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Table Of Contents

01 Why do you need a study plan?

03 Four skills of English

04 Important things to develop

05 How to create your own Study

plan
10 Common IELTS topics

11 How to use the study plan 

16 Study plan aids

20  Sample 1 Month Study plan
(printable)
 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

Why do you need a study plan?

Intro

 Greetings from the IELTS grind!

This book is meant to help you reach your IELTS goal. It will not be easy

and sometimes it will be very boring, but YOU CAN DO IT! The most

important indicator of success among our students has always been

tenacity. Tenacity is the ability to keep working even when things are

difficult or dull.

Why You need this book 

The purpose of this study plan is to make sure that you are a super

student! This book will tell you exactly what you need to do EACH DAY to

improve both your general English ability AND your IELTS ability. You

COULD reach your goal without this book, but it is so easy to stop when

things get difficult. This book will help you by giving you direction when

you get lost, giving you interesting materials when you get bored, and

most importantly giving you a community to lean on when you get burnt

out.
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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

How To Use This Book

This book comes in 3 parts. The first part is instructions on what and how

to study and a checklist of what you will need for your IELTS journey. It will

be long, it will be difficult but YOU WILL DO IT!

The second part of this book is a journal and record of your journey. Filling

out the pages each day will make sure that you steadily improve AND so

you can see your progress.

The third part of this book is an assessment to show you how much you

have improved so you can show off to all your friends how awesome you

are.

There will also be a blueprint for how to make your next month of your

study plan yourself. This is important because it will help you transition to

being a student in charge of your own future.

This is SUPER important!

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

 Four skills of English

In the IELTS exam, you will be tested on all your English skills and then be given a
band score based on those results. 
English language skills are split into the following main groups.

Receptive skills:
Reading
Listening
 

Productive skills 
Writing
Speaking

This study guide will help you to develop all these skills by helping you to focus on
developing your general English ability and also your ability to take the IELTS exam
successfully.

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

Important things to develop

General English

The IELTS exam is a test of your level of English, so you need to improve
all areas of your English skills (reading, listening, writing & speaking) in
order to reach your target band score.
 
Often this is a question of building your vocabulary knowledge as well as
your confidence in using the language.
Spend time not only working with IELTS materials but actually working on
building your English skills across the board.

 IELTS knowledge

Although the IELTS exam is a test of your English pro ciency, it's also a test of your
exam-taking skills. In particular, time management is extremely important.
Learning how to approach the IELTS exam, what you will face on the day, and what is
expected of you is very important.
 
However, you should not spend the bulk of your time doing this as there is no real
way to "cheat" your way to a higher band score.
 

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

 
 
How to create your own Study plan
Checklist:

Before:

Write down WHY you are learning. Make a pledge that you will do this every day,

even when it is boring, even when you don’t want to do it because you want to

leave your country. See this video for more information: YouTube

Things to do:

- Find out your target band score (research university/ immigration requirements)

- Decide which country you want to go to

- Really think about the reason why you are doing this (YOU are the one who has to

study!)

Next,

- Find out your level (go to take a mock exam or if you are rich, a REAL exam)

Watch our video on how to prepare for IELTS to see what YOU need to get your score.

- Learn the format of the test - Watch our super video here! (estimated time 15 -20

min)

 If you already have studied a bit:

Write down which sections and questions you have the most trouble with:

Here are some commonly despised ones: Check all that apply (OR make it scale)

Matching headings, T/F/NG, Y/N/NG, summary completion (see pages 7 & 8)

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

Lastly,

 Go shopping (Get a super pen, get an EXPENSIVE NICE FANCY BEAUTIFUL notebook

for vocabulary and a second normal notebook for general notes) 

Please watch this video on why a vocabulary notebook is important:

https://youtu.be/HrVC1EmPW-Y

After all that:

- Make YOUR OWN study plan.

Watch this video to learn what you should concentrate on. 

Go to the next page of your calendar! Can you get more checkmarks?

 - Share your final report. (This is the last page of our study plan- take another mock

test, how much )

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

Improving your reading skills

Reading Question Types:

Number these (1-10) from most to least difficult for you. If you don't know,

just label them in order.

NOTE: In your one month study plan - R1 = the most difficult

reading task and R10 = the least difficult reading task, and so on.
 

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

Improving your listening skills

Listening question types:

Number these (1-10) from most to least difficult for you. If you don't know,

just label them in order.

NOTE: In your one month study plan - L1 = the most difficult

listening task and L10 = the least difficult listening task, and so

on.

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

Common IELTS topics

When trying to build your vocabulary knowledge, try to pick a topic that is
likely to come up on the IELTS, and practice using that.

Some topics which have come up in recent IELTS exams are:

Home
Work
Study
Environment
Public transport
Travel
Wildlife
Wealth
Giving advice
Online shopping
Architecture - buildings
Celebrities
Art
Family
Education
Urban vs rural areas
Fuel/ resources
Free time
Money
Uniforms
Population
Public facilities
Tourism
Parenting
Food
Sport
Accommodation
Teenagers
Comparing present/past lifestyles
Skills
Crime 
 
Watch this video for ideas on how you can use this list.

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

Recommended books
(some exercises based on these)

We recommend the following books and will be referring to them,

sometimes by page number, during the study guide.

- Cambridge 14

- Grammar in Use, Raymond Murphy

Please feel free to go to our resource page here to make a purchase and
support us
 
 
See our recommended resources

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

 
How to use the study plan 

Your Fun Reading Homework

Some people say that the IELTS exam is one big vocabulary test. They are

right! Vocabulary is an important part of the Speaking and Writing sections

of the test and even more important for the Listening and Reading. Do you

know what the best, most effective way of learning new vocabulary is? 

READING FOR FUN! (Watch this video to learn why)

You need to see a new word 23 times before you can remember it. When

you read for fun you will see it again and again as you read.

Additionally, when you try to learn vocabulary in lists you end up with a

very shallow understanding of the word. When you learn vocabulary with

lists of words you may remember the meaning but you often don’t know

how to use it!

When you read for fun you will see the new words used in many different

ways, in different sentences, and with different collocations! 

Reading is the BEST way to learn new vocabulary!

READ for 20 minutes EVERY DAY!

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

So how do you read for fun?

First, you need to find a book that is below your level. In English teaching,

we say that you need a book that is “i - 1.” This means that it is below

your level.

You need a book below your level because if you read a book at your level

or above your level with lots of new words then IT IS NOT FUN! We need

you to enjoy reading! 

There are 2 ways you can find an “i-1” book. Number 1, if you know your

level (B2, 6.5, A2, 5.0, etc.) then you can just find a book 1 level below

yours.   

Your level Your books Level

IETLS 6.0 IELTS 5.0 or 5.5

Cefr B2 Cefr B1+
IELTS 5.5 IELTS 5.0 or 4.5
Cefr B1 Cefr A2

Visit our website for more details about nding a graded reading book for your level

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

If you don’t know your level yet you can also do the 5 finger test. This test

will tell you if the book is i-1. 

1. Go to a bookstore that has English books. Find a book that you think is

interesting.

2. Open to any page (not the end! Don’t ruin the story!)

3. Make a fist.

4. Start reading from the top of the page. Continue reading. When you

see a word that you don’t know and BECAUSE you don’t know the

word you don’t understand the story or the paragraph, raise 1 finger.

5. Continue reading. If you see a new word and BECAUSE you don’t know

the word you don’t understand the story or paragraph, raise a second

finger.

6. Continue reading and repeat. DON’T raise a finger if you see a new

word BUT YOU STILL understand the story.

7. When you finish the page look at your hand. 

8. If you have 1-2 fingers, throw the book away, it is too easy. If you

have 3-5 fingers, get the book, it is “i-1” and perfect for you. If you

have 6 or more fingers, throw the book away, it is too difficult.

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

If you don’t like reading novels or books, then DON’T READ NOVELS AND

BOOKS. You can read anything you want, magazines, online articles,

newspapers, comics, anything as long as it is ENGLISH and you are

reading for 20 minutes EVERY DAY.

The first 2 weeks will be very difficult because you will probably not be

used to reading in English.

After 2 weeks you will see that you are reading a lot faster and

understand more. Reading every day will help your reading fluency and

speed. This means that you will be able to understand whole sections and

paragraphs!

Don’t be afraid to reread. Rereading is good and you will understand more

when you do it and learn the vocabulary better! Rereading counts towards

your words.

Every day in this study plan we will ask you to write how many pages,

articles, or chapters you’ve read as well as how many minutes you’ve

read. (Remember, rereading pages count!) It will look like this:

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

To make sure that you have read we will also ask you some

questions. This can be a summary of the pages you read, what you like or

don’t like about the book, what you think will happen in the future and/or

who your favorite character is. 

We also have a wonderful community of learners who are sharing

their own study plans in our Facebook group and other social media

sites. Posting your own study plan pages and seeing other student’s study

plan pages will help motivate you and hopefully create friendships with

other people doing the same thing!

 
 

We will also sometimes pick these out and talk about them on the live streams of our

youtube channel!

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 Lead Magnet - Study Plan Mockup - Google Docs

Study plan aids

On the following pages, you'll nd references to which task you should do on each
day of your one-month study plan.
 
When you reach the relevant day, just come back to these lists to see what you
should be studying.
 
For example, For 'day 5' you will look up the grammar task for 'day 5' and nd an
exercise in your own grammar book or a free exercise online.
 
This study plan is designed to help you focus on what you need to do in order to
progress in your English studies

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 Lead Magnet - Study Plan Mockup - Google Docs

Vocabulary schedule
Day     Vocabulary activities
 
Day 1 -> Find 10 synonyms and antonyms for your topic
Day 2 -> Organize your vocabulary by category
Day 3 -> Organize your vocabulary by collocation
Day 4 -> Think of 10 phrasal verbs for your topic
Day 5 -> Find 10 synonyms and antonyms for your topic
Day 6 -> Find 10 idioms for your topic
Day 7 -> Write a story using vocabulary for your topic
 
Day 8 -> Draw a mindmap with 6 categories for your topic
Day 9 -> Draw a comic using vocabulary from your topic
Day 10 ->    Spelling test (20 words) - get a friend to help you
Day 11 ->    Organize your vocabulary by word type (noun, verb, etc)
Day 12 ->    Find 10 adjective  -noun collocations
Day 13 ->    Write 10 sentences with vocabulary from your notebook
Day 14 ->    Write a letter to a friend using vocabulary from your book
 
Day 15 ->    Write a story using vocabulary for your topic
Day 16 ->    Write 10 sentences with vocabulary from your notebook
Day 17 ->    Spelling test (20 words) - get a friend to help you
Day 18 ->    Think of 10 phrasal verbs for your topic
Day 19 ->    Review your notebook: Check how many words you know
Day 20 ->    Find 10 adverb - verb collocations
Day 21 ->    Draw a comic using vocabulary from your topic
 
Day 22 ->    spelling test (20 words) - get a friend to help you
Day 23 ->    Draw a mindmap with 6 categories for your topic
Day 24 ->    Think of 10 phrasal verbs for your topic
Day 25 ->    Find 10 adverb - verb collocations
Day 26 ->    Find 10 idioms for your topic
Day 27 ->    Find 10 adjective  -noun collocations
Day 28 ->    Draw a mindmap with 6 categories for your topic
Day 29 ->    Find 10 idioms for your topic
Day 30 ->    Review your notebook: Check how many words you

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 Lead Magnet - Study Plan Mockup - Google Docs

Vocabulary  topics schedule

Day 1 -> Home
Day 2 -> Work
Day 3 -> Study
Day 4 -> Environment
Day 5 -> Public transport
Day 6 -> Travel
Day 7 -> Wildlife
Day 8 -> Wealth
Day 9 -> Giving advice
Day 10 ->          Online shopping
Day 11 ->          Architecture - buildings
Day 12 ->          Celebrities
Day 13 ->          Art
Day 14 ->          Family
Day 15 ->          Education
Day 16 ->          Urban vs rural areas
Day 17 ->          Fuel/ resources
Day 18 ->          Free time
Day 19 ->          Money
Day 20 ->          Uniforms
Day 21 ->          Population
Day 22 ->          Public facilities
Day 23 ->          Tourism
Day 24 ->          Parenting
Day 25 ->          Food
Day 26 ->          Sport
Day 27 ->          Accommodation
Day 28 ->          Teenagers
Day 29 ->          Comparing present/past
lifestyles
Day 30 ->          Crime                                     

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

IELTS exam practice

Day 1 -> L1 (see page 8)
Day 2 -> Speaking - Part 1
Day 3 -> R1 (see page 7)
Day 4 -> Writing Task 1
 
Day 5 -> L2 (see page 8)
Day 6 -> Speaking - Part 2
Day 7 -> Writing Task 2
Day 8 -> R2 (see page 7)
Day 9 -> Writing Task 1
Day 10 ->          Writing Task 2
Day 11 ->          L3 (see page 8)
Day 12 ->          Speaking - Part 2
Day 13 ->          Speaking - Part 1
Day 14 ->          Writing Task 2
Day 15 ->          R3 (see page 7)
Day 16 ->          Speaking - Part 3
Day 17 ->          Writing Task 1
Day 18 ->          L4 (see page 8)
Day 19 ->          Speaking - Part 3
Day 20 ->          Writing Task 2
Day 21 ->          Speaking - Part 2
Day 22->          R4 (see page 7)
Day 23 ->          Writing Task 2
Day 24 ->          Speaking - Part 3
Day 25 ->          Writing Task 1
Day 26 ->          L5 (see page 8)
Day 27 ->          Speaking - Part 2
Day 28 ->          R5 (see page 7)
Day 29 ->          Writing Task 1
Day 30 ->          Speaking - Part 1

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

English grammar practice

Day Grammar review
 
Day 1 -> Present simple or present continuous
Day 2 -> Past simple or present perfect?
Day 3 -> Present perfect simple and present perfect continuous
Day 4 -> Past tenses
Day 5 -> Past simple, past continuous, past perfect
Day 6 -> Future forms – will, be going to, present continuous
Day 7 -> Verb tense reviews
Day 8 -> Review of all verb tenses
Day 9 -> Modals, the imperative, etc .
Day 10 ->          have to, must, should – obligation, prohibition,
necessity, advice
Day 11 ->          Can, could, be able to – ability and possibility
Day 12 ->          Modal verbs of deduction – must, might, could, can’t
Day 13 ->          usually, used to, be used to, get used to
Day 14 ->          had better… it’s time
Day 15 ->          Conditionals, if, wish, etc.
Day 16 ->          First conditional, future time clauses
Day 17 ->          Second conditional – unreal situations
Day 18 ->          First and second conditionals
Day 19 ->          Third conditional – past unreal situations
Day 20 ->          Passive
Day 21 ->          Passive verb forms
Day 22 ->          Active and passive voice
Day 23 ->          Reported speech
Day 24 ->          Indirect speech – reported speech
Day 25 ->          -ing and the infinitive
Day 26 ->          Gerund or infinitive – do, to do, doing
Day 27 ->          Articles, nouns, pronouns, and determiners.
Day 28 ->          A(n), the, no article
Day 29 ->          Reflexive pronouns – myself, yourself
Day 30->                    much, many, a lot, little, few, some, any, no –
quantifiers

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

   Sample 1 Month Study

plan
Day ___ Section 1: Fun Reading

Please print this page out

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

Day ___ Section 2: Fun TV Show

Please print this page out

For more information on how to pick a good TV show, please watch our video about
this on the IELTS Grind YouTube channel - https://youtu.be/aRWJN6Ws_eE

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

Day ___ Section 3: Vocabulary

NOTE: Please refer to page 16 for today's vocabulary activity and to page 17
for today's vocabulary topic.

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

Day ___ Section 4: IELTS practice

NOTE: Please refer to page 18 for today's IELTS skills task. Each day you will
be looking at a different part of the IELTS exam.
We recommend that you use the Cambridge Past Exam books as your
resource - e.g. Cambridge 13,14,15

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 One month study plan - The IELTS Grind

Day ___ Section 5: Grammar practice

NOTE: Please refer to page 19 for today's grammar practice task. Each day

you will be looking at a different aspect of English grammar.
We recommend that you use the Raymond Murphy's 'Grammar in use' book as
your resource. You can also nd plenty of free exercises online.

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 Thank You

If you liked this free e-book and would

like to refer it to a friend, please help
us to keep in contact with your friend
just like we do with you by sending
them to:
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