Academic Reading and Writing Made Easy

It is easy to assume that a successful student is the one that achieves high scores and is popular not only with their peers but also lecturers and tutors. But, is it the only way to define 'success'. In this week's episode, I dive deep into four categories of 'success' and try to encourage you to explore non-academic skills that can greatly contribute to your success as a student and individual. I talk about being resilient and confident as they seem to be top skills that are required to thrive in today's uncertain world. I also talk about systems that can help you increase your levels of resilience and confidence. And of course, I have created a free guide that will help you coin your own definition of success according to the four categories explained in this episode.

Accountability breeds confidence. But how can you do it? How can you build your confidence? How can you trust yourself and be sure that you will accomplish your goals? In this week's episode, I talk about the importance of accountability and how it can help you with self organisation and time management. I also refer to the Priority Matrix as a tool that aids task prioritisation.

In this episode, I encourage you to reflect on your self-organisation and time management. Both skills are critical to becoming a successful student. With the amount of work mounting and the deadlines coming all at once, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed. With the rocks, pebbles and sand analogy, I would like to help you for your priorities and focus on the tasks that matters most to you.

One of the reasons why students don't do well in writing is a lack of academic vocabulary. While there are many wordlists with academic vocabulary available on the Internet, there are not too many proven methods or tools that would actually help with the acquisition of the new vocabulary set. In this week's episode, I introduce two applications that my students and I use for learning, revising and applying academic collocations. While Collocaid helps you with expanding your academic vocabulary range, Quizlet facilitates the process of testing and memorising new words and phrases.

In this episode, I interview Rachel, an experienced English language, IELTS and OET trainer. We talk about the differences between OET and IELTS exam, both the General and Academic version. We share our experiences of preparing candidates for IELTS examination and what makes it is a challenging English exam. We also talk about how IELTS Academic Training can help you with university requirements and what language skills you need to achieve IELTS Band 7.0 or higher. We also discuss differences between IELTS academic essays and university-level essay and how IELTS preparation cannot substitute university preparation courses, and how native speakers of English can benefit from academic writing classes as well. If you're interested in taking IELTS, I recommend that you grab Rachel's free resources '3 fatal speaking mistakes IELTS candidates make' from her website https://www.rachelpratley.com

From self-doubt to applying for a PhD. In this episode, I talk to one of my former students - Jacob - who enrolled on a master's degree at a London university not knowing much what to expect. He talks about his journey from questioning if he should be pursuing a higher-education diploma, feeling lost and stressed to finding the right help and finally, finishing his degree with honours.

In this episode, I talk about a major roadblock that stops international students from succeeding on their undergraduate and postgraduate courses and I explain what makes academic writing easy so that you can not only get higher grades but also start enjoying writing academic assignments.

In this episode I explain what academic writing style is and how to improve it in an easy. You first start with auditing your own writing style and then you make simple changes to sound more formal and academic. Academic writing style is not only about using formal words but also using advanced grammar structures. I also talk about the French language and its influence on academia.

In this shortie episode, I am talking about the main differences between descriptive and critical or analytical writing. I give prompts, which will help you realise where you need to improve your writing and also or most importantly, I share a step-by-step process for structuring a strong paragraph, including a critical analysis of external sources.

In this episode, I explain what the DELTA qualifications are and why they are so difficult to gain. I also talk about opportunities the DELTA qualifications can give you and the most common challenges coming with achieving them. Apart from a detailed explanation of the DELTA qualifications, I share with you an important life lesson I have learned while becoming to a teacher of English in the UK and why I don't think you need to have a clear vision for your life to get what you want from it.

Paraphrasing is an essential skill for those who are considering taking IELTS and those, who are already studying at university. In this episode, I teach you how you can learn to paraphrase successfully by following my proven formula. The method I teach includes five steps and works well even with those students, who do not feel confident in writing in English. I encourage you to download the guide accompanying this episode so that you can easily follow the steps and get more practice. Answers are provided.

In this episode, I talk about the three main reasons that make giving PowerPoint and poster presentations difficult, and I share with you all the ins and outs of 5 most common mistakes students make when preparing and delivering presentations and what to do about them.

In this episode, I dive deep into the structure of the IELTS Academic Exam and the most common problems IELTS candidates have. I also share tested exam strategies that have helped my students reach the score they need to enter the English-speaking universities of their dreams. Those who know the format of the exam have an advantage on the day of the exam. Knowing how the test is constructed can not only save you time, but also help you score more points. Plus, with the strategies for each test will unlock the Band you need.

In this episode, I'm going to break down: ● The difference in the educational system in Continental Europe, China, India and the UK ● Clarify what a knowledge-focused and process-based education is about ● What makes it hard for international students to adapt to the UK system ● The weakest point in students' adaptation process and what to do about it ● How to make most out of tutorial sessions

In this episode I pull back the curtain and reveal the intricacies of marking assignments at UK universities. If you ever wondered why it can take up to a month to receive a grade, you will find the answer to your questions. I also explain the processes of standardisation and moderation, which guarantee the quality of marking and its transparency.

In this episode, I talk with Natalie, an English for Employment Coach from Hunter Learning Studio, Australia about transferrable skills that university students already have and which are sought-after skills on the job market. We discuss how college and university students develop skills such as resilience, critical thinking, problem-solving, flexibility, emotional intelligence, communication and teamwork, and how they can easily transfer them to their new employment.

Academic writing is NOT a coca cola. You might think what the heck has coca cola got to do with writing?! Not much in fact, but there are some similarities. Let me explain it to you in this episode.

The guest of my first interview is Dr Oxana Garanina - a senior lecturer in Business Management at the University of Buckingham. At the moment, she is working towards her second doctoral degree in Business and Management at Oxford Brookes University, UK. Oxana has been teaching at undergraduate, postgraduate and post-experience levels. In today's episode, we are talking about the study skills international students need to succeed at UK universities.