IELTS Writing tips
It is better to write in regular, not very sophisticated English, than to use phrases or structures you don’t fully understand.If you need Band 6 - no need for complex sentence structure. If your goal is Band 7 - then show advanced sentence structure, language and vocabulary.
It is better to write in regular, not very sophisticated English, than to use phrases or structures you don’t fully understand.If you need Band 6 - no need for complex sentence structure. If your goal is Band 7 - then show advanced sentence structure, language and vocabulary.
Don’t write more than 260-265 words in IELTS Writing 2 task. Why? Not because you will get lower mark, but because of these 2 reasons:
1) It takes more time
2) More words = more mistakes
If you are told to cover specific points in your essay/letter - cover every point, examiners actually count them.
Don’t overuse connecting words (like However, Furthermore, Moreover, etc) - examiners are watching for you to do that.
IELTS Speaking - interview tips
Speak until they stop you, don’t just answer the question and stop. Display you best English. Behave as if it was a driving test - keep going straight until told to turn right, left or park.
It is quite possible that you have to speak about something you have never heard of, or have no opinion of. If you don’t know the subject - tell the examiner immediately, so he could ask you another question. If you don’t tell him and start trying to speak, he might think that it is not a knowledge problem, but a language problem.
IELTS Writing 2 Task explained
This is how they grade your essay: you receive points for Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Looks heavy? Never mind, here comes the simple English version:
“Task Response” means that your essay shows that you understood and covered the topic from all its sides, aspects, etc. Let’s take this topic for example - “Internet: connecting or isolating people?”. Those who chose to write about how Internet connects people - loose marks, those who chose to write about how Internet isolates people - loose marks, those who compare and contrast both sides of the Internet and give arguments for and against - gain marks.
“Coherence and Cohesion” means how well you connected the paragraphs and sentences inside each paragraph. You see, all of your paragraphs need to be logically connected. For example, if paragraph 1 explains the advantages of the Internet, and paragraph 2 explains its disadvantages, then paragraph 1 should have last sentence saying something like this: “In spite of Internet being such a help in communication, its drawbacks can not be overlooked”. This sentence creates the connection between 1st and 2nd paragraphs. If it wasn’t there, examiner could think that you jumped from advantages to disadvantages without a reason. The same rule applies to sentences inside the paragraph. Every sentence should lead to the next one.
“Lexical Resource” means vocabulary and different types of sentences, simple and complex. You should be able to use words and their synonyms.
“Grammatical Range and Accuracy” means spelling and grammar of sentences. You should be able to spell the words correctly, do not forget articles “a” and “the”, punctuations is also important, etc - you get the picture, don’t you?
One more important thing to know: the four criteria are equally weighted. It means that if you forgot about “Coherence and Cohesion” in your essay, you will loose 1/4 of your essay points.
Tips for Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic test
As I promised many of you, this is what you need to know about Academic IELTS test Writing Task 1.
The task here is to describe a graph in a report. The report is intended for university lecturer, so the language you use should be appropriate.
There are several different figures you could see in Writing 1 Task:
· Single line graph - see example
· Double line graph
· Bar graph (Single, Double or Triple bar graph) - see example
· Pie chart - see example
· Table - see example
· Process
Click here to see fantastic examples of all possible figures in IELTS Writing 1 test.
No matter what figure you are describing, you shouldn’t break these rules:
· Report must be of at least 150 words written in 20 minutes
· You shouldn’t write your opinion or copy words from graph - rephrase and use synonyms instead.
· Never use bullets, write as if you were writing essay or letter.
When your Academic Writing 1 Task is graded by IELTS examiners, they look for this structure:
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
Introduction should describe the purpose of report and say what overall trends you see.For example, if the graph is climbing up or dropping down, you should mention that.You need to remember that you are describing a graph to someone who doesn’t see it. Write what the graph is about, its dates and location.
Body should describe the most important trends, while all information is summarized to avoid unnecessary details. For example, if there is a graph that has 2 peaks, you should mention them; tell when those peaks appeared and what the peak values are.Notice how many distinctive features diagram has and divide information into paragraphs, one paragraph for one feature. You should link the paragraphs by sentences that logically connect them to one another.
Important! You need to write about all the periods of time and all the subjects of graph.If it shows several years (1992, 1993, 1994) - write about all of them, if it is about men and women - write about both. Remember, summarizing doesn’t mean throwing away information. The secret here is to select what’s important, organize it, compare and contrast.
Conclusion should sum up the global trends shown on the figure and compare them if possible.
More Writing tips for IELTS General module
In Writing Task 2 you receive a topic and you have to write an essay of 250 words.This task has more weight than Writing 1. It also takes longer - 40 minutes, when Writing 1 takes only 20 minutes.
The topic of essay can be one of 3 possible types: description of opinion, argument or social problem.
Any essay you write on any topic must have structure - you receive (or loose ) points for it. Structure means at least 4 paragraphs (5 is better). First paragraph is introductory, the next two or three is the actual essay - its body, and the last one for conclusion.
The first thing to do is to understand what kind of topic is before you.
Next:
· for argument - you need to explain both sides and agree with one of them
· for opinion - you need to present another point of view and say which one you agree with and why
· for problem - you need to explain it, discuss and offer solution and discuss it too.
No matter what type of essay you are writing, you must provide some facts, evidence and information. When you explain the problem - evaluate it; say when/where/who for it is especially difficult. If you present an idea of solution - discuss it; say what its good and bad sides are. Add examples from your own experience to support what you’re saying.
In any essay logical sequence of information is very important. Jumping from one idea to another it is very bad for you score, all ideas must be connected logically. Another important thing is “smart” words - try to use them as much as you can, it is also affects your score. Punctuation is important too. Take a look at some Examples Of Writing Task 1 and Writing Task 2 here. This file is from IELTS official site - it can be trusted.
As you know there are 2 parts, Writing 1 and Writing 2.
In Writing 1 you receive a “scenario” and you have to write a letter. Not many people know that there are 4 types of letters in IELTS:
· Complaint / Request (of information) letter
· Formal business letter
· Job application letter
· Personal letter
In any letter you write IELTS examiners are looking for these 3 important components: structure, vocabulary and fluency of language.
Structure means that your letter must have paragraphs, at least 3 of them. Every paragraph has its job.
· First one must define the purpose of your letter in one - two sentences.
· Second one must explain more about why you are writing this letter.
· Third must say what kind of answer you expect.
Vocabulary means that you better use some “smart” words. In case you are writing Complaint, Business or Job application letter you must use formal language, but not for Personal letter.
Fluency of language means phrases people usually use in letters. The best advice I can give you here is to read every IELTS Sample Letter you can get. This way you develop proper language for any type of letter.
IELTS Writing tips
It is better to write in regular, not very sophisticated English, than to use phrases or structures you don’t fully understand.If you need Band 6 - no need for complex sentence structure. If your goal is Band 7 - then show advanced sentence structure, language and vocabulary.
It is better to write in regular, not very sophisticated English, than to use phrases or structures you don’t fully understand.If you need Band 6 - no need for complex sentence structure. If your goal is Band 7 - then show advanced sentence structure, language and vocabulary.
Don’t write more than 260-265 words in IELTS Writing 2 task. Why? Not because you will get lower mark, but because of these 2 reasons:
1) It takes more time
2) More words = more mistakes
If you are told to cover specific points in your essay/letter - cover every point, examiners actually count them.
Don’t overuse connecting words (like However, Furthermore, Moreover, etc) - examiners are watching for you to do that.