LSI/IH Portsmouth Hosts the First IELTS Conference in the UK

 May the 19th and LSI/IH Portsmouth holds the first ever IELTS conference in the UK.

LSI/IH Portsmouth has a fantastic
reputation for their IELTS courses, and, with a published IELTS course book
author as head of the team, the classes are constantly full.

In May LSI/IH Portsmouth hosted the ‘IELTS Conference – Ideas and approaches for
teaching IELTS’,
led by three of our very own teachers and a guest speaker
and attended by over 50 different visitors from ten institutions.

All the speakers generously
offered advice and tips on how to make the potentially dull exam classes lively
and interactive, each drawing on their many years of experience.

‘We were very proud to be
able to showcase our school and what we have to offer.  It was great to meet everyone and as teachers
we really enjoyed being able to share what we have and also to hear from
others’ says Lewis Richards.  Teacher,
teacher trainer and co author of ‘IELTS
Advantage: Writing Skills’,
Lewis outlined practical ideas and approaches
for teaching IELTS writing, addressing the difficulties of how to make IELTS
writing more interactive and student centred.

Senior teacher trainer Suzie
Coates looked at how to help lower level IELTS students improve their speaking
for the exam.

One of our most popular
IELTS teachers Fiona Lewis focussed on methods of training students to improve
their listening skills, giving practical tips and advice.

We were delighted to have
multi-published author of IELTS and Medical English course books Sam McCarter
as a guest speaker.  Sam looked at the
difficult subject of reading and how to make this more interesting and dynamic,
which would surely be welcomed by teachers and students alike. ‘Sam was just so
generous with his time and knowledge and everyone really appreciated the time
and effort he put in to come here and share his ideas’ explained Lewis.

The day was rounded off by
an informal and interactive session where everyone was able to share ideas and
talk about the problems they face in teaching IELTS.

As Lewis says “What made it really special
was the way everyone joined in and shared ideas, we couldn’t have hoped for a better day”.