Spelling correctly in English is not always easy, especially when it seems that there are more exceptions than there are rules!
In this podcast, Ellen goes over some of the most common spelling errors in IELTS and gives some tips on how you can improve your spelling.
Some of those include writing your spelling mistakes to learn from them, learning spelling rules and reading as much as possible in English. Also,learn when and how to use spellcheck.
Remember that spelling is tested not just in Writing, but also in Listening and Reading as a misspelled word will be counted wrong.
Take a look at some common spelling mistakes in the IELTS exam:
- Adding extra letters to words: Persuaide
- Doubling letters – writing Oppinion instead of Opinion
- Removing the double consonant like in disappointment, tomorrow, recommend, embarrass,
unnecessary - Forgetting letters like the “a” in literature or an “r” in surprise
- Wrong two vowel combination – writing “dreems” instead of “dreams”
- Writing the wrong word – loose instead of lose; prospective instead of perspective; there, their,
they’re; affect effect; proceed precede; sight site - Writing the wrong vowel: Tirtiary instead of tertiary
- Confusing C and S – Expenses, society & service
- Influence of another language where the same word has a different spelling: haus, maus foto
- Schwa sounds can be tough to spell – definite, desperate, separate
- Changing form changes spelling – influence- influential; benefit – beneficial; maintain –
maintenance - Ance or ence: maintenance influence
- Don’t forget silent letters: autumn, column, government, environment
- Foreign words with difficulty spelling – words from Greek: rhythm, psychology, hierarchy,
xenophobia - Words from French used in English: chauffeur, connoisseur, rendezvous, silhouette
- Conscience and conscientious
- Reversing vowels: WEIRD, not wierd; RECEIVE, not recieve
- Spread thread lead & led and other short e sounds make with 2 vowels.
Take a look at our tutorial about useful synonyms for your IELTS exam.
You can download or listen to the audio version here:
|Direct Download Here | Stitcher | iTunes | Spotify | Soundcloud | Transcript |
