Tagged: IELTS vocabulary
Wednesday’s IELTS Vocabulary of the Week!
Every Wednesday we will be giving you five key vocabulary words or common mistakes made in IELTS Writing Task 1, Writing Task 2 and Speaking:
Dilemma: means two difficult choices. Do not use for a problem with many option. “When I was 18 I faced the dilemma of studying at university or going into paid employment.” “How to reduce pollution is not a dilemma
One: as a pronoun. You is better, but one is acceptable for IELTS Writing; sounds weird in Speaking. Don’t use it in normal or academic English.
Right now: as in “right now in Thailand, the iPhone dominates.” No need for the ‘right’, it adds nothing to ‘now.’
Third world: meaning not the west. Use developing country. As a developing country Thailand is not in a position to afford such luxuries. You can use the west or western countries to mean the UK or the US
Who or whom: native speakers get this wrong so you can too. If you’re not sure stick with who
Tips for Learning IELTS Vocabulary
We are often asked how to learn new vocabulary. Apart from reading our Wednesday column, you should read as widely as you can.
When reading or watching TV we recommend you do the following:
- Look up the new words that you don’t recognize in a good English dictionary
- If possible ask a native speaker to use the word in a sentence
- Write out full sentences using new words
- Never use new words to show off, you will usually end up miss using the word
Wednesday’s IELTS Vocabulary of the Week!
Every Wednesday we will be giving you five key vocabulary words or common mistakes made in IELTS Writing Task 1, Writing Task 2 and Speaking:
Ise or ize: a personal preference for IELTS purposes, globalization or globalisation
Size: never try to express something in terms of size to something else, for example: the size of the national debt is as big as the moon. This is just weird, although native speakers often write or speak like this, it’s not suitable for IELTS
Woman: women are nouns, not adjectives, write female president, female MPs not “woman president”, “women MPs”
Traffic: Thai people get confused on this point, traffic is a noun. Bangkok has very bad traffic problems and traffic in Bangkok is very bad – are both ok. Never Bangkok is very bad traffic
In or on: don’t be too concerned with this; students are often confused by how British and American speakers use these differently. As a guide: ‘in the team’ is British English, ‘on the team’ is American English.
IELTS Vocabulary: Using Variation for a High Score
In IELTS you score marks for using a range of vocabulary. It is therefore advisable to learn as many new words as you can. However, using long words alone will not help your score much. As always IELTS examiners value naturalness above showing off. Here are some useful long words and their more common synonyms.
ameliorate improve approximately about
apprehend catch ascertain learn
assistance help attempt try
commence start discontinue stop
exceedingly very magnitude size
manufacture make numerous many
remuneration pay possesses has
purchase buy requested asked
residence home subsequently later
terminate end utilize use
Wednesday’s IELTS Vocabulary of the Week!
Every Wednesday we will be giving you five key vocabulary words or common mistakes made in IELTS Writing Task 1, Writing Task 2 and Speaking:
Imply or infer? to infer is to deduce something from evidence; to imply is to hint at something (and wait for someone to infer it)
Ise or ize: a personal preference for IELTS purposes, globalization or globalisation
Prime minister: you must give the full name: prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, never prime minister Yingluck. The prime minister of Thailand is Yingluck is fine
Span of years: for IELTS Task 1 Writing: 2008-12 or from 2008-12; but between 2008 and 2012, not between 2010-12
Thai boxing: use in preference to muay Thai
Wednesday’s IELTS Vocabulary of the Week!
Every Wednesday we will be giving you five key vocabulary words or common mistakes made in IELTS Writing Task 1, Writing Task 2 and Speaking:
Young offender institution: a prison for young people
Patronise: means to speak down to as if you were superior: “just because he went to Oxford he thinks he’s better than me. He’s very patronising.” Never use patronise to mean you shop somewhere, as in “I patronise Terminal 21,” it sounds awful
One: as a pronoun. You is better, but one is acceptable for IELTS Writing; sounds weird in Speaking. Don’t use it in normal or academic English
Na: Thai. There are equivalents in English, but they’re close to slang, not appropriate for IELTS. Ask your native speaking teacher for examples if you want to learn more na krap
People: people is already plural. Peoples means a race or country’s people
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