IELTS Band 8 letter sample 1

Topic

You are going to another country to study. You would like to do a part-time job while you are studying, as you want to ask a friend who lives there for some help. Write a letter to this friend. In your letter:

• give details of your study plans
• explain why you want to get a part-time job
• suggest how your friend can help you find a job

Letter

Dear Aashish,

I wish this letter finds you in good health and spirits. I am writing this letter to inform you that I have enrolled in a diploma in Computer Science at an accredited institution in Sydney, therefore, I will be departing for Australia next month.

This is an advanced diploma of around 1 year that will enhance my skills in software development and will increase my chances of getting placement in multinational companies. I will have to manage my expenses for education, stay, and food. I know that this is going to be quite expansive and my bank balance is not sufficient. Consequently, I will be planning to do some part time job to assist me financially.

I anticipate that you can definitely help me in getting some promising part time job in Sydney because you have been living there for a couple of years and have a considerably good social network to refer me. I would be pretty comfortable with jobs like gardner, departmental store assistant or waiter, provided the pay is reasonable. You can also suggestion me some popular websites for part time jobs in Sydney, I will apply them from here.

I hope you will devote sometime to find some favourable part time job for me. I would look forward to seeing you soon. Convey my greetings and love to your family.

Best Regards,
ABC

IELTS Band 8 Essay Sample 1

Topic

Is it good for children to start using computers from an early age and spend long hours on them ? Discuss advantages and disadvantages.

Essay

Nowadays, children are exposed to computers at home and school in a considerable amount.
Many child psychologists believe that there are numerous advantages for children to learn computers at the early age while others believe that this can be seriously detrimental to the physical and mental growth of children.

Computers provide several innovative and versatile educational applications that can supplement a child's education in many areas like science, mathematics, geography and so on. A child can learn to do various practical things like document creation, spreadsheets, computer drawing, that will be very helpful in his/her daily life. Many surveys conducted in some developed countries manifest that several successful employees have admitted that they had spent quite a lot of time on computers in their early childhood. Furthermore, it is very beneficial for the development of technical skills in children as operating a computer involves several tasks to be done simultaneously. Therefore, it is very much clear that indulging in computer use for long hours has multiple merits for the mental upliftment of children.

On the other hand, there are some serious drawbacks of exposing children to computers that should be worth considering. When children use the internet on the computer, they are vulnerable to get exposed to adult websites that may have an adverse effect on their psychology. Moreover, too much indulgence can be detrimental to their physical health, for example, radiations emitted by computer screen are very harmful to eyes. Another biggest side effect is alarming rise in obesity levels in early childhood because of lack of physical exercise and excess of sedentary lifestyle caused by computers. Many scientific studies have proven that children who are excessively exposed to computers are less physically active and tends to be overweight in adulthood. In some cases, children have developed severe back pains because of inappropriate sitting posture while working on the computer.

To conclude, there are indispensable advantages of learning computer at the young age, however, it should be under the supervision of parents and over indulgence should be avoided for maintaining good health of children.

10 must know tips for IELTS listening

Here are some tips worth learning before going for IELTS test. 

1. You should pay special attention to the word limit, eg. not more than three words. Sometimes you get a few minutes before starting the test, use that time wisely to mark the keywords etc on question sheet.

2. Make a recording some English news, BBC, and CNN are perfect for this.

3.Pause the recording after each phrase and try to speak it loud, it will also help you in your speaking skills. Nevertheless, you can always rewind and hear the sentence that you had missed or not understood.

4. Listen careful when the speaker says, for example, read question 11-14, no need to read questions beyond,  instead concentrate on keywords, nouns, things to be asked in these question, bear them in mind, and try to listen with full alertness whenever something related to them is spoken, though, you should be alert for whole listening test !

Note: there is usually a silence of 20-30 seconds for you to read the questions.

5. Do not panic if you miss some sentence or some question, move on and concentrate on what questions that will be coming next.

6. Listen for specific things like dates, names, places, telephone numbers. It would be a good practice to jot them down on question booklet.

7. Fill the answers as soon as you hear, do not procrastinate this, it would be very obvious that you may not remember the minor details of the listening at the end.

8. Catch the words, phrases that the speaker repeats or lays stress on or corrects some words esp, telephone numbers. Probably that is the hint for your answer or is the answer itself.

9. Write the answer/word that fits grammatically correct in the bank of the question. Moreover, sometimes synonyms are used in questions, so identify them deftly.

10. At the end of the test, you have ten minutes to copy the answers to answer sheet, therefore, meticulously, write the answer in the correct number. Don't leave any questions, there is no negative marking, so make a guess and write the answer,  sometimes you may be lucky !

Do not miss IELTS writing tips !

  And indispensable IELTS Reading Tips

Kabaddi - the game of strength

Kabaddi is a famous game of Indian sub-continent played with absolute zest and zeal. This is very famous game often played in fields of Punjab, with the all time famous dialogue "Chakde Phatte - Kodi kodi kodi kodi"

The game consists of 5 players on each side. Each team sends a person to raid the other team while the opponent team tries to stay away from being touched by this player. Once the player touches any player of an opponent team, he must return back to the center crease to make a score. Then comes the turn of an opponent team to raid on. This continues until the stipulated time is run out.

Many players of cricket and football might call this a crazy game, but this really needs good strength and nimbleness for a player to score high !!!

Here is the link to this famous game for Android !!!

IELTS True, False, Not Given Questions

Overview

True, False, Not Given type of questions are the most confusing questions of the IELTS reading test.
I would like to share some of the tips that helped me to demystify these troubling questions and get good bands.

To begin with, read the question and related sentence in paragraph thoroughly before making any decision.
There are a few fundamental things we should know to differentiate between a true, false, and a not given option.

True

If the fact is found in the paragraph, it's often seen that many synonyms or similar words are used. Therefore, true should be 100% correct, words like most, some, maybe, just, should be carefully observed.

False

If the fact is found opposite in the paragraph, it is false. The fact should absolutely match the paragraph.
Please note to careful read the words like all, most, can, should, majority, only etc. For example, most of the things in not same as all the things. Here the answer should be false.

Not Given

The most confusing thing here ! People often tend to make assumptions in answering this. Or in many cases, an individual will mark it as false. Anything that is not given in the paragraph should be deemed as not given.

General Tips

You should understand the opinion of the writer, you should not make any judgements, assumption, or decisions on the basis of your common sense or cognizance !  So, this is actually the factual information given by the writer. Questions follow the order in the passage, if you find question number one in the middle of a paragraph, then questions number two will be in following part of the passage and so on. Do not spend too much time on one question or you may run out of time. Please write the correct word in answer, if it is true, then write true not yes and similar for false and no.

I hope these tips may be of some worth to you !

Here are some quick tips for IELTS writing
Try this free Android app for IELTS preparation

IELTS test should be computerised

IELTS is a very reputed test of English skills worldwide, however, it's pattern is still very old. Today is the generation of computers where almost every work is done with computers ranging from manufacturing to medical, commerce to arts etc. So, I was wondering why not IELTS tests should be made computerised. In my perspective, it will make the life very comfortable for the test takers.

Firstly, let us consider the listening section. It consists of fill in the blanks, some 2-3 words filling ups, image related puzzles, identifying objects, finding places on maps etc.  Almost all these things can be possibly done on a computer.

Secondly, for reading the section, there are a variety of questions such as advertisements, true/false/not-given ones, fill in the blanks, heading matching for a comprehension and so on. I do not see any of them to be impossible on a computer.

Lastly and most importantly, the writing sections have letters and essays, that can be quickly written with the keyboard instead of pen/pencil. A big plus point here will be for people whose handwriting is not very elegant.

To conclude, it will be a win-win situation for both side to make IELTS test computerised, the candidates will get good bands and tests can be quickly checked by computer software. I hope this blog may someday reach the creators of IELTS test and may persuade/influence them to some extent !

 Dont you want to read ingenious IELTS writing tips ?

Mobile Phone - a bliss, an addiction or a curse !

Innovative and plush mobile phones have dominated the world during the past decade, with awesome features and promising applications in almost every aspect of life, ranging from business to medical and productivity to social fields. It would be very appropriate to say that mobile phones have become a part and parcel of our daily life.

Many times I have asked this questions to people of different age groups that what thing they do first after they wake up in the morning. The obvious answer is they will first check their mobile phone for messages, email, a chat on WhatsApp or an update on facebook. Even the elderly ones who can barely operate their phones still manage to be active on social media or entertain themselves with videos on youtube.

I do not think that this will be insane to say that mobile phones have eclipsed the importance of television, alarm clocks and music players, as they are a single multitasking and versatile piece of craftsmanship ! Therefore, we can declare that a mobile phone is a real bliss for features and convenience it offers us for given price, nonetheless, it is portable and it always stays with us, wherever we go !

However, the excess of everything is bad, as we are too much occupied my mobile phones, we are not considering the troubles we are causing to our health. Firstly, we are exposing our eyes to dangerous radiations from these gadgets, though, the manufacturers claim that the radiations are harmless ! The addictive games and applications on these smartphones have consumed a considerable amount of time, that might have been spent with family or friends. Nonetheless, it is up to a person to schedule his/her priorities.

To conclude, mobile phones are indispensable need of everyone in today's world, but still, we can control our over indulgence with them and understand the health problems they can possibly cause in the long run.

Charity - the disguised selfish motive

Since the very origin of mankind, humans are relentlessly helping each other, in some cases, it is a mutual reciprocal service while in other cases people call it a charity. However, the question is "Is charity really a selfless deed or it has some hidden personal benefit ?"

Some scholars and psychologists profoundly believe that all actions of a human are done with some purpose. Ancient theories manifest that even a piece of stone or a leaf or an insect does not move a bit without any intention. In my perspective charity is a selfish motive to some extent, though not exhibited.

Many times I wonder why people want to show up their names on the site of charity, for example, a temple, a school or hospital made in the name of someone. What are the hidden benefits they really want to reap or I guess they want to perpetuate their name for their generosity and kindness !

Nonetheless, many people believe that the person doing charity will get the blessings in his name ! But is it really essential to gain publicity on behalf of doing charity? Many billionaires do charity and they boast it on their websites and business centres ! Or Perhaps, it for the benefit of politicians to win the faith of the nation during elections !

In my perspective charity should be an altruistic deed ! Whatever you are doing in a good faith, you should not be expecting anything in return, otherwise, this will defeat the purpose of the charity ! Lastly and most importantly, does the charity really works, does the needy, impoverished and underprivileged people really get what they deserve on the end of the day !

IELTS general training writing tips

Dear all aspiring for good bands in IETLS test, I have scored 7.5 bands in IELTS general training test and I feel obliged to share my perspective on how to get good bands in writing a letter and an essay. Following are some of the tips that I learned with time and experience, that are worth considering for a non-native English candidate for IELTS test.

Firstly and most importantly, you should read and understand the question very carefully. It is frequently observed that an individual can easily be defocussed and ends up writing irrelevant facts. So, the bottom line is to thoroughly understand the questions and it sub-questions and address all of them. The examiners call this as task achievement part of writing.

Secondly, do a careful planning before start writing, jot down the points that come up in your mind. You may not need to write full sentences, I think the keywords should suffice. Once you are done with this, organize your essay/letter in a logical form, a group you related points in the same paragraph. A quick tip here is to start a paragraph with a general statement and then provide sufficient evidence and  elaboration for this.  Examiners will be checking your skills of organizing your points/thoughts.

In addition to this, never miss to join related points with linking words like however, nonetheless, therefore, consequently, unless, unfortunately, luckily, undoubtedly etc. Be careful while framing complex and compound sentences to avoid mistakes in using nouns, verbs and tenses.

Another must do thing is to have a variety of words in your writing, you need to brush up your vocabulary with some less commonly used words. However, pay attention to the usage of these words and incorporate them in a right context.

Time management is another very important thing to learn. You should spend some time on planning before delving into writing and finally on checking and fixing mistakes. In my perspective, 3-4 minutes are enough for checking your letter and 5-6 minutes for the essay.

Furthermore, grammatical and spelling mistakes may considerably hamper your chances of getting 7+ bands. My recommendation here is to keep a list of your spelling mistakes in some diary and recheck them before appearing for the examination. Kindly bear in mind that writing part is in the last part of test after listening and reading, in several cases, an individual is bit exhausted.

Lastly and extremely crucially, you must never miss the conclusion of your essay. You can start the conclusion with words like the conclusion, summarize, finally, nutshell, precisely etc, to the best of your convenience and relevance.

A general tip for all is to try to improve basic English writing skills and to improve your writing you should not ignore to do adequate amount of reading newspapers, magazines, blogs on the internet (maybe my blogs, haha !), Reader Digest magazine, National Geographics magazine, and nonetheless your favorite romantic novels !

Do you think that IELTS should be computerised ?

DO FORGET TO TAKE GOOD REST AND SLEEP BEFORE THE EXAMINATION.

EARNESTLY WISH YOU THE VERY BEST OF LUCK IN YOUR IELTS TEST !

Machines - the thanksworthy friends

It has been ages since machines have been relentlessly serving humans - starting for a mere wheel to versatile computers and intelligent robots. Unfortunately, we have never thanked them or their diligent craftsmen or people think why to be grateful as we have already paid hefty amounts for such machines !

Undoubtedly, machines have helped us immensely from the industrial revolution to today's work to such an extent that we can not imagine the world without them. The advancement in medical science has proved that now we have miraculous machines to diagnose and surmount fatal diseases that were thought to be impossible some decades ago. "The world in our hand", as it looks literally smaller because now we have very fast and comfortable means travelling from nations to nations.

Robust ships of today can transport anything between continents. I think just money can not appreciate the skill and hard work of such craftsmen, they are worthy of getting due respect and acknowledgement. To some extent we can say that we should worship these scientists for the gifts they have given to mankind !
In many science fictions, machines are shown sensible like humans and they exhibit emotions and crave for love and care. I will salute the perspective of such writers and movie makers !

To conclude, we should be sincerely thankful to science for providing us with a wide range of machines for making our lives comfortable and cheerful. 

Urbanization - the seamy side

Innovative machines, rising technology and increasing demand for housing and jobs, has consequently given a tremendous boom to urbanization across the globe. In this article, we shall consider some indispensable advantages and some shortcomings of this rapid constructions.

Many developing countries like India, Brazil and China, have achieved swift economical growth with urbanization - creating numerous jobs, splendid business centers, spectacular tourist places etc.  In addition to this, these is an abrupt rise in demand for automobiles with increasing business opportunities and, therefore, promoting the sales of cars, hence, leveraging import and export business of vehicles and automobile parts. Impoverished nations of Africa have reaped the benefits of an increase in literacy levels, reduce in child mortality rates and more promising hospital facilities.


However, these are some demerits of urbanization that should not be ignored. One of the biggest disadvantages of urbanization is deforestation and loss of green-lands that are eventually exploited by opulent builders to create plush buildings and offices. Another considerable drawback is a huge devastation of the environment caused by air and water pollution. Unfortunately, it is frequently observed that preoccupied governments of such nations have turned oblivious to these issues. An alarming rise in traffic congestion and road accidents have made the life of daily commuters extremely miserable.


To conclude, development and construction are the need of the day, nonetheless, with meticulous planning a win-win situation can be accomplished for the progress of a nation and prevention of the deterioration of the environment. People of the world are immensely impressed by the robust skyscrapers and elegant edifices, unfortunately, they are not able to see the seamy side of urbanization.