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My IELTS exam
6 months ago I tried my first IELTS listening and reading at home and got 4.5 for each part. I’d never written anything in English and had only occasional conversations in this language during my holidays, so writing and speaking were even worse. In my case, I needed at least 7 for each component of General IELTS so I started learning English intensely, maybe 6 hours a day.
Fortunately, I managed to get the desired score at the first try (S7.5, L7, R7, W7). I didn’t attend any special courses, lessons with IELTS examiners or trial exams. I studied English on my own and had extremely useful lessons with my italki teachers. After 5 months of laborious studying, I got really fed up with English and felt that I wouldn’t be able to sit this exam several times. So I tried to focus only on my first attempt.
Speaking: I got my highest point in this part although it'd been my weakest skill at the beginning. I knew that, so I had at least six lessons a week with my italki teachers for 4 months. I think it’s my teachers who contributed the most to this result.
Reading, Listening: I studied them on my own. I thought they were my strongest skills because I usually got 8/8.5 for listening and 8.5/9 for general reading at home. However, the real exam showed another picture. I think I lacked real exam experience – if I sat another IELTS I would perform better (I was worried a lot during the exam).
Writing: I wrote 25 essays and 15 letters, but I’d never done them under real exam conditions. The last several essays I managed to write in about 40 minutes and thought I was ready. However, on the exam I spent 27 minutes on a letter! I nearly failed, I forgot about any planning and just wrote an essay without thinking. I even didn’t have time to check it - I finished my conclusion just in time! It’s a miracle I’ve got 7 for writing! However, my homemade essays were not so bad – my teachers gave me 8 for them. I think, as it was with speaking, my writing had significantly improved by my italki teachers. I really got to know tons of useful rules and features.
Conclusion
It was the biggest challenge in my life. It took me six months of arduous studying; sometimes I really hated all that English stuff and thought to give up. But now I'm really happy and relieved.
Finally, I would recommend my teachers to everyone. I thank them and italki from my heart.
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How many English words do you know?
I use this site to check out how many English words I know:
http://testyourvocab.com
I've already used it three times. Here is my progress:
3500 > 5100 > 6600
I'm inclined to believe this resource because it gave me correct results on my second and third attempts (I have some database of all the new words I learned).
I wonder how many English words do you know regarding this site?
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Furthermore VS Moreover
1) The acceleration performance of this car is very poor; furthermore, its fuel consumption is extremely high.
2) The acceleration performance of this car is very poor; moreover, its fuel consumption is extremely high.
I've found these differences on the Internet:
1) Some speakers use 'Furthermore' to express something from an objective point of view, and 'Moreover' to express something from more of a subjective point of view.
2) I use 'furthermore' when the two issues considered are "at the same level", whereas I use 'moreover' to support the main issue (from the first sentence)
Is it correct? Are there any other differences?
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As well as / besides
1) Besides being rubbish at soups, she is a good chef.
- is it correct to use "besides" here?
2) As well as being a good mother, she really loves her husband.
(she IS and she DOES) - is it correct to use "as well as" here?
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Have been VS were
1) Some of the films I've seen recently have been very violent.
2) Some of the films I've seen recently were very violent.
Which is/are correct? If both are, what's a difference in meaning?P.S. "Some of the films I've seen recently have been very violent" is from Murphy R. "English Grammar in use""Some of the films I've seen recently have been very violent" seems to be correct.
As I understand, "have been" + [adjective] + [period till now] is similar to present perfect continuous.
But can I use "are/were" instead of "have been" here?
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Which is/are correct?
1) I'm broke. If I had saved money, I would be fine now
(I saw this example somewhere)
2) I'm broke. If I had saved money, I would have been fine now
(I thought that it should be like this, but I'm not sure now)
Thank you
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Science or a job
Several years ago I graduated from the University and started my postgraduate education. At that moment I had two publications in the international scientific journals and was full of energy and ambitions to develop my current researches and accomplish what I'd started more than two years ago, namely work related to the neutron stars and sophisticated magnetic fields they form under certain conditions. It seemed to be a real physical problem with the nebulous implications - were it solved, there wouldn't be any chance to exploit this solution in any way. The neutron stars are too far away from us, and an exorbitant energy they produce is out of our reach. Nevertheless, it was a new challenge, as well as an interesting, complicated task.
Although I was interested in solving this physical problem, I couldn't say, frankly, that I entered my postgraduate study just because I was passionate about science. There were another essential reasons. First of all, I'd never lived independently before - the University had been giving me accommodation and occupation for five years, and I hadn't had to think about the serious adult questions, such as money, house, family etc. So it was difficult for me to leave the University and start my independent life. Secondly, being a postgraduate student I had a room in a student's house, so I didn't have to rent an apartment and pay for it. In addition, I'd already worked at a full-time job in that time, so it would be dishonest to say that I was fascinated by science and wanted to devote my life to it.
I remember clearly the moment, when my professor asked me, if I really want to study science further, and I answered, "Yes". It should have been an important decision, but I'm not sure, whether I'd been thinking carefully before I agreed to continue my education. Needless to say, I gave up my postgraduate study two years later and didn't solve the problem. It's no mean feat to study science and simultaneously work at a full-time job. And it's barely feasible to gain success in either of these affairs. I'd been suffering from a shortage of time for almost two years, before I realised this simple truth and made my final decision. Sometimes I regret it, but all in all, I think it was a right choice, given the circumstances I had.
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My IELTS challenge
Recently, I've found a new challenge - pass IELTS with a score of at least 7 on each of the four components. I've been intensively learning for two months and improved my listening/reading from 4.5 to 7.5 on average. But I'm a little bit stuck in speaking. I've learned more than two thousand new words, but can't use them in my speaking. I improved my grammar, but I speak with a lot of mistakes. I have lessons with proficient strong teachers, and they considerably help me (thank them). But I'm not very patient person, I want to speak fluently tomorrow :)
I'd been thinking and searching for magic approach quite a long time, and finally decided that the best way for me is to learn naturally and take my time. But to stimulate my speaking I decided to write 100 part-two-question and 500 part-three-question flash cards (I use flash cards in learning and would recommend them, for example Anki). First of all, it will help me to remember some common phrases, connecting words, idioms etc. Secondly, I'll have time to choose "advanced" words for answers and to get used to them. Thirdly, by answering and checking these cards every day I can improve my speech. And of cause there is a chance to take a similar question on the exam :) But, as always, there are some disadvantages - I mustn't learn answers, I should use them only as an example, and it takes a lot of time, so I'm still procrastinating to start :) But when I manage to answer any card fluently, I'll go and sit the exam.
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History of my English
For some reason, I've never liked to learn foreign languages. In school it wasn't serious, I even don't remember what we did on English lessons. At University there were tons of mathematics and computer stuff so English was forsaken and completely forgotten. All in all, English from University reminds me only about two things in my life - problems on exam and a shame on postgraduate qualifying examination for the candidate degree (I tried to talk about scientific paper, it was horrifying... but surprisingly, still enough to pass. To be honest, I don't know what I had to do to fail on this exam. Maybe speak French :) )
Then I had several attempts to learn English at my work. Things got better, because I needed English in my job - technical articles concealing precious information for some reason were all written in English. Moreover, an employer of mine paid for English lessons at office for some time. This lessons seemed to be more effective than all my prior altogether. That's where I revealed that "I'm going" can signify "future". I was stunned :) The world as I'd known it was completely changed. Forever...
Modesty aside, sooner or later I deserved to call myself "pre-intermmediate" and decided that it's enough (I even didn't decide anything, other things just took all my time). I continued to live my serene life unaware of what is waiting for me in years ahead.
To be continued ...
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