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Course

Ten-minute lessons, aimed at your report

7 units and 35 lessons, about 6 hours in all. Every lesson runs the same five steps. Click through a real one below.

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Then and nowUnit 1 · Lesson 3 · 10 min
Method
One idea per card

Then → now → why

Questions about change and childhood test your tenses. Tense slips cost Grammar points.

  1. 1Then
    The examiner is listening for tense

    Childhood needs the past: played, went, was. The classic slip is "When I was young, I play…".

    play → played

    When I was a child, I play football every day.

    When I was a child, I played football almost every day after school.

  2. 2Now
    used to: past habits

    used to + verb for things you did then but not now. The negative is didn't use to.

    Then vs now in one sentence

    I used to read comics a lot, but these days I hardly read anything on paper.

  3. 3Why it changed
    Always say why it changed

    The reason for the change is your extension: you moved, got busier, your phone changed things.

    Now + why

    Now I don't read books.

    Now I mostly read on my phone, mainly because I have a long commute.

Every day

Today’s plan comes from your last test

A warm-up, one lesson, a few minutes on your focus and the reviews that are due. After your next mock test the plan changes with it. Tick things off to try it.

TodaySaturday, Oct 11Example

Your 20 minutes

Planned around past tense, the thing costing you most on Oct 10.

  2. Now · New lessonNext in your course

    Lesson 3 · Then and now

    LearnListenSpeakFixSave

    Why today. It practises used to and past forms, the tense your report flagged.

Built from your Oct 10 mock testPast tense errors per 100 words 3.8 → 0.9
Review

Mistakes come back until they’re gone

Each sentence you got wrong goes into your notebook and comes back on a schedule. Say it right on two different days and it’s cleared. Try marking a few reviews.

Notebook1 sentence · Past tenseTry it
From your Oct 10 test
Grammar

When I was in high school, me and my friends go there almost every day after class.

When it comes back
Day 0 = the test
0
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Due on day 1. How did you say it?

Back the next day. Wrong, back the day after. Right, back in 3 days. Right on 2 different days and it’s cleared.

Units

All 35 lessons

Three units for the three parts of the test, three for the scoring criteria, and one for the surprises of test day.

Unit5 lessons · 50 min
01

Part 1: short answers with substance

Answer any Part 1 question in 2–4 natural sentences with a reason and a detail.

  1. 1Answer, reason, detailTurn every Part 1 answer into 2–4 sentences with a reason and a detail.10 min
  2. 2Likes and habitsAnswer "Do you like…" and "How often…" with how often, when, and how it feels.10 min
  3. 3Then and nowUse "used to" and the present to say what changed and why.10 min
  4. 4Questions you've never thought aboutStart within 3 seconds on an unfamiliar question: answer honestly, then link to something you know.10 min
  5. 5Natural, not memorisedDrop memorised openers and keep three follow-ups sounding natural.10 min
Unit5 lessons · 62 min
02

Part 2: a two-minute story

Turn any cue card into a 1:45 story with a clear line, real detail and a proper ending.

  1. 1One-minute notes: five wordsUse the minute to write five keywords, then talk for over a minute from them.12 min
  2. 2Story line: setting, events, turn, resultTell it as setting, events, a turn and a result, joined by time words instead of "then".12 min
  3. 3Fill the time with detailUse senses, numbers and a line of speech to reach 1:45.12 min
  4. 4One story, many cardsMine one story from your life, save it, and adapt it to a new card.14 min
  5. 5Ending and reflectionSpend the last 20 seconds on the card's final line, ending with a feeling and a look back.12 min
Unit5 lessons · 52 min
03

Part 3: develop an opinion

Give a clear view with a reason and an example on any Part 3 question, and go deeper when pushed.

  1. 1Opinion, reason, exampleAnswer every Part 3 question with a clear view, one reason and one specific example.10 min
  2. 2Two sides, then your sideGive a reason for each side of a question, then land on a clear view.10 min
  3. 3From me to societyStart from your own experience, then widen it to people your age, big cities or the whole country.10 min
  4. 4Predict and imagineAnswer future and "what if" questions with will, be likely to or would, plus a reason.10 min
  5. 5Go one level deeper on "why"When asked why, give the cause behind the cause, with a reason or example every round.12 min
Unit5 lessons · 52 min
04

Fluency and coherence

Speak at length without long pauses or restarts, with natural links and a clear order the examiner can follow.

  1. 1Thinking time that sounds naturalBuy thinking time with a natural phrase instead of silence or "um, um".10 min
  2. 2Clean self-correctionFix a slip in one go with "I mean" or "or rather" instead of restarting the sentence.10 min
  3. 3Vary your linking wordsLink longer answers with varied expressions instead of and, and, so.10 min
  4. 44-3-2 retellingTell the same story three times, shorter each time, keeping every key point with fewer pauses.12 min
  5. 5Signpost, then follow itSay how many points you'll make, then follow that order so the examiner can follow you.10 min
Unit5 lessons · 51 min
05

Vocabulary: precise and natural

Use what you've learned naturally in new answers, instead of leaning on good, very and a lot of.

  1. 1Replace the all-purpose wordsSwap good, bad, thing, a lot of and very for words that say exactly what you mean.10 min
  2. 2Collocations matter more than wordsGet the pairs Chinese speakers often miss right: make/do/take, heavy, rise/raise, and no more "learn knowledge".10 min
  3. 3Topic chunks: work and technologyHave two or three ready chunks each for work and technology, two common Part 3 topics.11 min
  4. 4Say the question your wayOpen by putting the question in your own words instead of repeating it, then give your view straight away.10 min
  5. 5Idioms: few and well placedKnow when an idiom fits and when it sounds forced, with three safe ones ready.10 min
Unit5 lessons · 55 min
06

Grammar: accurate and varied

Use two kinds of complex sentence correctly in one answer, with no tense, -s, article or plural slips.

  1. 1Present perfect or past simpleUse have done for experience and the past simple for a specific time, never "I have been there last year".11 min
  2. 2Third-person -s, articles and pluralsAdd -s after he and she, put a or the before singular nouns, and never say advices or informations.10 min
  3. 3Relative clauses: join short sentencesJoin two or three short sentences into one with who, which, where or whose, correctly.12 min
  4. 4Conditionals for opinions and what-ifsTell real possibilities from imagined ones: If it rains, I'll…; If I were…, I'd…11 min
  5. 5Comparing and concedingCompare with far more… than and not as… as, and concede with although, even though and while.11 min
Unit5 lessons · 57 min
07

Test day: handling the unexpected

Handle unclear words, interruptions and odd questions without a silence over five seconds.

  1. 1When you didn't understandAsk once if you missed it, say your guess if a word is unclear, and just answer if you got it.11 min
  2. 2Being interruptedWhen you're cut off, let the old answer go, accept in a word and answer the new question first.12 min
  3. 3Odd questionsHandle a strange Part 3 question by reasoning from what you know and have seen to a tentative view.12 min
  4. 4Reviewing your mockAfter a mock, listen to one answer, find one fix and say it again straight away.12 min
  5. 5The last 72 hours and the first minuteWarm up aloud before the test, then start each opening answer within two seconds.10 min

Questions

Find out what to work on first

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