IELTS Vocabulary: notice, look up, use
Notice
A student called herry commented below this lesson thathe/she noticed the phrase "resort to" in my paragraph about creditcards.
Look up
Herry then looked the phrase up in a dictionary and found the meaning:
resort to something = do something that you do not want to do because youcannot find any other way.
Use
The next step is to try using the phrase in a sentence of your own (e.g. Manystores have resorted to cutting prices). If possible, ask a teacher to checkyour sentence to make sure it's correct.
Thisis a great way to improve your vocabulary repertoire.
Posted by Simon in Vocabulary/Grammar | Permalink | Comments (8)
Sunday, September 28,2014
IELTS Grammar: correct themistakes
Peopleoften make mistakes when they try to use 'difficult' language. Can you correctthe following sentences and write them in a less complicated way?
1.Banksalways motivates their customers for availing various types of credit cards.
2.Asa credit card has become prevalent for which it is easy to apply and gain this,there are several problems that people undergo.
3. Credit cards do have bothpros and cons but it depends on the inevitability of user and their attitude toknow purposely that determines the usage of mostly worth of it.
Posted by Simon in Vocabulary/Grammar | Permalink | Comments (21)
Saturday, September 20,2014
IELTS Grammar: Googling forgrammar patterns
Haveyou tried using Google (or another search engine) to resolve grammar problems?For example, students asked me to explain the following sentences fromthe essay inWednesday's lesson:
1.Thereare some basic preconditions to achieving happiness.
2.Theredo seem to be somecommon needs that we all share.
3.Itis no doubt true that...
If we put quotation marks ("...")around the key words, and Google them, we can look for patterns in the searchresults that help us to understand the grammar.
Example:
Try searching for "preconditions to achieving", then try"preconditions to being" and "preconditions to doing". Thesearch results should show you that "preconditions to +ing" is anormal grammar pattern in English.
Nowsearch for "there do seem to be" and "it is no doubt truethat". You might find that searching for grammar patterns is more usefulthan learning grammar rules.
Posted by Simon in Vocabulary/Grammar | Permalink | Comments (10)
Saturday, August 23, 2014
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