LSI Portsmouth’s Lewis Richards publishes 2nd book

After the success of his first publication, IELTS Advantage Writing Skills, the Director of Studies for Exams at LSI Portsmouth, Lewis Richards, has written a complete step by step course book aimed at students needing a 5.5-6 in the IELTS exam: Build up to IELTS is published by DELTA.

The idea for the book was conceived with two fellow teachers at LSI Portsmouth, Becky and Joel Burchett Scott. Lewis says ‘As IELTS teachers, we all spotted there was a gap in the market. We wanted to create a book with a comprehensive, systematic approach that would take learners right the way through to achieving the score they need.’ The USP of the book is that users, whether teachers or students, can follow the book from start to finish without needing to bring in any additional materials.

After drafts and discussions, Lewis took on the final project and wrote 10 units covering all the necessary skills, based around engaging, current topics including ‘Going Vegan’, Does Prison Work?’, and ‘What is the Good Society?’. In each unit, skills are introduced with examples, application and exam practice. Although he’s already a published author, teaching comes first for Lewis, and every page of the book was written with students in mind ‘I wrote the book the way I teach, so I know that it works; pretty much everything in the book has been tried and tested on my classes at LSI Portsmouth so I have seen the results first-hand. If it didn’t go down well in class, it won’t be in the book!’

Lewis has been at LSI Portsmouth for over 15 years and teaches on their IELTS, Cambridge and OET programmes. The school is very lucky to have such a talented teacher and author on their team. Teachers and students benefit from Lewis’ expertise, and it contributes to the school's ethos of sharing skills and continual professional development. Lewis spoke at this year’s IATEFL conference and will be appearing at other events this year to talk about Build up to IELTS. You can catch him at Nottingham Language Academy or at the Devon Dos Association Conference in Exeter at the end of May this year.

As if that’s not enough to keep him busy, Lewis has already been commissioned to write a book for students needing a level 7-7.5 in IELTS. Lewis has been teaching on LSI Portsmouth’s Saturday intensive IELTS Masterclass for students who need to boost their level quickly and effectively. He says ‘Teaching on the Masterclass has put me in the right mind-set for this next book, so the material I’m using in class now will certainly feature in the book.’ See Lewis talking about IELTS at LSI Portsmouth here on the school's YouTube channel and read his article here with some tips for scoring a 7 or 8 in the exam.