Dear Pip
Thank you for your kind answers..i really appriciate them..well i have got band 6.5 in my IELTS exam and i got a minimum score of 6.5 in writing which i did not expect my self to get it at all..but am quite satisfied with my results...actually i live in malaysia at the moment and the communities around me are just not that suitable for my situation because every one thinks that my english is great and i dont have problems which that is exactly what i dislike because they dont know what is real english like..but i am trying my best to learn from my mistakes even though i dont get feedback from anyone to correct me when i am wrong..
But thank you very much indeed for your kindness and i will sure contact you if i have any other questions on my mind..
Aisha
Tanks for your comments below. I understad how difficult it is to get some speaking practice with native speakers. It really depends on your situation and many students are not in the situation to easily get the opportunity to speak with native speakers. Where do you live? Are there any communities that you could get involved in locally. There's no magic solution to learning how to speak better English. You just have to do it. And that's only possble if there are people close to you who can speak well.
About writing, we'll it's the same really. You need to write as much as possible. But also, you need to get feedback. With speaking, the feedback you get is from the person you are talking to, but it can be more difficult to get feedback about your writing. That's why we offer a writing service on this site. Students can submit their writing and I will mark and assess it and give you advice. Visit the writing section of your site, www.ukgate.com/writing for more information.
I hope this helps even though I haven't given you much information. If you would like me to answer any more specific questions you might have please let me know. It's almost impossible to advise someon on general difficulties except for saying that you need to practice as much as possible, so find the situations that will help you and get yourself into these situations as much as possible.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Pip
hello pip..am actually a new comer to the ukgate ..and am jst very impressed bout the way your teaching english..i like it very much...i actually admire learning english..english is one of my favorate language..but i quess am having difficulty in writing and i will be sitting for my ielts exam on the 27th this month and am kinda scared particulary form the writing task part one..the graphs,charts and diagrames...i've been to a 3 days ielts workshop,but am nt sure if am ready yet..i think am good at listening as well as speaking but my problem in speaking is that i've alwayz wanted to talk to a native speaker which am havin difficulty in finding one to talk to..in fact i know none,,,so am practicing alone with my self..what sould i do i really want to be able to comunicate with a native speaker who knows the language well..
sorry bout all the questions :-) thank you..