ielts epitome of incomprehensibility International English Language Testing System. I hadn't heard of it until Tuesday, and Tuesday I got a summer tutoring job preparing students for this. Tomorrow is my first class, a "sample" individual class (group classes pay more for the tutor, but university-level tutoring is a step up from grade school) and I've prepared some possible lesson plans, and I'll photocopy some sheets, but the audio materials I have are only for the TOEFL, another test. In my head runs the refrain: I, E, L, T, S: These are the notes of the treble clef which of course isn't true. It's EGBDF. And the student I have tomorrow doesn't speak that much English and I don't speak her language and I have a folder so I can pretend to be confident but arrgh. Maybe I can download some MP3s? Shall I buy a tablet? Do I dare to eat a peach? Do you hear the mermaids singing, each to each? (Not especially.) 150514 ... e_o_i Life lesson: When in doubt, quote half-remembered lines from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." 150514 ... e_o_i I'm making an outline of what's in each section of the test (there are 4 parts: listening, reading, writing, and speaking) with test tips and study tips for each part. The tutoring itself needn't seek to recreate the test, but to develop the skills that will give a person a better grade. (One of the books I borrowed from the library is in British English and now I'm starting to sound like One of Them. I'll start calling trucks "lorries" any time now.) 150514 what's it to you? who go blather from