10 Facts Everyone Should Know About How To Prepare For An English Exam

Memorisation Techniques For English Language Students

Language exams can be very difficult and stressful but unfortunately, for many students learning English, they are unavoidable. So you need to try to stay positive and do the best you can. So here are 10 tips for how to prepare for an English exam.

1. Find out how the examiners will mark your work and what you will get points for. Do you need to use a variety of different grammar structures and tenses? Do you need good spelling? Do you need to be creative? Check what is important and do it! In most cases, the examiners need to see what you can do with the language – this often means it may be better to invent experiences and answers so that you can answer the question well. For example, if you’ve never had a pet but you are asked to talk about one – make it up!

2. Check the rules for the exam carefully. Make sure you know how long you have for each section, how many times you will hear the listening, where you need to write your answers, what the word limits are for the writing, whether it’s better to guess answers (if you don’t lose marks for incorrect answers) or leave blanks (if you lose marks for incorrect answers). Make sure you don’t lose marks unnecessarily.
3. Find old copies of the exam and take practice tests. Make sure you are familiar with the layout of the paper and the timing for each section.
4. Try to attend an exam preparation course to learn specific exam techniques and get feedback from a teacher and learn what your strengths and weaknesses are and what you need to improve. Many English courses in England are designed specifically to help students to prepare for exams such as IELTS, FCE and CAE and can really help you to increase your chances of success. If you learn English in the UK, you should also find that your general fluency and confidence in the language also increases as you will be surrounded by the language all the time.
5. When practicing timing, remember to leave a little bit of time at the end of paper to check your work – to check your spelling, make sure you have answered every question, to make sure your writing makes sense and reads well and to make any last-minute corrections.
6. When you are preparing for the exam, set yourself little targets to try and achieve each day or each week – for example you might want to learn the spelling for 10 new words or you might want to take a listening practice test. Keep your targets realistic and celebrate your success when you achieve your targets. This will help you to stay motivated.
7. If you have to write a certain number of words for a writing exam, check how many words per line you write on average so that you can count lines instead of words in the exam. This will make counting your words much quicker.
8. If you need to remember a lot for your exam, experiment with different memorisation techniques. For example, if you want to remember vocabulary, try categorising the words into groups according to topic (e.g. travel / transports / work) or grammar (e.g. verbs + in or verbs + that + clause). If an individual word is really important for you, think about lots of different aspects of the word and draw a ‘spidergram’ to represent it. For example, you could write the definition, the pronunciation, a translation, related words in the same word family, collocations and an example sentence. When writing an example sentence you can also try to write a sentence that is personal and meaningful for you. This should help you to remember the word more effectively. Also try to think about how you learn best: do you remember things if you look at them? If you hear them? If you write them down? Use this to your advantage to help you learn. For example, if you learn by looking at diagrams and drawings, try using highlighters, ‘mindmaps’ and colour-coding to help you remember essay plans or key phrases.
9. On the evening before the exam, try to rest. Don’t do any more preparation but try to relax or do some exercise and go to bed early so your mind is fresh the next day.
10. On the day of the exam, arrive early so that you are not stressed and anxious before the exam starts. Try to stay calm and positive. Imagine yourself passing and doing well.
Put all of these tips into practice and you can't go wrong.

Top Practice Tests For The Certificate Of Advanced English

Practice Test: Certificate of Advanced English

Getting the CAE is a big step on the road to success for many people, whether it is for a job, for study, or just for a sense of personal achievement.  Most people see the Certificate of Advanced English as the gold standard of English – in other words, if you’ve passed the Certificate of Advanced English it is a clear sign that your English is really good.  Some people go on to take the CPE as well, but for many people CAE is the point at which they have proved their English to be of a high standard.

So, how can you make sure that you pass the Certificate of Advanced English?  Well, one way of course is to do practice tests.  To see what you need to do, an obvious thing is to look through past papers, and see what kinds of questions come up again and again.  The best place to start is the Cambridge Practice Test books – if you look at these, you can see authentic past papers from previous exams, which therefore show you exactly what previous candidates had to do.  Try a practice test of reading and Use of English from a practice test book from Cambridge, and you’ll be able to see exactly what collocations, fixed phrases, grammar structures and patterns, and phrasal verbs are in the Use of English, and what types of reading question you have to answer in the reading section. 

One tip with practice tests for the Certificate of Advanced English is that when you have finished a test, and you’ve seen your score, you can then go through the practice test in detail, and make a note of all the phrases and grammar you’ve missed.  Take Use of English part one of CAE, for example.  You can look through your answers, and where you’ve made a mistake, you can note down the correct collocation or phrase.  But also, with CAE, it’s a good idea to look at the other possible answers in the multiple-choice and see why they were not the correct answer, and what is the difference between the four options.  These slight differences of meanings are worth recording, and later on, you will come across some of them in parts of the exam.  That way, you really get value from a CAE practice test, and you get to learn more English as well as being tested.

Of course, you can also do an English course in the UK, where you can learn English in England, and prepare for CAE at the same time as using your language in a real setting.  A lot of the material tested in the Certificate of Advanced English is based on real, spoken English, and so you will get to hear, and use, the language you study in your CAE lessons outside of the class.  Pick a school which has CAE specialist teachers, and you’ll find that your chance of passing is much much higher.  Your range of language will increase, as will your ability to use language confidently and accurately.

So, use CAE Practice Tests well, to get the most out of them, and learn from them, along with some lessons from an experience professional, if you have the chance, in order to give you the best chance of success in passing the Certificate of Advanced English.

How Portsmouth Are You? Fun Quiz

How well do you know the language used in Portsmouth? try our fun quiz and see.

8 Tips Which Will Help You Improve Your English Grammar With Ease

 How to Learn English Grammar

Many nationalities who come to learn English in the South of England are very worried about their grammar, yet their spoken fluency and accuracy is actually very impressive. They are getting the grammar correct, but just don’t know it. Others come to learn English in the South of England with plenty of vocabulary and confidence to speak, but have little in the way of grammatical structure and could definitely do with some help with some grammar basics. English schools get all types of learners and at LSI we like to think we can accommodate all of them.

A lot of the advice below on how to learn English grammar is what is done in class here at LSI and should benefit both the groups described above.

1. Firstly, when practicing English, try to work out and write down what particular grammar areas you think you are unsure of. Remember that without someone correcting you, you won’t know how accurately you are speaking; you only know you have a problem if they don’t understand you. When this happens, make a note of what you were trying to say. When at LSI, we can direct you to practice activities and explanations from the course books that you get when you arrive here. 
2. When you read a text, look for and highlight all the examples of the bit of grammar you are looking for. If it is a tense (e.g. present perfect simple), see if you can see any patterns regarding the contexts of when it is used. If it is a conditional sentence, what tenses are used and in what contexts?
3. Seeing the grammar is one thing, but you need to be able to use it. Try to imagine the kind of conversations you need to have in order to see if your new grammar item seems to work. You then need to practice these conversations as often as possible. We’ll do that in class here but you should also try to do this on LSI Portsmouth’s social activities and conversation clubs and wherever you may travel in our local area – beautiful Hampshire.
4. If you are particularly worried about a grammar point, don’t be afraid to simply Google it, (e.g., “When do I use the past perfect continuous?). Before you can ask a question like that you might first need to ask Google: “What are the names of the tenses in English?” You may need to translate what you are looking for first but you can get there in the end. The internet is an amazing resource and if all the texts you find say more or less the same thing, they are probably correct.
5. All the English language course books that you get given when you arrive at LSI have a very clear and simple grammar explanation section. Use them; it is possible to teach yourself.
6. This may sound mad, but try having a conversation in English in your head, with yourself. When you get stuck, make a note of the problem. Then try to describe to your teacher what you were trying to say.
7. Try learning the grammar by function. In other words, think: “I need all the grammar and typical vocabulary to complain / praise / persuade / negotiate / reminisce…whatever the function might be. You will find that we tend to use a set number of phrases to carry out that function. This leads to number 8.
8. Be aware that many English sentences are made up of groups of words that frequently go together. The more English you are exposed to, the more you realise that what you think of as “grammar,” is not so important!

So if you really want to learn English, and you want to improve your English grammar, try putting these tips into practice.

Fishtail Plait Instructions - Online Everyday English Lesson

One more in our 'Everyday English Online Tutorials' - those lessons that reach the English other videos don't ;-).  This time Catherine and Rosie explain how to do a fishtail plait!

For related vocabulary click here: 

See below for some of the other videos in this series our fabulous teachers have made:

Making a Cup of Coffee

Replacing an Inner Tube

Tying a Tie

Ironing a Shirt

Painting a Wall

How to do a Smokey Eye

If you have any suggestions for other videos you'd like to see, please leave a comment below.

Britain's Best Beer Garden - In Southsea?

The Barley Mow Southsea

Our friends at 'The Barley Mow' in Castle Road in Southsea have been entered into Britain's Best Beer Garden 2016 Competition. one of the top ten pub gardens in the whole of Britain.  It's not a large garden, in fact a special little secret many don't know about, but once you step into it you feel like you are in an oasis of calm.
We are backing them, and hope you will vote for them too - the more support the better.

Click this link to vote:
or
go to this site


Update: (29.9.16)
Well Done - The Barley Mow came 3rd in Britain's Best Beer Garden 2016

7 Effective Ways To Speak English Posher Than The Queen

What Is The Queen's English: Definition 

Many people who come to learn English in the UK often say: I’d love to speak like the Queen! She speaks perfect English! But does she actually use the language in the way we imagine she does?

English schools in England certainly don’t have English courses which specifically teach the ‘Queen’s English’. After all, what exactly is the Queen’s English? Many dictionaries define it as the language which is spoken by educated people who live in the South of England. Not surprisingly many people in the North would probably take offence at such a definition! Very few people, well-educated or not, actually use English in this way, even those from an upper-class background whom you might expect to do so. A few observers of the Queen feel that she doesn’t either.

If, however, you did want to use the Queen’s English, then how would you go about it? Listed below are seven effective ways to speak English posher than the Queen does!

1. Try to avoid using slang or jargon and keep the language ‘plain’. This is probably much easier said than done, especially since there is a certain amount of disagreement as to what is ‘correct’ language.

2. Always adhere to punctuation rules when writing. With the advent of social media, the correct usage of punctuation has gone out of the window. Only in more formal documents such as reports and instruction manuals is it being maintained.

3. Respect all grammar rules. There is a certain amount of debate as to whether it is necessary to use exactly the right structures to communicate effectively, but if you want to speak the Queen’s English then you should do so.

4. Use a more formal style of address. This was very true in the past, while as today this way of speaking to people may lead to bemusement as much as anything else.

5. Speak with an ‘old fashioned’ form of pronunciation. The Queen’s English is also associated with the way words are actually said, with a type of southern English accent called ‘Received Pronunciation’. Even here it is felt that the present Queen’s accent does not conform entirely to how she ‘should’ sound. Certainly if you were to watch newsreel footage taken when she first became Queen in 1952, there is a noticeable difference in her accent.

6. Read books written in the 19th century, especially by Charles Dickens (born in Portsmouth). These often have lots of ‘correct English’ in them. However, be careful as even here some characters use decidedly non-Queen’s English.

7. Read a book called ‘The Queen’s English – And How to Use it’ from the Queen’s English society. It will tell you everything you need to know.

If you follow all of the above advice then as they say:

‘You’re gonna speak real good English, like what I do!’P.S. Please note the last sentence is definitely not the Queen’s English.

The Development of the English Language: an Untold Story

A Brief Summary of the Development of the English Language

For people who wish to learn English, the development of the English language is in some ways an untold story. Even for those who speak English as their native tongue, many do not know its origins.

So, where does the language that we use today come from? Like all languages, English has gone through a succession of changes. Much of the basis of the language came about during early medieval times (5th – 11th centuries) with the arrival in Britain of Germanic tribes from what is today Germany and the Netherlands. Their collective language was called Anglo-Saxon or Old English. Examples of Old English words are: I, you, good, name, woman, make, yes, and many others.

The Viking invasions of Britain during this period also led to the inclusion of words from Old Danish and Old Norwegian such as: get, husband, knife, take, want, window and lots of others. In total over 25% of English words are of Germanic or North European origin.

With the arrival of the Normans in 1066 the language began to change with the addition of Norman and Old French words. The period from then till the 15th century saw the population of much of Britain speak what we would call Middle English. Norman and Old French words include: beef, soldier, finance, music, blue, theatre and literally thousands of others. Nearly 30% of English comes from these two languages.

From the 15th century English has continued to evolve into what is now termed Modern English. As a result of the influence of countries which were once part of the British Empire, English has taken on board plenty of words from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. The experience of travel on the part of native English speakers and immigration to English-speaking countries from non-native English speakers has resulted in more words coming into the language from the Middle East, Italy, Spain and elsewhere.

Throughout the centuries medical and scientific terminology, and not just in the case of English but also other European languages, has been heavily influenced by both Latin and Greek.

It must also not be forgotten that while there are plenty of similarities between the English that is spoken in the British Isles, North America, South Asia and Australasia, there are some noticeable differences as far as pronunciation, vocabulary, and to a lesser extent grammar, are concerned.

With the advent of new technology and platforms for using the language such as the Internet and social media, as well as an ever-changing and multi-cultural world, English will continue to evolve in the future. It is quite possible that the English that is spoken in a couple of hundred years’ time will be very different from that which is used today.

5 reasons why learning English is such a good move!

If you have ever questioned yourself why you are learning English, here are 5 really important reasons why it is a good decision you made ;-)

1. When you go abroad, you can enjoy your foreign holidays more, English is a universal language.

2. Always looks good on your CV, and will strengthen your qualifications! Which in turn will give you more career opportunities!

3. You will be able to understand British and American TV and films, hundreds of hours of entertainment ;-)

4. It’s fun, learning English in the UK is like being in a great big cultural melting pot.

5. Not only will you be able to understand more TV and films, you will also be able to follow the news, current affairs, books, magazines etc, there is so much in English, a whole new world awaits you.

Can you think of anymore? Add them in the comments section below.

5 Reasons Learning English is Such a Good Move

What Makes Portsmouth One Of The Top Destinations To Study English In The South Of England

Learning English In Hampshire

We have spoken to our students, we have spoken to our teachers, then we spoke to the Directors! Now we hear from the Principal himself - Andrew Edwards, why the Portsmouth English language school: LSI Portsmouth is such a special place to study particularly if you want to learn English in the South of England.  Not only is LSI Portsmouth one of the best language schools in Hampshire, it is one of the best language schools in the UK, we were voted joint number one by the EL Gazette, the most popular industry standard magazine.

Pat Ourselves on the Back!

Thought we'd share what others think of us ;-)

Student Accommodation with a Difference - St Michael's Road De-Luxe Accommodation

LSI Portsmouth's Brand New Self-catering Student House - right next to school!

  We are really happy to be about to launch our brand new self-catering student house, St Michael’s, which will become available for our students in just a few weeks.

As you can see from the photos below, the house has been beautifully redecorated and furnished and everything in it is brand new.

We know it’s going to be a lovely place for our students to live in and it will have a live-in House Manager to keep things well organised for them too. There will be twelve study bedrooms for students, all of which have their own private shower and washbasin, plus there will be two bedrooms with full en suite bathrooms and there are five communal shared toilets in the house. There is a large kitchen/dining area with 2 large fridge-freezers, 2 washing machines, 2 tumble dryers, 2 sinks, 2 cookers, a large dining table and sofa and a 50-inch smart TV. Also there is a storage room. The house will have free WiFi and the house is exclusively for LSI Portsmouth students.

  Better than this, it will be ideal for those students who - how shall we put it? – are very keen sleepers and don’t like to walk far to get school. Yes, we do know you are out there! The house is right behind the school and literally 50 metres or 1 minute’s walk from the front entrance, a really great plus point for those students who like to be independent, cook for themselves, but live in a nice mixed, multi-national environment with other LSI students from all over the world really near their school.

‘Four years ago, we didn’t have any year-round independent self-catering accommodation to offer our students at all, just homestay and summer university residences,’ says Andrew, our Principal, ‘then we took on two lovely student houses, both great places and very popular with our students, but about 20 minutes’ walk from school. The next phase of our development of offering independent self-catering accommodation to our students, more and more of whom are preferring this independent way of living with other students, is to have houses which are much nearer to school. This house couldn’t be closer, as it is literally in the next building to school! For our extra sleepy students, they can roll out of bed and be in school in 1 minute - if they move fast!’ he says. ‘Early next year, we will be getting an even larger self-catering residence just 200 metres from school, which will really be great for our students and give us even more rooms right near school. We want to keep our students happy and give them the best options and we think these two houses will be great for them!’

Please contact the school for more information or to check availability as the house will be very popular, we are sure!

More Every Day English Lessons Online

For related vocabulary click here 

We have published a couple more of our 'Every day English Online Tutorials, that reach the English other places don't ;-)
We now also have 'How to Tie a Tie' with one of our best dressed men - the Vice Principal  and How to Replace an Inner Tube with Dave one of the most practical teachers on our staff.

If you haven't already seen 'How to Make a Cup of Coffee', 'How to Do a Smokey Eye' make sure you go and have a look here

Getting Ready for University - Improving Presentation Skills

Recently our summer 2016  Pre-Sessional students completed their 'Project 1' and gave their first formal presentations. Above you can see some examples of their fantastic work (not all were available on the day to photograph).  
Despite some nervousness, the students did really well and everyone was very proud of their work. The standard of their presentations was outstanding. They now have just 6 weeks of their course left until they finish their Pre-Sessional course and start their exciting adventure at the University of Portsmouth”.

Everyday English From LSI Portsmouth - Learn English Online

Click here for vocabulary

Watch on YouTube for the vocabulary and language details

click here for vocabulary

Watch on YouTube for the vocabulary and language details

Everyday English from LSI Portsmouth - Tutorials in English for Everyday Activities

We are so excited to launch our new series of video lessons! Everyday English with subtitles. 

As teachers (and also language learners) we know that there is a lot of language you need in everyday life that is not necessarily taught in a course book or at school.  The type of language that no-one really thinks about, it might not be grammatically correct but it is used in normal everyday life.

Our wonderful LSI Portsmouth teachers and friends have made a selection of little videos showing everyday activities. All these videos have subtitles and the tape script in the video description, so you can see the language used.  Some of them also have downloadable PDFs with further language explanations. We will be publishing them weekly for the next few weeks.

Massive thanks to Alan, Catherine and Rosie for these first two videos.

As a little side note, most of these videos are perfect for IELTS task one processes, so if you are teaching or studying IELTS, do have a look at the language, it could be really useful for you.

Day Five of Farringdon's Visit to LSI Portsmouth

Very sad that this is the last day of Farringdon's visit.  We have really enjoyed having him here and showing him our excellent school and city.

Business English UK - Business English UK is a national, not-for-profit organisation, offering independent advice on finding the right English and communication training course in the UK

Day Four of Farringdon's Visit to LSI Portsmouth

Day Four of Farringdon's Visit to LSI Portsmouth.
Lovely time in the Exec centre and then out for a meal and then some music with Lea Brophy the Vice Principal.

Business English UK - Business English UK is a national, not-for-profit organisation, offering independent advice on finding the right English and communication training course in the UK

Day Three of Farringdon's Visit to LSI Portsmouth

Day three of Farringdon's visit to LSI Portsmouth.
A packed day today, sight seeing and sport as well.

Business English UK - Business English UK is a national, not-for-profit organisation, offering independent advice on finding the right English and communication training course in the UK

Day Two of Farringdon's Visit to LSI Portsmouth

Farringdon's second day in LSI Portsmouth.

Business English UK - Business English UK is a national, not-for-profit organisation, offering independent advice on finding the right English and communication training course in the UK

Farringdon Bear from BEUK comes to visit LSI Portsmouth

We have a very special visitor this week at LSI Portsmouth - Farringdon Bear from BEUK (See below).  As always we love having visitors and so we are going to show him a fabulous time in this amazing city we live in and of course extend the biggest welcome to him from our stunning school and particularly from the Executive Centre.

Emma met him and had a little chat with him to explain what makes us so good.

If you want to join the LinkedIn Alumni group click here

Business English UK - Business English UK is a national, not-for-profit organisation, offering independent advice on finding the right English and communication training course in the UK