ieltscommunity1

Er, hello there!

As Yasmeen sadly comments, the fire seems to have faded and the magic has lost its lustre.

If you want to keep ieltsmagic alive, then you have to make an effort. Otherwise, let's concentrate on ieltswords, 'cos they're starting to get their act together.

Do let me know how you are all doing.

Good night you all

Tony as "blogmember"

Good evening everyone!

Where are you? What's happened to the energy and commitment? Where is Wael? [Has anyone read the "Where is Wally?" books?].

It's OK, I knew this would happen, some bloggers hardly contributed during the course, and so now . . . (Remember what you said, Rana? Please don't come to me in a panic just before you intend to take IELTS.)

Anyone who wants to join the new weblog www.ieltswords.blogspot.com can email me and I'll tell them the username and password for "blogmember" which is open to everyone.

The new class is settling down, there are some very smart cookies on board and we'll be picking up speed from now onwards.

Next Sunday, good ole Yasmeen is going to give my new class an IELTS 'pep talk' before she goes on leave. That lady is an absolute treasure, we've been so lucky to have her with us.

Bye for now.

I haven't forgotten you. The caravan has moved on and picked up new travellers. The destination remains the same.

ps my second daughter Dana arrives for an all too short stay this Saturday. She's the fifth year Medicine student at Imperial College London and is an amazing, beautiful personality. Who knows? She might even post a comment on the blog.

I really am going now, honestly! ;-)

Hello my first weblog!

I have been telling my new class to look at YOUR weblog and to learn from your experiences. Some have done so and found it useful. Thanks guys!

12 out of 15 in my new class (one guy missed the bus!) have joined the new weblog, but only 5 have made postings so far. Three people have not managed to log in and register (eh bien, plus ca change, c'est la meme chose, n'est-ce pas?).

Can you please encourage my new class to use this weblog to help them define their appoach to the IELTS exam? The new weblog started off as a kind of intellectual debating club (which is a very fine thing in itself) but it needs to more IELTS focussed. Sure, I can tell the class what to do and say on the blog, but anything that comes from you guys will carry more weight.

So how about some advice for the new group on:

www.ieltswords.blogspot.com

I'd be very grateful for any support from you guys!

All the very best for tomorrow Yasmeen, Wael, Haleemuddin and Mujtaba!

Tony

Good evening ladies and gentlemen!

And now for something completely different!

This is just to let you know that Miss Zeena Beale was born 11 years ago on April 15th.

She will be celebrating in style with four of her best friends by going bowling, having pizza, seeing a film and cruising a shopping mall - what more can a girl ask for? I'll be with my wife and Princess Zeena, of course and we intend to have a great time.

This rather self-indulgent message is just to remind you that life goes on - mock IELTS, prep IELTS or real IELTS notwithstanding. It will all pass and you will wonder why you got so uptight, nervous and overwhelmed by this blip on the great oscilloscope of life...
Keep smiling, thinking, focussing and believing in yourselves.

Good night and God bless you all!

Tony

Good evening ladies and gentlemen!

My friend Abdelrahman took the IELTS Academic version test on Saturday 9 April. He had attended the March IELTS preparation course at the BC with me.
His advice for the Academic readingmodule is as follows [some of which is relevant for General Training candidates too]:

1. Look very briefly at the texts in all THREE sections to start with. Section 3 might be more "accessible" for you than Sections 1 and 2, but you hadn't realised that or given yourself enough time for this third part which turned out not as difficult as SECTIONS one and two.
2. Do the quick overview of each passage to orientate yourself to the text's content, message and style.
3. Look at ALL the questions in the section, BEFORE you start answering them in sequence. If time is running short, then you will have realised that the final questions are perhaps easier than the earlier ones.
4. Keep your eye on the clock! Those minutes tick away and before you know it, time is running out and you might be tempted to panic.
5. DO NOT try under any circumstances to read the whole text in detail - it will be much too long and this approach is inefficient. Make sure you know what you're looking for and ZOOM in on the relevant part in the passage.
6. So, get those highlight pens colouring, put that thinking cap on your head and marshal your powers of understanding, deduction, inference, interpretation and paraphrasing for the toughest part of the IELTS exam. Most Native speakers would struggle in the Academic Reading, unless they have prepared themselves to read speedily, purposefully, intelligently and with great concentration.

Good luck Yasmeen, Wael, Haleemuddin and Mujtaba! We're all rooting for you!

Tony and the rest of the team

Hello campers!

I have already created a new blog for my next IELTS course, which starts on Sunday.
I'd love you to drop in and comment when it gets going.
It's a little sad that only Mohammed Saeed and Yasmeen seem to be making any effort to contribute to www.ieltsmagic.blogspot.com
The other 14 are probably viewing the blog but are too busy/shy/pre-ocupied/worried to have anything worthwhile to say... Ah well...
At this rate I wonder about a "running" blog to incorporate all my ex-IELTS students... Anyway, I'll probably look into such a weblog, which will be much more student-controlled and less teacher-driven. We shall see...

Bye for now

Antonius

Mohammed kindly asked me some questions, so here are some answers:

• Who has influenced you greatly? Personally and professionally? Personally, my wife Aida & professionally my first Director of Studies, Martin
• When did you first come to the middle east (tell us the story)? It was Morocco, the Near East(?) in 1977. A complete change of scenery and direction were called for and the Maghreb entranced me and Islam embraced me. It was a momentous period - I love that country.
• Where else have you been to in the arab world? After the UAE, nowhere else compares, so the rest of the Arab world awaits me.
• Why do you think it is not very difficult to get high bands in IELTS?My philosophy in life is to be positive, I never said IELTS was "easy" - on the contrary, it is a very demanding exam that "takes no prisoners"! I like simple, elegant English and clear thinking.
• What is your advice to our class?Be prepared to re-sit IELTS at least once. Don't give up! Use all the resources available to improve your command of English and your ability to use it accurately and effectively. You have to go into training for a marathon race - IELTS needs time and confidence for you to attack and beat it!
• How did you find our class? This class had strong personalities, some leaders and a lot of followers. Not everyone is a born leader, debater (just had to check the spelling on that - honestly!) or writer. It takes guts and practice. The weblog helped to create more cohesion in the class. There was a positive 'buzz' in the class, which helped my work. My next class will be different, my approach will alter accordingly. Unfortunately most classes are mixed in terms of ability, motivation and commitment available for this demanding course. Your feedback questionnaires were mostly positive, thank you! I shall have a longer look at them tomorrow and maybe pose you a few more questions...
• As for the reluctant bloggers: Rana, Fizal, Tony 'Don', Mohamed Saad, Masoud, Mujtaba and Mohamed Ataulah - let's hear from you, OK? What do you have to lose?

Good night, bloggers, I hope you go for the IELTS this month - don't dilly dally too long!

It was fun, it still is fun and it will be fun.

Tony

Hello bloggers!

How about this subject for debate tonight?

It's from the argument essays # 53:

"Should retirement be compulsory at 65 years of age?"

Let's have 5 people be prepared to speak FOR:

Fizal, Haleemuddin, Mohamed Attaulah, Mohamed Saad and Ekaterina

Then 5 people AGAINST:

Ahmed Heikal, Ehab, Waiel, Mujtaba and Masoud

Last week's debators - Tony, Yasmeen, Mahra and Moh'd Saeed decide WHO they want to hear - 2 / 3 (?) speakers from each side.

Be prepared to speak for TWO minutes MAXIMUM. I shall listen and summarize.

The non debators shall listen, make notes and decide which team made the better argument, giving their reasons.

OK, over to you!

All the best

Tony

Remember in the IELTS Speaking, you have only 60 seconds to prepare for your "long turn".

Yasmeen and Mohammed have been upgraded to blog administrators - they can now edit/remove posts and comments.
Do any other "contributors" who wish to contribute to the success of the blog also wish to be administrators?
As Napoleon said, "Every soldier has a Field Marshal's baton in his knapsack".

CU later

Tony

Hello everyone! My posting just disappeared into the ether and I hadn't saved it as draft or clipboarded it, ah well, here's a quick re-cap.

As you notice, I've left you to your own devices today and most of yesterday. Well done to the "famous five" who went down on Thursday and helped themselves.

Tomorrow you will:

• get back your marked / mistake highlighted work from Tuesday
• find 16 National Geographic magazines [cheers Ekaterina!]
• do a Listening exam and transfer your answers to the answer paper, then mark them before we analyse where you went right / wrong.
• after that I plan to get you to discuss some task 2 titles orally in groups before you write me a Task 2 essay of your choice. If you can't face that (Waiel) then maybe the Learning Zone can amuse you for 40 minutes or so...

So here is the promised model task 2 essay which took me 20 minutes to plan and write on paper, then 20 minutes to type / edit. It was an interesting exercise, I'm not sure how it can help you [please let me know!] Oh, by the way, I will give you a proper print out of this superbly crafted essay tomorrow as well.

The title was:

"Do we become used to bad news? Would it be better if more good news was reported?"

Model Essay: Argument Essay Topic # 40
Time spent planning: 5 minutes
Time spent writing: 15 minutes (to IELTS standard)
Time spent typing / editing: 20 minutes
Number of words: 387* [*Absolutely no comment from you, Mr AlBraiki!)

It has been suggested in some quarters that the news is always bad. People should have more good news. The issue is quite complex and in this essay, I will propose a balanced approach.

It cannot be denied that we tend to become bored with the same old news stories. Wars, famines and natural disasters bore us. The threat of terrorist outrages sends us surfing through the TV channels. We have a short span of attention and constantly seek fresh news stories. However, I do not accept the argument that we get ‘used to’ bad news. The implication of this statement is that we do not care about the suffering of other people. This is certainly not the case, in my opinion. I contend that we should be given a fair, objective news coverage that informs us of the real state of affairs in the world. We do not need to have news ‘dumbed down’. Who has the right to decide that ‘bad’ news is unpopular? It is an undeniable fact that we tend to lose interest in stories that regularly hit the headlines. Nevertheless, this is not to say that we should neglect ‘hard’ news in favour of ‘soft’ news.

Other people might argue that the world is a depressing place. We need to be cheered up and given more ‘good’ news stories. Such individuals want to be entertained and inspired by cheerful stories about human achievement. There is a place for such ‘Disney-style’ happy endings. Cases spring to mind such as the baby rescued after five days underground following an earthquake. We forget about the 1,000’s killed and massive destruction caused. Most news programmes on TV and in the newspapers like such ‘human interest’ stories. As I see it, there is no place for insisting on good news at the expense of reality. Just look at the US newspaper which printed only good news. Its first bad news story was to announce that it was going out of business!

In conclusion, therefore, I would like to stress that we are mature enough to handle good and bad news in equal measure. Too much of either extreme is not acceptable, in my opinion. I want the freedom to see, hear and read what is going on in the real world – either for the good or bad.