Most of my students are great. But some can be a tad difficult.
#LearningEnglish #TeachingEnglish #ELT #EFL #TeachingLanguages
http://iraluts.blogspot.ru/2018/02/what-kind-of-students-do-you-find.html

http://iraluts.blogspot.ru/2018/03/why-you-will-get-your-lowest-ielts.html
The magic formula of a high score for IELTS writing revealed in my new post.
#IELTS #IELTSwriting #Writing #Write #IELTSscores #IELTS9 #TOEFL #IELTSmagicformula

I am thrilled to present a guest post by my student Alisa Chernikova. In this post, she talks about determination to succeed and recommends three great books that will help you get started on your success journey.
#EFL #ELT #Writing #Reading #Grit #TED #TEDtalks
http://iraluts.blogspot.ru/2018/03/do-you-really-need-grit.html

http://iraluts.blogspot.ru/2018/04/a-step-by-step-guide-to-ielts-line.html
My new post is very practical. It includes my step-by-step guide to IELTS line graphs and my own line graph denoscription. A must-read for IELTS test-takers.
#IELTS #IELTSacademic #IELTSwriting #IELTSwritingtask1 #Writing

What do people do wrong when they learn English? What’s the hardest thing about living in Ireland? Is moving abroad worth it?
🍀 An insightful interview with my awesome friend. 🍀
#EFL #English #LearnEnglish #Ireland #LiveAbroad #Relocate http://iraluts.blogspot.com/2018/09/an-interview-with-russian-software.html

Over the last 5 years, software developers have made up about 50% of my students. So I’ve decided to sum up my experience of teaching them. By the way, overcoming the challenges is totally worth it. 🐬
#EFL #ELT #English #Teaching #TeachingEnglish #ELT
http://iraluts.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-challenges-of-teaching-software.html

🐾 My ways of dealing with error correction + a question. 🐾
https://iraluts.blogspot.com/2018/12/to-err-is-human-or-my-thoughts-on-error.html
#ELT #EFL #English #TeachingEnglish

Who’s up for a 100-day challenge?
We are starting one on 13 January. 📆
Read about my previous writing challenge and pm or comment “I’m in” to join the next one. You can join with any activity, not necessarily writing. 🖊🎨🧘‍♀️
http://iraluts.blogspot.com/2019/01/what-i-learned-from-my-100-day-writing.html

I am thrilled to announce a guest post by Olesya Komarova in which she shares her experience of travelling in Great Britain on a tight budget. 🇬🇧
If you want to travel in the UK but don’t think you can afford it, read the post. You will want to go there even more, but you might reconsider being able to afford it.🍭
#UK #GreatBritain
http://iraluts.blogspot.com/2019/01/cracking-britain-part-1.html

Find out the reasons for my exam-taking madness in my latest post.🍭
#IELTS #TOEFL #CPE #C2Proficiency
https://iraluts.blogspot.com/2019/01/why-i-have-taken-international-english.html

I'm back to blogging! 🎉🎉🎉
Last year, I read a book called "Storytelling with data: a data visualization guide for business professionals,” which is a book for people whose job is to visualize information in the form of line graphs, bar charts, pie charts, and tables, so basically #IELTS Writing Task 1 tasks but for real life situations. 📚
In this post, I am talking about an untraditional but hopefully useful approach to IELTS Academic Writing Task 1. 📊
#ieltswriting #ieltswritingtask1 #ieltswritingtaskone
https://iraluts.blogspot.com/2020/02/storytelling-with-ielts-writing-task-1.html

https://iraluts.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-ielts-or-c2-proficiency-dilemma.html

In this post, I am outlining the main differences between IELTS and C2 Proficiency and commenting on what seemed easy or difficult to me personally. If you know the differences, jump straight to the "Takeaway" part and read my recommendations only. 📗

I hope this post helps if you are facing this dilemma. 🐃

#ielts #cpe #c2proficiency #proficiency #ieltspreparation #cpepreparation #takeielts #exampreparation #c2 #ielts9 #cpea #englishexams

My new post "Can you write about your language learning routine?" is inspired by my student Nina. 🌷

I lead a ridiculously minimalist language learning lifestyle though. All I do is mindfully create a lot of input and output. And that’s it. No life hacks. No apps. No magic. But a lot of effort day in and day out.

What are your language learning routines? What are some things you do to improve your English day in and day out?❓
https://iraluts.blogspot.com/2020/04/can-you-write-about-your-language.html

On this dark December day, I suddenly I remembered I have a Telegram channel! 😃

And I have a wonderful, highly useful post for IELTS test takers: "How To Tame Your IELTS Pie Charts" with two denoscriptions of the same pie charts. 📊

#ielts9 #ielts #ieltspreparation #ieltswritingtaskone #ieltswritingtask1 #ieltswriting

https://iraluts.blogspot.com/2020/11/how-to-tame-your-ielts-pie-charts.html

🐈🐕 It's raining cats and dogs. 🐈🐕

A few years ago, I attended a seminar for teachers conducted by a British person who told us that "rain cats and dogs" is an old-fashioned idiom that nobody uses. I've heard the exact same story from other colleagues, so it's not uncommon to see this idiom categorized as "native speakers don't speak like that." This was what I also believed for many years. And why wouldn't I? It was said to me by, omg, a native speaker! 🐈

A few days ago, I was watching a documentary "Lost Cities" when I heard this idiom. Apparently, it rains cats and dogs in the Colombian jungle. Flabbergasted, I posted it on Instagram. To my surprise, I got quite a few messages saying that people have actually heard this idiom from native speakers in natural speech. 🐕

But the point of this post is not the idiom. The point is when native speakers tell you "we don't really speak like this," don't rush to treat it as the ultimate truth. Take into account the person's nationality, age, social status, educational background, interests etc. A middle-aged British university professor will have a different English from an American teenager. It's normal. When a native speaker tells you "we don't speak like this," treat it as "middle-aged British university professors" [etc] don't speak like this. And don't forget the context. The same person might speak differently to their friends and to their colleagues, in public and in private. 🐈

All these differences are completely normal and exist in our native language too. So before you beat yourself up "Oh no, I said something awful. Native speakers don't speak like that," just take into account the factors mentioned above and do some research. Is it perhaps that some native speakers don't say that, but some do? 🐕

The documentary I watched was American. Most people who messaged me said they heard "rain cats and dogs" in American English.

The British teacher who conducted that seminar suggested "It's coming down in stair rods" as a more common alternative. Beautiful though it might be, I haven't heard this idiom since. Have you?❓

Have you heard "It's raining cats and dogs" used in natural speech? Have you ever heard any expressions used by native speakers naturally that you thought were in the category "native speakers don't speak like this"?❓

⛄️ I am beyond thrilled to announce my plans for 2021! ⛄️

❄️ Creative Writing Club
- a one-month project for people who want to unleash their creativity and have fun writing in English (PS: this project is free);

❄️ Getting Started as an IELTS Teacher
- a series of 4 workshops for aspiring IELTS teachers;

❄️ IELTS Writing [Academic]
- a 7-8 month course for people who want to work on their IELTS writing thoroughly and meticulously;

❄️ C2 Proficiency Writing
- a 8-9 month course for people who want to work on their writing for the C2 Proficiency exam thoroughly and meticulously;

❄️ Write for Real: Blogging in English
- a 6-class project for people who want to find their voice and communicate their message effectively;

❄️ House of Cards
- a course based on this TV show, focused on speaking + lexis, and geared towards exam prep.

❄️ Zoom talks:
- My experience of doing a Creative Writing course at an American University and how it defined my teaching style.
- Ideas are welcome!
(PS: my Zoom talks are free)

💌 Stay tuned and/or message me for details. 💌

Ever since I announced my writing courses, I got lots and lots of questions. Join my Zoom talk this Saturday and I will answer all of them. ⛄️

📅 Saturday, 16 January, 15:00 MSK

I am launching three #writing courses this semester:
- Write for real: blogging in English
- IELTS Academic Writing
- C2 Proficiency Writing

So I will talk about those, about my writing philosophy, and about my teaching style. 💃

💌 Message me to get the link to the Zoom meeting.

PS: There is a placement writing task for each course. If you already know you want to enroll, message me to get one now.

#c2proficiency #cpe #c1advanced #cae #ieltswriting

I am beyond thrilled to announce my short but epic course "Getting started as an #IELTS teacher." 💃

This mini-course for teachers consists of four parts:

🎵 Part 1. Choosing the best course book or course of action for different circumstances.

We will discuss what to take into account in order to choose the best preparation strategy for your IELTS student.

🎵 Part 2. Understanding the writing and speaking assessment criteria.

We will scrutinize the band denoscriptors and assess some speaking and writing answers by my IELTS students whose scores I know.

🎵 Part 3. Writing, the most misunderstood and underpracticed skill.

We will talk about
- why people get their lowest scores for writing;
- common problems in writing;
- how to teach IELTS writing.

🎵 Part 4. Speaking of Speaking.

We will talk about what to focus on and how to make sure you are really preparing, not just chatting.

💃 A little bit about IELTS and me:
- I've been preparing students for IELTS for about 10 years;
- I've taken IELTS Academic three times, getting 8.5, 8.5, and finally 9;
- I've attended two IELTS seminars by Andrew Thomas, IELTS Principal Examiner and one of the world's most renowned IELTS experts.
- I don't have any lifehacks, but I do have a profound understanding of the exam.

📌 Price: 4000 ₽ for the whole course or 1500 ₽ for one session.
📅 Dates: 23 Jan - 13 Feb
⏰ Time: 15:00-16:30 MSK

💌 Pm me to sign up.