen to something special or interesting. Who really loves his job? I paused for a moment "telling myself" I really want to get off the bus" I'm sick of it. Then I told her "Oh emmm I want to quit teaching I want to run my own small business. I don't want to be hired anymore by other people. I want to be more independent. I'm working on it. I've a small shop in Hammed Centre, Electra Street , Abu Dhabi . I sell lady's handbags, shoes and accessories. I think she admired the idea. She smiled and wished me luck. It worked Tony. Let your imagination flow.
Part 2
It was a little harder .She gave me a topic about sports to describe a kind of sport telling her
What is the name of this sport?
Describe the equipments or clothes needed for it?
Why did you like it?
Again let my imagination low but this time I have to be more careful.
Try violence, why not? Be aggressive. Wrestling I guess my favorite TV show
I tried to talk about it adding my special spices on it .I told her about my champions and medals. "I've never won in my entire life" but what should I do? I'm trapped Let it flow ….. Not to forget to gain her sympathy accidentally my arm was broken in the middle of my final match. Anyway it took a great effort to build up a story of your own in a minute so, I paused several times to find the appropriate words to convince her. I think this part was a little bit difficult.
Part 3
Some related questions to the previous topic "Sports"
I think I'd rather say giving opinions about sports people
How do they affect on young people?
Giving reasons because of this and this ……..
Trying to support my ideas with examples I was very interested to talk about the "Africa's Cup" But it seems that she was not interested in it. I mean she didn't know that Egypt won the championship.
Oh , I remember one fatal mistake .she asked me a question ? I said Of course. Sorry Tony I corrected my self at once and said certainly, certainly
That was the end of the test. I wish I could ask her for my score? But it is the rules!!!
Here are some tips to help you maximize your speaking grade.
General Tips
· Preparation is vital for the speaking test. PRACTISE speaking, with your friends, family, anyone you can! Practice talking about general topics, practice talking for a minute or two on any topic you know about, 'rehearse' dialogues in your head while traveling around.
· Also practice LISTENING to people: you need to understand what the examiner says to be able to hold a conversation. Listening to English conversations on T.V, video, radio, learning zone valuable resources, etc. gives you a variety of native speaker models for pronunciation and intonation and increases your exposure to a wider vocabulary range.
· Actively gather vocabulary on a variety of topics vocabulary web Assimilate them into your own vocabulary range and practice using them in conversations until you are comfortable with them.
Practice until you sound fluent, confident and relaxed and your pronunciation and intonation is clear and natural .Alternatively, you can practice speaking on general topics with a friend. Make the most of the learning zone excellent resources!
· If you have areas of grammar that you are unsure of, take the time to check them out. Again, you can do this with learning zone resources.
· Eliminate any mistakes you know you make. Don't overuse certain structures (e.g. 'actually' at the start of many sentences). Listening to yourself or asking a friend to listen will help you to pinpoint these.
To practice the 3 speaking task types and expands your vocabulary range in relevant topics and specific supplementary materials and practice tests are in the learning zone.
Good luck!

A cry for help (from Aswan)

aswan said earlier this afternoon...

Good afternoon everybody, my name is Aswan, a student in Mr Tony's class. I'm not doing well so far, but that it is not (just) me. I (know) I have to work hard to succeed and pass this course and exam. So I am asking for some tips and a lot of advice in writiing and reading.

Thanks a lot

OK IELTS veterans and current class, what do we say to Aswan to put her mind at rest?

• Yes, IELTS is a challenge, especially after years (?) of not studying English language formally.
• This course and IELTS itself are not "pass / fail" situations - you have to perform to the best of your ability and talent on that particular IELTS exam day.
• It is a matter of preparation, practice and self-belief.
• By the end of these three weeks will have a battery of exam tips and 'real time' exam practice that are enough to enable you to perform to a high standard in the IELTS.
• Have you looked through the OLD weblogs?
• Have you checked any of the websites (writefix & Hong Kong Polyu are truly excellent (and free!).
• Work through the notes / exercises in INSIGHT into IELTS - I try to summarise and condense further the essential message that this coursebook preaches.
• Listen to 90.3FM - I love it!
• The Learning Zone will save your life - it is a brilliant resource that cannot be emphasized enough.
• Read as much as you can - the bbc website has over 1,000,000 web pages that are full of fascinating information.
• Keep a vocabulary log - use that sheet I gave you or one of those A - Z address books/notebooks that you can keep in your pocket and refer to constantly - in other words, develop a SYSTEM for improving/extending your English.
• Get a 'study/buddy' to work with over the Wed - Sat period that we don't have classes (I can think of a few ladies in the class that you could team up with).
• Use the two weeks (?) after the course before you take the IELTS to digest what you have studied.
• POST writing work, no matter how imperfect, on the weblog for me or Dr rashid to help you with - this is what Souad from I-guide blog did.
• Don't lose heart and be pessimistic - we need realistic optimists!
• Eat chocolate (it helped Mais Albassam to 7 7 7 7!).

You are not alone, Aswan. Many others on the course have similar doubts and worries.

One week down, two to go!

Hey! It's even stopped raining!

As you can all gather, I'm stuck at home resting my knee and so it is a golden opportunity for I-learn students to contact me.

What about Chelsea, Jamal! Will lightning strike twice against Barcelona (as it did last year?)

As you can see, there are more important things than IELTS IELTS IELTS IELTS IELTS IELTS IELTS IELTS IELTS IELTS IELTS IELTS IELTS IELTS IELTS ...

Over to you and ALL the silent readers

Tony

It is a cloudy, rainy day...

It is 12:10 now at the BC. I'm waiting at the venue right now till the end of my speaking test. My mobile is in my car. I can hear Tony's advice ( be cool and don't panic !) It's not me, Tony, it is the weather, I guess. But I got enough sleep last night. I read your tips over and over. I repeat them all the time. Wish me luck. I will post again after I finish my test.
Bye for now.
Ahmed Ali

But as we say in English: "Every cloud has a SILVER lining."

Hoping for your silver lining and golden ending, Ahmed!

Lovely to have you 'with' us on ieltscommunity9.

Best of 'British' luck

Tony and the "i-learn" weblog

HOW TO POST on your weblog

Hello the keen ones!

So gang, this is how it works!

1. to post a message:

You go to www.blogger.com

Enter your username and password or use "BLOGMEMBER" details.

Go to dashboard and select IELTSCOMMUNITY9 blog # 22498242

Click on "create new post" and you're ready to post a message.

2. to make a comment:

click on comments

enter your username and password
and make your comment.

BINGO!! We're blogging!

Well done to Jwan and Mustapha for starting the ball rolling!

BFN

Tony

Good luck Ahmed Aly and ieltscommunity8 students

Hello everyone!

Some of the January 2006 BC students from www.ieltsguide.blogspot.com class are taking their IELTS this weekend.

You met Ahmed Aly in the Learning Zone last night - he has kindly agreed to talk to us in the third week of the course (4 - 7 March) regarding his experience taking the IELTS on 23 and 25 February. many thanks, Ahmed!

We wish you and all the ieltscommunity8 class all the very best for their upcoming IELTS - we shall check the old weblog for any news and will be only too pleased to hear from you on www.ieltslearn.blogspot.com

The bus is moving, some of the passengers are enjoying the ride, others are sleeping! So wake up and join the weblog - it's your loss otherwise!

I'll be in touch again very soon!

Happy Wednesday and all the very best for Thursday/Saturday for the IELTS warriors!

Blogging out

Tony

Learning Zone Lowdown

Learning Zone Advice

Class

Some of you might be in the Learning Zone today - morning / afternoon / before the lesson, so this is the score:

1. Go to the START menu in the left hand corner of the PC
2. Click on PROGRAMS
3. From the drop down menu choose: IELTS Academic or IELTS GT option
4. Let the CD load
5. Click continue
6. You have 12 themes on the left and each theme relates to either VOCAB / Reading / Listening / Writing / Speaking tasks all based on IELTS practice
7. Choose a theme
8. Decide on which skill you want to practise: either VOCAB / Reading / Listening / Writing / Speaking
9. Target the question types / aspects of this skill which you need to work on
10. Use the RIGHT click for tips / check answers / redo
11. You cannot save / print out this material - you must work on it in REAL time = YOUR time at the British Council
12. Consider working with a "study buddy" - someone from the course who is in "the same boat" as you

On Tuesday, everyone will have a chance from 6.30 - 7.30pm to work in the Learning Zone.

Bye for now

Start posting** and commenting

Tony

go to www.blogger.com --- dashboard Ieltscommunity9 and "create new post" it's dead easy!!

Check your inboxes, ladies and gentlemen!

Hello and goodnight!

Please check your inboxes for the "blogger invitation" that I have just sent you.

Just follow the link, accept the invitation and then open a blog account.

Please stand by for advice and encouragement from the famous Dr Rashid who is more than willing to help you. He has kindly agreed to contribute to the weblog - do ask him questions about what is on your mind regarding the IELTS exam. Heiis too modest to mention it, but Band 8.0 for Writing / Speaking & Band 7.0 for Listening and Band 6.0 for Reading gave a terrific band 7.5 overall for the Academic IELTS. He is a marvellous resource for those who have the desire to learn about IELTS and YOU are the ieltsLEARN weblog!

Good night and God bless!

Tony

The knee is 'bearing up', let's see what medical science has to say tomorrow...

The universal blogmember

Hi Tony
it seems to me very useful weblog, i promise to utilize it as much as i can
thank you very much
Rasmine

The birth of the blog...

Dear ieltslearners

Welcome to your weblog. I hear to hear from you over the next three weeks and that you will access previous blogs (ieltscommunity 1 - 8) and be part of my British Council IELTS family!

I'll tell the last blog (ieltscommunity8 www.ieltsguide.blogspot.com) about this new weblog and they might get in touch with us as they take their IELTS exam and let us know how it went.

Bye for now

Will be posting again soon

Tony