Spelling is huge concern for my IELTS students.

Writing scores are 25% determined by vocabulary,

which includes spelling accuracy. Too many spelling mistakes can also seriously bring down
your score in IELTS Listening.
This list of common IELTS spelling mistakes includes some of the words most likely to appear in the
test. Try to master these basic rules in order to minimise poor spelling in IELTS.

Single and double consonants

Spelling mistakes are common when single or double consonants occur nearby in a word.
A single consonant is followed by a double consonant:
Across, Process, Harass, Disappoint, Recommend, Tomorrow, Professor, Necessary
A double consonant is followed by a single consonant:
Parallel, Apparent, Exaggerate, Occasion, Occur (but Occurred), Commit (but Committed)
Some common words with two pairs of consonants:
Success, Possess, Access, Assess, Address, Accommodation, Embarrass, Millennium

Weak vowel sounds

Some words are difficult to spell because they contain the schwa or [ə], a weak vowel sound. It is almost
impossible to know how to spell such words from their sound alone.
Examples of words containing more than one schwa include:
Separate (adj.), Definite, Desperate, Temperature, Literature, General, Relevant, Category
Other problematic schwa words include:
Describe, Decline, Despite; but Dispute, Discrete, Display
Capable, Achievable, Understandable; but Possible, Visible, Accessible
Performance, Attendance, Ignorance; but Independence, Sentence, Existence
Sometimes the schwa sound conceals a barely-pronounced [r]:
Opportunity, Pursue, Persuade, Surprise

Changes of spelling when words change form

A consonant can change when a noun becomes an adjective:
Benefit > Beneficial; Influence > Influential; Circumstance > Circumstantial
A vowel can change or be lost when a verb becomes a noun:
Maintain > Maintenance; Pronounce > Pronunciation, Argue > Argument
A vowel may double when a noun becomes a verb:
Success > Succeed; Excess > Exceed; Process > Proceed
A final consonant is often doubled when a verb changes form:
Occur > Occurred; Refer > Referred; Begin > Beginning
Silent letters in consonant clusters
[nm] in Environment, Government
[nm] in Column, Autumn
[sc] in Science, Conscious, Discipline, Fascinate, Ascend, Descend
[xc] in Excite, Exceed, Exception, Excellent, Excited
[dg] in Knowledge, Acknowledge (but just [g] in Privilege, Oblige)
[th] clusters in ordinals: Eighth, Twelfth, Hundredth

Pairs of frequently confused spellings in IELTS

Till ≠ Until (not *untill)
Lose ≠ Loose (one is a verb; the other is an adjective)
Affect ≠ Effect (one is a common verb; the other is its noun form)
Forth ≠ Fourth (one means ‘forward’; the other means ‘number four’)
Fourth but Forty (not *fourty)
High but Height (not *hight)
Great but Grateful (not *greatful)
Precede ≠ Proceed (one means ‘go before’; the other means ‘go ahead’)
Principle ≠ Principal (one means ‘truth’; the other means ‘main’)
Site ≠ Sight (one is a place; the other is something to see, as in sightseeing not *siteseeing)
Copywriter ≠ Copyright (one writes advertising; the other means ‘intellectual property’)

Finally, some notoriously tricky spellings in English

Here are 10 English words of foreign origin that even native speakers have difficulty spelling!
Amateur, Entrepreneur, Hierarchy, Liaison, Medieval, Miscellaneous, Queue, Questionnaire, Rhythm,
Vacuum

Types of News, Newspapers and Magazines

Online news: is the online version of a newspaper

A broadsheet: a newspaper printed on large sheets of paper

The daily: a newspaper published every day except Sunday

A tabloid: a newspaper with fairly small pages mostly containing stories about famous
people and not much serious news

A weekly publication: a magazine, newspaper

A media outlet: a newspaper publishes news stories

 biweekly a magazine that is published twice a month or twice a week

Bulletin a magazine or newspaper produced regularly by a club or organization to give

information to its members

Compact a newspaper with fairly small pages that deals with serious news issues

Fanzine a magazine written for and by fans

Heavy (informal) a serious newspaper

Newspaper Content
 headlines = heading or title appearing at the top of a page or article
 columns = news that is printed in vertical columns rather than taking a whole page
 advice column = a column in the newspaper where advice is given to people who write
in for it
 obituaries = a section in the newspaper about people who have recently died
 horoscope = a section in the newspaper about star signs and zodiac signs which foretell
the future
 weather report = a section in the newspaper for weather forecasts
 business section = a section in the newspaper with business news
 international / world news section = a section in the newspaper which focuses on news
from abroad
 caption = a explanation or title matching a picture or cartoon
 letter to the editor = a section in the newspaper for people to express their views to the
editor of the newspaper
 special feature = a special story
 editorial = a news article containing the editor’s opinions
 comic strip = a cartoon series in the newspaper
Your Habits
Follow a story, peruse my favourite column; track the news; catch a news
bulletin; subscribe to a publication

Types of News
local news; international news; world events; current affairs; business news; gossip;
sensational news; the scandal received wide coverage in the press; libel; breaking news;
 make the headlines; objective reporting; cover a story; news coverage; analysis; the
story went viral

The People Involved

paparazzi; unscrupulous reporters; a news anchor; a newscaster; a broadcaster; a
columnist; a reporter; a journalist; a photojournalist

Phrases and idioms about the news

the gutter press: newspapers which focus on sensational journalism, often about the
lives of famous people

yellow journalism: a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-

researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers.
Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering or
sensationalism.

information overload: exposure to too much information or data

invasion of privacy: unjustifiable intrusion into the personal life of another without
consent.

a slow news day: a day with little news to report

Other Useful Vocabulary for Newspapers

 circulation = the number of copies a newspaper distributes on an average day (some
newspapers have a wider circulation than others)
 layout = the way articles are designed on a page (this can include the position of
pictures, the number of columns and the size of headlines)
 attention-grabbing = a news story which draws public attention
 eye-catching = a picture or layout which catches a person’s eye
 in-depth = with many details
 sensational news = news which causes public excitement or interest
 black and white = without colour
 paparazzi = a freelance photographer who follows celebrities
 front page = the first page of a newspaper
 fact checkers = a person (people) who checks if the newspaper facts and information in
an article are correct
 hot off the press = news that has just been printed and is very recent
 readership = the collective readers of a newspaper (some newspapers have a large
readership)
 issue (n) = 1. an important topic for a debate 2. a copy of a newspaper

PRACTICE
IELTS Speaking Part 1 Questions:
 Do you often read the news?
 Which magazines and newspapers do you read [Why?]
 What kinds of articles are you most interested in? [Why?]
 Have you ever read a newspaper or magazine in a foreign language? [When / Why?]
IELTS Speaking Part 2 Cue Card:
Describe a newspaper or a magazine that you like to read. You should say:
– What the publication is
– What kind of information it contains
– How often you read it
And explain why you read it

IELTS Speaking Part 3 Follow-up Questions

 Why is it important to read the news?
 Do you prefer to receive your by reading it, or to listen to the news on the radio, TV or
internet?
 Do you think newspapers and magazines might one day disappear?
 What qualifications should a person have to work in a news corporation?
 Would you say the media presents us with more good news than bad news, or vice-
versa?
 Should the government control what is in our newspapers?
 Which news medium, TV, the internet, or mobile devices, do you think is best for
broadcasting the news?
 What kind of person can become a good journalist?
 Is it easier to share news today than it was in the past?
 In general, how do people share or communicate (good) news with others?
 Which do you think is better for communicating (good) news, telling someone face-to-
face or telling them on the telephone?
 How has modern technology affected the way people share information with others?

Practice with Newspaper Vocabulary

 Fill in the following sentences with word(s) from the above lists. Words can be adapted
to make the sentences grammatically correct.

1. I can’t understand why people buy ……………….. because they don’t contain real news,
just gossip.
2. Famous people deserve the right to privacy and the government should do more to
control and limit ……………
3. There are so many mistakes in that article with information that they’ve got wrong.
They really should employ a …………….
4. I’m not keen on the …………… of some newspapers. It seems to me as though they are
trying to fill the pages with pictures and big words to get people’s attention but I just
think it’s messy.
5. Did you read about that amazing hero in WWII that recently died? There was a
wonderful article about her life in the …………….. today.
6. The reason that many people only glance through the papers to read the ……………….. is
that they are so busy and don’t have time to read the details in the articles themselves.
7. Although we live in a global world, where international news is important to follow, it is
still vital that people read their ……………… newspapers in order to learn about the
community in which they live.
8. I quite like reading …………… because it’s interesting to read the views of the editor on
particular issues.

Answers

1. tabloids
2. paparazzi (it is also possible to have the answer of “the gutter press”)
3. fact checker
4. layout
5. obituaries
6. headlines
7. regional / local
8. editorials

Error Correction
Find the mistakes in the following sentences. There is one mistake in each sentence.

1. The paparazzi, who work freelance, are notorious for hound celebrities.
2. Gutter press focuses on mainly sensational news.
3. Tabloid are not popular newspapers among the educated people in my country.
4. Fact checkers do important work and are responsible to make sure that people are
quote correctly in articles.
5. The recent article about marine environmental problems is hot of the press.
6. For my research, I had to go through a lot of back issues of various newspapers to find
the articles relate to my degree thesis.
7. I’m pleased that newspapers are starting to include some colour photographs and
pictures because it makes the articles more interesting and eye-catch.
8. One of my favourite parts of a newspaper is the comic strip because I find the message
in the cartoons so relevent to the major issues of the day.
Answers

1. hound = hounding (chasing)

2. Gutter press = The gutter press
3. Tabloid = Tabloids
4. quote = quoted
5. hot of the press = hot off the press
6. relate = relating
7. eye-catch = eye-catching
8. relevent = relevant