IELTS Writing Task 2: 'immigration' topic

What are the benefits and drawbacks of immigration or multi-cultural societies?

Here is a paragraph giving some of the economic benefits of immigration:

From an economic perspective, immigration can be extremely positive. Many immigrants have skills that are needed in the country they move to. For example, countries sometimes lack key workers like doctors and nurses, and immigration is therefore encouraged. Immigrants who find work contribute to the economy of their new country with the skills they bring and the taxes they pay. At the same time, many immigrants send money to help family members in their home country, therefore helping to boost that economy too.

Can you think of any social benefits of immigration? Are there any economic or social disadvantages?

PS. I'll send a few extra paragraphs about this topic to people on my email list (people who have bought the ebook).

Comments

[Joshua]

Hi Simon,

I try to write some words here,I am not sure whether the logical structure "topic sentence -expand - example" is reasonable.

From a social perspective,I believe,immigration also provides benefits.New immigrants always bring their own culture to the new country they lodged.It means that they are trying to introduce their customs to a different society.For example,we both know that in some Muslim countries women always cover their hair,many people,from non-Muslim countries,however,do not understand it.There is a cultural gap between them.But what will happen if a Muslim family immigrate to a non-Muslim country?They start to communicate with the local people and tend to explain their own customs.Then,the local residents begin to know why Muslim women have to cover their hair,and gradually accept it,and maybe someone really like the middle east culture,and learn them more.At the same time,the muslim family also introduce the new culture to their own country.The cultural gap between the two societies become smaller and smaller and finally melt away.This is culture integration.

Thanks!

Joshua

[SImon]

This looks good Joshua. I can't give you full feedback or a score (although I am offering this for £10 at the moment - July only) but you've got the right idea.

[Joshua]

Thanks.I understand it. still I have a question here:
like the paragraph giving the economic benefits of immigration above,you have not divide the topic into several sub-topics(like Firstly,Secondly,Thirdly),but in many other paragraphs you used the sub-topic patterns.

Do they have some differences?I always write badly for the sub-topics paragraphs because for each sub-topic(mostly about 30 words one),I could not write enough expanding or examples to support the sub-topic,even worse,I could not make sure that the sub-topics precisely support the main topic.

So I think the most suitable pattern for me is this immigration topic you have wrote(83 words total),topic-expand-example.

When the question simply asked:Many people immigrated to other countries,to what extent do you agree or disagree?

A 1 Introduction
2 Main paragraph(support with economic perspective)
3Main paragraph2support with soial perspective)
4 Conclusion

or B 1 Introduction
2Main paragraph(drawbacks)
3 Main paragraph(benefits by economic and social)
4 Conclusion

Which is better?If I use A pattern,should I mention some drawbacks?

i know it's a bit more,I really hope it would not bother you too much.

Regards,

Joshua

[SImon]

Hi Joshua,

Your A pattern is best for an 'opinion' essay that asks you to agree or disagree. In this type of essay, you have an opinion and support it, so you don't need to mention the opposite view (e.g. the drawbacks).

Pattern B is good for 'discussion' essays where the question asks you to discuss both sides of the argument.

If you find pattern A easier, you can use it for 'discussion' essays too. It just means that you will probably only give one benefit and expand it, rather than giving several benefits that you don't have to expand on as much.

Neither type is better or worse. They are both useful in different situations.

Hope this helps

Simon

[Joshua]

Hi Simon,

It really helps me a lot.Thanks.

Joshua

[SImon]

OK, no problem

[Mahsa]

Hi Simon

I bought your ebook recently but you did not email me these extra paragraphs about immigration.

Could you send them to me?
(my exam is on 25th August)

Thanks and hope you enjoy your holiday.

[ding]

Hi simon, I have a question. Is that good to use some templates for task 2 available on the internet. For example, I just found this one in one website, is it good ?
FOR & AGAINST
"… is an issue which frequently generates a great deal of heated debate, with supporters remaining that it is vital to …, whilst opponents claim that …. The arguments surrounding such issue will hence be discussed in this essay.
Upon initial examinations, it cannot be denied that [Topic]. As a general rule, [General]. Taking … as an example, [Example]. As a consequence, [Closing].
However, it is not always the case. Despite the fact that …, [Topic]. Up to a point, [General]. The most obvious instance to prove is that [Example]. That is to say, [Closing].
Having considered the pros and cons of …, it can be concluded that a certain degree of … is always necessary. The course of action would be to attempt to achieve a balance between … on the one hand, and … on the other hand.
Taking everything into consideration, it can be concluded that the benefits … still far outweigh the obstacles. It is my firm conviction that [Comment]. "

[Yan]

Hi Simon,

In your essay, if i say "the skills that they bring" instead of " the skills they bring", would i lose mark for that?

Could you explain the rules "that"?
Here is an example, "in some country the problems (that) people face are much more serious......" Is it correct?

Thanks,

[SUNHWA KIM]

Hi Simon,

Economic perspectives is correct or Economic perspect is correct? confusing..

Thank you

[sam]

hi simon! i ve written something about social benefits of immigration...can u plz comment on it?

From social perspective,Immigration also creates cultural diversity
People of many different nationalities learn to live together
This can help people to become more open-minded and tolerant. Hence cultural integration establishes in the form of cultural exchange which encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music and a million other things
Examples of cultural integration include American restaurants such as McDonald's opening branches in foreign countries such as Japan and foreign films playing in American theaters.

[nVm]

However, in my view, there also negative impacts of immigration. Firstly, foreign people cannot easily assimilate to the country's culture. In Denmark, for example, there is a resistance from people coming from the Middle East because they do not want to be forced to learn the Danish culture immediately. Secondly, companies can hire foreign workers for a very low salary, out-competing the locals and leaving them unemployed. Finally, immigrants can cause a rising demand for basic services such as housing and healthcare services, and these are not easy for the government to provide.

[ell duck]

Immigration has becomed controversial issue in these days. Generally, this topic in modern societies have been both social and economic disadvantages. When the study in terms of economic relations in any country, it is clear that migrants affect the local people on labor market, and this trend tends to the decrease of local people’s salaries. Morever, migrants are willing to work under the any conditions without searching for any social security and right related to working system. In this way, employers aspire to recruit immigrant workers rather than local workers because of the fact migrants care neither salaries nor job health- security, and so on in the capitalist sytem.

[Scavo]

Hi, Simon.

Many thanks for your lessons. I have a question about this sentence:'many immigrants send money to help family members in their home country, therefore helping to boost that economy too.'

I think it should be 'therefore help to boost that economy too'. I googled it but still can't find an answer.

Do you still keep an eye on this lesson? If so, could you tell me which one is right and why?

Thank you so much!

[Simon]

Scavo,

No, my version is the correct one.

If you want to use 'help', you would need to add the word 'and':

"Many immigrants send money to help family members in their home country, AND therefore HELP..."

[Scavo]

Thank you so much, Simon!

I realise that 'therefore' is an adverb.

Best regards!

[Rustam]

Immigration has a significant impact on the contemporary society. Each year, more and more people from all over the world decide to leave their home countries and move to another place.
In my view, the main reason of immigration is a strong desire of better life quality and safe future. A lot of people from so-called Third World move to developed countries in search of better employment opportunities, and therefore, higher incomes. Moreover, living in a wealthy country implies living in a country with stable economy, so risks of losing their savings also lessen. For example, labor migration from Mexico to the USA is caused by these facts.

However, sometimes immigration causes more problems than it solves, resulting in negative consequences for both immigrants and their countries of destination. Most of the refugees cannot find jobs because of the lack of language skills and difficulties in adaptation. That is why the countries have to run various refugee assistance programs to help those people. Nevertheless, disproportionate burden of maintaining the immigrants leads to tension in the society. Secondly, not all of the refugees receive proper asylum, food and medical care. Thus, they are at risk even after crossing the border. Therefore, even highly qualified specialists, who seek better employment, often do not get what they are looking for.
In conclusion, I think that people immigrate to have better life prospects. However, life after immigration may not always meet people’s expectations. Thus, it is very important to consider all the possible outcomes and decide whether leaving your homeland is worth it.