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Vocabulary for IELTS
Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS includes useful tips on how to approach IELTS exam tasks and covers especially tricky areas such as the language needed to describe data and processes.
It is informed by the Cambridge International Corpus and the Cambridge Learner Corpus to ensure that the vocabulary is presented in genuine contexts and includes real learner errors. Also available is Cambridge Vocabulary for Advanced (Band 6.5 or above).
It is informed by the Cambridge International Corpus and the Cambridge Learner Corpus to ensure that the vocabulary is presented in genuine contexts and includes real learner errors. Also available is Cambridge Vocabulary for Advanced (Band 6.5 or above).
- GenresLanguage
176 pages, Paperback
First published April 21, 2008
121 people are currently reading
1551 people want to read
About the author
Pauline Cullen
35 books69 followersI was an avid language learner at high school studying every language offered - French, Spanish and Russian. At Sheffield University I completed a Joint Honours degree in French and Spanish followed by a PGCE. In 1985 I began teaching French, Spanish and EFL, then moved to Hong Kong where I taught English and onto Australia in 1988. From teaching I moved into language testing (since 1992) and began test writing for Cambridge Exams in 1995. In my writing I am very conscious of my language learner self and see myself very much as a teacher. My aim is to try to produce the type of book I would like to use in the classroom.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 24, 2023
Kill me before I book the exam and set me free! 🥲
November 9, 2008
Strongly recommended to IELTS candidates.
January 17, 2018
As its counterpart (Grammar for IELTS by Cambridge), I did not actually find Vocabulary for IELTS very IELTS-oriented. Most tasks didn't seem to be similar to IELTS tasks.
Listening tasks were very difficult to follow, which is not the case in the actual IELTS exam tasks.
Reading tasks were more or less fine, however the texts seemed to be outdated.
Nevertheless units 21-25 can be very useful for both IELTS students and all English learners.
Listening tasks were very difficult to follow, which is not the case in the actual IELTS exam tasks.
Reading tasks were more or less fine, however the texts seemed to be outdated.
Nevertheless units 21-25 can be very useful for both IELTS students and all English learners.
July 30, 2025
1/5 – Disappointing and outdated compared to its rivals
As someone who had been practicing with Oxford Word Skills for years, this book felt like a complete nightmare.
No, I'm not talking about the difficulty level I'm talking about the structure, which was chaotic and frustrating.
The sections where you're supposed to “find mistakes in context” made zero sense to me. They didn’t feel natural, weren’t clearly explained, and honestly just left me confused instead of helping me learn.and i had to check key answer most of the time.
Compared to Oxford Word Skills, which has a clear structure, practical exercises, and a logical flow, this book feels like a rough draft rather than a finished product.
If you're serious about improving your vocabulary without effort, skip this one and go for Oxford Word Skills.
but if look for a serious method to help you learning you might like this book.
As someone who had been practicing with Oxford Word Skills for years, this book felt like a complete nightmare.
No, I'm not talking about the difficulty level I'm talking about the structure, which was chaotic and frustrating.
The sections where you're supposed to “find mistakes in context” made zero sense to me. They didn’t feel natural, weren’t clearly explained, and honestly just left me confused instead of helping me learn.and i had to check key answer most of the time.
Compared to Oxford Word Skills, which has a clear structure, practical exercises, and a logical flow, this book feels like a rough draft rather than a finished product.
If you're serious about improving your vocabulary without effort, skip this one and go for Oxford Word Skills.
but if look for a serious method to help you learning you might like this book.
July 26, 2020
I am a full-time IELTS teacher and have been using this book for four years in my class on the Gold Coast in Queensland. The Vocabulary for IELTS text has both good points and bad points, and I will go into both below ...
Firstly, I do believe that this a great little text for anyone looking to improve their English vocabulary, not just for IELTS students, but for any serious English student who wants to sound intelligent when they talk. The text is divided into 25 different 'units'. These units do seem to be connected to the question types that students will get, especially in the speaking part 3 and the academic and general writing part 2. For this reason, I always introduce my students to this text on day one of their course, and get them to start studying it IMMEDIATELY. I explain the harder they study this text, the better their final result will be.
Each unit contains a wide range of practice activities (gap fills, matching, word family tables, listening exercises, error correction ...) that are often very similar to the ones found in the IELTS exam. After these activities each unit includes an exam practice section.
On the negative side, some units in the text have not dated well, especially the ones on information technology and the green revolution. For this reason, students should be very careful about using the vocabulary from these chapters in the exam. It would be wise to check whether the words from these chapters are still commonly used in the English speaking world.
The units in the book are as follows:
1. Growing up
2. Mental and physical development
3. Keeping fit
4. Lifestyles
5. Student life
6. Effective communication
7. On the move
8. Through the ages
9. The natural world
10. Reaching for the skies
11. Design and innovation
12. Information technology
13. The modern world
14. Urbanisation
15. The green revolution
16. The energy crisis
17. Talking business
18. The law
19. The media
20. The arts
21. Language building 1
22. Language building 2
23. Academic writing 1
24. Academic writing 2
25. General training Writing tasks 1 and 2
Anthony Schultz
www.goldcoastielts.com
Firstly, I do believe that this a great little text for anyone looking to improve their English vocabulary, not just for IELTS students, but for any serious English student who wants to sound intelligent when they talk. The text is divided into 25 different 'units'. These units do seem to be connected to the question types that students will get, especially in the speaking part 3 and the academic and general writing part 2. For this reason, I always introduce my students to this text on day one of their course, and get them to start studying it IMMEDIATELY. I explain the harder they study this text, the better their final result will be.
Each unit contains a wide range of practice activities (gap fills, matching, word family tables, listening exercises, error correction ...) that are often very similar to the ones found in the IELTS exam. After these activities each unit includes an exam practice section.
On the negative side, some units in the text have not dated well, especially the ones on information technology and the green revolution. For this reason, students should be very careful about using the vocabulary from these chapters in the exam. It would be wise to check whether the words from these chapters are still commonly used in the English speaking world.
The units in the book are as follows:
1. Growing up
2. Mental and physical development
3. Keeping fit
4. Lifestyles
5. Student life
6. Effective communication
7. On the move
8. Through the ages
9. The natural world
10. Reaching for the skies
11. Design and innovation
12. Information technology
13. The modern world
14. Urbanisation
15. The green revolution
16. The energy crisis
17. Talking business
18. The law
19. The media
20. The arts
21. Language building 1
22. Language building 2
23. Academic writing 1
24. Academic writing 2
25. General training Writing tasks 1 and 2
Anthony Schultz
www.goldcoastielts.com
October 12, 2019
It is part of official preparation materials for IELTS and it covers all the topics you can expect on exam. Audio materials, however, are not really helpful as they don’t reflect the pace you can expect on real exam.
January 31, 2020
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February 2, 2018
Excited to read
February 20, 2018
Good for pre-IELTS.
October 30, 2019
Amazing, extremely good for self study
December 31, 2020
Good book
June 13, 2023
One of the best books for #vocabulary
December 30, 2024
Refreshing my vocabulary.. Unit tests were very useful.
One book down, two to go!
One book down, two to go!
September 8, 2015
I love this book
I learn a lot of new things from this, also I can have a lot of exercises to practice what i've learnt
Moah moah
I learn a lot of new things from this, also I can have a lot of exercises to practice what i've learnt
Moah moah
February 24, 2016
this books is very help full for ielts and ielts student .so it is very important part that's why i recommended this book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
sheraz
May 8, 2018nothing
Read
June 24, 2018Good
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews