Keep the faith...

Good morning IELTS watchers!

Thank God we survived the fog on the way to work this morning (I was sleeping in the rear - we 'car pool' to work - very 'green' of us !).

So see you in ROOM 5 again tonight (Tuesdays we re-locate to Room 8).

The pressure is mounting, we are all suffering. If you aren't suffering then you can't be giving this course 100%. I will look at your weekend writing - anyone who planned to email it had better do so quickly (Salma & Reem?). My apolgies in advance if I do not manage to highlight all your mistakes, this is very time-consuming for me. Also I find it rather disheartening when you just file away these essays/reports/letters and only seem to look at the mark. Do you analyse and try to self-correct your mistakes? I hope you all now have a better idea of what I and IELTS are looking for in the writing section.

What about IELTS reading? For the technical-minded people this is not a difficult exercise, they don't get distracted by the mass of detail and 'fillet' out the information in the way the lads in the fish market take out the bones and leave the essential parts. Yes, you have to be ruthless, quick and learn to 'de-gut' these lengthy texts. It's hard, but you need a systematic approach or you will crash in flames...

Anyway, we'll be looking at IELTS Speaking, part 2 tonight; starting our in-depth analysis of reading question types (matching headings to paragraphs); fixing the next debate and the two teams; giving some feedback on the course (THIS IS HALF WAY THROUGH THE 36 HOURS ALREADY!!!!) and doing a full-scale task 1 and task 2 WRITING over 60 minutes - you'll be doing the task 2 first then the task 1 - this will be from 9.15 to 10.15.

Written work posted on the weblog is a great idea and I will eventually be able to edit / suggest improvements. As with everthing else, 'practice makes perfect', doesn't it?

Bye for now

Tony

ps Alas, poor Fahmy! [paraphrasing good old Shakespeare]

pps What about the Kuwaiti version of Shakespeare's play "Richard III" being staged in ARABIC in Stratford-upon-Avon by the Royal Shakespeare Company! Arab actors will portray this classic play set in a modern Arabian Gulf context with all the background of power, intrigue, betrayal and victory / defeat! I would love to see that! Have you heard about this production?

ppps Check that website for the spelling of names.

pppps Any NEW websites that you have found for IELTS practice? I strongly recommend the Hong Kong Polytechnic University website www.elc.polyu.edu.hk/ielts on the list that I gave you, especially if you are struggling with Academic Reading or Writing.