OET

We at First Academy have the fortune of learning on the job. As teachers of English, we are naturally among the first to encounter the most common mistakes people make and encounter them on a regular basis. The one mistake that usually takes the cake is the difficulty most people face in understanding the difference between there, they’re (they are) and their.Here is a short primer on what these words mean and how to use them correctly. Be it IELTS or PTE or CELPIP or any other English test wh

Hope you have all had a great Valentine's day! 💕Especially the cardiologists among you! 😉We get a lot of queries about coaching for OET, and unsurprisingly, many who wish to take coaching only want to do so because they are not always aware of the nuances of the test. They have command over language in general, and they have been dealing with patients and already know what it is to be a medical professional. However, the fact that they would be soon taking a test, no matter how simple, som

To listen to the audio click onto this link : https://firstacademy.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Matching-Lists.mp3?_=1

A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause which functions as an adjective or an adverb to describe a word or make its meaning more specific. It is one of the most common errors students commit in tests that include a writing module. Take this short quiz to know where you stand. Good Luck!

Now, for the quiz. If you are taking the quiz on a mobile, click below (it will open in a nice pop-up window that is unobtrusive)  Mobile Quiz  If you wish to take the quiz on the desktop, here you are:

Coherence and Cohesion is one of the parameters of evaluation for writing. Since the name sounds good, most are swept up in the charm of the name and hence do not bother to figure out what it means and how it can affect their score. Coherence is about the logical flow of information. It is about unity. About how your essay sounds as a whole. Look at the following sequence of sentences:  Bats are the only mammals capable of flight. Mammals are animals that have hair and external ears. Man is

Short Listening 2Play the audio file and answer questions as you listen. In the actual test, you will not be allowed to pause or rewind the tape. Try following the same rules here too! Remember, the questions are not easy. Read the questions and the answer options at least once before you play the audio tape!  Audio Player : https://firstacademy.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Art_Listening.mp3?_=1 For question or clarifications, you can always reach out to us at www.firstacademy.in

In the second part of the series, we will look at use of Another and Other, and along the way also take a look at use of Articles. Most of us already know that A and An are articles to indicate non specific nouns, while the is used for specific nouns. Extending from this, Another simply is the combination of the two words an and other. So, when we are using Another or other, it means we are looking at nonspecific noun.  Ex: This pen is not writing well. Give me another. (Any other pen) Howe

This article is details 6 pointers which will help you score high on the OET writing subtest. 1. Who are you writing to? ❔ The answer to this question has the potential to completely change the geography of the letter you are going to write. Are you writing to a doctor or a caretaker or a nurse? If you are writing to a doctor, are you writing to a general physician, or a gynaecologist, or a neurologist? Understanding this will give you an understanding of what to look for in the case notes.

There are several seemingly simple words and expressions that test takers regularly encounter. Seemingly because these words have different meanings in different contexts. Understanding what these mean and when can mean the difference between selecting a right answer and being saddled with a lower than expected score. Take for instance the following expressions: Here are a few common words that are used in questions and reading comprehension passages. Take a look:

Reading in the IELTS, GRE, PTE, OET, TOEFL tests is not about reading aloud but being able to understand the texts. Sometimes understanding texts can be difficult due to unfamiliar words or challenging sentence structure.There are various reasons why words might be  unfamiliar to a reader. One of them could be culture. An American, for instance, might not immediately figure out what lorry is, since Americans use the word truck. The same goes with biscuits and cookies. This could be a hurd

The test is in 4 Parts. Answer the questions as you listen. Fill in the answers in the blanks below!Audio : https://firstacademy.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Paraphrase-Listening.mp3?_=1The full PDF of the test is available here:  https://firstacademy.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/FULL-LISTENING-TEST.pdf

Understanding how sentences work is very important. For you to be able to do that, you will have to know how to construct them. This short quiz will present you with 8 different sentences. Try and reconstruct those sentences using the word in bold. You might have to use phrases and idiomatic expressions where necessary.

If you want to read better, you will absolutely need to understand how a sentence works. This will allow us to break a sentence down into easily understandable pieces. Each of these bite-sized pieces is called a clause. A clause is the basic unit of grammar. Usually, a main clause is made up of a subject (s) (a noun phrase) and a verb phrase (v). [Subject]Ram [Verb]called.  This is an example of a simple sentence. However, when one is reading, we do not just encounter simple sentences. Most

The phone buzzed. It was picked up. I picked it up, and I saw a message from one of the many, ordinary, routine, right-handed dudette telling me today is the day we celebrate left-handedness. Well, I did not know if it is a tongue-in-cheek thing. But, I decided that it did not matter. Though people call me lefthanded, I do have two hands. And only one of them is my left-hand.The last time I checked (which was just now), I used both hands equally. Yes, equally. I might do more things with one tha

Emails have long become the de-facto form of communication. Thanks to this, a volume of email  is sent and received. This makes it imperative for communication over emails to be clear, precise, and unequivocal (meaning, there is only one way of understanding something)Here are some tips that will help you send better letters/emails:1. Send brief, clear messages.The shorter the email, the greater the chance it will be read. Using short clear sentences is always a better way of presenting inf

What is a collocationA collocation is a combination of two or more words which frequently occur together. If someone says, 'She's got yellow hair, they would probably be understood, but it is not what would ordinarily be said in English. We'd say, 'She's got blond hair'. In other words, yellow doesn't collocate with hair in everyday English. Yellow however collocates with flowers, or jacket, or brick road. It can be difficult for learners of English to know which words col

Coherence is Cohesion, especially when it comes to writing, can be very, very, confusing. To add to this, there is a lot of conflicting information about what should or should not be done. There is no way of identifying which source is correct, and which isn't.We have been in the business of training for writing for over 20 years, and we have thousands of people vouching for us. So, here is our, simplified take on how to write cohesively.Here is a para from an article from a reputed, English-lan