THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLOCATIONS IN IELTS, TOEFL & PTE.
THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLOCATIONS IN IELTS, TOEFL & PTE. It is quite strange that even the post graduates in India are not being taught about the relevance of COLLOCATIONS in the writing and speaking of English. Collocation is the natural occurrence of two words repeatedly come together when native speakers speak English. The classic examples of collocations are “LET’S HAVE A CUP OF TEA, STRONG TEA, HEAVY RAIN, PAY TRIBUTE, PAY HOMAGE, PAY RESPECTS, PAY ATTENTION, DRAWING A SALARY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT and the IMPLEMENTAT- ION OF RULES. In IELTS, PTE and TOEFL the Speaking & Writing modules are assessed also on the basis of the use of collocations. And the effective use of collocations makes your speaking and writing natural and academic. As things are, every student of IELTS, PTE & TOEFL are requested to be comfortable with collocations. To be good at collocations, one has to read and write a lot, and get familiarised with collocations by writing them down however proficient you are in English. Since English is a second language for most of us spending a lot of time in writing and speaking will enrich your command of English and naturally you will be accustomed to natural English. More examples of collocations are MAKING A POINT, DEVELOPING AN IDEA, ENTER INTO AN ARGUMENT, BAD DEBT, SOUND SLEEP, AFFORD A CAR and a rewarding job. As such, the earlier you are comfortable with various collocations of English language, the earlier you get a commendable result in these global exams.
WHY STUDY ABROAD & MIGRATION MUST BE PROMOTED?
WHY STUDY ABROAD & MIGRATION MUST BE PROMOTED? A new trend is gathering momentum in developing nations to discourage students from studying abroad and to demotivate prospective job aspirants from seeking jobs and settling in progressive nations. How can it be justifiable when most universities in developing nations are not doing justice to their duties and when the quality of their education is not enough to help tertiary students to grab a lucrative job in their dreamland. Why should we judge others in their pursuit of excellence? When the planet has 788 crores of people today, scattered in 198 nations, and when globalisation has become a reality, how can we justify the statements against studying abroad and migration? This is the new norm of the day of progressive people. With regards to migration, the citizens of today definitely have the right to migrate legally and settle anywhere under the sun. And now it is all the more easy to migrate, thanks to the breakthroughs in aviation, liberal laws in rich nations and the enactment of new progressive rules. The global connectivity of the Internet and the spread of a single language English, the language of success, also have helped people move across the globe and to materialise their objectives. After all, when paradigm shifts are but a reality and geopolitical changes are but natural, sensible people will become aware of their fundamental rights, and will choose what is most suited for improving the quality of their lives, be they migrating to or even investing all their earnings in another country. Of course, people have different perspectives, and it is quite natural as we all are unique. However, it is rational to approach issues objectively when manipulation of facts has become the norm, and the dissemination of information has become instantaneous. Migration to other nations has always been there and the Gold Rush to California during the 1840s is a case in point. Then the bright citizens of every nation realised migration was a proactive step. Today, state-of-the-art visual media and the captivating all-encompassing social media have been influencing the decisions of people in every nation. Now the well-informed people do not need the advice of politicians or any dogmatic religious leaders because people have realised the shallowness of political ideologies and the hypocrisy of rigid religions. This is the age of human rights, gender equality and individual freedom. Assessing the values of today, the age of chatgpt, needs the much-needed objectivity rather than the deep-rooted concepts existed in the bullock cart age when warmongers reigned mankind with their mundane outlook. Discerning students who aspire to excel in their fields certainly have the right to move to any country. People also have the right to migrate to any country where human rights are respected, gender equality is maintained and where nepotism is hard to find. Suffice to say that it is purely a personal choice whether to study abroad or to migrate to greener pastures. Times have changed and this is the age of individual preferences and priorities to excel in life. After all, governments have little to do since least governance is regarded as the best governance.
WHY ENGLISH IS THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER LANGUAGE & PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH IS VITAL TODAY?
English is certainly the language of success when the the world has become globalised and liberalised to a great extent. To call it the Lingua Franca of the world is not a cliche since it is the single language which unites all the 198 nations together while respecting their distinct cultural differences. Although it is bit difficult to learn English, to be able to Speak and Write it well will change one’s destiny for the better. A good command of English would help one to have a cutting edge especially when people are destined to compete with the rest of the best of the world. It is quite evident that English is the language of Science, Technology, Research, Aviation, Space Exploration, Tourism, Healthcare, International Trade, Diplomacy between nations and anything transnational. In addition to all these, in a fast changing world, thanks to the many scientific and technological breakthroughs, and instantaneous communication with the help of the multiple facets of the Internet, global progress is made possible also with the flexibility of English. Of the 198 nations in the world, 67 nations have accepted English as their official language and about 27 nations as their secondary official language. The spread of English as the global language is not without any reasons. They are: The alphabet of English is easy to write although the pronunciation of its letters and words are bit confusing. A word having many meanings and different pronunciation may be misleading, but its regular use will definitely prove to be beneficial for the student, the job aspirant and the professional. English boasts of its richness of vocabulary and a slew of impressive phrases which increasing at a fast pace. Its literature is beyond compare and the global presence of English helps people to explore other cultures when they move to another country for job or as part of tourism. Won’t it be beneficial to use a single language for proper communication when there are hundreds of languages and thousands of dialects to confuse people and to cause even mishaps in traffic and even in aviation, where there is no room for saying sorry? Today, when business, trade and bank are transnational, the need for a single functional language is all the more important. For students, job seekers, journalists, writers, politicians and researchers, the presence of a common language bestows immense opportunities and makes life easier. It must be stated that when most employees in MNCs communicate on the Internet, they hardly know where their business partner or customer is located. And the geographical location has become irrelevant when everything seems to be beyond national frontiers. All these appear to be made possible by a single vital factor: the use English. It is worth mentioning that English is the national language of almost all developed and knowledge based economied except Japan, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Scandinavia. And many other nations which emerge to be developed have already accepted English as their secondary official language. Turning a deaf ear to all these sheer facts which have improved the quality of human life would not be progressive. The enviable success and the glory of Indian diaspora in the Gulf, the UK, the US (Mr. Sunder Picchai, the CEO of Google, Mr. Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, Mr. Rushi Sunak, the UK PM, Mr. Yousuf Ali, the global business tycoon, Ms Indira Nuuyi, the ex CEO of Pepsi Cola, the global business tycoon, Ms. Kamala Harris, Ms Kalpana Chawla, Ms. Sunitha Williams, the Hindujas in the UK, Mr Lexmi Mittal, the steel magnate of the UK, Mr. Vivek Ramaswamy and Ms. Nikki Haley, two persons of Indian origin who aspire to contest in the president election of the US in 2024. We must certainly not forget the proud Indians who uphold the reputation of India in many other Asian and African nations fighting all odds. Their success can easily be attributed to their communication skills in English, and of course, their rare qualities required to be successful in other nations. Is it fair to exclude the 15 Indian Nobel Laureates, who could achieve the covetous international award, with the help of their command of English along with excelling in other faculties. Last but not least, English seems to reduce the possibility of many clashes between people and avoids wars between nations because of the presence of a common language. It considerably reduces many misunderstandings arise for want of proper communication. English has grown to such an extent that hardly anybody now considers it as the language of a small island called Britain. It is hoped that the earlier English is accepted as everybody’s language, the better it is for the progress of both the individual and the nation on this tiny planet of this fathomless multiverse.
WHY A HIGH BAND IN IELTS, OET & PTE IS VERY IMPORTANT?
All job aspirants who aspire to go to progressive nations to study, work or to migrate should aim at a high score in these mandatory Global English exams. Of course, youtube channel players occasionally celebrate breaking news just for their financial gains: NO IELTS REQUIRED ONLY 5.5 BAND IS ENOUGH CBSE/ICSE CERTIFICATES ARE ENOUGH. All these are only partial truth. I have been teaching all these exams for 26 years and have been dealing with many consultancies who facilitate students and migrants in reaching their dream destinations. Many occasions in the past, I could read these baseless news and experienced that only when students get a high band can succeed in getting admission in the college of their preference and succeed in getting visa to these rich nations. As such, I earnestly request you to separate wheat from chaff and learn the truth. Consult sensible experts who are in this field at least for a few years and then you take your own decisions. Now we have a good number of candidates from abroad taking online training from us on IELTS, OET, PTE & TOEFL. Please note that there are only very few training centres in these developed nations and they charge huge sums of money for training candidates for a few hours on certain days. Their priority is not your success but what they get in financial terms. Media in general, social media in particular, seem to be not taking any responsibility if anything goes wrong in your life when you reach abroad because of their baseless news. Unfortunately, in the midst of explosion of information and when the truth is available at your fingertip, please find the the truth from any official website and consultancies with some credibility. Taking these exams before you fly from here would be better because : 1. A high band in these exams will help you get your visa easily. 2. A good score will help you get admission in prestigious institutions. 3. Once you complete your education, of all your certificates the most valuable one will be your IELTS or an equal certificate in global exams. 4. During the time of getting a rewarding part time jobs or when attempting for promotion your high band will have a great impact in moulding your future.
WHY A HIGH BAND IN IELTS/ PTE or TOEFL WOULD BE A GREAT HELP FOR A CANDIDATE WHEN THEY MOVE TOWARDS A PROGRESSIVE NATION SUCH AS THE UK, CANADA OR AUSTRALIA?
THERE ARE 8 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD SCORE HIGH IN ONE OF THESE GLOBAL EXAMS: 1. Whatever certificates you have, more weightage will be given for your IELTS /PTE/TOEFL certificate. Because it is from one of the three most reputed Assessment Agencies of the world. In addition, these exams are designed to assess your ability to think objectively, to establish your viewpoint and to assess your 4 different skills (LSRW) in English communication. 2. To get your visa processed fast, a high band in one these exams will be of great help. 3. A good score in the above exams will help you get a rewarding part-time job in a rich nation. 4. When you face job interviews abroad, this genuine certificate will work wonders. 5. When you apply for a promotion this certificate will help you a lot in standing out among your colleagues. 6. When you apply for Permanent Residence in a rich nation, a high band in IELTS/PTE/TOEFL will certainly help you achieve it. 7. Since communication in English is the most sought after quality of an employ overseas, commendable score in one of these exams would give them a cutting edge. 8. When get a good score in one of these global exams, your confidence enhances, the most important single factor to compete with the rest of best of the world.
EASY STEPS TO SCORE A HIGH BAND IN IELTS, OET, PTE & TOEFL SPEAKING.
Globalisation is not a topic to discuss now as it has already become a reality. You should aim at getting a high score in one of these global English exams if you intend to study abroad or to migrate to any of the progressive nations such as the UK or the US. In a globalised world it is quite natural for smart people to seek greener pastures in today’s wide open world of opportunities. In all these global English Exams, in the Speaking Module, your fluency, coherence in expressing your ideas, the use of topic related vocabulary and intelligibility (=whether your English is understandable to others) are being assessed. Pronunciation attracts 25 % of marks in Speaking. Pronunciation comprises stress, diction & intonation. Stress and diction must be learnt thoroughly. Intonation is the rise and fall of pronunciation of a sentence. In addition, your proficiency in English will also be assessed. Especially your ability to produce grammatically correct English. Moreover, your ability to produce range of sentence structures and the grammatical correctness of your sentences also will be evaluated. Last but not least, in all these exams, your skills in communicating effectively in English with confidence is of vital important. There is no room for diffidence. There is nothing called overnight success. As such, study studiously, paying attention to the minute details of words to be used, their correct pronunciation and ensure that you do not deviate from your question. To help you do that you must find time to listen to as many Ted Talks, documentaries of BBC, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC and DISCOVERY. Listening to Tracks of these exams is also will be a great help. Also you should find time to listen to great speeches and conversations readily and freely available in the internet in excellent quality.
WHY A HIGH BAND IN IELTS, OET & PTE ARE VERY IMPORTANT
All job aspirants who aspire to go to progressive nations to study, work, or to migrate should aim for a high score in these mandatory Global English exams. Of course, YouTube channel players occasionally celebrate breaking news just for their financial gains: NO IELTS REQUIRED ONLY 5.5 BAND IS ENOUGH CBSE/ICSE CERTIFICATES ARE ENOUGH. All these are only partial truths. I have been teaching all these exams for 26 years and have been dealing with many consultancies that facilitate students and migrants in reaching their dream destinations. On many occasions in the past, I could read this baseless news and experienced that only when students get a high band can succeed in getting admission to the college of their preference and succeed in getting a visa to these rich nations. As such, I earnestly request you to separate the wheat from the chaff and learn the truth. Consult sensible experts who are in this field at least for a few years and then you take your own decisions. Now we have a good number of candidates from abroad taking online training from us on IELTS, OET, PTE & TOEFL. Please note that there are only very few training centres in these developed nations and they charge huge sums of money for training candidates for a few hours on certain days. Their priority is not your success but what they get in financial terms. Media in general, social media in particular, seem to be not taking any responsibility if anything goes wrong in your life when you reach abroad because of their baseless news. Unfortunately, amid the explosion of information and when the truth is available at your fingertip, please find the truth from any official website and consultancies with some credibility. Taking these exams before you fly from here would be better because : 1. A high band in these exams will help you get your visa easily. 2. A good score will help you get admission to prestigious institutions. 3. Once you complete your education, of all your certificates the most valuable one will be your IELTS or an equal certificate in global exams. 4. During the time of getting a rewarding part-time job or when attempting for promotion your high band will have a great impact in molding your future.
CLARITY IS KEY IN IELTS
CLARITY IS KEY IN IELTS There seems to be a wrong notion embedded in the minds of IELTS test takers that it is mandatory to write or speak high-sounding words in the IELTS exam. Using bombastic words need not attract a high band in IELTS. Topic related vocabulary or reasonably uncommon WORDS, but with contextual relevance, are expected in IELTS Writing & Speaking for a score 6.5 or above. High end words in IELTS do not mean that certain high- sounding memorised words or some confusing and misleading phrases. What the IELTS exam conductors mean is that if you are smart enough to use the right collocations and right words which are suitable for the topic discussing, you can attract a score above 6.5 band or more. However, in reading your familiarity with many uncommon words, understanding of the meaning certain uncommon words and their contextual use might be useful. It is because some reading passages appear to be difficult as there may be quite a few difficult lexical resource, especially in the 3rd passage. Suffice to say that having a good command of vocabulary is required, but not the use of any misleading words or phrases to impress the examiner. It is worth to note that examiners are trained to identify the use of unnecessary and bombastic or declaratory words or phrases. B-GHUD ACADEMY Mavelikara & Kochi
TIPS FOR IELTS TEST PREPARATION
IELTS is an international English language proficiency test and it has been designed in such a way that all the skills necessary to have a good standard in the language are tested. There are certain important matters that an IELTS aspirant should essentially know to be able to face the test confidently. Know first of all that passing IELTS is no child’s play, but neither is it a very difficult task. If you know what to do and prepare yourself accordingly, you can easily become an IELTS holder. Here, B-GHUD Academy, the best IELTS coaching Centre in Kerala, shares their 26 years of experience in the field to help students. The IELTS test format It is extremely important that you know the IELTS test format. The key to your success in IELTS is a sound familiarity with the test pattern and format. B-GHUD has published one of the bestselling books in India on IELTS, “IELTS & TOEFL Made Easy,” which contains exhaustive information on each and every aspect of the test. It will give you all the information, tips and lessons that you will need to face IELTS with a smile. IELTS Listening Module IELTS listening module is demanding. You have to provide answers to 40 questions during 4 recordings. The recordings will be played only once. Typical questions include sentence completion, summary completion, form completion and multiple choices. It is possible for you to get lost during a conversation, but you need to recover fast or you will miss all the questions of that task afterwards. This would be a disaster. As such, it is essential to understand how to follow a conversation, even if you miss something and how you can recover to continue answering the next questions. You are also expected to understand what type of information to supply depending on the question type – a number, a name, an address etc. The Speaking Module This test is less than 15 minutes long and is split into three parts. The first 5 minutes are reserved for introduction and general topics between the test taker and the examiner. The second part assesses the test taker’s ability to speak about a random topic given on a cue card. The last part merely adds complexity to the second. At this stage, the examiner will also pay attention to pronunciation, lexical resources and fluency. Practising each part under exam conditions is essential to your test preparation and you will also get used to the pressure you will have during the test. You need to be able to write down notes that will help you to talk for two minutes during the second part of the test. You should also practice answering questions when you don’t really know the answer. Remember that your knowledge is not assessed but your English language proficiency is. IELTS Reading Module The IELTS reading module tests a wide range of reading skills such as reading for gist, reading for main ideas, reading for detail, skimming, understanding logical argument and recognising writers’ opinions, attitudes and purpose. Test takers have to provide short answers, match information, complete sentences, match headings or complete diagram labels. It is essential, therefore, to practise includes a wide variety of questions so that you become accustomed to each type. As such, developing a wide range of reading skills is essential. Timing is of vital importance in the reading module. You will not have the time to go through the texts several times. There are strategies to help you to avoid this situation, for example, how to skim the text and what kind of information you need to focus on. The Writing Module It is found that the writing module is the most difficult of all. Both tasks in the academic training must be written in a formal style. Task 1 requires that you interpret a graph/chart/table etc., which requires significant practice in English. Task 2 is writing an essay on a given topic and presents a number of challenges. Often, the topic given can be hard to develop if you are not familiar with it. In addition, the essay must have a proper structure. For Task 2 requires that you write different types of essays such as Agree or Disagree, Discuss two Opposing Opinions, Advantages and Disadvantages, Problems and Solutions, Causes and Solutions, Causes and Effects. You have to familiarise yourself with the structure of an essay, how to develop it, how to write the introduction and the conclusion. You must be able to connect your ideas using cohesion and coherence. Tips in general Take a practice test. Understand the test format. Be aware of the exam time constraints. One of the biggest mistakes students make is to forget to improve their English. Start preparing for your test well in time. We recommend finding an institution which will help you with English development and IELTS strategies. Listen to native speakers talking to one another and if possible join in. Bear in mind that self-learning is possible as long as you are committed. Above all, to make things really easy for you, why not join B-GHUD Academy, the leaders in the field and the top training Centre for IELTS in Kerala, India?
BEST IELTS WRITING STRATEGIES IN 2023
To live up to its reputation of being the best IELTS training Centre in Kerala, B-GHUD Academy keeps striving to provide its IELTS students with whatever guidelines are necessary. Here are the IELTS writing strategies IELTS students should be equipped with to enable them to do commendably well in the IELTS tests. 1. IELTS writing is for 60 minutes. Task 2 (Essay) is longer than Task 1 (Graph/Letter) and it also fetches double the marks. It is, therefore, important that students wisely divide the time for each task. Spend 20 minutes on Task 1 so that they can take 40 minutes to attempt the essay comfortably. 2. IELTS students should essentially read and understand the topic thoroughly well. It is because an IELTS essay should address the different parts of the topic relevantly. Otherwise, the task would not be achieved and the IELTS student will lose marks. 3. While writing the introduction, every IELTS student should make sure that they use their own words. Copying the topic as it is to write the introduction will be penalised – copied material will not be counted and your total word count would come down. Make sure that you rephrase the topic for your introduction. 4. After having thoroughly understood the different aspects of the topic – that is, after ensuring exactly what points in the essay are to be dealt with – make a plan mentally on how to approach the essay, what to write and how. You may use rough paper to jot down the points. 5. Divide the main body of your essay into paragraphs. You may write two or three body paragraphs depending on the topic. It is in these paragraphs that you present your main ideas. You should write these ideas clearly and support them with examples. If your ideas are clear and well-supported, you will get more marks. 6. While writing the main paragraphs, ensure that they are linked together using “coherence.” Your writing becomes exceptionally impressive if you use apt words or phrases for coherence. An example of good coherence is given below. a. Body paragraph 1 begins: “On the one hand….” b. Body paragraph 2 begins: “On the other hand….” The coherence used above clearly shows that your ideas are contrasting. All essays in B-GHUD books, “IELTS & TOEFL Made Easy” and “IELTS Writing Made Easy” (there are nearly 500 of them!) use an extensive range of coherence for the IELTS students to master prompt use of them. 7. You should write your essay in a discursive style. It means that the sentences you write in a paragraph should be linked together using connective words. It is known as “cohesion.” Cohesion ensures attractive writing. An example of cohesion is given below. “Space research is of great benefit to a nation. However, it is extremely expensive.” This sentence means that “although space research is beneficial, it is very expensive.” See how well the word, ‘however,’ connects the two sentences! Similar to coherence, our books, “IELTS & TOEFL Made Easy” and “IELTS Writing Made Easy” use countless examples of cohesion in their essays for the IELTS students to have a good grasp of them. 8. Lexical resources are another important factor in writing good IELTS essays. The test taker should try to use his own words. Remember, also, to use topic-related words. Topic-related words are those words that are closely related to the topic in question and are usually used frequently while writing or speaking about the subject. For example, if the topic is “pollution,” the related words are waste disposal, waste management, pollution control, effluent treatment, carbon emission, carbon footprint, global warming, environmental problems, greenhouse effect, climate change, deforestation, afforestation and so on. All IELTS essays in our books, “IELTS & TOEFL Made Easy” and “IELTS Writing made Easy” invariably use topic-related words, phrases and terms to benefit IELTS trainees. B-GHUD maintains its position as the top IELTS Coaching Centre in Kerala by ensuring that its students are provided with the best guidance. 9. GRA (Grammatical Range and Accuracy) is one of the main criteria for the evaluation of IELTS essays. Grammatical range means that the IELTS test takers should write a variety of sentence structures in their IELTS essays. B-GHUD book, “IELTS & TOEFL Made Easy,” caters to an extensive range of attractive structures (see pages 108, 109, 187, 239, 240, 300) for IELTS students to imbibe, so that they can write the impressive language. Grammatical accuracy generally means that the IELTS test takers should use the correct tenses in their IELTS essays. There are any number of interesting and intelligent exercises in our book, “IELTS & TOEFL Made Easy,” for the IELTS students to get adept at the use of the right tenses (“Syntax”) in their IELTS writing. 10. Writing the concluding paragraph is yet another important area where that IELTS students should be careful about. Since the conclusion is the last part of your essay, it creates a lasting impression on the evaluator. IELTS students should, therefore, try to make it striking. Your conclusion should not only be logical, but it also should not vary from the thesis sentence you have already written in the introduction. Consistency of your view is what the examiner looks for. 11. Last but not least, your word count should be sufficient (not less than 250 words.) Keep check of your word count from time to time while writing, so that your essay is neither short of the requisite word count nor too long. Whereas short answers will be penalised, you get no extra marks for long essays. Check your essay for grammar, spelling and punctuation errors before turning in your answer paper. We at B-GHUD Academy make it customary to train our IELTS students in line with these strategies. It is thus that we consistently achieve a high success rate and keep being the No.1 IELTS coaching centre in Kerala.