{"id":1709378,"date":"2019-03-29T10:16:41","date_gmt":"2019-03-29T10:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humorous-knowledge.flywheelsites.com\/?p=1709378"},"modified":"2021-04-23T19:42:05","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T18:42:05","slug":"5-things-you-need-to-know-about-ielts-vocabulary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ieltsadvantage.com\/2019\/03\/29\/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-ielts-vocabulary\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Things You Need to Know about IELTS Vocabulary"},"content":{"rendered":"

A strong vocabulary is a vital tool for anyone that needs to improve their IELTS skills.<\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s blog post, I\u2019ll highlight 5 things you must know before you begin learning vocabulary for the IELTS exam.<\/p>\n

Before we begin, I need to address a question that our team receives every day\u00a0through emails<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> and YouTube<\/a> comments \u2013 is vocabulary important?<\/p>\n

The short answer is yes. A thousand times – yes!<\/p>\n

If you read the IELTS assessment criteria<\/a>, you will see that vocabulary accounts for 25% of your total score for IELTS writing and speaking. (If you didn\u2019t know this already, you should read this article<\/a>). Obviously, your ability to communicate with the examiner is vital in these sections of the IELTS exam. If you don\u2019t have the vocabulary required to express an understanding of a given topic, your ability to communicate will be greatly limited \u2013 as will your final score.<\/p>\n

Additionally, a strong vocabulary is your most powerful weapon when taking the listening and reading tests. If you have invested the time into expanding your vocabulary, you\u2019ll have the ability to successfully understand and process the information that is given to you.<\/p>\n

This means that a limited vocabulary can negatively affect every single section of the IELTS exam…<\/h5>\n

So, yes. It’s important.<\/p>\n

1. Learning long lists of words won\u2019t improve your score<\/h4>\n

The IELTS exam isn\u2019t a memorisation test, it\u2019s a language exam. You can\u2019t improve your language skills by learning long lists of words.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t believe me?<\/p>\n

Imagine that you needed to improve your running skills. Do you think watching videos of people running would help you?<\/p>\n

Or if you needed to pass your driving test, would you benefit from watching videos of people driving?<\/p>\n

Of course not!<\/p>\n

The only way to improve a skill is by practising it. In terms of vocabulary, this means learning a word within its context and attempting to reproduce it.<\/p>\n

Yes, you will make mistakes.<\/p>\n

However, these mistakes will teach you exactly how to improve next time. They will also teach you how to recognise the correct spelling, pronunciation, use and collocations of the words you have learned.<\/p>\n

2. Expanding your vocabulary takes time<\/h4>\n

One of our key values as a company at IELTS Advantage is the belief that \u201ca process is better than a journey\u201d. Just like a company\u2019s success, you can\u2019t achieve a strong vocabulary overnight \u2013 you need to be able to walk before you can run.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important that you don\u2019t try to rush this part of your IELTS preparation. If you do, you\u2019ll increase your chances of making mistakes, completely undermining all of your hard work.<\/p>\n

Remember: You will never be marked down for not using a specific word in the writing test. You WILL be marked down if you misspell a word that you didn\u2019t learn properly in the first place.<\/p>\n

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3. Band 7 vocabulary ISN’T what you think<\/h5>\n

Band 7 vocabulary is simply an advanced level of vocabulary. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

Many IELTS students (and poor IELTS teachers) assume that advanced vocabulary must consist of long or complicated words. In reality \u2013 these words aren\u2019t necessarily \u2018high level\u2019, they\u2019re just difficult to spell!<\/p>\n

For example, take a look at the lists of words below, column one and column two. Which do you think contains the more advanced vocabulary?<\/p>\n

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According to the Cambridge English dictionary, the words listed on the left are higher level. Even though the words on the left are shorter and easier to spell, they are also significantly less common than the words on the right.<\/p>\n

Watch the following section of Chris\u2019 video lesson for an in-depth understanding of the key you can use to differentiate between advanced and low-level vocabulary:<\/p>\n

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