I have noticed how much it has been raining recently – the reason I’ve noticed is that the windscreen wiper on my car is broken and I can’t see properly when it’s raining! (Not sure what windscreen wiper means? Don’t reach for your dictionary but use the context to work it out – yes, it’s the thing on the front window of the car which wipes the rain away!) The problem is that I only notice that it isn’t working when it’s raining which means of course I have to pull over to the side of the road and stand in the rain trying to fix it. I fix it a little, and then forget about it, until the next time it rains! I think that international students are often like this – they don’t worry about their English until they have to hand in their work! Then it is too late. You have to work on your English even when it’s not raining!
I get lots of students in my office with assignments which include writing about tables and charts. Describing graphs and charts can be difficult and that’s why I have got a link to a really good website to help you write about these things. The phrases that you often need are things like: Since 2007 the rate of inflation has increased.. and many students have difficulty with these verb forms and the particular vocabulary that you can use to describe charts, graphs and tables. These writing activities are often included in IELTS examinations so this link will be particularly useful for students preparing to take their IELTS writing paper. The link comes from Leeds University Langauge Centre and you can follow it here.