IELTS Simon

IELTS Writing Task 2: 'positive or negative' essay

Here's my full band 9 essay. I'll analyse it in next week's lesson.

Some universities now offer their courses on the Internet so that people can study online. Is this a positive or negative development?

It is true that online courses are becoming a common feature of university education. Although there are some drawbacks of Internet-based learning, I would argue that there are far more benefits.

The main drawback of the trend towards online university courses is that there is less direct interaction. Students may not have the opportunity to engage face-to-face with their teachers, and will instead have to rely on written forms of communication. Similarly, students who study online do not come into direct contact with each other, and this could have a negative impact on peer support, discussion and exchange of ideas. For example, whereas students on traditional courses can attend seminars and even discuss their subjects over coffee after lessons, online learners are restricted to chatting through website forum areas. These learners may also lack the motivation and element of competition that face-to-face group work brings.

Despite the negatives mentioned above, I believe that online university courses are a positive development for various reasons. Firstly, they allow learners to study in a flexible way, meaning that they can work whenever and wherever is convenient, and they can cover the material at their own pace. Secondly, the cost of a university education can be greatly reduced, while revenues for institutions may increase as more students can be taught. Finally, online learning offers open access to anybody who is willing to study, regardless of age, location, ability and background. For example, my uncle, who is 65 years old, has recently enrolled on an online MBA course in a different country, which would have been impossible in the days before Internet-based education.

In conclusion, while I recognise the possible disadvantages of online learning, I consider it to be a positive development overall.

IELTS Listening: interview tips transcript

Here's the full transcript for the listening exercise in last week's lesson:

Click here to listen

Today I'm going to answer the question “Why should I hire you?”, exactly the way I do in my book ‘The Complete Interview Answer Guide’. Now, this is often the last question you will be asked in an interview. Prepare for it. I mean, this is your chance to restate the skills you possess that are most relevant to the position, and to summarise your other qualities that make you the perfect person for the job.

I want you to outline your answer before you go in, and so that you can answer clearly, concisely and with confidence. Your answer should be short, to the point; it should reflect your profession, your background as it relates to your current needs and the problems of the position. Review the job description and tell them how you are the right person for the job by matching up your skill set with each bullet point for the job description. In formulating your answer, be sure to address these areas:

Number 1: Determine their goals for the position. This should come up during your research into the company and the position. If possible talk to others who work for the company. If you're unclear on this point, include it in the questions you ask the interviewer, and be prepared to incorporate it into your answer.

Also, show them that you have the skills needed for the job. Based on the goals you've identified in step 1, determine how your skills and experience support these goals, and if necessary, you know, just refer back to your list of skills.

Thirdly, articulate shared values. Again, this should come up in your research. Look at the company's mission statement and regular business practices. Explain why these are in line with your own values and goals.

IELTS Reading: no or not given?

A student asked me about the 'yes, no, not given' question below.

Question statement:
Thirty per cent of deaths in the United States are caused by smoking-related diseases.

Relevant part of the passage:
Smoking, it is believed, is responsible for 30 per cent of all deaths from cancer and clearly represents the most important preventable cause of cancer in countries like the United States today.

(Click here to see the full passage and exercise)

The official correct answer to this question is 'no'. However, the student who asked me about this question believes that we should answer 'not given'. His reason for this is that we have no information about deaths that aren't caused by cancer. Maybe smoking does cause 30% of all deaths.

What do you think? Is this student 'overthinking'? How can we explain why 'no' is the correct answer?

Students' questions: conclusion and future prediction?

People often tell me that a teacher has advised them to include a "future prediction" sentence in the conclusion for writing task 2.

Is this a good idea? My short answer is no, but I'll explain in detail.

I used to give this advice myself when I first started teaching IELTS. A future prediction seems like a nice way to end an essay, and it gives you the chance to write a conditional sentence e.g. If more people do..... in the future, we will all.....

However, I no longer give this advice. I now tell my students to write just one sentence for the conclusion (click here to see an example), and there are two main reasons for this:

1. Most questions don't ask for a future prediction, so there is a danger that the examiner will see your "future prediction" sentence as irrelevant. In other words, the examiner won't be impressed, and the sentence won't help your score.
2. You'll waste time that you could have spent on your main body paragraphs. Or you could finish your essay and spend time checking it.

IELTS Advice: the other 75%

Remember that 'grammar' is only 25% of your writing and speaking scores. I think you'll improve your scores faster if you focus on the other 75%.

In the writing test, the other 75% comes from your ideas, vocabulary and essay organisation. In the speaking test, the 75% comes from your fluency and coherence, vocabulary and pronunciation. Why not spend more time on those things instead of worrying so much about grammar?

IELTS Writing Task 2: positive or negative development?

If the question asks you 'Is this a positive or negative development?', you are being asked to give your opinion. Therefore, I consider this to be an "opinion" question, similar to the question 'To what extent do you agree or disagree?'.

Notice the use of the word 'or': positive or negative, agree or disagree. You are not being told to discuss the positives and negatives.

Having said that, it is perfectly acceptable for you to write about both sides. For example, look at the following question and my introduction and conclusion below. Can you see how I give a clear answer that mentions both sides?

Question:
Some universities now offer their courses on the Internet so that people can study online. Is this a positive or negative development?

Introduction:
It is true that online courses are becoming a common feature of university education. Although there are some drawbacks of Internet-based learning, I would argue that there are far more benefits.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, while I recognise the possible disadvantages of online learning, I consider this to be a positive development overall.

I'll show you a full essay for this topic next week.

IELTS Listening: gap-fill about interview tips

Listen to the following talk by the writer of a book about job interviews.

Click here to listen

(Source: video by Don Georgevich)

Fill the gaps below with one word only.

1. The question "Why should I hire you?" gives you the opportunity to restate your _____ and summarise your other _____.
2. Your answer should be clear, concise and confident, and it should show how your _____ relates to your current needs and the problems of the position.
3. Make sure you address some key areas: First determine the company's _____. Next show how your skills and _____ support the company's needs. Finally, explain how your _____ match those given in the company's mission _____.

Students' questions: study schedule

People sometimes ask me to create a study schedule for them, and I have to tell them that I can't. Unless you see the same teacher every day, I don't think anyone can set a study schedule for you - you'll have to do that yourself.

Here are some tips if you're trying to create a study schedule:

1. How much study time do you have? Be realistic - you'll feel bad if you make a promise to yourself and then break it. Start with a small daily target (e.g. 15 minutes of hard work), and increase the amount gradually.
2. Create a good work habit. At first, the habit is more important than the work itself. Once you've established a habit, you'll find it easier to do the work.
3. Consider your study environment. Have you found the right place to study? Perhaps you need a bit of background noise or a fresh cup of coffee to get you in the right frame of mind.
4. When you sit down to study, be strict with yourself and ignore your phone, emails, social media etc.
5. Identify your needs. What do you need to work on most?
6. Collect information. Search this site to see what techniques I recommend for the areas that you need to work on.
7. Start each study session in the same way with something easy. For example, simply reading my latest lesson here on the blog could help to get you started.
8. Get the right balance between testing and training. If you're studying every day, you could spend six days per week training and preparing, and just one day per week testing yourself using real exam questions.
9. If you break your routine, don't worry. Just get back to normal the next day. Adjust your schedule if necessary.
10. Get some help if you need it. At some point you might need to get your work checked or you might have some questions that only a teacher can answer. If you're really stuck, consider taking regular lessons with a teacher who can help you face-to-face.

IELTS Advice: slow practice

I've mentioned slow practice in a few lessons this week, and I've explained before that you should aim to get better before you get faster (click here to see that lesson).

Before I finish with the "slow" theme, I'd like to recommend that you put the words "slow practice" into Google (or another search engine). You'll find lots of interesting articles about the importance of slow practice in music, sport, martial arts and other areas of life. Why not use the same concept as one of your language learning tools?

IELTS Writing Task 2: some grammar advice

People often ask me about the grammar score in IELTS writing. For example, here's a typical question:

What exactly are examiners looking for in terms of “grammatical range and accuracy”? Are there any specific tenses or types of sentence that should be included in the essay?

Here's my answer:

The main thing is to reduce the number of mistakes that you make. An essay that contains no mistakes is likely to get a 9 for grammar, regardless of the types of sentence that it may or may not contain.

There is nothing in the scoring criteria about including specific tenses or sentence constructions. If there is a nice mix of long and short sentences in your essay, you'll meet the grammar requirements. Remember: as soon as you write a "long" sentence you are naturally going to use connectives (linking words), which will make the sentence 'compound' or 'complex'. So, don't think too much about the grammar - just aim to reduce the number of mistakes that you make, and try to include a few longer sentences.

IELTS Listening: slow listening practice

Yesterday I found a website where they read news stories slowly. If you find fast English difficult to follow, this website could really help you. And even if your listening skills are excellent, listening to slow English can help you to work on your own pronunciation, intonation and clarity of speech.

Click here to visit the site and try listening to a slow news story.

IELTS Grammar: is, will, would, would have

Compare the following sentences. Can you explain the difference in meaning between each one, or suggest when we might use each one?

1) This book is useful.

2) This book will be useful.

3) This book would be useful.

4) This book would have been useful.

If you live in the UK, and if you don't...

If you live in the UK, you might be interested in attending a special one-day writing course with me next weekend. On Saturday 18th I'll be teaching a course here in Manchester, and then on Sunday 19th I'm travelling to London to teach again. I've never done this before, so it should be fun!

If you don't live in the UK, my video lessons are the closest thing that I can offer to a "live" lesson. Also, I'm working on a way to share more of my teaching materials - I'll have more news about that soon.

IELTS Writing Task 2: analyse this paragraph

Here's a main-body paragraph for the essay question in last week's lesson:

In my opinion, people buy new things rather than repairing damaged items because manufacturers and advertisers encourage this behaviour. Companies know that to maximise profits they must constantly update their products. They do this either by making technological improvements, especially in the case of gadgets like phones and laptops, or by creating new fashions, in the case of items like clothes or homeware. As a result, consumer goods quickly become obsolete, and there is no incentive for people to repair damaged items when a new and more desirable model is available. Furthermore, modern products tend to be difficult to repair, and it is often cheaper to simply buy a replacement.

Analyse the paragraph by considering the following questions:

1. Is it a "firstly, secondly, finally" paragraph or an "idea, explain, example" paragraph?
2. How many sentences does it contain?
3. What does each sentence do?
4. How are the ideas linked together in a coherent way?
5. Is there a mix of short and long sentences?
6. Can you find any good vocabulary?

IELTS Listening: more practice

Have you tried the official listening practice exercises on the British Council website? I've linked to this before but the site seems to have changed recently.

Click here to try an exercise from listening section 1, then move on to sections 2, 3 and 4.

IELTS Reading: complete the table

Look back over the last four reading exercises that I've given you here on the site, and see if you can fill the gaps in the table below.

IELTS Writing Task 2: two-part question

We haven't looked at a 2-part question for a while, so let's try this one:

These days many of us prefer to throw damaged things away, whereas in the past people used to repair damaged items and keep them for a long time.
 Explain why you think this change has happened.
 What are the effects of this change in attitude?

For this type of question, I would start with an "It is true..." sentence, followed by a "There are various..." sentence:

It is true that people tend to discard their old or damaged possessions these days, rather than repairing them. There are various reasons why we behave in this way, and it seems to me that the effects are largely negative.