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How To Talk On Phone?

January 7, 2020 IELTS Research

Once you go abroad, there will be chances where you need to make a conversation on phone. Although it sounds easy to some but could be quite weird to some since they are not able to see the person they are seeing. Well, if you are one of those who gets a little uncomfortable while talking on the phone, following the below tips could prove to lessen your burden.

Don’t Be Direct

One of the main problems we make is we are very direct. For example, I want to talk to Mr. XYZ. It is not polite to say “want”. It is preferred to rather a use could, would, may. For e.g. I would like to talk to Mr. XYZ.

Practice

Practice, but then how to practice? Well, you can practice with your friend. Or you may call a business chain whom you know has an answering machine and write down the key points. You can also practice in front of a mirror or record it and analyze it yourself.

Spelling

A lot of times we have to spell on the phone. In those cases, it is important to be able to pronounce the letters correctly. For e.g. you may say, “my name is Anmol”. and the person on the other side could ask you to pronounce it. You need to then spell it. You do this as, an as in ash, n as in Neptune and on. But then why do you need to give examples? Because some English letters sound the same on phone. Example : p, t,v sound quite similar on phone.

Numbers

It is important to practice numbers because after all you a conversation can even have them. But why practice them? Because you may get confused between 30 and 13 or 40 and 14. Practice listening to long numbers.

Ask

Now, this is the most important thing. If you don’t understand something, ask them. You can say, I am sorry could you repeat that. Can you please low down, my English is not so strong.

Memorize Key Expressions

There are some expressions that are very common or are required as it is. E.g. May I ask who is calling, please. Is so and so there?

Formal/Informal

Remember there is a difference between formal and informal. Formal is used with someone whom you don’t know. Informal is one used with friends. It is important that you use them where they can be used.

Smile

Why smile when no one is even seeing you? When you smile when you are on phone, it will calm you down. And you will be able to make some good conversation.

Go on, be confident, make some calls. It is okay to make some mistakes, as long as you are ready to improve on them.

Feel free to call for suggestions and queries.

IELTS Band 7 Dehradun
Near Ballupur Chowk, Dehradun

email: info at ieltsband7.com

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IELTS cue card: Describe a historical building you visited?

January 7, 2020 IELTS Research

Describe a historical building you visited?

What kind of building was that?

Who you went there with?

What did you learn by your visit there?

Sample Answer

This just happened yesterday. I was going to meet my friend after a gap of three years and she asked me to meet her outside the railway station. While waiting for her, I got a text that she got stuck in a traffic jam and that she would be half an hour late. There was a Railway Museum just around the corner and having nothing else to do, I decided to take a look around the museum.

It was an old building with Gothic architecture. The entrance was huge and the gallery was unending. There were several artifacts from different eras, and since I’m not a big fan of history, they weren’t of much interest to me. The evolution of railways, however, did impress me. It was amazing to see how simple a steam engine was when it was used for the first time, and how quickly it has evolved in just over a century. Since I used to collect train models when I was young, my childhood passion seemed to rekindle upon looking at all those locomotives. The building was maintained very well by the authorities, and other than the museum it housed shops and pubs as well. The exit opened in an alleyway, and I had to walk around the block to get back to the front door near which my friend asked me to wait.

Looking back at my visit, I don’t think I would have ever taken time out of my busy schedule to see this amazing museum had I not been wandering around waiting for my friend. But then, like they say, “Everything happens for a reason”.

Vocab Words

Gothic- Kind of medieval architecture
Rekindle- Revive something lost
Alleyway- A narrow path
Wander- Walk in a leisurely way

Feel free to call for suggestions and queries.

IELTS Band 7 Dehradun
Near Ballupur Chowk, Dehradun

email: info at ieltsband7.com

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IELTS Cue Card Sample Questions # Teaching

January 6, 2020 IELTS Research

Teaching is considered to be one of the most respectable jobs all over the world. We often consider our teachers to be our guides, the ones who would help us in our future endeavors. Better are those teachers who not only teach their students but also help them to have a better overall person. This time we are looking at a cue card that talks about the time when you were instead a teacher.

Describe an experience when you taught someone something. You should say –

whom did you teach?

what did you teach?

why did you teach?

also, explain, how you felt about the entire experience.

SAMPLE ANSWER

When I first started to teach, it was purely for money. I was in college and in dire need of money and so started teaching children living near my house. But, my first attempt at teaching students failed miserably and I had no other option than to wait. After around few months, a boy started coming to learn from me. He was a student of Class VII and I had to teach him Math and Science.

Teaching him changed a lot of perspective about how things are for me. It made me more patient and I started thinking from the perspective of the other person. Teaching Abhinav, was more like teaching my brother. He would come up with his questions and then sometimes we would solve riddles together.

It was after I started to teach him that two more students joined in and it was great fun teaching. I made really good friends and they love and respect they bestowed on me was incredible.

SAMPLE ANSWER

I have always have wanted to teach a girl child for as long as possible. Recently, I started teaching the girl of the maid who comes in a nearby house. She is a girl of 9 years but her parents are not able to afford a good school for her. Teaching her is an amazing experience altogether, not only because it is the first time I am teaching only for the joy of teaching. But, because, she and I do not share a common language but still are able to communicate at a level of understanding.

I have been explaining her the basics of education. From reading to writing the alphabets. It has been around 3 months that I have taught her and she is now able to write the basic alphabets and recognize few words. The purest of joy came to me when she read an article from newspaper to me. The reason I started to teach her was that I wanted to share my knowledge base with someone because I felt it is important for everyone to be able to read and write.

What turned out that this experience, in turn, taught me the values of life. It not only made me a more patient person but also the flaws that I have within me. In just a few months, I improved as a personality.

Feel free to call for suggestions and queries.

IELTS Band 7 Dehradun
Near Ballupur Chowk, Dehradun

email: info at ieltsband7.com

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IELTS Cue Card Sample Questions # Preferred Books

January 6, 2020 IELTS Research

Books are a man’s best friend after dogs. Well, when nothing seems to work out the one thing that saves most of us are books. Some people like to read books that are biographies, or sometimes fiction, then non-fiction. Each individual has their own choice and this time we are looking at a cue card that talks about the preference of books of an individual.

Describe what kind of books you prefer reading. You should say –

why do you like this genre?

when did you first started reading?

how did you start reading this genre?

also, explain if not this genre, which one else do you to read?

SAMPLE ANSWER

Books have been my favorite part of life for a long time. They have helped me to understand life better, take me out of depression at a time and made me laugh. I started reading autobiographies initially and went on to read fiction and then non-fiction. Having read the different genres, I have loved the autobiographies the most.

I think the main reason for my inclination towards autobiographies is because of the reason that I am able to relate to the people that it is about. For example, I already have read about Mahatma Gandhi, his deeds, the reason he is celebrated all over the country. Reading his autobiographies tell me the reasons for what he did. How he came into satyagraha. His opinion on how people reacted to his actions.

The first autobiography that I read was by mistake. I wanted to read something and could not find anything and ended up taking the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi. Having read the book, I thanked God for the book. But, if not autobiographies, I think I would have definitely read non-fiction.

SAMPLE ANSWER

Books have always been tough for me to hold grasp of. Reading a book for a course also requires a lot of my attention and willpower. For a very long time, the only books that I read were the course books but a few years back I chanced upon reading a book by Khalid Hosseini, The Kite Runner. That book changed my perspective on book reading for a real sense. It made an impact on me as an individual.

Since then I have read a lot of books, including fictions, non-fiction, and autobiographies. But the one genre that has struck a chord with me has been the fiction , other times the world of wars. It also sometimes takes me to the world of terrorism or the world of education. Fiction, the one genre that opens up the minds of individuals to an extent of no coming back.

But, if it was not fiction then I would have stuck with comics I believe. I have tried reading auto biographies and semi-biographies, but they do not connect with me well. My reason for reading comics has always been to either enjoy them or get a meaning out of them. Comics on the other hand provide me with both. They not only give me the reason to be happy but also help in understanding the real life in a better way.

Feel free to call for suggestions and queries.

IELTS Band 7 Dehradun
Near Ballupur Chowk, Dehradun

email: info at ieltsband7.com

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