IELTS Writing Task 2: try this exercise

Try this exercise using the essay in last week's lesson:

1. Read the essay and make sure you understand it.
2. Read it again slowly, and make notes on a separate piece of paper. Just write the main idea or key words from each sentence (there are only 13 sentences in the whole essay).
3. Hide my essay, and try to rewrite it using only your notes. Don't try to memorise the essay exactly as I wrote it; the aim is to see if you can write a similar essay using the same key ideas.
4. Compare your essay with mine. Did you write the same number of sentences? Did you include the same key vocabulary? Did you use the vocabulary correctly? Does your essay 'flow' as well as mine does?

You can learn a lot by doing this exercise. Apparently, this is how Benjamin Franklin worked on his writing skills! He describes the technique in chapter 2, paragraph 6 of his autobiography, which you can read here.

Comments

[Sana]

Thank you sir.
You are my inspiration. I will try this technique
from today onwards. As I have mentioned last week
that I am weak in writing. Thank you sir!!

[Himanshu Nautiyal]

Thank you

[Alice]

Hi, Simon

Thanks for the advice. I found it is really difficult at the beginning to write exactly the same sentences with the help of the notes. But I will keep working on it.

[Dua]

This is the best advice that could possibly be given to help ( rescue) those who are not good writers, and it seems workable too. Thank you.
( sadly i have never managed to practice writing that many essays)

[vaun]

hi simon i am unable to write introduction effectivlly pls help me.....

[bisma]

HI SIMON
i recently got my ielts result
L 8
R 9
S 8
W 6.5
Do u think remarking will help me?
please guide

[nigara]

Thank you it is very helpfull

[Shenghao]

Hi Simon
Can you recommend some books for us to improve our writing? For example,is the autobiography you mentioned above a good one,in terms of the writing style and vocabulary. I do not want to learn ancient English obviously, and it does not have to be IELTS-related. Thanks.

[Do Quoc]

I have already read it and I thing I should post it here for someone who want to read it easier. Thank you, Simon!
About this time I met with an odd volume of the Spectator.[18] It was the third. I had never before seen any of them. I bought it, read it over and over, and was much delighted with it. I thought the writing excellent, and wished, if possible, to imitate it. With this view I took some of the papers, and, making short hints of the sentiment in each sentence, laid them by a few days, and then, without looking at the book, try'd to compleat the papers again, by expressing each hinted sentiment at length, and as fully as it had been expressed before, in any suitable words that should come to hand. Then I compared my Spectator with the original, discovered some of my faults, and corrected them. But I found I wanted a stock of words, or a readiness in recollecting and using them, which I thought I should have acquired before that time if I had gone on making verses; since the continual occasion for words of the same import, but of different length, to suit the measure, or of different sound for the rhyme, would have laid me under a constant necessity of searching for variety, and also have tended to fix that variety in my mind, and make me master of it. Therefore I took some of the tales and turned them into verse; and, after a time, when I had pretty well forgotten the prose, turned them back again. I also sometimes jumbled my collections of hints into confusion, and after some weeks endeavored to reduce them into the best order, before I began to form the full sentences and compleat the paper. This was to teach me method in the arrangement of thoughts. By comparing my work afterwards with the original, I discovered many faults and amended them; but I sometimes had the pleasure of fancying that, in certain particulars of small import, I had been lucky enough to improve the method of the language, and this encouraged me to think I might possibly in time come to be a tolerable English writer, of which I was extremely ambitious. My time for these exercises and for reading was at night, after work or before it began in the morning, or on Sundays, when I contrived to be in the printing-house alone, evading as much as I could the common attendance on public worship which my father used to exact of me when I was under his care, and which indeed I still thought a duty, thought I could not, as it seemed to me, afford time to practise it

[Le VQ Chi]

Hi bisma!
you've got 8.0 overall. what else do you expect?

[Bisma]

Yeh but i need 7 in each part...

[ione]

Question:
Eating a balanced diet is the most important factor for a healthy life. To what extent do u agree or disagree

Having a healthy life is attributed to various key factors. While I accept that a balanced diet plays a significant role in having a healthy life, I believe that other factors are equally important as well.

On the one hand, a good choice of food can result to an uncompromised physical body. This makes people healthier because of the nutritional benefits that can be derived from this set of food. For example, carbohydrates and protein constitute the bulk of the food choices which provide the body the fuel and restoration it needs to function properly. In addition, fruits and vegetables found in considerable amount yield vitamins and minerals that promote strong immune system. Finally, fats and sugary foods which serve as culprits of different cardiovascular diseases are served in small quantities; hence, making lesser possibilities of the body to acquire these said illnesses.

On the other hand, it can be argued that there are other factors aside from a balanced diet that can contribute to a healthy life. Firstly, proper exercise is vital so as to maintain proper circulation of blood flow and get rid of deposition of fats among cells and tissues. Secondly, practicing hygienic measures, such as handwashing, can diminish the chances of one's body acquiring communicable diseases such as pneumonia. Lastly, having a harmonious relationship with other people can decrease the stress level within the body because the release of these happy hormones known as "endorphins" counteracts stress.

In conclusion, although balanced diet plays an important role in having a healthful body, considering other aspects would create a positive ramification in having and maintaining a healthy life.

[ione]

Can someone pls evaluate what i have written? Thanks in advance!

[hellcha]

Hi Simon,

What is the difference between a peak and a high? I heard that a peak may not necessarily be the highest point, just up then down; however, the high has to be the highest point of the subject. Therefore, there could be more than one peak but just only one high. Is that true?

[sjm]

Hellcha

They are the same. The both refer to the highest point in a given period.

[G]

Hi simon

This is the first time i write a comment here.I got my ielts result today! i got a 7 in my writing!! cannot believe it!! last time i only got 5.5.Then someone told me about your website.i spent two weeks reading all your writing and marking down important suggestions!
still cannot believe i can improve my writing from 5.5 to 7 in two weeks!! thanks a lot simon!!

[Simon]

Great news G. Congratulations!

[RTE]

Hi Simon;

When I use " To a certain extent... However, I also think that" in my introduction for agree-disagree questions, what should I write in my conclusion to rephrase my thoughts?

Thanks for your help.

Regards,

[mohammed]

hello Simon,

I really have written my problem about task 2. I cannot identify what kind of essay I will write. such as, Argument, hidden argument, or solution. And how about these kinds. Are they important or another kinds
Agree / disagree

Discuss two opinions

Advantages & disadvantages

Causes (reasons) & solutions

Causes (reasons) & effects

Problems & solutions.

have a good work

[Hien]

Hi Simon,
I'm having trouble with finding suitable words or collocations for my essay. My knowledge about academic words is bad. So can you recommend me some books to improve academic words for certain topics?
Thank you.