A book for IELTS book - Advanced IELTS skills training Book

Today, PREP introduces A Book for IELTS book for those who aim to achieve an IELTS band score of 6.0 or higher. This book can help you develop knowledge in all four IELTS skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. Learners will be guided through the theory of various question types and practice exercises ranging from simple to complex in this book. Let's explore more about A Book for IELTS book with PREP!

I. Overview of A Book for IELTS book

1. General introduction to A Book for IELTS book

Sam McCarter's IELTS preparation book, A Book for IELTS book, has made a significant impact in the field of English academic study and specifically in the IELTS domain. He is an expert in academic linguistics at Southwark University and has collaborated closely with Cambridge University Press and Macmillan Education ELT over the years.

He has produced highly acclaimed test preparation materials, providing readers with reliable, high-quality information sources, such as the book Academic Writing for IELTS and the book IELTS Reading Test. Especially the book we are currently exploring, A Book for IELTS book. Therefore, students can completely trust the content in this book.

2. Suitable users of A Book for IELTS book

For those who are currently studying and have achieved a level of approximately 5.0 on the IELTS scale, A Book for IELTS book is the appropriate choice. The exercises in the book have similar formats, lengths, and difficulties to the actual exam, so beginners in IELTS or those who haven't thoroughly reviewed them may encounter difficulties when doing the exercises in the book.

The book also does not provide specific and detailed instructions on how to handle different question types because A Book for IELTS book combines all four skills into one study material. Therefore, those who need an in-depth focus on a specific skill should seek specialized preparation books that separate each skill, such as "Intensive IELTS Writing" and "Basic IELTS Writing" for writing practice, "Intensive IELTS Speaking" and "Basic IELTS Speaking" for speaking practice, and similar books for the remaining two skills.

II. Main content of the A Book for IELTS book

The content of the A Book for IELTS book PDF includes the following main sections:

• Introduction to each skill: In each skill section, you will start with an introduction that provides an overview of the specific skill, the structure of the skill test, relevant details, and factors related to the test. This includes the time allotted for each section as well as helpful tips and notes to help you meet the scoring standards. Each lesson will focus on a specific type of task or strategy related to the IELTS skill. The author breaks down each type into different lessons to help learners concentrate and remember that particular task format.

• IELTS Practice Test: This section allows learners to compare their performance with the actual test and apply the knowledge they have acquired from the lessons and exercises.

• Listening: The book provides a concise description of the requirements and test process in the first part. Each subsequent lesson consists of four parts. Additionally, two important components are reading and writing.

• Reading: The book offers 22 lessons on Reading skills, including information on question types, essential functions, and applied strategies. Small exercises are included in each section to help you review the learned content. Afterward, there are four major practice tests. You can always check your answers and assess your proficiency by referring to the answer key at the end of the book.

• Writing: This section covers a total of 20 tasks for both Task 1 and Task 2. The author lists vocabulary that needs to be learned, common types of charts and maps, and guides the skills and steps to write a complete essay.

• Speaking: This is the final section of the book. The author delves into analyzing the specifics of the Speaking test, provides topics, and offers sample answers for learners to study.

III. Pros and cons of the A Book for IELTS book

1. Pros of the A Book for IELTS book

• Comprehensive coverage of all four skills: The book includes an introduction to each skill, lists common issues encountered in each skill, and provides advice on how to overcome them. After the introduction, students have the opportunity to immediately apply what they have learned through complete practice tests.

• Useful tips and strategies for all four skills: To provide learners with solid and complete preparation for the IELTS exam, A Book for IELTS book offers detailed test-taking tips and strategies to improve your speed. This book will help you gain confidence and readiness before engaging in the actual test. Despite its simple cover design, A Book for IELTS book contains a wealth of information and experience gathered by the author through research and teaching.

2. Cons of the A Book for IELTS book

• Content may not be fully updated: Although the book was reprinted in 2014, there may still be a gap between the content at that time and the current types of reading passages and question formats for all four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.

• Content delivery may not be explicit: Instead of providing clear explanations of concepts, A Book for IELTS book primarily guides learners through exercises, allowing them to extract their own insights and experiences. This may pose challenges for beginners in reading comprehension.

• The book's content is somewhat scattered, lengthy, and entirely in English. Additionally, the presentation may not be visually engaging, which could potentially reduce motivation and interest in studying.

IV. Effective study methods for A Book for IELTS book

Do you know how to use the A Book for IELTS book effectively? You might think that all you need to do is practice the exercises, check the answers, and score yourself, but you may be missing out on fully utilizing this book.

Below are some methods to help you make the most of the IELTS preparation book and succeed in the test:

1. For Listening

• Identify the issues: Throughout each listening section, understand the specific types of problems and important problem-solving abilities required for each part.

• Time yourself for practice tests: Take timed Cambridge practice tests to put pressure on yourself and get used to time constraints during the actual exam.

• Avoid replaying audio segments: Each listening exercise is accompanied by audio in A Book for IELTS book. Since you only hear the audio once during the listening section, pay close attention. This will help you avoid missing important information and losing points. (Note: If you are determined to practice, do not stop the audio and listen again, as it would give a more accurate assessment of your ability.)

• Review mistakes and learn vocabulary, and pronunciation from the transcript: Check which questions you answered incorrectly in any type of practice test after the time is up, so you can spend more time revising for that particular type of test. You can listen while reading the transcripts to learn new vocabulary and pronunciation tips from the speaker.

2. For Reading

• Time yourself during the test: There is a time limit of 60 minutes for each practice test in A Book for IELTS book. In reality, allocating an appropriate amount of time for three long passages can be quite challenging. Nevertheless, practice getting used to time constraints so you can understand why you need to allocate time for each passage and improve your speed.

• Avoid looking up unfamiliar words: Avoid looking up vocabulary words you don't understand in the dictionary while studying. During the exam, you are also not allowed to look up word meanings, so learn effective vocabulary learning methods to guess word meanings more easily and improve your ability to infer meanings from contextual clues.

• Apply appropriate strategies: Use techniques or strategies for each type of test throughout the exam to provide suitable and accurate answers.

• Check mistakes and rectify them: Check how many questions you answered incorrectly when the time is up. To understand why you made mistakes, read the incorrect questions again. If you are still confused about why a question has a particular answer, you can search for detailed explanations online or ask English experts.

• Enhance vocabulary from reading passages: Reviewing new words will help you strengthen and build your vocabulary. You can apply them in the Writing and Speaking sections by using ideas and examples from the Reading section.

3. For Writing

• Understand the prompt and identify keywords, develop ideas: To avoid losing points, you must accurately understand the basic requirements and the commonly used approach in Task 1 and 2, as well as the characteristics of different types of questions in those two sections.

• Enhance vocabulary for fluent expression: It is essential to spend time improving your vocabulary as it will be used to convey your ideas in the Writing section.

• Deeply study each task: Practice Task 1 and 2 independently when you first encounter the prompts in A book for IELTS book to become familiar with the writing style. Once you are familiar with it, allocate time for each section and learn writing techniques as well as adjust your timing accordingly, similar to how you would do in the actual IELTS exam.

4. For Speaking

• Practice speaking daily: After you have become comfortable with speaking English, practice speaking daily. Then, start following the designated curriculum of A book for IELTS.

• Maintain a confident attitude during the Speaking test: Speaking is an interesting skill because the examiner focuses more on your reflexes and how you use English, rather than the grammar of individual words and sentences. Therefore, your attitude during the Speaking test is also crucial.

• Practice speaking with a friend or teacher for evaluation and feedback: To have more motivation and to make it easier to provide feedback and evaluation, you can find a companion for communication. If not, you can ask yourself questions and provide answers. Additionally, you can practice speaking in the virtual Speaking room (VSR) on PREP, where you can practice Speaking and receive detailed AI feedback.

• Record your speaking to listen back and correct mistakes: To improve your pronunciation and speaking reliably and confidently, record your speaking and listen to it again.

• Use diverse terms when speaking: Develop vocabulary and idioms from YouTube videos or other speaking resources to use in your speeches and increase your score.

V. Practice IELTS exercises effectively and for free with PREP

Finding practice tests is not always easy, as there are many sources and different books, and you also need to find them based on your proficiency level and related question types.

Understanding this, PREP has compiled all the IELTS practice tests for the 4 skills on the Test Practice page, where you can find a collection of practice test sets ranging from basic to advanced. This makes it easy for you to search for topics with different books, and it also categorizes the test sets according to each skill if you want to focus on in-depth practice. Moreover, all the practice test sets are completely free and come with explained answers and clear scoring.

The above are the insights from PREP regarding the instructional materials in A book for IELTS book. PREP believes that the practice test sets in the book will help you improve your ability to handle different question types and conquer the IELTS exam. Wishing you success!