Em never should have responded to MGK, but if he hadn’t, we wouldn’t be blessed with the KILLSHOT.

On a completely different note, my official response is coming in shortly. I have literally addressed every single statement made in the post. So I kindly ask the author of the post not to delete or edit his original text.

Let’s break it down line by line. So here we go.

Lately, some education centers care too much about teachers’ results than their students’ results.

It is true that we value our teachers and recognize their efforts when they demonstrate excellence. We believe any education center operating in Uzbekistan would do the same, if not more, if they had as many instructors with an overall band score of 9.0.

Almost no student results despite having many branches.

The author of this post, who began his teaching career at IELTS ZONE and worked with us for many years, should know better that IELTS ZONE has always prioritized student results, both in quantity and quality. The fact that we are not making as many posts presenting student results can be attributed to several factors, including but not limited to:

1) Student Exam Scheduling

We no longer actively encourage our students to sit for the exam on the same day, so the numbers are spread out across different exam dates. If needed, we can go back to our previous approach of registering students en masse for the same exam date. This would result in the number of students achieving band 7 or higher at least tripling as long as we track down all the results, which leads to my second point.

2) Post-Graduation Tracking

There are no strong incentives for teachers to track their students’ results post-graduation. As a result, many of our student results go unnoticed even by our SMM team, who is apparently made up of just one part-time specialist. We do not emphasize aggressively presenting student results to the public, as we are actually busy helping them achieve their dream scores, rather than exploiting every single result we get as we may have in the past. This is because IELTS ZONE has long evolved beyond such methods of attracting students. Let’s be honest: presenting student results can be quite biased, as top-scoring students can easily be cherry-picked. Admittedly, to some extent, we do this too, but not as frequently as we used to.

Some of you might wonder if there is a more unbiased and transparent way of presenting student results. The answer is: Yes! This will be possible in 2024 with the aid of a third party - IDP IELTS, who has promised to publicly disclose all statistics regarding student results from all its partnering centers. So, instead of relying on one-sided, cherry-picked student results, let’s wait for the official statistical tracking, which is planned to be released at the end of 2024. That way, we will be able to see which center actually has a higher average score in terms of student results. I am far from suggesting it will be IELTS ZONE, but wouldn’t it make for a more meaningful discussion than making baseless assumptions? Speaking of baseless assumptions, let’s analyze the next statement.

Their teachers definitely cannot repeat their 9s. I heard one of their niners took the test on Sunday and couldn’t repeat.

This “bold” claim (even highlighted in bold) is ironically the easiest to refute. That particular niner, Oybek Abdurahmonov, did, in fact, retake the test on Sunday (only because he had registered for three more exams but couldn’t refund his test fees after scoring his first 9.0) and achieved a band score of 9.0 again (9, 9, 8, 9). We chose not to publicize this extensively as it was the exact same score. Now that you have brought it up, he also took the test on Monday, scoring an overall 9.0 FOR THE THIRD TIME in just six days. Having sat the exam ONLY five times, Oybek has now achieved an overall score of 9.0 THREE TIMES without EOR or OSR.

Let that sink in… 3 out of 5, which is equal to 60% of likelihood. Like I said, this guy is a freaking monster!

In fact, he is the only individual in Uzbekistan to score an overall 9.0 more than once within the shortest period of time without having to use an EOR or OSR for that matter.

IELTS ZONE’s triple niner, Oybek Abdurahmonov, has just shared his first public post on telegram.

#TripleNiner

https://www.tg-me.com/ieltszone_uz/7134

Today is the last day of 2023! What a year it has been…

What are some of your resolutions for the new 2024? Let us know in the comments.

#GuessTheIDIOM

January 1, 2024

Definition:
"Turn over a new leaf" is an idiom that means to start anew, to change one's behavior or attitude for the better, often after a period of poor performance or bad behavior. It implies a fresh start or a second chance.

Example sentence:
After several years of struggling with his studies, Jake decided to turn over a new leaf and dedicate himself to his schoolwork, resulting in significantly improved grades.

In this sentence, the phrase is used to describe a positive change in Jake's approach to his studies.

More formal use (for IELTS):

In order to address the pressing issue of climate change, it is imperative that both individuals and governments turn over a new leaf, adopting more sustainable practices and policies that prioritize environmental conservation.

Make your own sentence using today’s idiom

#Vocabulary Level C1/C2

Let's see how many expressions you can come up with by combining words from these three lists:

A) feel, take, have, lose, be

B) blame, entitled, control, responsible, charge, responsibility

C) over, of, to, for

Try not to use any external help at your first attempt

Here are the possible answers:

1. feel to blame for
2. feel entitled to
3. feel in control of
4. feel responsible for
5. take the blame for
6. take control of
7. take responsibility for
8. take charge of
9. have control over
10. have responsibility for
11. have a responsibility to
12. lose control of
13. be to blame for
14. be entitled to
15. be in control of
16. be responsible for
17. be in charge of
18. be the responsibility of

Please read:

To reach a band 8.0 - 9.0 for LR in speaking or writing, many students try to memorize idioms like “raining cats and dogs” or “to be a knee high to a grasshopper”

It is because according to the band descriptors, candidates at a band 9 level are required to use “idiomatic language” which is often misunderstood by not just IELTS “students”, but some “instructors” as well.

While being able to use well-known idioms (in a traditional sense) naturally can be a strength, such expressions listed above would also qualify as “idiomatic language”.

Now looking at the list, which of these expressions would you say you are not very familiar with?

Alright, before we move on to the next exercise, can anybody tell me the difference between these two:

10. To have responsibility for

11. To have a responsibility to

Do you think these two are synonyms and can be used interchangeably?

Here is the detailed explanation from CHAT GPT

"To have responsibility for" and "to have a responsibility to" are related but not synonymous and cannot be used interchangeably. Here’s the difference:

- To have responsibility for something means to be in charge of it or to be the one who must ensure that it is done correctly, safely, or legally. It denotes a direct relationship where the subject is accountable for the care or management of an object, project, or person.

- To have a responsibility to someone means to have an obligation to that person. It is about having a duty to act in their best interest or to fulfill a role towards them. This phrase emphasizes the relationship between the subject and other individuals or groups to whom they owe some form of ethical or moral duty.

In practice, "to have responsibility for" often involves tasks or roles, whereas "to have a responsibility to" involves a relationship and duty towards people or entities.

Here are examples illustrating each expression:

- To have responsibility for: "The event coordinator has responsibility for ensuring the conference runs smoothly."

-have a responsibility to" are rel "As a teacher, I have a responsibility to my students to provide a safe and conducive learning environment."

In the first example, the event coordinator is in charge of all the aspects of the event's execution. In the second example, the teacher has an ethical obligation towards the students' welfare and education.

#Exercise for #Practice

Complete the sentences using the words in brackets. You may need to add verbs or prepositions.

1. We _____________ what private businesses pay their staff. (no, control [n])

2. The culture department ___________ the running of museums. (be, responsible)

3. I think the mayor has _____________ the council. (lose, control)

4. Politicians should always ___________ their emotions. (be, control [n])

5. Public spending is totally ___________ .(out, control [n])

6. The state __________ to provide healthcare. (have, responsibility)

7. We need to find out who _____________ the crisis. (be, blame)

8. The government needs to ____________ the current problems. (take, charge)

9. In some countries, you ___________ free medical care. (be, entitled)

10. The party leader _________ their election defeat. (take, blame)

#AnswerKey
The previous exercise was adopted from Vocabulary for IELTS (Advanced) by Pauline Cullen.

#FoodForThought
What is welfare? What is your understarding of a welfare state?

A common IELTS Task 2 question:

All education and healthcare should be funded by the government and free for everyone.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

The idea behind this question is Universalism vs. Selectivism.

In other words, should welfare services be provided universally to everyone or should they be targeted only to those most in need?

This is my idea of a decent IELTS lesson:

1. Provide students with input (language)
2. Give them a controlled practice to help them remember the vocabulary they've learnt
3. Introduce a topic (IELTS is all about topics) by giving them a reading passage (here I skipped this part)
4. Productive part: discuss some controversial issues around the topic and end the lesson with either a writing or speaking (part 3) question to give students the chance to recycle both the ideas and the language they've acquired during the lesson.

- So am I ready to start offering offline (face-to-face) IELTS classes again?
- I think so 😁

#GuessTheIdiom

What idiom(s) do you think can be portrayed using this illustration?

Most of you were correct, but the idiom I chose today was “to go with the flow”

Definition:

"Go with the flow" is an idiom that means to accept and adapt to the situations or events as they happen, rather than trying to control or resist them. It implies a relaxed, adaptable, and non-confrontational approach to life's circumstances, often in situations where resistance or effort might be futile or counterproductive.

Example for Speaking:

When the travel plans got disrupted due to the sudden storm, rather than getting upset, we decided to go with the flow and explore the local attractions instead.

Example for Writing:

In the rapidly evolving landscape of technology, businesses must learn to go with the flow, adapting swiftly to new innovations and market trends to remain competitive and relevant.

“An old photo”

Year: 2018
IELTS ZONE, INTEGRO 5th floor

Chilling with Jamshid Akhmadaliev, IELTS ZONE’s then marketing and PR specialist.

Every year when my FACEBOOK shows these old photos to me as a memory, it just takes me down the memory lane to good ol’ days.

It is a pity that I no longer use my facebook as actively as I used to, maybe I should 🧐

This is the scene I was laughing about.

We were having some fun in front of the camera, so at the beginning we had to start over a couple of times. That reminded of this particular scene from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in which Leo playing a washed-up Western actor messes up his lines. It is said that this whole messing up his lines thing was Leo’s improvisation, and Tarantino (the director of the movie) loved it so much that he decided to keep it in the movie.

https://youtu.be/BS6adEG5aQs?si=e6NooIbog1O2QdZX