In the left column, you’ll find words in the question from an official IELTS reading test. Vocabulary makes up 25% of your total mark in the Writing and Speaking tests, so the answer is yes.Īlso, did you know that the Listening and Reading tests are really vocabulary tests too? Take a look at the table below: These are to demonstrate how I use the vocabulary improvement methods outlined on this page to analyse common topics. Note that these are not definitive lists or a complete set of words that will help you get a high score in the test. I analysed all of the Task 2 papers from the last few years and established that there are 10 common topics.īelow you will find a list of these common topics – click on them to find 20 words that are linked to each common topic.Įach word is visually represented and I have also included synonyms, antonyms, meanings, collocations and example sentences.īelow are a list of topics of common IELTS vocabulary:
#How to use ultimate vocabulary download#
You can also click the button below to download my FREE IELTS Vocabulary Improvement Plan: IELTS Vocabulary Word Circles It has helped thousands of my students get the scores they need! In my experience, the 6-Step Plan above is the most effective way of improving your IELTS Vocabulary. It doesn’t matter how ‘complicated’ your vocabulary is – IELTS examiners can tell when you use a word incorrectly and will give you a lower mark if you make lots of mistakes.
The result was always the same: they would try to use these new words in a sentence and get them completely wrong. In the past, many of my students have downloaded long lists of words or ‘Band 7 Vocabulary’ with the hopes that they could simply learn new words by memorising them. What happens if I learn IELTS word lists? The human mind can only effectively remember around 15 new words in a foreign language per day – any more and you won’t learn them properly and make mistakes. The only way to effectively learn new words and use them properly is by learning them from context, or in other words, from real sources of information. Most of these websites will let you believe that their ‘Word Lists’ or ‘Band 7 Vocabulary’ will boost your IELTS score…Īfter years of marking IELTS essays, I can promise you that learning a few words from a list you found online will never increase your score. If you type ‘IELTS vocabulary’ into Google, you’ll find 1000s of websites with long lists of complicated words. After 6 months, you will have learned almost 2000 new words! How Word Lists Can Lower your Score Practice using them in a sentence.įollow this simple strategy for 5 days a week and you will have 300+ new words in your notebook after just 1 month. Review the new words after one week, two weeks and then one month. You can also draw pictures – whatever helps you to remember the word. Beside each word, note the meaning, an example sentence or two, collocations, synonyms, antonyms, and pronunciation.
Look up the new words in an online dictionary. Note the 15 new words down in your notebook. (This step is very important because it will help you remember the new words.) Try to guess what they mean from the context. Read/watch/listen to whatever you chose in Step 1 and pick out 15 words you don’t understand. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just somewhere for you to record your notes every day. People learn more effectively when they enjoy what they are doing, so don’t pick something boring!
#How to use ultimate vocabulary series#
Choose a book, TV show, radio show, podcast, YouTube series or magazine that interests you.