Hello all, I see many candidates are having trouble in writing a proper essay and many are making the same mistakes, hence I am writing this guide in hopes that you will all find it helpful and learn something from it.
First of all, in order to write a good essay, you must make yourself aware of the grading criteria, IELTS examiners grade you based on four key elements.
Now that we know what we are being graded on, we can talk about how to achieve all of these in 250+ words and how to structure your essay. But before that I want to clarify some basic things when it comes to Essay Writing.
Word Limit: As you all know the word limit for an essay or Task-2 is 250 words. Personally I always suggest candidates to write a maximum of 280-300 words. If you write too many words, that also does not set a good impression on the examiner because clearly you are not able to say and wrap up your idea within the limit given, which means you might be having trouble with 'Coherence and Cohesion' and/or your 'Task Response' is not on point. So, writing too many words does not always mean you have good command of the language, hence, always be careful and don't write too much. Moreover, since you will be under a time limit in the actual exam. So be smart, don't start something you can't finish.
Picking Topics for Practice: Always pick or choose Essay topics that are challenging. Remember, those are the ones that will make you learn the most. Therefore, try to go for something that is outside of your comfort zone. For example, http://ieltsliz.com/100-ielts-essay-questions/transport-traffic/.
Essay Structure: Please, you need to be extremely cautious and well-versed with how to structure your essay. Now the thing is, the structure will sometimes be different as there is no one type of question in IELTS Task-2. For detailed structure outlines as per requirement of each type of question, I want to give you this link https://www.ieltsadvantage.com/2015/03/03/ielts-writing-task-2-essay-structures/. This is the best guide for you to use and familiarize yourself with the structure of Essay Writing. Though there are some differences for each type of questions, the basic outline remains the same which is as follows:-
Introduction: Here you will summarize and paraphrase the question. You can give a gist of what you will be talking about later or not, it's up to you. You will give your opinion ONLY if the question asks. Intro is where you will set everything in motion, give an interesting and exciting 'Introduction' so it catches the examiner's attention right away.
Main Body Paragraph 1:
Sentence 1: Introducing a new idea or supporting idea (as per discussed in your intro)
Sentence 2: Explaining further/giving reasoning for that particular idea
Sentence 3: Example - To further support your developed idea
Sentence 4 (optional): Re-state the view or conclude with your opinion (Personally, I do not recommend writing Sentence 4 because a lot of the times it will only lead to too much repetition in the essay - you don't want to sound like a 'broken record' repeating the same thing over and over again. Also, a lot of the times the word limit will not allow you to write so much).
Now the same structure you will follow for your 2nd Main Body Paragraph, again depending on the question type, e.g. problem/solution essay might not need an example in the 2nd Body Paragraph. Therefore, read the IELTS Advantage link to learn in depth.
Conclusion: Now finally, you will conclude what you have already said in the essay. You will simply summarize the views or ideas and give your opinion (again only if the question has asked you to do so). Please remember that in this paragraph you will not introduce any new ideas!
Giving Examples/Linking Words: I want to address this topic, because I am seeing a lot of candidates do not know how to give an example or start an example properly. Please refer to http://ieltsliz.com/linking-words-for-writing/ to learn on how to start giving an example. My personal favorites are 'For Instance', 'To illustrate' and 'One clear example is'. Also use other linking words like 'In addition', 'Consequently', 'Moreover', 'Furthermore', 'Therefore', 'As well as' etc. This will help you gain a good score for Coherence and Cohesion.
Another thing is the 'type of example' that you give, there can be a few. For instance, it can be based on stats 'According to a research published in the The Times, 50%.....', it can be a personal example like something from your own life experience or perhaps a relative's or friend's experience 'For example, I have a friend who prefers to ride a bicycle to work because he doesn't want to harm the environment....'. Sometimes a personal example is what fits more into a topic and sometimes a stats example is more suitable. I feel that personal examples will really help you get a good band because they add an element of originality and genuineness into the essay.
Lexical Resource: Learn some advanced and fancy words, so you can show them off in your writing. Refer to https://www.memrise.com/course/127378/barrons-1100-words-you-need-to-know-2/. Learn some new words everyday and more importantly, try to integrate them into your essay when practicing.
Grammar Range & Accuracy: Finally, I want you to learn complex-compound sentences. Adding few of these here and there is crucial to getting a good band for 'Grammar Range & Accuracy'. Watch this to learn more
.
All the best, guys!
First of all, in order to write a good essay, you must make yourself aware of the grading criteria, IELTS examiners grade you based on four key elements.
Now that we know what we are being graded on, we can talk about how to achieve all of these in 250+ words and how to structure your essay. But before that I want to clarify some basic things when it comes to Essay Writing.
Word Limit: As you all know the word limit for an essay or Task-2 is 250 words. Personally I always suggest candidates to write a maximum of 280-300 words. If you write too many words, that also does not set a good impression on the examiner because clearly you are not able to say and wrap up your idea within the limit given, which means you might be having trouble with 'Coherence and Cohesion' and/or your 'Task Response' is not on point. So, writing too many words does not always mean you have good command of the language, hence, always be careful and don't write too much. Moreover, since you will be under a time limit in the actual exam. So be smart, don't start something you can't finish.
Picking Topics for Practice: Always pick or choose Essay topics that are challenging. Remember, those are the ones that will make you learn the most. Therefore, try to go for something that is outside of your comfort zone. For example, http://ieltsliz.com/100-ielts-essay-questions/transport-traffic/.
Essay Structure: Please, you need to be extremely cautious and well-versed with how to structure your essay. Now the thing is, the structure will sometimes be different as there is no one type of question in IELTS Task-2. For detailed structure outlines as per requirement of each type of question, I want to give you this link https://www.ieltsadvantage.com/2015/03/03/ielts-writing-task-2-essay-structures/. This is the best guide for you to use and familiarize yourself with the structure of Essay Writing. Though there are some differences for each type of questions, the basic outline remains the same which is as follows:-
Introduction: Here you will summarize and paraphrase the question. You can give a gist of what you will be talking about later or not, it's up to you. You will give your opinion ONLY if the question asks. Intro is where you will set everything in motion, give an interesting and exciting 'Introduction' so it catches the examiner's attention right away.
Main Body Paragraph 1:
Sentence 1: Introducing a new idea or supporting idea (as per discussed in your intro)
Sentence 2: Explaining further/giving reasoning for that particular idea
Sentence 3: Example - To further support your developed idea
Sentence 4 (optional): Re-state the view or conclude with your opinion (Personally, I do not recommend writing Sentence 4 because a lot of the times it will only lead to too much repetition in the essay - you don't want to sound like a 'broken record' repeating the same thing over and over again. Also, a lot of the times the word limit will not allow you to write so much).
Now the same structure you will follow for your 2nd Main Body Paragraph, again depending on the question type, e.g. problem/solution essay might not need an example in the 2nd Body Paragraph. Therefore, read the IELTS Advantage link to learn in depth.
Conclusion: Now finally, you will conclude what you have already said in the essay. You will simply summarize the views or ideas and give your opinion (again only if the question has asked you to do so). Please remember that in this paragraph you will not introduce any new ideas!
Giving Examples/Linking Words: I want to address this topic, because I am seeing a lot of candidates do not know how to give an example or start an example properly. Please refer to http://ieltsliz.com/linking-words-for-writing/ to learn on how to start giving an example. My personal favorites are 'For Instance', 'To illustrate' and 'One clear example is'. Also use other linking words like 'In addition', 'Consequently', 'Moreover', 'Furthermore', 'Therefore', 'As well as' etc. This will help you gain a good score for Coherence and Cohesion.
Another thing is the 'type of example' that you give, there can be a few. For instance, it can be based on stats 'According to a research published in the The Times, 50%.....', it can be a personal example like something from your own life experience or perhaps a relative's or friend's experience 'For example, I have a friend who prefers to ride a bicycle to work because he doesn't want to harm the environment....'. Sometimes a personal example is what fits more into a topic and sometimes a stats example is more suitable. I feel that personal examples will really help you get a good band because they add an element of originality and genuineness into the essay.
Lexical Resource: Learn some advanced and fancy words, so you can show them off in your writing. Refer to https://www.memrise.com/course/127378/barrons-1100-words-you-need-to-know-2/. Learn some new words everyday and more importantly, try to integrate them into your essay when practicing.
Grammar Range & Accuracy: Finally, I want you to learn complex-compound sentences. Adding few of these here and there is crucial to getting a good band for 'Grammar Range & Accuracy'. Watch this to learn more
All the best, guys!
