In this video I'll give you a sure fire way to start any IELTS Writing Task 2 essay.
Using this technique you will know how to start your IELTS essay.
This is important because you'll have 1 sentence completely under control.
Now, it doesn't seem like much but if you get the first one under control, then the
second one, you're basically stacking the deck until you get all of them under control.
And then you'll know how to write an IELTS essay.
My IELTS Writing Task 2 Sentence Guide book deals with this, exactly.
It looks at every single sentence and gives you a strategy so you can nail the exam (basically).
Alright?
Let's get started.
So what do we do for the first sentence?
W-T-F
Alright?
Well, one thing that we can do is paraphrasing.
Paraphrasing is the expression of another phrase or sentence in another way.
For example if I had the sentence:
"The school's student listened attentively to the teacher."
That could be modified to:
"The people listened carefully to the lecturer."
This technique is used a lot for the reading, listening, and of course the writing part.
It's important because it helps you focus on the main topic, in your own words.
And it shows some variety in your writing.
Also, if it's done correctly, it prevents redundancy and it makes your essay more appealing
to the reader (in this case, the examiner).
So how do we paraphrase?
Well, let's have a look at 3 paraphrasing techniques to apply for IELTS Writing Task
2.
First one, synonyms.
Second one, verb transformation.
And the third one, sentence restructure.
Let's have a look at the first at the first one: How to do it with synonyms.
So first, we read, we understand the question, then we go through and we highlight all the
keywords in that question.
And then try and generate and select some appropriate synonyms to use in the answer.
So grab a pen and I want you to write down this question (if you don't get it right the
first time go back in the video and listen to it again):
"Unemployment is one of the most serious problems facing developed nations today.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of reducing the week to 35 hours?"
This essay topic asks the writer for the advantages and disadvantages of one idea.
So we do not (in the first sentence) write our opinion.
That's like going to the swimming baths, running, jumping, and bombing (you know, when you splash
everyone).
So don't do that.
What we're going to do is write a topic sentence.
Since we write a topic sentence, we paraphrase.
So using the three-step strategy.
First we read the question again.
"Unemployment is one of the most serious problems the developed nations."
"A 35-hour working week is a possible solution to unemployment."
Now grab your pen and highlight/circle the important words.
"Unemployment"
"Serious problems"
"Advantages"
"Disadvantages"
and "Developed nations" as well.
And then we select synonyms to replace those words.
Unemployment = Lack of jobs
Serious problems = Grave issues
Developed nations = Industrialized countries
Advantages/Disadvantages = Pros/Cons
Working week = Professional schedule
So if I was to rewrite it I could have said:
"A lack of jobs is indeed a serious issue facing industrialized countries nowadays.
This essay will examine the pros and cons of reducing professional schedules to 35 hours."
Now that's not bad, but I have seen better.
How could we improve it even more?
We can use strategy 2, and that's verb transformation.
Here, we highlight the key verbs
and then select new verbs, synonyms, or even transform the verb.
So before, the question was:
"Unemployment is one of the most serious problems facing developed nations today.
What are the advantages or disadvantages of reducing the working week to 35 hours?"
Well, for "facing" we could say "confronting."
And for "reducing" we could say "lessening."
That would give us:
"A lack of jobs is indeed a grave issue confronting industrial countries today.
This essay will examine the pros and cons of lessening professional schedules to 35
hours."
Now another way would be instead of using "reducing" we could use the noun and say "reduction."
Now if we did this, we would have to modify the sentence a little bit and would sound
like this:
"A reduction of working hours is among many possible solutions confronting developed societies
nowadays."
Now a third strategy is called sentence-restructure.
Similar to before.
What we'll do now is we'd do this but we'll do it with the same example.
Okay?
Now, what you're supposed to do is explain.
Given the question, what we'll have to do in the answer on the first sentence is explain
the advantages or disadvantages.
So the question was:
"What are the advantages or the disadvantages of reducing the working week to 35 hours?"
That could be paraphrased as:
"One should analyze the pros and cons of both sides."
Or we could also say:
"This essay will analyze the pros and cons."
Now, one quick note...
If you're using "one" it does sound formal.
So unless you've got a really good ability with your English and you're getting 7s, 8s,
or even 9s, and you practiced, when you're practicing writing your essays, then "one"
could be a viable option for you.
If you're not that good then avoid it because it sounds forced and it sounds a little bit
unnatural.
Now a second note that I want you to take note of is that there in the introductions
I'm avoiding using personal pronouns.
I'm saying "This essay will look at..." or "This essay will..."
We avoid using "we," "my," "I," all that.
Because it just makes the essay sound more academic.
Now that we've got those 3 strategies, let's look at them on a different question and we'll
go through it again.
So grab a pen, get ready.
Fantastic!
Let's do it again.
Let's look at a different type of question.
One that is discussing the causes and suggesting solutions.
So here's the question, grab a pen and write the question down:
"Nowadays many schools are using computer games to teach lessons to many children inside
and outside the classroom.
What are the negative and positive effects of using computer games on education and what
could be done to minimize the negative effects?
Provide solutions to minimize the negative effects."
So we selects synonyms to replace those keywords.
So "nowadays," we could say "in modern times."
"Schools," we could say "academic institutions."
"Computer games," we'll say "electronic activities and exercises."
For "lessons" we could say "courses."
"Inside and outside the classroom" (that's easy) we could say "at school and at home."
For "education" we could say "academic development."
So hopefully you've realized that for IELTS you need to have an extensive vocabulary.
Building your vocabulary is key to getting a high score.
Now let's look at strategy 2 (verb transformation) and we'll look at the question again.
Go through and we highlight the key verbs and then we change them.
So in this case:
"Nowadays many schools are using computer games to teach many children inside and outside
the classroom.
What are the negative and positive effects of using computer games on education, and
what can be done to minimize the negative effects?"
So select new verbs, synonyms, or we can transform the verbs.
So if we're using "using" we say "employing."
For "teach" we say "instruct."
For "minimize" we could say "reduce."
So we changed the verbs.
Now we structure the sentence.
In this essay question you are expected to outline both the negative and positive effects
of using computer games in education.
So the sentence 'What are the negative and positive effects of using computer games in
education?"
could be restructured into an answer format and would go like this:
"This essay will outline the drawbacks and advantages of employing electronic activities
and exercises on academic development."
The second question "What can be done to minimize the negative effects?"
can be transformed into:
"Solutions will be examined to mitigate the harmful impact of electronic activities."
Okay, I'm not ready to put the introduction together using the 3-step strategies.
"In modern times, many academic institutions are employing electronic activities and exercises
to instruct courses to children both at home and at school."
"This essay will outline the drawbacks and advantages of employing electronic activities
and exercises on academic development."
"Solutions will also be examined to mitigate the harmful effects of electronic activities."
So there we go.
We've looked at the 3 different strategies.
We applied them in 2 different types of questions.
And hopefully this will help you get your introduction completely under control.
Okay?
And as I said before, keeping a big vocabulary is necessary (very extensive).
You can check out one of the videos, build in your vocabulary.
Another point is this dealt with the introduction.
If you want more advice and you want some more help and guidance
you can look at the IELTS Sentence Guide book.
And you can also check out the videos.
But most importantly, just subscribe and you get lots of updates.
Okay?
Good luck and wish you all the best in the exam.
If you've got a problem just shoot me an email and we're on to it.
All the best.
Jump from Band 6 to 7 or it's free.
The sentence guide is the answer if you need to pass IELTS fast.
Why?
Because together we cover the two essential skills you need to pass the IELTS exam.
Your IELTS exam skills
and your English language skills.
You get easy-to-follow instructions which eliminate confusion, frustration,
and it makes organizing your thoughts really easy.
And to improve your English language skills
you send in your essays to me and my team and we give you feedback showing you how to
improve the lexical resource,
showing you the errors that you might have made,
and this practically guarantees that you improve and pass the IELTS exam.
Click below to listen to the other students
see what they said
and then join me together and we can pass the IELTS.
1... 2... 3...
How can we improve it more?
In this video, I'll give you a sure fire way to start any IELTS Writing Task 2 essay...