Shadowing Practice: 15 Advanced Synonyms for IELTS Essays - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Do you worry that your vocabulary in your IELTS essays isn't good enough?
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In today's lesson, I'm going to show you some advanced vocabulary
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that will help you wow your examiner and get a high score in IELTS writing.
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Welcome, my name is Eli and I run the website EnglishProTips .com, where we help students with the IELTS test.
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In today's lesson, we're going to learn advanced vocabulary for different essay question types.
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Also, stick around until the end because I'm going to be testing you with a short quiz.
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The most common IELTS question type gives you a statement and then asks you, to what extent do you agree or disagree?
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Here's an example.
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Students should have language classes in school.
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To what extent do you agree or disagree.
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Now, in these agree -disagree questions, instead of repeatedly writing in my opinion throughout your essay,
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use I would argue that.
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For example, I would argue that languages should be taught in schools, or I would argue that other subjects should be prioritised over language classes.
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At EnglishProTips .com, you'll find lots of band 8 slash 9 model essays, and I found that almost all of them used I would argue that.
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It's often in either the introduction or conclusion of the essay.
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Instead of writing I think or many people think, we can use the word believe.
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So, we can say things like many people believe that other subjects should be prioritised in schools.
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In fact, we can make this even better by using adverbs before believe, such as strongly or firmly.
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So we can say many people strongly believe that other subjects should be prioritised in schools.
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Instead of saying because, we can use on the grounds that. For example, I would argue that languages should be taught in schools on the grounds
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that they will be very useful for students if they decide to study or work abroad.
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Now, on the grounds that is a great phrase because
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when you use it in your IELTS essays you're automatically writing a complex sentence
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which will get you a higher score for grammatical range
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and accuracy instead of saying important you can say of paramount
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importance it is of paramount importance to be able to speak a foreign language
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if you want to study abroad or it is of paramount importance
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that schools prepare students for life after leaving school now paramount is a c2 level word
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so by using it in your ielts essays you're showing the examiner
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that you can use band 8 slash 9 vocabulary now instead of saying i agree
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or i disagree we can make this better by adding an adverb how about i strongly agree
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that languages should be taught in schools i completely agree that languages should be taught in schools
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I fully agree that languages should be taught in schools, or even I partially agree that languages should be taught in schools,
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which means that you partly agree and partly disagree.
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If you want more help with your agree -disagree essays, check out my Task 2 writing course.
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You'll find a lesson on different structures for your essay.
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You'll learn about the basic structure, the 70 -30 structure and the advanced 70 -30 plus rebuttal structure.
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By the way, Roy used this structure in his IELTS essay and got band 9 in IELTS writing.
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Now, you can start this course for free by going to EnglishProtips .com and registering for a free account.
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For advantage -disadvantage essays, the question usually asks, do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
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For example, you'll have a statement like, in many countries, parents are deciding to have children later in their lives.
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And then you'll have a question like, do you think the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages?
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So what's some vocabulary that we can use with advantage -disadvantage essays?
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Well, instead of saying advantages, we could say benefits.
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For example, there are many benefits to having children later in life.
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How about a synonym for disadvantages?
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Well, we can say drawbacks.
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For example, however, there are also plenty of drawbacks of having children later in life.
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Instead of saying big advantage or disadvantage, We can say significant.
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So one of the most significant advantages of having children later in life is
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that you have more time to develop your career before starting a family.
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Instead of saying understand, you can impress your examiner by using the word acknowledge.
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so you can write this advanced sentence while i acknowledge
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that there are many drawbacks to having children earlier in life i would argue
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that the benefits are more significant finally instead of copying the
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word outweigh from the question you can use the word exceed for example
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i would argue
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that the benefits exceed the drawbacks now in my ielts task
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2 writing course you'll find a whole lesson dedicated to advantage disadvantage questions
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so check that out
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if you want more help with this question type before your
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IELTS test double questions are IELTS questions where you get asked
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to do two things for example you might get a question
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like this many people try to achieve a work -life balance
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but very few achieve it what problems stop people from achieving a work -life balance?
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How can these problems be overcome?
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So in this question, you need to provide at least two problems and at least two solutions.
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By the way, if you would like to see a model essay for this question or any other question from this lesson, go to englishprotips .com, register for free,
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and then go to model essays.
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Here's the model essay.
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Now, I would recommend that you read the essay, do the gap fill, keep a record of the useful vocabulary to use in your own practice essays and
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if you're feeling motivated read the examiner commentary as well it'll
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give you a better understanding of what the examiner is looking for
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when they assess your essays let's look at some vocabulary
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that would help us talk about problems
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and solutions instead of constantly writing problems throughout our essay we can use the synonym issues
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so we can say there are a number of issues that prevent us from achieving a healthy work -life balance.
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Instead of writing have problems, we can use the collocation face problems.
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For example, people face several problems when trying to improve their work -life balance.
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Now, we also need some vocabulary for talking about the solutions.
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So, instead of writing solve a problem, we can write overcome a problem.
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So, we could say these problems can be overcome by improving our time management skills.
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Another alternative to solve a problem is to use alleviate an issue.
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For example, to alleviate the issue of constantly thinking about work, I would recommend trying mindfulness techniques such as meditation.
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Finally, instead of writing recommend again and again, we can use the word advocate.
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For example, I would advocate participating in mindfulness techniques such as meditation.
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In this lesson we've only covered problem and solution double questions.
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If you want to learn more about the other double question essay types, then go to englishprotips .com,
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go to my task 2 writing course and go to the lesson on double question essays.
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You'll find a video lesson, a PDF, model essays
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and quizzes to help you learn more useful vocabulary all right
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it's time to test your understanding with a 15 question quiz
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have a look at this in my opinion other subjects should
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be prioritized instead of language classes now we need to use
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a different phrase instead of in my opinion I'm gonna give you four options is it I would argue
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that i would to argue that i am argue that
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or i would to say that so
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which of these four phrases can we use instead of in
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my opinion the correct answer is a i would argue that
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so i would argue
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that other subjects should be prioritized instead of language classes number two i think
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that languages should be taught to all age groups at school is it a i'm believing b believe c says
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or d am argue so
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which of these phrases can replace the word think in this sentence it is of course b believe i believe
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that languages should be taught to all age groups at school
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and remember we can improve this by using an adverb like
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strongly believe okay number three languages should be taught in schools
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because they will be very useful for students if they decide to study
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or work abroad so we need a phrase that replaces the word
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because is it a as far as b for c on the ground
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that or d on the grounds that
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so you can see c has no s d has an s on grounds
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which is the correct answer it is d on the grounds
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that so on the grounds that means because
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and we can use it in our ielts essays number four it is important
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that language lessons are dynamic and involve a lot of communication.
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So instead of the word important, could we say of amount important,
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of paramount important, of paramount importance or of amount importance.
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The answer is C, so we can say of paramount importance instead of the word important in our IELTS essays.
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Number five, I agree that languages should be taught in school.
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So, we need a phrase to replace agree.
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How about completely agree or complete agree or am completely agree or am complete agreement?
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The answer is A, I completely agree.
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So remember, we can use adverbs like completely or fully or partially agree.
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Number six, there are several advantages of learning languages when you are young.
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Okay, we need a phrase that we can use as a synonym for advantages.
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How about beneficiaries?
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Or maybe it's benefits with two Ns or benefits with an I or benefits with an E.
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So which is the correct option?
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It's D, benefits with an E.
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Be careful of the spelling.
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Number seven, one disadvantage of teaching language classes is that it takes time away from other subjects.
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Okay, so which of these is a synonym for disadvantage?
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We've got backdraw, we've got drawback, draw blank, or defect.
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The answer is B, drawback.
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One drawback of teaching language classes.
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Number eight.
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A big advantage of speaking a foreign language is that you can travel and meet people from other countries.
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Okay, which word can replace big?
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We've got significant, signature, signified, or signalled.
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The answer is A, significant.
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So we can talk about a significant advantage or a significant disadvantage.
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Number nine.
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While I understand that there are both benefits and drawbacks to teaching language classes, all in all, I would argue that languages should be taught in schools.
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Okay, so we've got acknowledge, we've got acknowledge, we've got knowledge, and we've got acknowledge with a different spelling.
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Which is the correct option?
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The answer is B, acknowledge.
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This is the correct spelling.
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Okay, number 10.
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In conclusion, I would argue that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
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Now, we need a synonym for the word outweigh.
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Is it exceed, exceeding explaining or outweights the answer is a exceed
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so you can say I would argue
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that the advantages exceed the disadvantages number 11 there are several problems
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that occur if we don't teach language classes in schools okay
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so we need a synonym for problem
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that would fit into this sentence how about hitches or issues
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or models or mix -ups which would you use in your IELTS essay The answer is B, issues.
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There are several issues that occur.
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Number 12.
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If students don't speak a foreign language, they may have problems when they travel abroad.
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Okay, so instead of saying have problems, we could potentially use face problems, or be faced problems, or to face problems,
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or facing problems, which is the correct option.
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It is of course A, to face problems.
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Number 13.
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To solve the problem of not having enough teachers, I would recommend paying teachers a higher salary to attract them.
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So we've got overcame, come over, overcome, two words, and overcome, one word.
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So which one of these would replace the word to solve?
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The answer is D, so to overcome, one word.
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Number 14, to solve the problem of traffic congestion, I recommend decreasing the prices of public transport so that becomes more popular?
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Okay, so alleviate the issue, elevate the issue, alleviate the tissue, or elevate the tissue?
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Which one means solve the problem?
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The answer is A, alleviate the issue.
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Finally, number 15, to alleviate the issue of traffic congestion, I recommend decreasing the prices of public transport so that it becomes more popular.
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Now, we need a word that can replace the C?
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Advocate or avocado?
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The answer is C.
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So, to alleviate the issue of traffic congestion, I advocate decreasing the prices of public transport so that it becomes more popular.
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Right, I hope this lesson has helped you and I hope
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that these 15 words and phrases that we've learned in today's lesson will help you in your upcoming IELTS test.
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Best of luck with all of you're studying and I'll see you in the next lesson.
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Bye.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “15 Advanced Synonyms for IELTS Essays”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: essay, language, instead, word, agree. This video has 182 sentences and 2206 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:37. The speaker talks at a natural 151 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| essay noun | /ˈɛs.eɪ/ | A written composition of moderate length, exploring a particular issue or subject. |
| argue verb | /ˈɑɹ.ɡju/ | To show grounds for concluding (that); to indicate, imply. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| disadvantage noun | /ˌdɪsədˈvæntɪd͡ʒ/ | A weakness or undesirable characteristic; con; drawback. |
| vocabulary noun | /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/ | A usually alphabetized and explained collection of words e.g. of a particular field, or prepared for a specific purpose, often for learning. |
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| overcome verb | /ˌəʊ.vəˈkʌm/ | To surmount (a physical or abstract obstacle); to prevail over, to get the better of. |
| paramount adjective | /ˈpæɹəˌmaʊnt/ | Highest, supreme; also, chief, leading, pre-eminent. |
| alleviate verb | /əˈli.vi.eɪt/ | To reduce or lessen the severity of a pain or difficulty. |
| solve verb | /sɒlv/ | To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out. |
| acknowledge verb | /əkˈnɑ.lɪd͡ʒ/ | To admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in. |
| disagree verb | /dɪsəˈɡɹi/ | To fail to agree; to have a different opinion or belief. |
| exceed verb | /ɪkˈsiːd/ | To be larger, greater than (something). |
| examiner noun | /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/ | A person who investigates someone or something. |
| strongly adverb | /ˈstɹɔŋli/ | In a strong or powerful manner. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
| come over verb | To affect in a sudden, unprecedented or surprising manner; to overwhelm a person's ordinarily contrary impulse. |
| stick around verb | To stay; to linger; to remain. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | should be taught · should be prioritised · be overcome |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | we've only covered · has helped · we've learned |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 32 contractions and reduced forms, such as we've, you'll, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/, tissue /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/, partially /ˈpɑɹʃəli/, meditation /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/
- Long words — get the stress right: disadvantage /ˌdɪsədˈvæntɪd͡ʒ/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, alleviate /əˈli.vi.eɪt/, examiner /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/, participate /pɑːˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like essay, argue, lesson.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.