IELTS with Fiona: a comprehensive guide to IELTS

IELTS Reading Tips: Languages and Learning (Silbo Gomero)

06 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we explore the topic of language(s) in IELTS.From bilingualism and language learning to language loss and global communication, you’...

IELTS Listening: Céide fields

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we use the story of the Céide Fields (an archaeological site in Ireland) to help you improve the skills you need for IELTS Listening...

IELTS GT Reading: Women in medieval art

12 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

🧑‍🎨 In this podcast you'll learn ideas and vocabulary related to the theme of GENDER, specifically the forgotten role of women in medieval...

IELTS Listening: Bidcaster Archaeological Dig

04 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This Listening Part 2 about an archaeological dig will help you review maps 🗺️ and vocabulary related to the topic of Civilisation 🏺.Get the f...

IELTS Reading: The White Horse of Uffington

20 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

🏮 To celebrate the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Horse, here's an Academic Passage 1 text all about The White Horse of Uffington - an anci...

IELTS Reading: Georgia O'Keeffe 🧑‍🎨

06 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This Academic Reading Passage 1, which is about the life of a well-known artist, will help you review the huge topic of art and the arts in IELTS.This...

IELTS Reading: Why we need to protect polar bears

27 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In this podcast you'll learn tips about guessing True False and Not Given questions, reference words, and how to use conditional sentences in your...

IELTS Listening: about tardigrades

20 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This IELTS Listening Part 4 is about research into microscopic animals called tardigrades or ‘water bears’. The speaker explains their extreme sur...

IELTS Reading: The secret of staying young

12 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In this podcast, you'll work through an IELTS Academic Reading Passage 1 about ageing ('The secret of staying young') in a clear, guided w...

IELTS Reading: Plant thermometers 🌡️

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How Plants Sense Temperature – IELTS Reading Made EasyThis episode breaks down a challenging IELTS Reading Passage about how plants use light and te...

IELTS Reading: Music and the emotions

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this lesson, you'll learn how to use the words you DON'T KNOW to get the right answers!It's a difficult Academic Reading Part 3, which ...

IELTS Reading: Maternity Allowance (Money Vocabulary Topic)

20 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This month, we've been exploring the huge topic of MONEY in the Members Academy. It comes up in ALL parts of the test, so in this lesson, we exami...

IELTS Reading: Forced Rhubarb

23 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is a lovely reading about forced rhubarb: its history and how it is grown and harvested. There are 3 question sets: Matching Headings Multiple...

IELTS Pie Charts - how to avoid making this common mistake

13 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Always check the title of a pie chart to make sure you're providing an accurate summary of the data. Pie charts show percentage and proportion, not n...

How to learn prepositions from IELTS Reading (The impact of climate change on butterflies)

23 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this lesson, we'll analyse a Part 1 Reading text with the purpose of improving our understanding and use of prepositions. First, we go through the ...

IELTS Grammar snack: A shocking 97%

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know that uou can use "a/an + adjective" before a statistic to express your reaction to the number? This technique adds emphasis and helps the...

IELTS Listening: A Science Experiment

15 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this lesson you'll learn 5 IELTS Listening Tips that (I'm guessing) nobody told you about. Get the full lesson with bonus materials in the Bronze A...

Can I use personal pronouns in IELTS Writing?

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Get the free lesson on my blog: How to use personal pronouns in IELTS Writing. In this lesson, we look at ways of USING and AVOIDING personal pronouns...

IELTS Grammar: Quantifiers few, a few, little, a little

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you really want to make a difference to your test score, stop practising grammar with useless examples that you'll never use in the IELTS test!...

IELTS Reading: How animals keep fit

16 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this lesson, you'll practise 3 reading question types while learning essential IELTS animal-related vocabulary items such as 'hibernation&#...

IELTS GT letter of request to a singer

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this lesson we look at direct and indirect ways of asking for help. You will learn fixed expressions that you can use in any letter of request lett...

IELTS maps and plans (describing future changes)

30 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this lesson, we look at how you can use Listening Test maps to improve the way you describe maps and plans in the Writing Test. In this lesson we&#...

IELTS Reading: The Fosbury Flop

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is a talk-through of a General Training Reading Passage 3. The text tells the story of the 'Fosbury Flop', which is a high-jump techniqu...

IELTS Listening Section 2: Tips for runners 🏃‍♀️

06 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this Listening Section 2 about tips for runners, you'll learn how to spot distractors in different question types such as matching people and m...

IELTS Reading: How tennis rackets have changed 🎾

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is a talk-through of a Passage 1 Academic Reading text about tennis rackets (Book 19 Test 1). It covers 2 sets of questions (True, False, Not Giv...

IELTS Writing: 9 tips for a Band 9 essay

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this lesson, you'll see why so many model essays are NOT model essays. For each of the points I mention, you'll learn a better alternative ...

IELTS GT Part 1: Passport Applications and Airport Services 🛂🛄

08 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A quick look at TFNG and a less common type of Matching Headings. Get the full text here https://www.ieltsetc.com/2019/03/ielts-gt-reading-passports-...

IELTS Reading: Crows and tools 🧰

05 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Quick tips to help you with the Speaking Challenge followed by a Reading Passage 2 about the tool-making abilities of crows (and what we have in commo...

IELTS Reading: Stonehenge

24 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is my walkthrough of an Academic Passage 1 about Stonehenge. Keyword before you listen: ‘Winter solstice’ - the shortest day of the year (Dec...

IELTS Listening 🌋: academic words you need for Part 3

26 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This listening about a research project contains several examples of ‘academic’ language (language related to studying at university) that you nee...

IELTS Listening: Elephant translocation 🐘

22 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This Part 4 Listening is all about moving elephants. In the lesson you'll learn about: using word prompts to keep your place using intonation a...

IELTS Reading: Forest Management 🌳

03 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is a relatively easy Passage 2 from a Cambridge Past Paper, with 3 sets of questions [Matching Information, Categorising and Gapfill]. https://i...

IELTS Listening: Victor Hugo

22 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This Listening Part 4 about a writer called Victor Hugo is taken from the new Practice Book 18. In the podcast you'll learn why this particular ...

IELTS Reading: The birth and growth of Manhattan's Skyscrapers. 🗽

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is a Passage 3 review about a book about The Birth and Growth of Manhattan's Skyscrapers. This is an extremely difficult text. It would reall...

IELTS Reading: Urban farming

12 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Farming and agriculture is my Number 1 Vocabulary topic for IELTS, and I noticed that most of the readings in this new Cambridge Practice Test Book (1...

IELTS Reading: Stadiums

01 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is a pretty straighforward Academic Part 2 about Stadiums. In this podcast we'll go through 3 question types (Matching Statements, Gapfill S...

IELTS Reading: The development of the London underground railway

19 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I guarantee that you can do this in under 10 minutes if you follow my system. Find the Reading online and do it yourself before you listen. Learn more...

IELTS Listening Part 2: Matthews Island Holidays

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Get the full blog with audio on my website: https://ieltsetc.com/2023/04/ielts-listening-tips-complete-guide/ In this lesson, I examine the MACRO and ...

📝 Which is the best (free) online IELTS writing checker?

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are many free online IELTS Writing checkers available, and they can be useful when you’re starting your IELTS preparation. Online writing chec...

How many IELTS Reading question types are there? (Tips on how to tackle different questions in the IELTS Reading test)

10 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

[Skip the 5-minute introduction if you want to just get to the question types!] Different websites have different ways of categorising IELTS Reading Q...

How to prepare for IELTS in 10 days

20 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The best thing about the IELTS Test is that you cannot fail it. The test simply takes a ‘snapshot’ of your current level of English. So if you’v...

Pronunciation for IELTS Listening - how to understand fast speech

11 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are 7 key features of fast speech and pronunciation that you need to develop a better understanding of in order to increase your Listening Score...

IELTS Listening: Hotel Staff Turnover

26 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this Listening Section 2 we look at: - Multiple choice questions - distractors - matching from a list - the word 'staff' and how it's repeated ...

IELTS New Year Resolutions 2023

13 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What will you do differently in 2023? Here are my 7 resolutions to help you get the IELTS test over and done with once and for all. Get all the tips o...

IELTS Reading: To catch a king 🤴👑

16 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, I'll take you through one of my Guided Readings - it's an Academic Passage 3 from Book 17 and, unusually, it's a book review. Follow ...

IELTS Mindset: 😵‍💫 How to deal with 'too much information' (feeling overwhelmed)

13 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Question: "How do I cope with so much information when I'm preparing for the IELTS test?" Answer: "Just do as much as you need to do for the Band scor...

IELTS Listening: 🇮🇸 The impact of digital technology on the Icelandic language

04 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Can you guess the answers to the gapfill before you listen? In this episode I talk you through a Passage 4 where I think about 60% of the answers are ...

IELTS Reading: Feathers as decoration in European History

25 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A tricky GT Part 3 Reading with Matching Headings, Multiple Choice, and Matching Sentence Endings.

IELTS Mindset Part 3: How to ask SMARTER questions

16 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I've spoken a lot about Mindset for IELTS in 2 earlier blogs: 1. How to train your mindset for IELTS https://ieltsetc.com/how-to-train-your-mindset-fo...

IELTS Listening Part 3: Veterinary science students

26 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this podcast, you'll practice listening for the tricks in Multiple Choice Questions. This is yet another Listening based on the topic of farming, a...

IELTS Reading: Reducing injuries on the farm

09 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This Reading will also help your Task 2 Writing. Watch this quick video to see why: https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/week-2-september-chall...

IELTS Writing Task 2: How to write a Band 9 essay [Introductions]

05 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In today's September Challenge, we're reviewing Task 2 essays, starting with how to write a good Introduction. Check out the blog I refer to here (wit...

IELTS Writing Task 1: 🐟🍗Consumption of meat and fish.

04 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Day 3 of the September IELTS Planner Challenge is all about describing changes in Writing Task 1. See the graph and video here. https://app.getbeamer....

IELTS Listening Part 1: 🏄‍♀️ Learning to surf

02 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Day 2 of the September 2022 Challenge. This is a Part 1 but full of TRICKS! Get the full video version in the Members Academy. Join the challenge on m...

IELTS Reading GT: 🥾The best hiking boots

01 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is Day 1 of my free IELTS September Challenge 2022. Follow the challenge every day on my website (What's new - daily tips): https://app.getbeamer...

IELTS Listening: 🦋 Buckworth Conservation Group

26 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is a slightly unusual Listening Part 1 from the latest Cambridge Test Book 17. Get more in the Members Academy: https://members.ieltsetc.com/acad...

IELTS Reading GT ⚽️: History of women's football in Britain

18 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is a fascinating Section 3 General Training Reading text about the origins of women's football and why it disappeared for 50 years. Practice &nbs...

IELTS Listening 🍁 Maple Syrup 🇨🇦

27 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this lesson we cover more words from The List (my 100 Most Common Listening Gap Fill Answers). Pay special attention to the second half, where the ...

IELTS Reading: 🍅 Domesticating the tomato

18 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is an Academic Test Passage 2 Reading from Book 17 and the podcast covers 3 types of questions: matching information, matching people, and gapfil...

IELTS Listening: Labyrinths

09 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Book 17 Test 1 Part 4 I chose this Listening just because it's from the most recent Cambridge Practice Test book, and I was pleased to see that all of...

IELTS Listening: 🧼 Early History of Keeping Clean

25 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is a Section 4 IELTS Listening Test Gapfill Summary based on a lecture about the history of keeping clean. Get more listening practice on my webs...

⭐️IELTS with Fiona daily tips from February 2022⭐️

09 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Here's my roundup of daily tips from February. Watch the video version on YouTube with this link: https://youtu.be/zZ0TLDv0qxc In the podcast we'll re...

⭐️ IELTS tips ⭐️ Jan 19th - 31st (also on YouTube)

17 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Here's my round-up of the weekly tips that you can find on my website (ieltsetc.com).  This podcast is also on YouTube/fionawattam: https://youtu...

IELTS Reading: 💃🏽 Could urban engineers learn from dance?

06 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is a particularly challenging Reading Passage 1, which follows the structure of a Passage 3 'discursive' argument rather than the usual Passage 1...

⭐️ IELTS tips ⭐️ podcast Jan 1st - Jan 17th 2022 with YouTube video

19 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This podcast talks you through a fortnight of daily tips, with an accompanying YouTube video. https://youtu.be/byb9_Dg2UP8 Get the daily tips here on ...

IELTS Reading:🧴Plastic is no longer fantastic

03 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this IELTS GT Part 3 Reading lesson we'll practise Matching Headings, Multiple Choice and Gapfill summary on the topic of plastic.

IELTS ⭐️Daily tips⭐️from Fiona Dec 9th - 24th 2021

03 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In today's podcast you'll review my daily tips from my annual advent challenge which you can find on my website under "What's New" and https://ieltset...

IELTS ⭐️Daily Tips⭐️from Fiona Nov 20 - Dec 8

26 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode I catch up with the daily tips that you can find on my website under "What's new". This episode covers: Pronunciation of phrasal nou...

IELTS Reading: Marine ecosystems 🐡

04 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is a nice GT Part 3 Reading to get 2022 off to a great start. It practises Matching Headings, Multiple Choice AND gapfill, and it's absolutely ja...

IELTS Reading: Having a laugh

05 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is an academic Passage 3 about the importance of laughter.

⭐️IELTS tips⭐️ Nov 9th - 20th

27 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode I go through a week of tips about: "is pissed" vs "ears pierced", PEEL paragraphs, Jacinda Ardern and New Zealand accents ("bed" v...

⭐️IELTS tips⭐️ Oct 27th - Nov 8th 2021

24 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is my weekly round-up of tips from the "What's New" tab on my free website: ieltsetc.com In this episode we look at Pronunciation mazes by Matt...

🏆What's the best online IELTS course?🏆

15 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

That's a tough question. It's so hard for anyone to measure the quality and effectiveness of an IELTS course objectively unless they've taken all of t...

⭐️IELTS tips⭐️ Oct 17th - 27th

05 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Here's the latest round-up of all my IELTS Daily Tips blog that you can find on my website. In this blog we go through and revise: Have or get somet...

⭐️IELTS tips⭐️: a weekly summary

17 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I'm trying out a new way of sharing my tips and advice for IELTS. If you go to the 'What's new' tab on my website, you'll find a daily tip: https://ap...

Things you need to know before you buy an online IELTS Course 🤑

20 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever been ripped off, conned, scammed, tricked, duped or just misled when buying an online IELTS course? In this blog and podcast, I've outli...

IELTS Reading: Henry Moore (TFNG Bootcamp Day 1) 🗿

06 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Members Academy Reading Bootcamp started today (you can still join - it's just $28 and includes 28 days of both live and recorded lessons). This w...

IELTS Reading: Attitudes to AI 🤖

22 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is an Academic Passage 3 Part 3 (Book 16), so it's tough. In this lesson we'll look at how the language that you learn for Task 2 will help you u...

How to use idioms in IELTS

13 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Are you using the right idiom in the right place with the right person and the right pronunciation? To use an idiom correctly there are so many factor...

IELTS Listening: Stoicism 🏛️

19 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is a Part 4 Listening about an ancient philosophy called Stoicism (don't worry if you've never heard of it - the Listening will explain e...

IELTS Reading: 🏥Back to the future of skyscraper design.

04 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This passage 2 Academic IELTS Reading is a problem-solution structure. The problem: air-conditioning units generate 'spectacular and largely unneces...

IELTS Listening: The history of coffee ☕️

25 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a Section 4 Listening. I chose this Listening in order to show you why hyphens are NOT important in Listening gap-fill summaries. There are 3 ...

IELTS Reading: The Effects of Noise 🙉

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I had a special request for this Academic Passage 3 because it's difficult, but honestly, it's a very early test (Book 7) and is just badly-written. I...

IELTS Writing Feedback: improving your Task 2 essays with 40 keywords

16 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When you get IELTS Writing feedback from your teacher, you should be able to see why you are not achieving your desired score. But this feedback is on...

IELTS Reading: Attitudes to language

03 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is an Academic Part 1 text. The text and subject matter is difficult but the questions (YNNG) are NOT.  In fact, in this episode I will show...

IELTS Reading: What is exploration?

11 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Cambridge Book 15 Test 1 Passage 3

IELTS Listening: 'Street Play Scheme' ⛹️‍♂️⛹🏻‍♀️🚗

29 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a really useful Part 2 IELTS Listening (Book 15) about a community that closed their road to traffic so that the children could play safely ou...

IELTS Reading TFNG: Alexander Henderson 📸📸📸

14 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a nice and easy Academic Reading Part 1 (great for GT too). It goes in chronological order, so it's easy to find information from dates, names...

IELTS Listening: 🦣🦣🦣Woolly mammoths on St Paul's Island

01 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today's Listening is a 6/10 for difficulty. It's a Part 3 Listening with multiple choice and matching from a list. Useful vocabulary and synonyms: s...

IELTS Reading/Writing: Driverless Cars 🚘

11 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a really really useful passage to read because of how it can help your WRITING. The passage itself is not difficult, but it is jam-packed full...

IELTS Reading: Motivational Factors and the hospitality industry 👩‍🍳🧑‍🍳

29 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This is an extremely difficult Academic Reading Passage 3. It took me 30 minutes to find the answers even with the answer sheet in front of me. What c...

IELTS Advent Challenge Tasks 🎄1 - 12

12 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

No time to do my Advent Challenge? This podcast (watch the video version on www.YouTube.com/fionawattam) talks you through the past 12 days, so you'll...

IELTS Listening Part 3: Children's Literature Course 📚

25 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Is this Listening more difficult than usual? I got a special request from Elango in my Members Academy, and yes I think it is a tricky one! I had to r...

IELTS Reading: Why fairy tales are really scary tales 🧚‍♀️👻

24 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

I had a special request from Isabella on Instagram today 👋🇧🇷. She asked me to look at a really difficult text (yes, this one's 9/10!). It's a...

IELTS Reading: 🚴‍♀️Bike-sharing schemes around the world

18 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Do you have a bike-sharing scheme where you live? In London there are the so-called 'Boris bikes' (named after Boris Johnson, who launched them in 201...

IELTS Listening: The hunt for sunken settlements and ancient shipwrecks 🚢⚓️⚱️

10 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This is a difficult Section 4, but if you listen to my podcast regularly, you will be very familiar with this common IELTS topic! It's about marine ar...

IELTS Reading GT Part 2: Border crossing and Dealing with absence in the workplace

03 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Both texts are gapfill summaries. The first one gives you practice with summary Flow Charts (IELTS 28-Day Planner Day 12) and the second covers the co...

IELTS Listening: Agricultural programme in Mozambique 👩🏽‍🌾🌾🐝🎣

22 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Listen out for the 5 most common gapfill types in this Part 4 gapfill on the very common topics of Agriculture and Water (28-Day Planner Week 1). Prac...

IELTS Reading: Nutmeg - a valuable spice 🌰🥜

13 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This is an Academic Reading Part 1 (so it's good for GT too). The structure is chronological (in order of time) which helps you locate the answers mor...

Factors influencing your IELTS Score 🎰 - how my new IELTS Progress predictor works.

16 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If you've taken my IELTS Progress Predictor Test, you may be wanting to know a bit more about how it works and what it means for your IELTS Preparatio...