Do you find IELTS Writing Task 2 difficult? You’re not alone. Many IELTS students – especially those from exam-focused education systems like China and Turkey – struggle with critical thinking, idea generation, and writing balanced arguments.

In this episode of Kev’s English Podcast, I share:

Why students often misread IELTS Writing Task 2 prompts

The problem with one-sided essays and memorised templates

How cultural and educational backgrounds affect IELTS performance

The importance of critical thinking for achieving Band 7 or higher

Practical strategies to develop stronger ideas and examples in your essays

I also talk about my ongoing research project with IELTS students in China and Turkey, and how it can help learners like you write more natural, effective essays.

🎧 Listen now and take a big step toward your IELTS Writing goals!

👉 For transcripts, tips, and IELTS coaching, visit theenglishnative.com
And see me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheEnglishNative

Kev's English Podcast

KEP 37: Why Many IELTS Students Struggle with Task 2 (Critical Thinking & Common Mistakes)

In questo primo episodio vi racconto come e perché sono arrivata in Giappone. Si tratta di un enorme cambiamento di vita e, chissà, magari tra gli studenti di italiano c'è qualcuno che vorrebbe intraprendere lo stesso percorso!

Alechan in Giappone

S1 EP1 Come sono arrivata in Giappone

Let's find some answers to the questions that we have about China. A beautiful country.

Can I Say - Can I Do

China questions

Explains the difference between using the prepositions "to" and "for" with the verb "wait."  Includes a quiz.

The English Toolbox

Wait for vs. Wait to

بَلَّش عَصْر الإِنْتَرْنِت بِوَقْت الحَرْب البَارْدِة بَين رُوسْيَا وأَمْرِيكَا.
طَبعًا بَلّش بِالجَيش الأَمْرِيكِي بِالسِّتِينَات أو السَبْعِينَات
بعدين بالتْمَانِينَات صَار مَسْمُوح بَين النَاس وبِالتِسْعِينَات إِنْتَشَر كْتِير.
هلأ صار الإِنْتَرْنِت كْتِير مُهِم بِحَيَاتْنَا، وبَعْد كُورُونَا صِرْنَا نِسْتَخْدِمُه مْشَان الشِغِل.

Levantine Dialect (Level 1)

الإنترنت \ internet 🛜

"... Она засмеялась. Потом оба продолжали есть молча, как незнакомые; но после обеда пошли рядом – и начался шутливый, легкий разговор людей свободных, довольных, которым все равно, куда бы ни идти, о чем ни говорить. Они гуляли и говорили о том, как странно 
Потом у себя в номере он думал о ней, о том, что завтра она, наверное, встретится с ним. Так должно быть. Ложась спать, он вспомнил, что она еще так недавно была институткой, училась, все равно как теперь его дочь, вспомнил, сколько еще несмелости, угловатости было в ее смехе, в разговоре с незнакомым, – должно быть, это первый раз в жизни она была одна, в такой обстановке, когда за ней ходят, и на нее смотрят, и говорят с ней только с одною тайною целью, о которой она не может не догадываться. Вспомнил он ее тонкую, слабую шею, красивые серые глаза.
«Что-то в ней есть жалкое все-таки», – подумал он и стал засыпать.
..."

Нескучные истории - Not boring stories

"Дама с собачкой" Чехов, отрывок

Oggi ci spostiamo in Sicilia dove si trova la quinta città più grande d’Italia, Palermo. Se non ci siete ancora stati questo podcast vi farà venire voglia di partire subito!

Level: intermediate
Source, transcription & more: https://www.aviontourism.com/it/destinazioni/palermo-997

🗺   CITTÀ ITALIANE #QuickItalianWithMara

🦅 PALERMO

En este episodio hablamos sobre viajar en avión, con vocabulario sobre el aeropuerto, el equipaje y el vuelo.
Agrego algunas experiencias personales súper breves.
Practiquemos español juntos en este podcast corto y efectivo, que incluye vocabulario útil y pronunciación nativa. Si te gusta, deja un comentario. ¡Un abrazo!

Disfruta de aprender

¡Hablemos sobre viajar!

Staying safe online is important. But a lot of us are making mistakes with the passwords we use for our different accounts.

Password manager company Bitwarden found that a quarter of people use the same password for at least 11 sites or apps. And more than one-third of us use personal information in our passwords.

Personal information isn't a good idea to use, because it's quite easy for others to find it out.

But here's something else that isn't a good idea: using the name of your favorite celebrity, band, singer or superhero!

A company called Mailsuite has been looking at the most dangerous pop culture passwords you can use online.

Mailsuite made a list of more than 2,600 pop culture terms and almost 64,000 different ways of writing them.

It then looked at something called the Pwned Passwords database, which gives information about hundreds of millions of passwords that have been exposed in online data breaches.

The pop culture password that came up most was "Superman." It appeared in almost 585,000 data breaches.

In second place was the US band Blink-182. Used as a password, it appeared in more than 482,000 data breaches.

"Batman," "Star Wars" and "Eminem" were also in the top five.

Bitwarden says you should choose a long password that includes letters, numbers and symbols.

You should also have a different password for each app you use. Sites like Bitwarden also let you check how strong a password is before you choose it.