Original BandLadder material
It teaches a 3-step method: get it down, read the neighbours and swap test. Along the way you get worked examples with the key words marked, before-and-after fixes that show why the first version loses marks, a one-page visual summary, word cards with meanings and examples (affect, effect, advise and advice), a quick check to test yourself and a recap of the rules to remember. Each card holds one idea, so you can read it on a phone between practice sessions.
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The first 3 of 9 cards
your ears can't spell
In a dictation you hear sounds, not spellings. Weather and whether sound the same, so the sentence has to choose for you.
The whetherrain or sun? on the coast changes fast, so nobody knows weather= if? the ferry will sail.
Fix: the weather … knows whether.
learn what each one does
| Pair | Tell them apart |
|---|---|
| their = there | whose? · where? |
| weather = whether | rain or sun? · if? |
| principal = principle | main or head · a rule |
| affect ≈ effect | verb · noun |
| accept ≈ except | agree to · apart from |
| advice ≈ advise | noun · verb |
= sounds the same in most accents. ≈ one sound apart: easy to miss at speed.
for every sound-alike you hear
Card 4 of 9 onwards
Keep reading free
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Read the full Sound-alikes: let the grammar spell it free
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Both. The lesson is in the IELTS and the PTE study library, so it opens whichever exam you prepare for.
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