What is Coherence in IELTS Writing Task 2 ? - understanding coherence "Visually"

There are many frequently discussed terms roam in the  mind when we start exploring IELTS . Some terms are little bit tricky to be understood clearly .Coherence and cohesion is one of the four elements assessed  in your IELTS writing task 2 (General and Academic) and widely spoken about, in various IELTS mentoring sites . Let me take "coherence" for this post today.

Coherence

If you want to know in a nut shell ,I would say coherence is "Central point of the paragraph " . You build a paragraph on one main idea and maintain it properly with carefully developed phrases ,words and examples .

For instance , let's see the following task on a "Coherence Map" which is  invented and illustrated by Knowledge Universe for the first time(2016)

TOEFL or IELTS ? What test you should take ?

What  test , you should take for your university admission of migration ? Whether it could be TOEFL or IELTS ? 

Well ,it depends on many factors like the county you opted to go for and the university or educational organization you apply for . IELTS is needed not only for academic people ,as it has two forms of test(Academic and General ) it is required by many English speaking countries for migration purposes too .

TOEFL is mainly required by  American and Canadian universities .If you plan to do your higher studies in one of these countries ,it is better to start learning TOEFL.

Countries like Great Britain (UK) ,Australia always prefer IELTS  for their university admissions and migration  purposes .

If you are not sure  about the type of test  you should take for the country you wish you go ,just visit us and have a free consultation . Please call and get an appointment before make a visit .

Now you can learn TOEFL iBT in Jaffna at KU Education  ( BCBL)  Jaffna ;Call 021-3208342 / 0777-302882 /Visit TOEFL web :  http://edu.kugroup.info/toefl 

IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 Vs. IELTS General Writing Task 2 - what are the differences ?

Most of the General IELTS test takers used ask this question in the classes . Main difference between the AC-Writing task and GT-Writing task is the mode of Task 1 of the both exams .

While you need to think about various types of charts,presented data and technical terms for them to describe the flow of information  given in the Academic Task 1, just  worry about  a handful of formal and informal letter types for  General Module Task 1.

in a nutshell ,Task 1 is  bit more different among the both modules .But task 2 is almost same for both modules .

Learn TOEFL iBT® at KU Education -Jaffna

We have started training students for TOEFL at our Jaffna branch.

At the time of reaching KU's 17th year of service in the education industry of Sri Lanka , we hope it is the right time to offer TOEFL .

TOEFL is a computer based ENGLISH examination . Students require a bit of typing speed and a sound knowledge in using computer systems.

For more informaton on learning TOEFL  please visit http://edu.kugroup.info/toefl_training_jaffna.html

Simple techniques of using prepositions in IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 tips#03 #Charts

IELTS –Task 1 [prepositions of time by KU Education Jaffna ]

Using the presuppositions of time in a proper way is very important in IELTS AC Task 1 ,when it is a chart or informative graph . Look at the list of prepositions given below[only a handful ] and the example paragraph written here ,hope you will have more confident now !

The following prepositions of time are the keys :

in [month / year / morning, afternoon etc]

at [9 o’clock, 10.30 am etc]

from..[a point in time]..to… [another point]

between…[a point in time]..and… [another point]

during [a period of time]

before [a point in time or a period of time]

after [a point in time or a period of time]

by [a point of time arrived at]

How to have more interesting (and scoring )English conversations with the "gap fillers" ? #IELTS #Speaking Tips

If you wanna sound like a native English speaker ,you have to use the gap fillers appropriately during your (English) conversations. Every language has it;s own unique gap fillers (small words to fill the gaps -way of getting  intervals for generating ideas while you talk )

Let's see ,how to use some gap fillers in your conversation ,which helps you to buy some time -seamlessly :) 

List of frequently used gap fillers in English :

How to answer "True","False","Not Given" type questions of IELTS Reading Task ? -IELTS Reading Tips#02

Approaching this type of questions  is little tricky in IELTS  reading . But  once you understood the techniques ,it is  the type of question you are going to get 100% right on your exam.

Extract from IELTS Model Reading Passage by KU Education 

Thanks Jack and Rose to be the model here :) 

" Titanic started it's maiden voyage in 1912  as planned .The ship was claimed to be unsinkable  Captain Smith ordered the crew to carry on the journey . Initially the path was  chosen to be north east. They had changed the direction after some time of the journey . Titanic traveled  towards north to reach the coast earlier than planned. ".Mr.Donald suggested  captain Mr.Smith to increase the speed of the ship ......."

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the
reading passage?  on your answer sheet write:

Yes If the statement agrees with the writer
No If the statement contradicts the writer
Not Given If it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

1)Titanic had a purpose on going towards the north
2)Titanic traveled fast
3)Titanic had it's second trip in 1912
4)Titanic returned  from north .

Ok ,let's see how to deal with this type of questions ?

IELTS Life Skills A1 - Listening Sample test Q2-p1 #new model questions

KU Education has added one more  sample test of IELTS Life Skills A1 level. You have some more IELTS life skills A1 listening tests at KU Jaffna's Youtube channel.

How to use this recording ? :

1) The question is " Where does she go with her friend ? " ,first the question is given to you and you have to listen the recording once and answer the question . The printout of the question will be given with above three pictures and the foot note. So making a choice is more easier .[First understand the question ,and look for the possible answer in the audio ]

Should I have a lot of creativity to score more in IELTS ?

Obviously not. You need just  a bit.:)

If you think that you  need it a lot ,then only some cinema directors,creative writers,poets can get through the IELTS exam .But that is not the case.

An Animal ,that you have never seen in your life ,drawn by my students

Language is not all about science and scientific methods  ,it is an art . Art has lot of connectivity with your thought process ,inner mind ,imagination and creativity . So you can't just memorize everything like memorizing formulas for maths and science .

Many of my students ,specially medical doctors ,used to ask me "Sir if you say us to write a medical reference letter ,or something related to our work ,we would write perfectly ,but you ask us to write things that  we have never come across in our life "

To have an interesting conversation with anyone ,you need a bit of creativity . For instance , Imagine you   had an ice cream at a new shop in the morning and it was very tasty . Really you felt very good about that food .

Now you want to tell it to your friends : You may say it in many ways :

Key tips to handle IELTS Speaking test -#01

1. Be comfortable at the test. Relax. Have a friendly manner with the examiner . Many of the candidates fear about the test conditions ,feel  nervous which leads to make mistakes even during very simple questions  Keep in mind that examiners are just on your duty ,they are there just because of you .It is not a competition with anyone ,and during the test you don’t have any competitor to fight back with you. Be cool.
2. Tell Lies : As you know you cant tell all answers from your heart. As  there are many questions which may relevant  to topics which you never heard in your life. So learn to lie ! . They don’t expect any real life experience from your answer . They just want to evaluate your level of English ,so that they provide a topic to make you to talk about.
   
   Examiner : Tell me an incident ,where some one you didn’t know helped you ? [Sample IELTS Spoken Part 2 Question ,where 1 minute is given to prepare and  for 2 minutes you are required to talk non stop] Let’s assume that ,really you didn’t have any such experiences in your life ,then what would you do ?

How to have rich looking English sentences with phrasal verbs ? General English Tips #011

When you write something like  emails or letters officially or speak in a gathering  ,it is better to spice up your language by adding few phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs   give some extra weight and seriousness to your presentation . [Of course,  it is vital for IELTS writing tasks as well ]

In this post  , some vital English phrasal verbs and the use of them are given. Please note that spoken English  uses more phrasal verbs than written. IELTS listening modules have variety of phrasal verbs.

Based on the amount of use ,the verbs are selected  .

Phrasal verbs and use - Part 01

Get off  [to leave]	“Get off the bus”.  “He got off the trip suddenly .”
Get along with [agree with]	“You better get along with your boss”
Go for [aim for /proceed with the goal]	“I go for it ,very soon”
Go into [to investigate]	“We have to go into the topic more deeper “
Go on [to continue ]	“ you go on ,without worrying much about the situation”
Go over[to review]	“Yet, we have to go over the project “
Go through [to undergo]	“Please go through this book and let me know your opinion “
Go with [suits with]	“Your jewels nicely go with your dress colour “
Get Through[to succeed]	“I have got through my maths exam “
Give up [to stop the effort ]	"I gave up my dance practice "

IELTS Life Skills A1 model questions (Listening) Q1,Q2 by KU Education

We have added some more practice tests for IELTS Life Skills A1 . To keep in touch with KU's upcoming IELTS practice tests and English tips ,subscribe to our youtube channel and like our Facebook fan page .

Youtube : http://youtube.com/kujaffna

Facebook :https://www.facebook.com/kujaffna

பிரித்தானியாவில் வசிக்கும் வாழ்க்கைத்துணையோடு இணையத்தேவையான விசாவிற்கான ILETS Life SKills A1 பரீட்சையின் மாதிரி வினாக்கள் மேலும் இரண்டு கே.யு வின் தயாரிப்பாக இங்கு வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. மேலும் மாதிரிகளைப்பெற எமது Youtube and Facebook பக்கத்தில் இணையுங்கள் .

IELTS Life Skills A1 -(Listening)Sample Test Q1-P1

What score you need for IELTS Academic Module for a University /College Admission ?

Many of the IELTS test takers have this question in mind. The score required for a college  or university admission differs time to time and based on the  academic program they choose. Cambridge University has released their latest (2016)guidelines of IELTS test score for the higher educational organizations .

If you look at the following  table you  should be able to understand the scores you need to obtain in the exam.  

Most common topics of IELTS writing task 2 (Essay Questions)

As I keep on insisting ,reading a lot on various topics would definitely improve your writing and reading skills .Many students used to ask me the secrets of doing IELTS  writing and reading well . Some suggest them to memorize  essays and phrases as many as they can . Few of my students tend to write essays without any logical connectivity and jump  here and there suddenly even in a single paragraph .Grammar goes to a worse situation  .

But when I asked them to write essays about their family /village/university life etc (familiar topics) they used to do miracles  . Hence the topic  is well known ,writing skill of students boosts ,but when you are not familiar with the topic your energy level goes down an makes you under-perform .

Thus ,reading a lot on the following areas definitely would help you to score more on writing task 2 as well as reading task.

How to write effective introduction for IELTS writing Task 2(Academic and General ) – IELTS tips #2

 Writing  introduction is a vital part in Task 2  of your IELTS exam(For Task 1 you are given with some key points to write but in Task 2 you have to come up with your own ideas and need to be more creative )

Important things you have to keep in mind :

1.   A good introduction is important ,but spending a lot of time for introduction is not a good idea . If you happen to spend  more than 3-5 minutes in generating  an  introduction give it  up and start writing the first paragraph and continue .
2.  So what happens  for the introduction ? –leave a space for it (to have 3 to 4 sentences )and write the rest of the essay. Once you finish it go back and write down the introduction . As you write the essay you get many ideas and you can do a better introduction now .
3. But  writing a constructive introduction firstly,  is the very common practice and possible for many students .I have given above tips as I have been seeing many students in my class  struggle a lot to write introduction and waste a lot of time in it .But most of them are able to identify the key points of the task and write the paragraphs comfortably .

So how to construct your introduction ? :