Write a letter to your penfriend. Advise him/her about the following: listening skills, speaking skills and vocabulary.

Dear Carlos, You must be really excited about moving to Sydney. How are all the preparations going? In your letter, you ask if I’ve got any advice about how to improve your English before you leave. Well, I’ve given it some thought and here are a few tips.
Firstly
, speaking is probably going to be the most useful skill so, if I were you, I’d try and speak English as much as possible. And I think you should do a short, intensive oral course before you go too if you have time. I wouldn’t advise you to buy one of those language courses on CD though because they’re expensive and you
don’t
get the opportunity to interact with other people.
Also
, for your listening skills, you should tune into English language programmes on television and radio whenever you can.
Also
,
don’t
forget that lots of Australian, British and American websites have audio that you can listen to, so I’d make the most of the Internet if I were you.
Finally
, browsing the Internet will
also
help extend your vocabulary, but you ought to read books, newspapers and magazines as well. You’d better get a good English-English dictionary too. I
don’t
think you should throw away your bilingual one, but only use it when you really have to! Well, I have to get back to work now. If you need any more advice,
don’t
hesitate to get in touch. All the best, Abdelouahab
Submitted by Abdelouahab Charaallah on

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Use cohesive linking words accurately and appropriately

Linking words are very important in your essay.

To score effectively on your IELTS exam, you should make an effort to implement short concise sentences coupled with linking words.

Almost every sentence in your essay should have a linking word of some sort.

In fact, the only sentences that can omit linking words are your background sentence and thesis.

Linking word examples:

  • firstly
  • secondly
  • thirdly
  • in additional
  • moreover
  • also
  • for example
  • for instance
  • therefore
  • however
  • although
  • even though
  • despite

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Topic Vocabulary:
  • enhance
  • comprehension
  • fluency
  • pronunciation
  • accent
  • podcasts
  • radio programs
  • audiobooks
  • documentaries
  • active listening
  • conversation
  • language exchange partner
  • conversation clubs
  • language meetups
  • native speakers
  • record
  • improvement
  • read extensively
  • vocabulary notebook
  • flashcards
  • collocations
  • idiomatic expressions
  • natural
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