Maya's first job in a new country. Twenty-four words that IELTS candidates often spell wrong — learned four at a time.
Let's start with the story. The highlighted words are the ones to learn. Read slowly. Press 🔊 to hear a part read aloud.
By her second year abroad, Maya was ready to look for a part-time job. She spotted an advert for an internship at a small business in the city centre and filled in a lengthy questionnaire before being invited to an interview. Throughout it, she was conscious of every word she chose, careful not to exaggerate her experience. To her relief, the manager was friendly, and by the following Wednesday the job was hers.
The office was warm and comfortable, although the heating was so strong that the temperature made her drowsy after lunch. Her main task was the maintenance of the company calendar — booking meetings, chasing replies and making sure that double-booking never became a regular occurrence. She kept every receipt from work trips, since the company offered a guarantee that all costs would be repaid, and she soon learned to be thorough with the paperwork.
Maya occasionally joined her team for lunch at a little restaurant round the corner. She became close to a friendly neighbour from the next office, whose ancient vehicle broke down almost every week. There was the odd argument about whose turn it was to make the coffee, but nothing serious. On quiet afternoons she would slip up to the company library to read about the development of the industry she was now part of.
When the internship came to an end, Maya was determined not to disappoint the people who had taught her so much. She wrote a card to the committee that had hired her, signing it "Yours sincerely", and promised to come back the following summer. "See you tomorrow," her manager joked on her final morning — and somehow Maya sensed that her career had only just begun.
What did Maya gain from her first job, apart from the work itself? What makes a workplace somewhere people want to stay?
Each word is split into small parts. The yellow part is where people make mistakes. For each word: hear it → say it in parts → read the trick. Then press Hide the words and try to spell all four out loud.
Press 🔊, listen, read the clue, then type the word. If a letter is wrong, you will see which letters are already right. You get a second try before the answer appears.
In IELTS Listening, a correct word that is spelled wrongly scores zero. British and American spellings are both accepted — just be consistent.
Talk about your first job, first day or first week somewhere new — real or imagined. Use at least six of the words. For two of them, spell the word out loud, part by part: "ques – tion – naire".
You are filling in a form for a work trip. Press 🔊 and write the missing word in each gap. Then check.
1. Day of travel: ______
2. Transport: company ______
3. Keep every ______ for expenses
4. Dinner booked at a local ______
5. Send the form to the travel ______
1. Wednesday · 2. vehicle · 3. receipt · 4. restaurant · 5. committee
Write four or five sentences: "Some people think that young people should gain work experience before going to university. To what extent do you agree or disagree?" Use and spell correctly: business, development, occasionally, thorough.
Which helped you most today: hearing the word, seeing it in parts, or the memory trick? Which word is still the hardest for you — and what trick could you invent for it?