EPISODE 343 – IELTS GRAMMAR MYTHS – SPECIAL GUEST JESSICA BECK! (1)

Announcer: Welcome to another Happy English Podcast, coming to you from New York City.

And here's your English teacher Michael. Michael: All right, thank you Jan and thanks everyone.

This is Happy English Podcast, episode 343, “Three Common Myths About the Grammar Score of the IELTS Exam.” That's a mouthful and to help me with that we have a special guest today. It's Jessica Beck from “All Ears English.” Jessica has been teaching academic English in ILETS Test Preparation for over a decade, mostly in Taipei, Taiwan and Portland, Oregon.

She's also written more than 14 ESL textbooks, focusing on writing skills and test preparation. You can visit ielts.allearsenglishcom for IELTS resources and Jessica's test tips. And listen to her on the IELTS energy podcast, for an entertaining take on preparing for this difficult test. And here she is! Jessica welcome. Jessica: Thank you.

I'm so happy to be on Happy English. I love your show. Michael: Thank you so much, uh, thanks for coming on the show today.

And uh, Jessica is an expert on the IELTS exam. And uh, for everybody listening out there, if you're thinking about going to university, even a university in the states, uh, you're going to need to take IELTS exam and uh today uh, Jessica, what are we going to talk about, how are you going to help us with the IELTS exam today? Jessica: Yeah, so I thought that I would give your listeners um, three myths, sort of, that people have about the grammar score on IELTS, ‘cause I know how worried people get about grammar, especially when they're speaking.

So we're “gonna” focus on what they're graded on when, when they're speaking, and what kind of grammar score that they can expect Michael: That sounds great ‘cause I know that in a lot of these standard tests, grammar is a big point for a lot of students and they get really nervous about grammar.

And they're always worried about grammar. Jessica: Exactly!

Michael: So um, …

Jessica: Yeah and then and then, so yeah and then that sort of takes away their confidence and then their fluency goes bad and their vocabulary falters, you know, ‘cause they're so worried about grammar.

So I think what is most important for people to know is that grammar is not the most important thing. You know? Like the IELTS cares about communication… Michael: Uh huh, …

Jessica: “Can I understand what you're trying to tell me?” That's, that's really the most important.

So, yeah, the first point is “Don't freak out about having perfect grammar.” Michael: So grammar is not the most important then?

Jessica: Right, so they're graded on four things in, in speaking there're, fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.

So, all of these things are equal you know Michael: Um hmm,

Jessica: when it comes to their score.

Um, they're graded from 1 to 9, so 9 is the highest. And if you look at the descriptors, you can see this online, on the IELTS site, even at a 9 you can still have like native speaker slips, or native speaker mistakes in your grammar and you could still get a 9 So, I mean you, you can totally have some mistakes. Michael: So what's a thinking about it, or worrying about the grammar doesn't matter because even native speakers when we talk we sometimes make mistakes anyway.

Jessica: Exactly.

I mean I make mistakes all the time when I'm talking. And I'm a professional in English, right? So, yeah everyone makes mistakes, so um, what, what listeners should practice or work on improving is not so much like the tiny little grammar rules you know, like um, which article to use. Stuff like that. Um, what's more important is the sentence structure. Michael: Sentence structure.

Jessica: Yeah, so um, the examiner when they're, when they're talking to the student on the exam, they're really listening for a variety of sentences.

Okay? Um, if, if someone uses all simple sentences, okay, subject, verb, object, “I am a girl I am from Saudi Arabia. I love to run.” You know, it's like simple sentences then they're gonna get a 4 for grammar because their sentences are super boring. Michael: And there's not enough variety of grammar.

Jessica: Exactly.

Exactly.

Michael: Okay.

Jessica: So, it's not so much about the little rules, you know.

It's about the, the bigger structures, the full sentences. So we want to try and have linking words, right? That's the easiest way to join our simple sentences, so, “and,” “or,” “but,” these conjunctions, but also… Michael: “However,” things like that?

Jessica: Yeah, exactly, those high level-linking words will really help And also, you can try and have some relative clauses, you know, understand how to put in a “which,” or a “who” clause, or you know, um, conditional, one or two conditional sentences.

It doesn't have to be amazing and they can have mistakes in them. You just have to try to include them. Michael: So would you say that having uh, connecting words, you mentioned connecting words, relative clauses, and conditional sentences, so throwing those into the mix, how would that affect the score?

Jessica: Yeah, good question, so the difference is, is really clear-cut.

If you um, look at the descriptors online. So if you only have simple sentences, you get a 4 for grammar. If you have maybe like one or two, you know, really bad um compound sentences, you can get a 5. But if you have more variety, so maybe… let's say, you know, 4 or 5 different types of sentences. So conjunctions, connecting words, relative clauses, uh, and you still have lots of mistakes? You can still get a 6. So, I mean lots of students are really trying to get a 6 or a 7, so that's, that's really the difference is. Michael: Wow, okay.

Jessica: Yeah, the more variety you have, you will definitely get a 6 even if you have lots of mistakes.

Um, and then once you, you know, you reach those higher levels and your mistakes become fewer, then you can hit that 7. Michael: So what would you say, what would it, what, what advice would you have, uh, for students how to practice doing that?

Jessica: Ooh yeah, that's a good question.

Well, I think, um, I think trying to take it in is, is important first. So, we're not focusing on little rules, so don't just read your grammar books. You know, just throw those grammar books aside. I want you to think about full sentences. So, reading the newspaper, reading websites, but also listening to how our sentences grow as like native speakers So listening to podcasts, right? Listening to our shows, like this will really help you become comfortable, become familiar with sentence structures, and then, you can try and produce them, you know? Michael: So having the input from reading and listening (yeah) will help the output in speaking?

Jessica: Exactly, exactly.

So the more… Michael: That's good advice.

Jessica: like the more, uh, exposure you have, you know, the more you listen, the more you become familiar with these structures, then you have to try and push yourself to produce them.

So and then you start practicing and uh, looking at some practice questions, working with a partner, or a tutor, and trying to use these sentences yourself. Michael: Ah, okay that, that sounds like really good advice.

Jessica: Thanks!

Yeah, so um, just work on the sentence structures and remember that IELTS it does not expect perfection. Um, and if you really want to push that score up to a 7, it's, you're, you're actually, you're, you're gonna be more efficient if you spend your time improving your pronunciation and your vocabulary and your fluency, because these scores are easier to bring up. Like it's really hard to get that 7 in grammar because you have to have, you know, fewer mistakes. So I usually… Michael: And a variety of grammar.

Jessica: a variety of sentences Yeah, so I think it's relatively easy to get a 6 in grammar because all you need are different sentence structures.

That's really it, just a few different sentence structures then you'll hit that 6. In order to push your score up to a 7, I would focus on the other three things, the pronunciation, the vocabulary, fluency, because those are, those are easier to get a 7 and, you know it averages out. So if you get… If you get 3 out of 4, 7’s, you get a 7. So… Michael: And so, and so how, how can, how can our listeners uh, improve those other points.

Jessica: Um, well, there's a lot of good online resources.

We, we actually have a website if you go to ielts.allearsenglish.com um, we have a page for each section. We have lots of free resources, so videos, um, you can listen to all of our IELTS podcasts We also have a YouTube , channel now, IELTS Energy. Um, IELTS Energy is also the name of our podcasts. So, we have lots of free resources, and cheat sheets and tips on our website. Uh, and we also help you guys to find other resources online. So, the, the key, the, the most important part of our message for helping our IELTS students is to get balanced practice. So, if you're gonna' spend an hour doing test prep that's awesome, of course, we do need to prepare for the test, but then you also have to spend an hour improving your overall English, you know, by watching a TV show, or a movie. So you really have to get that balanced practice if you want to get a good score on the test. Michael: So, in other words it's not just practicing tests questions, or sample questions…

Jessica: Right.

Michael: it's spending a good amount of time experiencing real English.

Jessica: Exactly, exactly It's an English proficiency test; it's not an algebra exam you know?

You can't just like sit down and memorize rules and equations. That doesn't work in language. Language is, is way bigger than that. So, um it measures your English ability, your English level, not your ability to take a test. So, in order to do well, you need good English. You can't just, you know, be able to take an exam. Michael: Right.

And you know I always tell my students, when I meet them, uh, for the first time that, you know there are four skills in English: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. And if you really want to improve not only for the IELTS Test, but just to improve your English for everyday life. If you're working here in the states, or you're, you're working overseas, or you're living overseas, um, you know, you've got to do those four things everyday That's the… Jessica: Exactly.

Michael: That's the key to build up all your skills.

Jessica: Exactly.

Michael: And sometimes students are stuck in that grammar book.

“I've gotta learn that present perfect progressive continuous, arrrggghh.” Jessica: I know…!

Michael: And, and you know uh, “If I had known that was going to be on the test, I would have studied that.

Yes, I memorized that pattern…” right, but you know some…you know uh, there's got to be a balance, I think, between all of those four skills. And that and, and studying those along with doing the practice exercises will certainly help improve your score. Jessica: Exactly, exactly.

That's why for um, we have an IELTS course as well, and one of the, the biggest features of our course is this roadmap we have So, um, I went through and I designed a, a test prep schedule for students who have 30 days, and students who have 60 days. And for, you know, for five days a week, sometimes six, usually just five days a week, I have um like practice activities to strengthen all the skills, but like fun activities. You know, listening to a podcast, going for a walk while you sing your favorite song. You know, just really trying to get all four skills, like you're talking about, make them, make them all strong. Push us out of our comfort zone. So you're trying to talk to native speakers a little more, but also getting, getting those test preparation skills. So, yeah that's… I think that's one of the things I like about our course and something we've had good feedback on is our, our focus on this balanced practice ‘cause not a lot of courses do that. They usually just have, you know, like whatever boring grammar exercise and then practice test questions. Michael: Wow, that sounds very exciting.

Jessica: Yeah, I'm, I'm excited about it