IELTS Preparation Book : Review of “Makkar IELTS Guides and Books”

In terms of a complete set of IELTS books, the Makkar IELTS Guides takes the lead with its six different books — four for academic and two for general training practice. Specially designed for beginners to average readers, each Makkar IELTS book contains various lessons, skills, and practice tests that can gear you up for the IELTS exam.

We will guide you to the Makkar IELTS Guides through this article. We will present detailed information about each book, its contents, prices, the pros and cons of choosing the Makkar book series, and a few user ratings of the entire collection.


Everything You Need To Know About Makkar Guide

Makkar IELTS Guides and Books

This guide will start with the primary details of the Makkar IELTS Guides. We will first discuss its author, the book contents, the latest edition that you can find, and the price of each Makkar IELTS book.

Author

Dr. Kiranpreet Kaur Makkar is the founder and writer of the renowned Makkar IELTS books and guides. According to their official site, the Makkar book series started when someone asked her 14 years ago to help her friend’s son prepare for the IELTS exam. Since then, Dr. Makkar got interested in writing review and prep books to help other IELTS test-takers.

Book Contents

To understand the content of the Makkar IELTS Guides and Books better, here are thorough explanations of the contents of each book.

  • IELTS Graphs From The Past Exams

This book is perfect for preparing for Academic Writing Task 1. There are more than 200 diagrams provided here, including simplified descriptions for each and rules on how to perform and write them. Dr. Makkar had written the interpretations of the graphs with understandable words suitable for average students.

The diagrams and graphs included in this book are a collection of past actual IELTS exams. Some are from Dr. Makkar’s students, and some are from people sharing their experiences through various internet forums. Note that this book contains no single graph taken from any other book in the market.

  • IELTS Academic Essays from the Past Exams

On the other hand, this book is sufficient and specially designed for Academic Writing Task 2. Since Writing Task 2 is challenging, test-takers should prepare thoroughly to achieve an excellent band score. However, there should be no worries because this Makkar Guide to Academic Essays can help a lot.

With more than 300 solved essays from IELTS exams, this Makkar Guide contains different articles and tips on doing them. Moreover, this book can also help you develop your grammar and vocabulary through its wide range of new words essential for the exam.

  • IELTS Academic Readings for Exam Practice

Dr. Makkar first wrote and published her first volume of IELTS Academic Readings for Exam Practice in 2019. It contained twenty theoretical texts with questions to answer and answer keys. Due to its excellent content, numerous students and test-takers loved it, leading to high demand and requests for volume 2.

With that, Dr. Makkar released her IELTS Academic Readings for Exam Practice Volume 2 with 60 academic reading passages, tips, and strategies. It also became successful in the market.

  • IELTS General Training – Essays and Letters from Past Exams

The pattern for IELTS General Training is pretty different from the IELTS Academic test. So, this Makkar guide is uniquely-made for general training students. This book contains combinations of letters and articles with more than 300 solved essays.

Additionally, the beginning of the book has details about the writing module and descriptions of different kinds of essays. It also contains questions from past actual IELTS exams. 

  • IELTS General Training – Readings for Exam Practice

Dr. Kiranpreet Kaur Makkar wrote this IELTS General Training – Readings for Exam Practice with Sudipto Mukherjee. This Makkar Guide is essential for reading because it comprises 20 reading tests with answer keys and additional vocabulary words. 

  • IELTS Speaking from the Past Exams

This book mainly focuses on Makkar IELTS Speaking Guesswork with Part 1, 2 and 3, for IELTS Speaking exams. It has 78 different topics that are about describing various things or issues. This book also has a speaking part and intro questions.

Latest Edition Available

On January 1, 2021, Dr. Makkar and her whole team in Makkar publishing house released the newest 2021 edition of her Makkar IELTS books. With that, you can find the 2021 versions of all Makkar books.

Guide or Book Contents

Here are the Makkar IELTS book series contents to guide you further on what’s inside them.

The detailed contents of each book are as follows:

IELTS Graphs from the Past Exams

  • IELTS Academic Test – Types of Graphs
  • How to write a graph?
  1. Introduction
  2. Body
  3. Ending
  1. The line or time graph vocabulary
  2. Time phrases
  1. Two sentences to remember
  2. Using the right tenses
  3. Percentage Vocabulary
  1. How to incorporate data in a graph?
  2. Language of Comparison
  3. Process Vocabulary
  4. Passives
  5. Maps Vocabulary
  • Sample graphs and detailed explanations

IELTS Academic Essays from the Past Exams

  • General Introduction
  • Common Essay Questions
    1. Opinion essay
      1. Balanced opinion essay
    2. Discuss essay
    3. Advantage and disadvantage essay
    4. Problem and solution essay
      1. Cause and effect essay
    5. Direct question essay
  • Some important things to note
  • Index
  • Sample essays with descriptions

IELTS Academic Readings for Exam Practice (Volume 1 & 2)

  • General Introduction
    1. Timing
    2. Three sections
    3. Question types
    4. Exam purpose
    5. Marking
  • How to prepare for the IELTS reading tests
  • Tips and strategies for various question types
  • Index
  • Reading passages
  • Answer Key

IELTS General Training – Essays and Letters from Past Exams

  • General Introduction
    1. General Training task 1
  1. General format of letter
  2. General Training task 2
    1. Difference between Academic and GT essays
  • Common Essay Questions
    1. Opinion essay
      1. Balanced opinion essay
    2. Discuss essay
    3. Advantage and disadvantage essay
    4. Problem and solution essay
      1. Cause and effect essay
    5. Direct question essay
  • Letters – Index
  • Essays – Index
  • Writing Task 1 – Letters
  • Writing Task 2 – Essays

IELTS General Training – Readings for Exam Practice

  • General Introduction
  • 20 GT Reading Tests
  • Answer key
  • Vocabulary

IELTS Speaking from the Past Exams

  • List of Bookshops for available Makkar books
  • 78 Different topics – Describing Activities
  • Speaking part
  • Intro Questions

Price

Since the Makkar IELTS book series has six books, here is the list of the prices of each book. Do not forget that the prices vary according to your location, individual stores, and book conditions. Your expenses may also increase due to their respective shipping fees.

However, some individual stores also sell Makkar IELTS books in a set. You may find them here in the following:


Book Review: Makkar Guide

Is the Makkar Guide an excellent book collection for IELTS preparation? What do people say about it? Well, we are going to take a closer look at this book. We will be reviewing its content by providing its pros and cons and also some user ratings.

General Overview

The Makkar Guide to IELTS has its strengths and weaknesses. With that, we will focus first on the advantages and disadvantages of buying this book series. 

Pros

The Makkar Guide to IELTS has an astounding number of books that are essential for your IELTS preparation. Each book has its specialized content, focusing on a specific skill or lesson. So, when you use all of the books together, you can create a good preparation.

There are numerous essays, letters, reading tests, and practice exams in each version, so the information you will get from each is sufficient for what you need for the test. You do not need to worry about the answers because answer keys are present in the latter parts.

Do you know that you can also get free content? You can check Makkar’s official site and YouTube channel for further updates and lessons from Dr. Makkar and her team.

Cons

However, since there are multiple books from the Makkar Guide, it can be pretty expensive because you will need to purchase them all to have a complete review material set for the exam. Unlike other books, the information required for General Training and Academic is not inside a single book.

Considering that factor, we cannot recommend this book to you if you are looking for an affordable textbook. 

Ratings

Next, we will briefly review what some users say about the Makkar Guide to IELTS. Here are some ratings from different platforms:

Goodreads

Users from Goodreads did not have many reviews about this particular Makkar Guide. However, the whole book series still got an average score of 4.17 out of 5. Some users who commented said that the guide is interesting for them.

It also helped them in their speaking skill, and they even stated that the Makkar Guide is best for IELTS students.

Makkar IELTS Guides and Books Review Goodreads

Amazon

The Makkar book series for IELTS got an average rating of 4.27 out of 5 on Amazon. Some users commended its quality and content. There are detailed explanations for each lesson, a good amount of vocabulary, strategies, and ideas.

This guide is best for the exam, and some test-takers got high band scores thanks to the Makkar Guide to IELTS. However, despite its good review, it still received negative comments from some people.

The paper quality has disappointed some users. They also found the repetition of questions, incorrect answers, typographical errors, and blank pages. Some also said that a few of the essays were too lengthy. 

Makkar IELTS Guides and Books Review Amazon 1

Flipkart

Lastly, users from Flipkart gave the Makkar Guide an average rating of 4.43 out of 5. Unfortunately, only a few people shared their reviews. They said that the books start from easy to complex, making it very helpful for students and test-takers.

Makkar IELTS Guides and Books Review Flipkar

How To Use The Book Effectively?

When used correctly and effectively, the Makkar Guide to IELTS can save your IELTS examination day. Here are some tips for you to become the ace of the exam.

  • Do not forget to have your paper and pen with you because there are a lot of new words, tips, and essential information that you will need to jot down. In that way, you can find them quickly in your notes and remember them easily.
  • If you plan to buy a Makkar book, you can also consider purchasing the others to complete information on all the skills and modules.
  • Watch videos from Makkar’s YouTube channel to support the lessons you get from the books.
  • Try to answer and read all passages to develop your skills better.

Final Thoughts

The Makkar Guide to IELTS Guides and Books can be everything you need for your examination. You can prepare for the IELTS test and be ready on test day with complete books, detailed information, plenty of practice exams, and thorough explanations. You can give it complete A’s for its sample essays, letters, reading passages, speaking activities, and the likes.

However, it will help if you will still be attentive to possible typographical errors, incorrect answers, or grammatical mistakes that have resulted from a lack of proofreading. Be mindful of some glitches, or else they will confuse you. Other than that, you can be ready!

Have you used any of the Makkar book series for IELTS? If yes, share your thoughts with us in the comments below.