Speaking : People

Describe a person that you think was very interesting.

You should say:

• Who this person was
• How you met them
• What they liked to talk about

Explain why this person was very interesting.

WHO: 
I have decided/ I would like to talk about Tim who was a former colleague of mine back in the day when I was working for a multinational company in Dhaka.HOW MEET: 
Well, we had known each other for many years, and I think we first met in 2010. We were working in the same department and got on really well from the start.What talk / Description:He was arguably one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. He was not only a really sharp boss but also a very focussed person. In addition, he was pretty gregarious.Anyway, he left the company to set up his own business, and he made a real success of it. He went from being one person, to now having a team of 10, and has become one of the leading technology firms in his area.Why:I feel extremely proud of him, because he deserved to do well. I am sure he will continue to grow and do well in his future endeavors.If I had known he was going to leave the organization, I would have engaged with him more frequently so that I could learn more.

• Unlike some of the other teachers, he never lost her temper. 

• He was very calm and easy-going and he was also very broad-minded.

• Also, all of my friends are trustworthy and easy-going like me, plus we are all extroverts.

• For me, he is one of the kindest persons I have ever known, for he is willing to give others a hand without expecting something in return.

• He was not only a great haiku master, but also a tourist.

Noun Phrase

A noun phrase is either a pronoun or any group of words that can be replaced by a pronoun. For example, 'they', 'cars', and 'the cars' are noun phrases, but 'car' is just a noun, as you can see in these sentences (in which the noun phrases are all in bold)

Q: Do you like cars?
A: Yes, I like them.
Q: Do you like the cars over there?
A: Yes, they are nice.
Q: Do you like the car I bought last week?
A: Yes, I like it. (Note: 'It' refers to 'the car', not 'car')

• "The very tall education consultant with the roving eye"
  
  The structure of this noun phrase contains three sections:

• Pre-modification
  • The =determiner
  • very =adverb (intensifying)
  • tall = adjective
  • education = pre-modifying noun

• Head noun
  • consultant

• Post-modification
  • with the roving eye = preposition phrase

Reference: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/noun-phrase

Sentence and Word Stress in English

The basic rules of sentence stress are:

1.   content words are stressed

2.   structure words are unstressed

3.   the time between stressed words is always the same

The following tables can help you decide which words are content words and which words are structure words:

Content words - stressed

Words carrying the meaning	Example
main verbs	SELL, GIVE, EMPLOY
nouns	CAR, MUSIC, MARY
adjectives	RED, BIG, INTERESTING
adverbs	QUICKLY, LOUDLY, NEVER
negative auxiliaries	DON'T, AREN'T, CAN'T

Structure words - unstressed

Words for correct grammar	Example
pronouns	he, we, they
prepositions	on, at, into
articles	a, an, the
conjunctions	and, but, because
auxiliary verbs	do, be, have, can, must

Rules of Word Stress in English

There are two very simple rules about word stress:

1.   One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If you hear two stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is true that there can be a "secondary" stress in some words. But a secondary stress is much smaller than the main [primary] stress, and is only used in long words.)

2.   We can only stress vowels, not consonants.

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Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to put the stress. But do not rely on them too much, because there are many exceptions. It is better to try to "feel" the music of the language and to add the stress naturally.

1 Stress on first syllable

rule	example
Most 2-syllable nouns	PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble
Most 2-syllable adjectives	PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy

2 Stress on last syllable

rule	example
Most 2-syllable verbs	to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE, to beGIN

There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer). More examples: the words export, import, contract and object can all be nouns or verbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or second syllable.

3 Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)

rule	example
Words ending in -ic	GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic, geoLOGic
Words ending in -sion and -tion	teleVIsion, reveLAtion

For a few words, native English speakers don't always "agree" on where to put the stress. For example, some people say teleVIsion and others say TELevision. Another example is: CONtroversy and conTROversy.

4 Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)

rule	example
Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and-gy	deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy, geOLogy
Words ending in -al	CRItical, geoLOGical

5 Compound words (words with two parts)

rule	example
For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part	BLACKbird, GREENhouse
For compound adjectives, the stress is on thesecond part	bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned
For compound verbs, the stress is on the secondpart	to underSTAND, to overFLOW

Word Stress in English

Rule #1: With most nouns and adjectives with 2 syllables, the stress is on the first syllable

Example: PRO-gress, PRE-sent, EN-gine, IN-crease, RE-cord, JEA-lous, CAU-tious, AW-kward, PLEA-sant.

Rule #2: With most verbs with 2 syllables, the stress is on the last syllable.

Example: pre-SENT, in-CREASE, ad-MIT, an-NOUNCE, be-GIN, ar – RANGE, im-PRESS, de – CIDE, of – FEND, re-CORD.

Rule #3: The words ending in –TION, - SION, - CIAN are usually stressed on the second last syllable.

Example: e – du – CA – tion, in – tu – I – tion, con – cen – TRA-tion, de – mons – TRA – tion, per – MIS – sion, ob – SES – sion, mu – SI – cian, ma – GI – cian, tech-NI-cian. Exception: TE – le – vi –sion.

Rule #4: Words ending in –IC are usually stressed on the second last syllable.

Example: e – co – NO –mic, rea – LIS –tic, stra – TE – gic, me – CHA – nic, geo – GRA – phic, dra – MA – tic, pes- si – MIS – tic, a – ca – DE- mic, po – E –tic, e – LEC –tric,

Rule #5: Words ending in –EE, - OO are usually stressed on the last syllable.

Example: em – ploy – EE, gua – rant – ee, degr – EE, shamp – OO, tatt – OO, tab – OO. Exception: com- MIT –tee, COF - fee

IELTS Vocabulary & Video

http://www.ielts-exam.net/vocabulary/

http://www.englishryan.com/

IELTS Reading suggestion

Reading passages in the past IELTS tests came from the following sources:

1. The Economist (http://www.economist.com/)
2. The Economist Technology quarterly (http://www.economist.com/science/tq/)
3. New Scientist (http://www.newscientist.com/)
4. American Scientist (http://www.americanscientist.org/)
5. The Geographical Journal (http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0016-7398)
6. Interscience (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/home)
7. Australian geographic (http://editorial.australiangeographic.com.au/)
8. The British museum (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/research_publications/online_research_publications.aspx)
9. Illustrated London News (http://www.iln.org.uk/)
10. http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/magazine
11. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

Ways to reduce laziness/ overcome laziness

Firstly, think what am I trying to avoid or what I don't wanna do.
Secondly, think what do I want? or what is my aim or what I can achieve.
Thirdly, what is the next step that I can take?
Then repeat the whole process.