Live Lesson Notes

Studying
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What you will learn in this worksheet:

Useful links
Useful vocabulary
Listening task
Discussion about study techniques
Idioms to talk about studying

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Useful Links

Mind mapping
https://www.mindmapping.com/

Spaced practice
https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2016/7/21-1

Cornell technique
https://thinkinsights.net/consulting/cornell-method-great-notes/

How to study better

https://www.thebestcolleges.org/17-scientifically-proven-ways-to-study-
better-this-year/

Research-backed study techniques

https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-research-backed-studying-techniques

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IELTS Speaking Vocabulary: Studying
Talking about your studies is such an important topic in IELTS. Not only
in the introduction where they ask “Do you work or are you a student?”,
but also for other closely related topics such as:

• Your school
• A teacher you know
• Skills you have learned
• Concentration
• Education
• A hobby

Here are some useful phrases to talk about your studies in IELTS
Speaking

I’m a student at university

I’m a student at the university of London

To talk about your studies you can use either present simple or present
continuous

I study French
I am studying French

In addition, you can use the present perfect continuous to say how long
you have studied.

I’ve been studying for 2 months

Notice we use FOR to describe a period of time

I’ve been studying since July

Notice we use SINCE to describe a point in time

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Finally, you can develop your answer a little by adding which year you
are in.

I’m in my first / second / final year

Next, we can talk about whether you like your studies and your ability.
You should develop your answer a little and say why you like it (or not)

I like it
because I think
it’s going to be really useful
for my future career

I don’t like it too much

mainly because the teacher we have
is a bit boring
he doesn’t engage us at all

I am good at French

I’m not bad at French

I am bad at Italian

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IELTS Speaking Vocabulary: Commonly Confused
Words
Moving on, here are three words that are commonly confused when
talking about studying at school:

• To memorise
• To remember
• To remind

To memorise = to learn by heart

I am good at memorising names

I have a good memory for names

To remember = to recall

I must remember to call my sister later

I can't remember your name

To remind (v.) someone to do something = to tell someone not to forget

something
A reminder (n.)

I need to remind you to pick me up at 4pm tomorrow.

I always have to remind my students to hand in their homework on time

These are not the only group of words that are often confused. Here is
another set of words, that commonly get misused.

To take / sit an exam - students take (=do) exams

To pass an exam = to do well in an exam (=not fail)

To give an exam = a teacher gives an exam to the students

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For example,

I took my IELTS exam yesterday

I passed my IELTS exam 2 weeks ago, I am so happy!

Finally, a nice word to use to talk about studying is

To cram for an exam = to study hard in a short space of time

At school I used to cram for most of my exams. I was always studying

at the last minute

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IELTS Speaking Vocabulary: Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are extremely common in spoken English, and they can
help show of your knowledge and use of vocabulary in the IELTS
Speaking test.

Phrasal verbs are verbs that are followed by a preposition or an adverb.

For example;

To get up

I get up at 7am in the morning

Many phrasal verbs can be idiomatic, so they have a different meaning

than the individual words.

For example;

To look up = to look to the sky

But it can be idiomatic, meaning ‘trying to find a word in a dictionary’.

I looked up a new word in the dictionary

Find out more about phrasal verbs here

https://www.phrasalverbdemon.com/

Here are some less common phrasal verbs you can use to talk about
studying.

To buckle down = to do a task with determination

I’ve been procrastinating (=be lazy), but now it’s time for me to buckle
down and start studying seriously

I need to buckle down for IELTS

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 To pick up something new = to learn informally

Where did you learn to cook so well?

I picked it up by watching Youtube videos

To brush up on = to improve an existing knowledge or skill

I haven’t spoken French for years

I really need
to brush up on it

I need to
brush up on
my Italian

To pore over = To study (books, documents) with a lot of attention

I have been poring over my French course book lately

I have been poring over these reports for my boss

IELTS Listening Task: Schools and Study

Guess whether these are true or false:

1. Keith loved sitting quietly at his desk in school

2. He found it tricky to learn things by heart
3. He preferred biology to foreign languages
4. He would burn the midnight oil, cramming before most exams
5. He passed all exams with flying colours

(Read and check your guesses at the bottom of this file)

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IELTS Speaking Discussion: Study techniques
Here are three study techniques you may want to research and learn
more about. These are backed by research and ones that I also
personally use.

Mind mapping
https://www.mindmapping.com/

Spaced practice
https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2016/7/21-1

Cornell technique
https://thinkinsights.net/consulting/cornell-method-great-notes/

You can also find out about more proven ways to study via these two
links:

https://www.thebestcolleges.org/17-scientifically-proven-ways-to-study-
better-this-year/

https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-research-backed-studying-techniques

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IELTS Speaking Idioms about Studying

Run-of-the-mill (adj.) = ordinary, normal

I was a run-of-the-mill student = a normal, average student.

To burn the midnight oil = stay up late at night to study

I used to burn the midnight oil the night before an important exam at
university.

To pass with flying colours = to pass with a very good score / mark /
grade

I did so well in my driving test, I passed with flying colours!

To be a breeze = to be easy

My biology exam was a breeze, I knew all the answers.

To be a walk in the park = to be easy

My IELTS test was not a walk in the park.

To scrape a pass = to only just pass (almost fail, but actually pass)

The pass mark was 70%, I got 71%, I just managed to scraped a pass.

To go blank = when you can’t think of anything to say

In the middle of my interview, I went blank. What a disaster!

To rack your brains = to try and think of something

I don’t know what to put in my presentation tomorrow, I am racking my

brains, but can’t come up with any ideas.

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Let me tell you about my studies at school
I was bit of a slow learner at school, to be honest. Maybe I just wasn’t
very academically inclined, I preferred moving around and doing
things. Sitting in at a desk for 8 hours a day wasn’t my cup of tea.

I also found it hard to memorise dates, figures and names. The

teacher never gave us any good learning strategies. They would just
say, here is your list of 20 facts, now go and learn them by heart.

However, my academic performance improved, the older I got.

When I turned 11, I went to a grammar school, that’s a school that is
partly subsidised by the government and takes in students based on
their ability.

I was especially good at the arts but weaker at sciences. The

language teacher forbade us from speaking English in the French class.
It was so much fun. Like being a spy, talking in code!

Whenever I sat an exam, I did pretty well. I didn’t use to cram too
much, I just prepared well in advance. Some students spent hours
poring over their books the night before an exam. I never understood
that. What was the point? What a terrible way to spend the evening
before an exam.

Overall, my results were solid, but I never really passed my exams

with flying colours (=to pass with a very good score). That said, I did
well enough and got into university. I was thrilled to bits. And that is
where my education really took off! (=to get better)

ANSWERS TO LISTENING TASK:

1. Keith loved sitting quietly at his desk in school F

2. He found it tricky to learn things by heart T
3. He preferred biology to foreign languages F
4. He would burn the midnight oil, cramming before most exams F
5. He passed all exams with flying colours F

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