IELTS Preparation Book: Review of Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook

Are you someone who wishes to migrate, work, or study in English-speaking countries? Well, increase your chance by taking the IELTS with the help of the Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook

This book comprises different interesting topics on speaking, writing, reading, and listening, with specialized sections for grammar and vocabulary.

This article will satisfy your curiosity about this IELTS prep guide. It will present a detailed overview of the book’s content, price, pros, cons, and user ratings. Continue reading to know more!


Everything You Need To Know About Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook

Before getting into the book review, let’s discuss the authors, contents, price, and details about the latest edition of this book. This part gives you an idea of the basic information about this prep guide.

Focus on IELTS Foundation Book or Guide

Authors

Sue O’Connell authored the famous Focus book series, including the Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook. She is an English language and literature degree holder from the University of Bristol. Moreover, she also has a master’s degree from University College in Dublin.

O’Connell is currently a teacher and trainer in the UK, Greece, Hong Kong, Portugal, and other countries. She is a Cambridge suite exams associate, mainly as an item writer, examiner, and Working Party member for CAE exams. Furthermore, she has already taught and examined IELTS candidates before. 

Aside from the Focus book series, O’Connell also wrote for Cambridge First Certificate Listening and Speaking Skills (CUP).

Book Contents

The Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook has many parts and sections focusing on all core concepts:

It provides a solid ground for the required language and skills in IELTS. Furthermore, it also gives awareness of what might appear in the actual exam.

This book contains numerous exciting topics such as family values, environment, animal rights and wrongs, and sports. Enjoyable and appropriate photos are also present to support the lessons. Moreover, the content is also clear and understandable.

Aside from that, the Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook builds a student’s academic language through its Academic Word Study and Vocabulary Builder. The keywords and phrases learned in these sections can contribute to writing and speaking performances.

Practicing your writing skills is also possible with the help of the Writing Practice Bank. You can find many tips on how you can write excellent essays. In addition to that, you can also see graded texts in the book.

If you want to have more solid notes and complete answers to the practice questions, you can choose the Teacher’s Book version. Sue O’Connell has specially made that version with her teacher and examiner experience. 

Latest Edition Available

If you wish to have the latest version of the Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook, you can find Focus on IELTS New Edition. The Pearson Education ELS published this edition on May 2, 2010. 

What’s Inside?

Take a look at the official table of contents of the Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook to have a clearer idea of the lessons and topics covered in this prep guide.

I. The IELTS Test Overview

1. Read all about it!

Reading

  • Introducing reading skills
  • Reading academic texts
  • Summary completion

Speaking

  • Discussing a topic
  • Expressing a personal opinion

Grammar

  • Present simple

Vocabulary

  • Word families, prepositions, pronunciations, syllables

2. Take Note

Listening

  • Letters and sounds 1
  • Introducing listening skills

Speaking

  • Discussing likes and dislikes

Writing

  • Task 1: Reading and describing data
  • Task 2: Paragraphing, linking expressions, and reference links

Grammar

  • Frequency adverbs and expressions

Vocabulary

  • TV programs, word partners: do, give, and make

II. Academic Word Study and Review 1

3. It goes with the job

Reading

  • My worst job – Reading skills practice
  • Service workers are the happiest staff – Short-answer questions and sentence completions

Speaking

  • Discussing jobs and careers
  • Job satisfaction

Grammar

  • Past simple

Vocabulary

  • Word partners, pronunciation, word stress

4. Family values

Listening

  • Letters and sounds 2
  • International Friendship Club 

Speaking

  • Discussing relationships
  • Dealing with difficult questions

Writing

  • Task 1: Key skills 
  • Task 2: Paragraphs 

Grammar

  • Articles

Vocabulary

  • Family tree, right and wrong word, word families

III. Academic Word Study and Review 2

5. A sporting chance

Reading

  • The Boys of Summer, the Men of Fall
  • The curse of the referee

Speaking

  • Discussing sports and hobbies
  • Describing a person

Grammar

  • Present perfect

Vocabulary

  • Sports and games, word partners: do, play, and go; pronunciation, word press

6. Animal rights and wrongs

Listening

  • Wildlife film festival
  • The right to roam

Speaking

  • Discussing animals
  • Discussing moral issues

Writing

  • Task 2: Presenting and justifying an opinion

Grammar

  • Review of present tenses
  • Comparison

Vocabulary

  • Prepositions, word families, right and wrong words

IV. Academic Word Study and Review 3

7. Appropriate technology

Reading

  • Changing lives
  • The price is wrong

Speaking

  • Discussing places

Grammar

  • Passive

Vocabulary

  • Environment, word families, pronunciation, sounds

8. Communications

Listening

  • Mobile phone safety
  • Txt don’t talk

Speaking

  • Discussing communications
  • Internet activities

Writing

  • Task 1: Describing a diagram
  • Task 2: Presenting and justifying an opinion

Grammar

  • Modal verbs for expressing permission, obligation, and prohibition
  • Numerical comparisons

Vocabulary

  • Computer terms

V. Academic Word Study and Review 4

9. Earth matters

Reading

  • Stop the smog
  • How children saved the river

Speaking

  • How green are you?
  • Expressing degrees of agreement

Grammar

  • Cause and effect
  • -ing v infinitive

Vocabulary

  • Word partners, word families, nouns with a general meaning

10. Health check

Listening

  • Countdown to a healthier life
  • Milestones of medicine

Speaking

  • Facts about smoking
  • Discussing medical developments

Writing

  • Task 1: Describing data
  • Task 2: Presenting the solution to a problem

Grammar

  • Quantifiers
  • Comparing and contrasting

Vocabulary

  • Healthcare and medicine, prepositions, register

VI. Academic Word Study and Review 5

11. Science of happiness

Reading

  • The formula for happiness
  • The pursuit of happiness

Speaking

  • Discussing future plans
  • Answering difficult questions

Grammar

  • Present tenses with future references
  • Articles

Vocabulary

  • Opposites, word families, expressions with self-

12. Buildings and structures

Listening

  • Opera House Tour
  • The Itaipu Dam

Speaking

  • Discussing buildings
  • Giving supporting examples

Writing

  • Describing objects
  • Presenting the solution to a problem

Grammar

  • Participle clauses
  • Unreal conditionals

Vocabulary

  • Materials and structures, pronunciation, sounds

VII. Academic Word Study and Review 6

VIII. Introduction to the Academic Word List

IX. Key Language Bank

X. Writing Practice Bank

XI. Keys

XII. Audio Script

Price

Purchasing this book will not worry you because you can easily find it on Amazon for USD 6.08 to USD 86.62. The costs vary because individual stores offer this prep guide at different prices.

Moreover, please remember that the respective shipping fee may add to your expenses. These fees may also depend on your location and distance from the seller.


Book Review: Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook

After knowing the basic information about this prep guide, we will now move on to the book review. We will analyze if the Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook is worth using for the IELTS preparation. 

Is it enough for passing the exam? Will you need another supplementary book? Check out the information below to know more.

General Overview

This prep guide has garnered varying opinions and thoughts from different people. Since no book is perfect, we can find benefits and drawbacks in using this book. Sometimes, the efficacy of books depends on who uses them and how we use them.

With that, this part will present the pros, cons, and user ratings from various sites and platforms. 

Pros

The Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook is one of the best prep guides when discussing grammar proficiency and vocabulary. It has specialized pages for these skills to enhance your writing and speaking performances. Moreover, you can also find well-structured exercises for reading and listening.

Aside from that, this book has a detailed overview of the essential parts of the IELTS exam. You can find this in the first part to understand what may appear in the actual test. Worry not because everything is understandable and concise.

This prep guide is also advisable due to its exciting topics. Some parts may tackle family values, animal rights, environment, technologies, and the likes. In that way, you can study for the exam and be aware of various things in life.

Lastly, this book best applies to you if you wish to achieve higher band levels.

Cons

Unfortunately, we can never deny that some books will always have their weaknesses. In this case, the Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook may not be helpful if you are a complete beginner with low-level knowledge about the English language. It applies more to intermediate or advanced learners.

Furthermore, this book may not contain all the solutions needed for the exercises. There are also no CDs, so you will need to purchase the Teacher’s book to solve this issue. It will then become more expensive than usual.

Ratings 

Since this book has received different thoughts and opinions from various users, here are summarized ratings from three sites or platforms.

Goodreads

Firstly, the Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook received a user rating of 4.04 out of 5 in the Goodreads. Two users commented that this book is an excellent prep guide for the IELTS. Unfortunately, there are no other comments after that.

Focus on IELTS Foundation Goodreads 1

Amazon

This book had a rating of 4.4 out of 5 on Amazon. Some users said that the Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook best applies to test-takers who wish to achieve higher band levels. It has well-structured content and excellent English exercises.

However, they stated that this is not advisable for low-level students. Moreover, it is pretty expensive because you need to purchase the CD first. Few people also said that some parts are erasable.

Focus on IELTS Foundation Amazon1

eBay

Users from eBay gave this book a perfect 5 out of 5 ratings. They commended its excellent content and colorful appearance. One of them also said that it is easy to learn and that they want to recommend this book to other test-takers. 

Focus on IELTS Foundation eBay 1

How To Use The Book Effectively?

As stated earlier, the efficacy of prep guides may often depend on how we use them. You can consistently achieve the highest band score if you know how to manage them. With that, here are some tips we can offer to get the most out of this book.

  • Ensure to finish all the lessons on every topic before moving on to the next. For example, you need to accomplish the reading, speaking, grammar, and vocabulary lessons for Topic 1 before going to Topic 2. 
  • For every two topics, try answering the Academic Word Study and Review. You may check your answers afterward and proceed to the next two.
  • Do not hesitate to prepare your pen and paper for jotting down essential words from the Grammar and Vocabulary sections.
  • Do not forget to try the Writing Practice Bank and Key Language Bank. These parts are crucial because they can give you essential tips and strategies for writing and speaking.

Final Thoughts

The Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook can be an excellent helping hand for IELTS preparation, especially when you are weak in grammar and vocabulary. It includes different topics that focus on the essential skills, making you feel confident and prepared for the exam day.

Aside from that, you can have ideas of the test contents with the help of the IELTS overview in the first part. It explains the details of the exam and the things you need to focus on to achieve high scores. 

Overall, this book makes a helpful prep guide to test-takers, especially for intermediate and advanced people.

Nonetheless, you may still want to have another supplementary book that you can use with this guide. 

Since the Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook lacks solutions and is somewhat expensive due to the CD, you can find a more affordable book with audio files. You can use them together to make your preparation better.

Do you have any test-taking experience or thoughts about this prep book? Please share your opinions and thoughts below!