hi aubrey how's it going i'm great my sister's in town from idaho it was snowing when they left
so they're very excited that it's sunny here and she's just so fun she's 10 years younger than me
but we get along really well wow that's a huge age difference yeah we weren't really friends when i
graduated high school and left because she was very young still but we have become friends
since and now our kids get along really well so that's so awesome i have similar relationships
with my siblings um except i'm the baby all my siblings are like way older way way older
i will not appreciate that if they hear this way older i don't remember saying that about it's cool
i was like an accident it's cool i've accepted it but like it's the
same thing we weren't friends growing up um and now um like my sister amanda we're like
best friends we i love her family i love we love everything about each other we're so much alike
and it's yeah it's the same i think becoming friends as adults is almost better than like
you know fighting growing up or something for sure and the age gap doesn't matter once you're past
you have so much more in common it doesn't matter anymore because they're adults now
adults as adults adults are adults um so let's get into today's topic guys we are uh
doing a lot of special riding episodes um currently because we are uh coming out with a very
special ielts only riding program guys this riding package is incredible it is guaranteed to increase
your writing score guys on your next ielts exam if not we pay you back for the price of the course we
refund that and we'll pay for part of your exam so guys definitely get on this list all ears english
dot com slash writing wise so you can be the first to know when this program is available every
resource you need to improve your writing score to understand what the examiner is looking for is in
this package guys so get on the list all there's english dot com slash writing wise um okay cool so
today we're talking about something that affects a lot of students that is holding a lot of you back
and that is an inability to expand on ideas what does that mean expand on ideas
yeah to lengthen it to prove it to justify it right so imagine the examiner disagrees with
your opinion if you just throw it out there and don't support it the examiner's gonna read that
and be like i'm not convinced i still disagree you didn't support your idea you didn't prove to
me that it's a good idea so that's where you have to expand on it you have to support it
so that's yeah i i like this visualization exercise like imagine that you are having an
argument with someone right it could be in an argument essay where you talk about two sides
could be in an opinion essay where you only talk about one side your side but you're still
having an argument with someone even in problem solution you should imagine that you're having
an argument with someone because you must convince the examiner in this case that what you're saying
is correct right why is this the best solution why do you think this is a negative outcome you know
what i mean like everything has to be supported um this is literally black and white part of your
task score if you don't expand on your ideas with details with examples with proof with
evidence then you cannot get higher than a six even a five if it's that bad for your task score
for writing task two yes and we see this often in essays an essay corrected very recently and it's
tragic because everything else might be really good right great linking phrases great vocabulary
but then so for an example there was a task two essay about organic food and this is exactly what
the student did they had this very interesting idea that companies will label any food organic
and then sell it but there was no support right so imagine the examiner disagrees with that
you need some kind of an example of a company that does that
um yeah someplace where you have seen this happen because if you just say it you could
be making it up it's just your opinion you're pulling out of nowhere if there's no support
it's go it cannot be seven or higher for top for your task score and on that note like you can make
stuff up like you can totally make stuff up right um it's just that let's think about this guys
when you throw an idea out there in your essay could be an opinion could be a reason you
need more you always need more always ask yourself why right why is this your opinion why is that a
reason how is that a reason and try to have at least three sentences about one idea and every
sentence gets more specific so it's like a funnel right it's like a pyramid you start with a general
idea and every sentence following that is about the same thing right an advantage of whatever
but it's getting more and more specific so here's two things that we need you guys to remember these
can be like writing mottos for you guys every sentence must have new and necessary information
and then here's the second thing where do these ideas come from what is this necessary information
try to come up and this is you can make this up guys but what you're trying to do is offer
examples and details for real people real places real times so um let's throw an example out here
so you guys can see what we're talking about um let's stick to this organic food question so
what is it we're trying to talk about in this essay what is the topic of this essay aubrey
yeah so the topic was that organic food is worth the extra price or not right do you think
it is worth the extra money that organic food costs or not right so yes the problem here is
the student had this really interesting idea but it's a hard one to defend and if you're going to
defend it you might have to make up some details you probably don't have in your pocket pocket a
company that you actually know does that right slaps labels on food that's not organic and if
you're sort of just repeating ideas like you said jessica every sentence has to have new information
so if each of your sentences is sort of just um additional information about that companies
do this because the fda is charging them money so they have to pass that money to the company you're
not getting more specific you're not getting more detailed so yeah let's talk about how you could do
that in a high-level way how would we answer this so guys um we're all adults here we all buy food
we all go to the grocery store i'm telling you guys like as an adult in this world you guys
have all the life experience you need to write an ielts task 2 essay okay so here for example
okay companies put organic labels on food that isn't organic now remember we have to stay
focused on the question and this is about value right is it worth it to pay extra for organic
food and in this case we're saying no it's not right so start with this clear opinion here
connected to the question so we would say in my opinion it is definitely not a good idea to
um expend extra capital on organic food um this is due to the fact that companies can slap that's too
uh that's too informal slap on a label companies can place a label on their products that uh
says organic when in reality it is no different than the the other cheaper options for instance
yesterday i was at the grocery store and i was comparing two tortilla brands one claiming to
be organic one um a generic store brand i looked at the ingredients and they were exactly the same
therefore the five dollar difference in the price tag is not justified yes nice see how even though
you're you're getting personal because that's how you would defend that idea you if you're going to
have sentences and sentences about why companies do this and and their fees you have to think about
are you proving that idea to the examiner right now with jessica's details you have proved it you
have a specific personal example where you have seen this happen on a specific product exactly
um so guys remember today's information is all about helping you to expand your ideas
because you are graded on four things on the writing test guys task cohesion coherence
um grammar and vocabulary now grammar and vocab i know this is surprising but these are the easiest
things to improve okay by yourself or with a tutor now task score and cohesion coherence these are
i'm like almost impossible for students to improve on their own because what goes into these scores
to get a seven or higher is such insider knowledge all right this this fact of expanding your ideas
being necessary for a seven or higher for task this isn't a natural idea you guys aren't bored
knowing this you don't come across this and like you know free ielts information
except for our podcast so guys we want to help you increase your aisle to writing scores with
insider information like this that's why we have a special writing course just for you guys so get on
the list so you're the first to know when this is available ally is english.com writing wise
get on that list guys and we will email you so you're the first to know when you can get this new
ielts writing course yes you guys need strategies in order to understand how to brainstorm
solid ideas and then strong support and examples this isn't a given right often our instinct is to
provide multiple reasons or maybe to go a little bit off top off topic but once you have strategies
and template sentences then you can do this in a high scoring way so get on the list today and we
will see you in our writing module all right guys remember alwaysenglish.com writing wise all right
aubrey thanks for chatting today this is a good episode yes awesome thanks jessica bye-bye you