Wednesday, April 27, 2016

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]

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

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 :

Friday, April 8, 2016

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 ?

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

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 ]

Saturday, April 2, 2016

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 ?

Friday, April 1, 2016

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 "