Lindsay McMahon
"The English Adventurer"
Jessica Beck
"Director of IELTS Training"

You want to score a 7 or higher on IELTS, right?

If so, when you choose an IELTS teacher you need to be careful!

Recently we have heard a lot of bad advice from IELTS teachers.

Students come to us and ask if the advice that they heard is true.

In today’s episode we are going to tell you the most common myths that students are hearing from bad IELTS teachers.

Myth #1) You need to speak British English on the IELTS

This is incorrect! If someone tells you this, run away from them!

They are not a qualified IELTS teacher.

The IELTS is an international exam.

Even though the company that makes the IELTS exam is a British company, it does not matter.

You can spell in British English or American English on the Writing and the Listening test.

On the Speaking test you can speak in any accent you want.

The accent doesn’t matter on the Speaking test.

What matters is being understood.

If you can be understood by the examiner, you will get a better score.

Read more here

Myth #2) You cannot make up facts on the Speaking or Writing test

This is also a lie.

Of course you can make up facts.

In many cases you have to make up facts and create fake research to support your ideas.

The examiner knows that you don’t have access to the internet.

Also, the examiner will love it if you are creative and spontaneous.

They will be more likely to give you a higher score if you are able to keep it fun and interesting by adding your own facts and statistics to support your ideas.

Myth #3) You should take notes while you listen

This is wrong.

There is no time to take notes on the Listening test.

You should not take your attention away from the Listening to write things down.

You should instead follow along, stare at key words that you underline, and predict the answer.

Myth #4) You must ALWAYS use high-level academic words for the entire Speaking test

You should NOT use formal, academic vocabulary for the entire Speaking test.

You only need academic vocabulary for Speaking Part 3.

For Speaking Parts 1 and 2 you should be using casual slang and natural idioms and expressions.

Myth #5) You should write a 4-paragraph essay format for Writing Task 1

No! This is also a myth.

Teachers will tell you this if they are not familiar with the IELTS exam. They will tell you to write the IELTS essay in the same way that they write a traditional academic essay but that is not the right way to do it.

There are very specific ways to do Writing Task 1 for the IELTS and you can learn more about it here.

If you hear any of these myths from your IELTS teacher you should stop working with them.

Why? If they are telling you one of these myths then they are probably telling you other things about IELTS that are incorrect.

You should not waste your time and money with someone who is a general test-prep expert and teaches TOEFL, IELTS, and other exams.

Has a teacher ever told you these myths?

Tell us in the comments below.

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