English pronunciation dictionary

How English learners can improve intonation What is intonation and how can you improve this aspect of your pronunciation? Fazle Muniem, a teacher at the British Council in Bangladesh, explains. Imagine you are asking a cab driver if he will take you to a shopping centre five kilometres away. IELTS Speaking: Using technology to improve your vocabulary - IELTS blog Using the language as a regular part of your life Being successful with English, in IELTS and beyond, means finding a way to make using the language a regular part of your life. That means gearing your studies to your hobbies, interests, work and daily life. Why? Because learners often feel frustrated and lose interest in studying vocabulary when they find the study materials boring or irrelevant. The problem is that more interesting materials can be difficult to find and can also be difficult to understand.

IELTS Speaking: The grammar challenge - IELTS blog You might be surprised to hear that grammar is one of the four criteria used to assess your IELTS Speaking test performance and that it carries 25% of the points. Many test-takers assume grammar in speaking is only about accuracy and not making any mistakes. This is only half the story. Making errors is natural, and IELTS understands this: even IELTS Speaking Band 7 expects that ‘some grammatical mistakes persist’. Grammar - Intermediate to upper intermediate Look at these examples to see how phrasal verbs are used. This is the form. Please can you fill it in?Why are you bringing that argument up now?Police are looking into connections between the two crimes.We need to come up with a solution.

Ten dos for the IELTS speaking test Is it OK to correct yourself in the IELTS speaking test? Chris Pell, winner of the British Council’s Teaching English blog award for his post helping IELTS students with pronunciation, gives us his advice in the first part of his list of dos and don’ts for the IELTS speaking test. Do warm up What would happen if a footballer decided to play a game without running or stretching first? They would probably have a terrible game and maybe even injure themselves. Speaking a foreign language is no different.

Grammar - Intermediate to upper intermediate Look at these examples to see how the future continuous and future perfect are used. In three years' time, I'll be studying medicine. In five years' time, I'll have finished studying medicine. Try this exercise to test your grammar. Read the explanation to learn more. Future continuous Ten don'ts for the IELTS speaking test Should you use big words in the IELTS speaking test? Chris Pell, winner of the British Council’s Teaching English blog award for his post helping IELTS students with pronunciation, gives us his advice in the second part of his list of dos and don'ts for the IELTS speaking test. Read part one for the dos. Don’t memorise answers

Grammar - Intermediate to upper intermediate Look at these examples to see how must, might, may, could, can't and couldn't are used in the past. An earthquake? That must have been terrifying! Grammar - Intermediate to upper intermediate Multi-word verbs There are very many multi-word verbs (sometimes called phrasal verbs) in English and it’s very difficult to learn them all. It can sometimes be quite easy to guess the meaning (He picked up the pencil) but other multi-word verbs are less easy to guess (I picked up Italian quite easily when I lived there) and you should look them up in a good dictionary.

Grammar - Intermediate to upper intermediate Look at these examples to see how third and mixed conditionals are used. We would have walked to the top of the mountain if the weather hadn't been so bad. If we'd moved to Scotland when I was a child, I would have a Scottish accent now. If she was really my friend, she wouldn't have lied to me. Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Relative clauses: non-defining relative clauses Look at these examples to see how non-defining relative clauses are used. Jack, who's retired now, spends a lot of time with his grandchildren.We want to see the new Tom Carter film, which was released on Friday.My sister, whose dog I'm looking after, is visiting a friend in Australia. Try this exercise to test your grammar. Read the explanation to learn more.