IELTS Writing Task 2: choose a method, then practise it

Over the years I've realised that one of the most important tips that I can give my students is this:

Choose one method for writing essays and use this method every time you practise or take the test.

Imagine a tennis player who decides to change her / his serving action, or a guitarist who experiments with a new way of holding the instrument, or an artist who decides to paint in a new style. In each case, the person's performance will probably get worse before it gets better.

But this is what I see happening with many IELTS students. Some of them keep trying new ways of writing, while others haven't thought about having a 'method' at all - they write each essay in a different way without realising it. Consequently, their scores either fluctuate or stay the same.

The only way to hone* your writing skill is to choose a method or way of writing and then practise it as much as possible.

*hone = to perfect, refine, improve, sharpen

Comments

[Sahraa]

Hello Simon,
Thank a lot for your amazing tips. You have been a great help to all of us all over the world. I am very grateful to you. You are going to completely change our lives in a positive way.

[Murad]

Dear Simon,
One of the ielts teachers who is well-known has written in her e-book that there is not any method of writing task 2 essay. Also, she says that there one type of wt2 questions. That is so confused. Are those claims true or false? And I want to note that I read all essays in her vocabulary books and not find any method and structure of writing.

[jk]

Sir Simon!
your methods regarding WT1 and also WT2 are quite helpful. your vocabulary and sentences are easy to understand and i found this more easy to learn for test my test.

[Noel]

Dear Simon
I have been long confused whether there's a standard for the font I use in IELTS test.I am used to writing in Roundhand script myself, where some letters such as 'r' and 'z' are different from normal type. Will it be OK if I use Roundhand in an IELTS test? Shall I always make the letters easily recognized? Thank you very much.

[Khe]

@Noel
Simon (Nov 7 2011):

"If it's impossible to read, that's a problem. But if it's just one or two slightly unclear letters, don't worry."

(June 22, 2012):
"Maybe the problem was that the examiner found your handwriting too difficult to read (you admit it was barely legible)."

Some scripts can cause issues: check this one out, especially the lowercase 't':

http://www.almostbananas.net/slovak-handwriting-style/

[Elisa]

Thanks for your advice. I take a long time to think about how to speak and write English well.

[khuyen]

Dear MS Simon
Is 'Hone' an academic word that I can use in writing?
Ths a lot

[Khe]

@khuyen

Q4. What is the one thing you believe about IELTS that most students wouldn’t think is true?

Simon:
"That you don’t need to use ‘difficult’ vocabulary or grammar to do well in the writing test. I try to persuade people to focus on answering the question, rather than worrying about big words or complex structures."

http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2016/05/ielts-writing-task-2-ignore-the-word-academic.html

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=honed+his+*%2C+honed+by+*%2C+honed+to+*&year_start=1960&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t2%3B%2Choned%20his%20%2A%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bhoned%20his%20skills%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20his%20craft%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20his%20talents%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20his%20skill%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20his%20writing%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20his%20political%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20his%20own%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20his%20ability%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20his%20mind%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20his%20talent%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2Choned%20by%20%2A%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bhoned%20by%20the%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20by%20years%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20by%20a%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20by%20his%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20by%20experience%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20by%20long%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20by%20many%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20by%20their%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20by%20natural%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20by%20her%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2Choned%20to%20%2A%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bhoned%20to%20a%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20to%20perfection%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20to%20the%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20to%20razor%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20to%20an%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20to%20its%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20to%20such%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20to%20fit%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20to%20be%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bhoned%20to%20precision%3B%2Cc0

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hone_in

[Lillian.K]

Hi, Simon. I am a big fan of you! I always feel grateful about your lessons. I just have some questions for you regarding to writing test results. I am just confused about the writing test.

Well the thing is that I have seen quite a lot of people who used to achieve high score (band 6.5-7.0) in writing and suddenly experience a significant fall in their writing results with the latest tests. Has there been any change in the scoring system lately? I just dont understand it.

I myself also experienced the same thing. In the test i took few months ago, i managed to achieve 7.5, which was surprising because i thought that i totally screwed up with my writing on the test day. However, this time (the result from 4th/Nov), I received 6.0 although i was so satisfied and confident with my outcome in the writing test. (I believe that there is no way my writing was out of topic though, becuase the question was crystal clear(causes and solutions)!!// also i tried to follow your structure as always.(which i believe is most reliable) // i completed task 1 as well with a satisfying quality // plus i am pretty sure that i met the word limits because i’ve always practiced with the test sheets.)
I was about to get my writing re-evaluated, but do you think it will work because it seems like i am not the only one who received lower scores than usual in the latest tests. I am not sure that it will be worthy.

So i was just wondering if there is any change in scoring system.
Does it happen sometime?? Have you seen anyone who has a similar experience. What do you think the causes of this happening?

I even saw someone who achieved 6.5 at her first test that she took without studying at all, but received only 5.5 after she studied fiercely for a couple of months (in the recent tests).

This is a part i am frustrated about writing section. I’ve been trying really hard to achieve my targeted score, but it seems that the results do not reflect the amount of effort i made. I am so devastated after checking my result. I really need your advice, Simon. Thank you.

[Jon]

If your writing mark was significantly lower than the marks gained in your other skills the IELTs center would have automatically had your writing test remarked to check that a mistake hadn't been made by the examiner. Examiners are only human and can sometimes get it badly wrong but the system usually picks it up when it happens and the scripts / speaking tests are doubled checked by another examiner.

[Yves]

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.
-Bruce Lee

[Pavel]

Hi Simon,

You don't seem to have a page where the users of this blog can share the results or send you their gratitude, so I'll leave it here.

I sit IELTS General in the beginning of November for the first time and scored 8 overall(L8, R9, W7, S7.5). I really want to thank you for the invaluable lessons available on this website. I would never score 7 for writing without your tips.

Wish you all the best.

[sujit]

Dear Dimon
It's really work because last time my score down from 6 to 5.5 but I decided that to continue in this way. Although my band has been increased, a significant progress I perceived.

Thanks once again

Sujit

[Simon]

FROM SIMON:

Thanks for your comments guys. I'm sorry I can't reply to everyone individually - I think my best response is to keep writing lessons that address the problems that people have.

PS. Yves, I always enjoy a good Bruce Lee quote!

[josh]

sorry simon, i might confuse about your "method" that you've mentioned on the tip. Can you redefine the method again and how i clearly know this method. thanks you

[Ahmed Ghanem]

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10000 times." - Bruce Lee

[Raya]

Dear Simon where I can find the full assay

[ss4204]

Hi Simon, Could you please explain what do you mean by having a method for writing essays? Do you mean something like this:
para1 - intro
para2 - body
para3 - body
para4 - conclusion
Please could you elaborate?
Thanks!

[Hong Chung]

Hi simon, i would like to ask that if in writing task 2, they ask to what extent do you agree or disagree, i answered i disagree but i accidently wrote about both advantages and disadvantages. wil i lose mark for that ? thank you

[Binh Nguyen]

Dear Simon,

Can I use ONLY "Firstly, Secondly, Finally" method OR "Main Idea" method for TWO body paragraphs?

Looking forward to receiving your response.

Best regards,

Binh Nguyen