Really good resource for Academic task 1

[Paul E]

The First Measured Century at http://www.pbs.org/fmc/book.htm is a collection of essays about American life in the 20th century but also has many excellent descriptions of graphs, diagrams and charts, with lots of the language that you need for the task 1 question. Very handy.

[rim]

Originally Posted by Paul E

The First Measured Century at http://www.pbs.org/fmc/book.htm is a collection of essays about American life in the 20th century but also has many excellent descriptions of graphs, diagrams and charts, with lots of the language that you need for the task 1 question. Very handy.

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This book is however recommended for people they study for IELTS several years, but not for short run.
For short time of study it is better to have just few examples and many hours of practicing with books as Focus on IELTS, Achieve IELTS -which is btw. the newest book of 2006, then Cambridge Practice Tests again best is the book from 2006, Insight to IELTS, Specimen of IELTS, etc.
Some free web sites were posted here last year:
http://www.writefix.com/
and so on............

[Paul E]

True that that website recommendation is for longer term study but a word of warning - there is no short term way to prepare for IELTS if you don't have the level of English. I teach a variety of formats for IELTS, including 1 day and 1 month courses, and candidates without the English necessary never do well. Studying from lots of practice books will not do it. So plan ahead, give yourself lots of time, and build your English up first.

[rim]

I hope Paul you did not mean that the book is aimed for English beginners...........("THE FIRST MEASURED CENTURY: An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America, 1900–2000" by Theodore Caplow, Louis Hicks and Ben J. Wattenberg is a book about social change in the United States during the twentieth century.")

In my post I wanted to point out that not everyone needs to study from basics and very extensively. There are many people out there who just need to practice. It is sure that who is going to take Academic IELTS must already have certain level of English. And the next point is that I noticed there are many people who have own web sites with "study materials" or offering books, etc. which are not for free. It is unfair to earn money on people who already pay high fee for the exams. If someone is not on the level of English to take the test within months or weeks of preparation should study for long run.

I have been attending TOEFL classes but I can tell you it is just the unnecessary time consuming way of study. To go deeply into thousands of examples of some grammar principles is vasted time. (Even though the teacher was excellent). Today I do not even remember what it was about. Quality, which means exactly what is on the test, is far more effective than quantity, that most teachers and tutors offer. I am still talking about people who have certain level of English. The IELTS is the same. Extensive study will not help....... that's my opinion.