Essential Words for the IELTS with Audio CD

Barron's for IELT

by Lin Lougheed

A command of English vocabulary that applies to many different situations and contexts is essential for ESL students who aim to succeed on the IELTS.

This book offers them extensive practice in vocabulary building and correct English usage, with emphasis on 600 English words that relate to specific categories and appear frequently on IELTS exams.

These categories include nature and the environment, leisure activities and hobbies, the arts and culture, transportation, health, tourism, business, technology, social issues, and education.

Author Lin Lougheed concentrates on teaching 600 English words from these categories. He presents exercises that teach ESL students how to figure out the meanings of countless new words by reading or hearing them in relation to the context in which they are used. All activities are like the actual questions on the IELTS exam and provide extra test practice.

Dr. Lougheed suggests helpful strategies for learning and retaining word meanings, for instance, by using a word in four different ways: reading, writing, hearing, and speaking it in a given context. He also offers tips on analyzing unfamiliar compound words to determine their meanings and he includes vocabulary expanding exercises with answers in every chapter.

The enclosed audio CD presents exercises in listening comprehension.

Genres: Academic

368 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

Born in 1946, he started his EFL career in 1968. He earned his doctorate at Teachers College, Columbia University. In 1983, he founded Instructional Design International, Inc. He has written over 40 English-as-a-foreign-language textbooks. He mostly focuses on teaching business English.

Reviews

[Turkel Afandiyev · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is arguably the best IELTS book not published by Cambridge University, a co-developer of IELTS. It intends to teach IELTS students how to acquire and learn new words that can be useful for the IELTS exam. However, the "essential words" that the book provides are not very practical or let's say essential... The meaning of these words usually depend on the context and sometimes are presented with the definitions that are rarely used in English. There are millions of such non-commonly used definitions and it's impossible for the students to learn them all.
One should not forget that the students' task in reading test is understanding the texts in limited time and the skills required are guessing the definition and figuring out the text in the meantime of reading. This book does not teach such skills.
Another disadvantage of the book is the problem we can see in many other IELTS trainers: the exercises are not well modeled after the actual IELTS tasks. The reading texts contain too many specific words and terms, which makes them even more difficult than real IELTS reading tasks. This is not the only problem with the reading part. The style of the academic articles are different too: there are no examples, no expert opinions and not enough numbers - the factors that define IELTS reading tests and shape the exam questions. That is why the questions are also different than the ones in the real IELTS tests.
Do I think it's a good book for English learners? Yes. But is it a good books for IELTS students? Not so much. However I assess it as a better book than Cambridge's Vocabulary for IELTS.

[Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is excellent. Interesting and enjoyable when reading topics while enriching my vocabulary.

[Nasim]

One of the main sources of an IELTS exam that should be read.

[Elnaz Sohani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book for my IELTS exam. It was fantastic and really helpful.

[Farhad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for who wants to prepare for IELTS.

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[А. Дөлгөөн · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice