Lesson 20 – Task 2 choosing what to write
The most important thing to remember is that this is NOT a test of knowledge or intellectual ability – it is a test of applied English language
Let’s begin with some tips and advice
- Your ideas are not in themselves important – it is HOW you express them that is.
- Choose ideas that you can express well – THINK of them IN ENGLISH
- When you start to write IELTS tasks leave your own language at the door – try to think ONLY in English. That way you will know what you can write well.
- Your ideas WILL NOT impress the examiner – YOUR ability to interest and persuade in English WILL!
- Start by writing down all the ideas you can think of to do with the topic (make them clear to see – I like to use a spider diagram)
- In the exam you will not have much time for this but while you are preparing take time to collect a lot of ideas this training will help you to come up with ideas fast.
- I Look at your ideas and groups them according to the question – you should see a pattern that you can allocate to each paragraph.
- If there are some that don’t fit into the pattern then reject them.
- Now see which ones you could provide an example for and which ones you can express well in English (words and phrases should begin to pop into your head for these) – reject the others.
- You will probably be left with just 2 or 3 ideas (you only need this)
- Write down the words and phrases that come into your head so you don’t forget them.
- Now you are ready to organise these into your plan.
Key skills to develop:
This brainstorming is important BUT it is NOT your plan – if you write form here you will still be trying to think and write at the same time so you focus WILL NOT be on the language where it MUST be to get a high band.
- Google a topic or two and see what comes up – choose topics that you may not have many ideas for. Look at one or two articles on this topic as well as taking ideas for the topic look at some of the language used and pick out some phrases that you could use in your writing
- Try to come up with ideas quickly. Swap essay titles with a friend or study partner brainstorm out loud the ideas that you have – discuss how good they are and if you can write them well
- Think of a typical IELTS topic – write down quickly all the things that come into your head about this topic
- When you have practised writing all the ideas down that are connected with the topic take an IELTS question and see which ideas actually fit with the question
- Look through your IELTS reading passages. Can you find any on typical writing topics – read them and look at the ideas that are presented and the language used – add these to your vocabulary bank
- Try making spider diagrams for a wide range of IELTS topics – keep them in your learning diary – you might get one of these topics and you will be prepared. Think about how you can adapt them to different questions
Things to do for brainstorming – here are some more ideas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-k8bezcVl0
- Look at the question in exercises to share and write your ideas for the topic in the Facebook Group
Don’t forget, if there is anything you don’t understand or can’t find send a message via Contact us
Let’s have a go at some brainstorming
Try this IELTS Task 2 brainstorming question
http://www.gapfillers.co.uk/default.aspx?atk=7763
Don’t forget, if there is anything you don’t understand or can’t find send a message via Contact us
Now you’re done!