In this video I'm going to give you six
really important tips for success on the
IELTS writing test. And here's number one:
this is all to do with timing. Timing
your writing and how long you have.Now
timing is very very important. Task one
you should spend around 20
minutes on task 1 and around 40 minutes
on task 2. Task 2 you have to write
more words so you need to spend more
time on it but also there are more marks
for task 2 that there are doe task 1. Many
students spend too much time on task 1
which means they do not have enough time
to write a good task 2 essay which is a
problem because task two is worth double
the marks of task 1 therefore here is a
really useful tip: do task 2 first.
Remember
task two is worth twice the marks of
task one so it's better to write a good
task 2 essay first and run out of time
writing task 1 than the other way around.
So my big tip number one: do task 2
first. Here's number 2 - tip number two:
planning. Planning is really really
important especially for task 2. I think
you should spend five minutes
planning your task 2 essa; you should
think about some ideas and some
supporting arguments and examples for
your essay; think about the structure
of your essay, think about what language
you're going to include in your essay,
so think about good language that will
give you extra marks when the IELTS
examiner marks your essay, so plan your
essay before you start writing it. In
other words think before you write. It's
much better to think before you write
then than having to think while you're
writing. People can't really do two
things at once so if you're writing and
then you have to keep on stopping to
think your essay will not be very good so
decide what to write before you start
writing. So plan your essay. Vocabulary:
again when you plan your writing think
about some good vocabulary to use
25% of the final mark is to do
with what we call lexical resource so if
you want to improve
your band score you need to use some
good vocabulary. Now for task one you
should learn a wide variety of
vocabulary to describe trends, for
example: soared upwards, or declined steadily
and also some vocabulary to compare
features of the graphs and charts so
think about vocabulary for trends and
for comparisons. Here's some good language:
steadily is an adverb and upwards. So use
language like this when you write your
task one report for the academic IELTS
and use a variety of language when you
write, change words, avoid repetition, so
try to avoid repeating the same words,
change them into something else instead.
Remember the IELTS examiner is looking for
a range of vocabulary. One way to do this
is to paraphrase language: that means
change words in the task into your own
words, so for task 1 and task 2 there
will be a task description.
Do not copy the language from the
question; paraphrase the language from
the question, use your own words. So for
example in a task 2 task, you may have
the statement "increases in CO2 emissions
have resulted in a rise in global
temperatures", so let's paraphrase this,
let's change it using our own words,
so instead of "increases" you could use
"the growth", instead of "CO2" you could use "carbon
dioxide"; "resulted in" I've changed to "led
to"; "a rise" has changed to "an increase"; and
"global" I've changed to "around the world".
Minimum word count: remember this: the
minimum word count is very important so
remember task 1 is 150 words, task two is 250
words. If you go below the minimum number
of words you will lose a lot of marks
its a whole band score for task
achievement or task response, so go
ideally well above the minimum, so i
recommend go for 170 words to 200 words for
task 1, and for task 2, 270 to as many as 350
words. If you write a longer essay then you
have more opportunity to show the IELTS
examiner the good language that you have
but of course make sure the language you
write is good language; the risk is if
you write too much you'll make more
mistakes so it depends on your your
ability but I think write 170
words for task 1, 270 task for task 2.
Tip number five: remember to answer the
question
Read the question
carefully especially in task 2; do
not write an opinion essay if you're
asked to discuss two sides of an
argument so make sure you address the
task. In the academic IELTS task one is a
descriptive essay; you're turning a graph
or a map into a piece of writing so do
not write your opinion in task 1.
Ok? So for example do not say why you
think the line graph went up or down in
task 1; you put your opinions into task
2 writing not in task 1; this is all
about pictures and data, not opinions.
Tip number six:
check your writing: when you've finished,
spend a few minutes at the end checking
your spelling and your grammar; really
important; simple mistakes, silly
mistakes in spelling and grammar will
mean a lower band score so spend a few
minutes at the end checking your writing.
So there you have some of my main tips
for the writing test.