The Academic Word List: IELTS, academic writing, and more We often get questions like this: Our answer is always the same:  the Academic Word List. In this post we’re going to look at what academic words are, check out at an example of an academic word ..read more

Hedging techniques, strategies, and examples in academic writing Having effective hedging techniques makes academic research and writing much, much easier.  Why? Because hedging is a key part of both of these academic skills. Students who have mastered hedging are going to find life at university/college much easier (and more productive/successful).   But let’s start at the beginning – why do we need he ..read more

Describing graphs – proportion (static) and trend (dynamic) graphs Describing graphs* are important for English language students at a range of different levels.  These are IELTS students (writing IELTS part 1 exams), pre-sessional/bridging students, even university/college students – all these students and more need language for describing graphs.  *Quick note about the English language – do you know ..read more

How to use Google Scholar Learning how to use Google Scholar is an immediate game-changer for any student who is serious about improving their university/college results – or even just surviving university! In this blog post, first we’re going to ask the question “What is Google Scholar?” before turning to what/how to use Google Scholar and look at how it can help you improve your academic studies TODAY ..read more

English report writing examples, format, and more English report writing examples are vital when students are starting out writing reports.  From these you can learn a lot of different elements such as the purpose and format for writing reports.  In this post, we’re going to do a deep-dive on these two questions with examples of English report writing to help.   That said, If you want a more detailed l ..read more

International Students in Australia: Statistics and predictions to 2025 “International Students in Australia statistics” covers a large area.  For the purposes of this article please note that when we say”international students” we are referring to international university/college students.  Apologies to anyone who would prefer us to be more specific each and every time we refer to them, we’d just rather tell you now and be done with it – hope that’s okay ..read more

First and Second Conditional Sentences in English: what’s the difference, and why is it important? Second conditional sentences … first conditional sentences – what’s the difference?  And why are they important in academic writing?   In this blog post, we dive into these two key conditional types, looking at the difference in what they mean and how they are used. In a future post, we’ll come back and look at the other two main types of conditionals – known as the third con ..read more

8 steps to write an effective academic essay The steps taken to write an essay are a key concern for many students.  Today we are going to look at the steps taken to write an effective academic essay.  Why are we doing this? Because students often get lost in this process… a bit like this: If you’re interested, we have ..read more

Academic paragraph writing - explanations, examples, and exercises Writing academic paragraphs is a crucial skill for all students at university – undergraduate AND postgraduate.  This is because a well-crafted paragraph can make the difference between communicating your ideas clearly and confusing everyone – yourself and your reader.  The good news though, is that writing effective academic paragraphs is not all that hard – once you know how to do it.  So what we’re going ..read more