Yesterday in my IELTS intensive course in Manchester we were talking about topic language – good language for topics that occur in IELTS writing and speaking questions.
I think that topic ideas is probably a better way of thinking about it – and then the language is used to express those ideas.
This is connected to my general view that content (here ideas) is way to a good mark!
You do not need to learn technical language about particular topics.
What does this mean for you?
- It means you should think about ideas – this is why in the topic language section I always express ideas – you can agree or disagree.
- You should learn collocations – patterns of words – to express your ideas – notice the language in the topic sections!
- You should notice how you can use the same collocations with different topics.
Look at this example:
In the passage about English as an international language (see Topic Language below) I said:
- I think it is a great advantage to have one language that is widely used as a second language.
- the first phrase can be used in many contexts
- think of a topic and try it:
- Studying in England:
- I think it is a great advantage to be able to speak English outside the classroom.
- Going to university:
- I think it is a great advantage to have three or four years extra for studying.
- Being married:
- I think it is a great advantage to have someone to talk to when you get home.
- This is not just learning phrases:
- it is using language to think of ideas
- you can then use these ideas – and make sentences with NO mistakes – when you are writing or speaking.
Look at this phrase from the same passage:
- It seems to me that the main reason why people (sometimes) believe this is because it is difficult to commmunicate if people cannot speak a common. language.
- Note: this phrase is used to introduce an idea which I do NOT agree with.
- So it is useful when I am explaining two sides of an issue / debate / discussion
For example:
- It seems to me that the main reason why people believe that it is a good idea to learn English in England is because they think it is a great advantage to be able to speak English outside the classroom. I completely disagree with this for three main reasons. Firstly, in my experience many students who live in England do not speak English very much outside the classroom because they spend a lot of time with people from their own countries. Secondly, it also costs a lot of money to live and study in England – and that money could be spent on having personal lessons in their own country. Finally, the UK visa system means people spend too many hours in the classroom, often get bored, and waste a lot of time. (134 words)
Notice:
- The phrase is used as a way to express my ideas.
- It helps me to think of ideas.
- My ideas are simple and clear.
- My paragraph is very well organised.
- 134 words is easily long enough for one of the 2 main paragraphs in a task 2 writing.
You try:
- Use the same topic or:
- “Advertising is very powerful” / “Sports stars earn too much money”
It seems to me why wealthy nation allowing a large scale of immigration from other developing countries. There are many several reasons for this, personally I feel that local people of host community refuse to do some work due to lack of set skill, most immigrant tend to work hard longer and less pay. Apart of skill demand, the other reason is that ageing populatioon is serious problem in many industrialised countries, meaning that the population of old people are more in comparison than young people who could work and pay tax to the government. Finally, I believe that immigrant would like to earn more money to provide better life to thei family. In any cases, I firmly believe that immigration is highly desirable for both immigarnts themselves and the host community where they move.
it seems to me that people believe advertising is good because sports people can earn a lot.
It’s grammatically correct – but the meaning is weird!
It seems to me that the main reason why people believe that sports stars should earn a large amount of money is they excel in their domains. However, I completely disagree with this for a variety of reasons. The first reason is that various other specialists, such as doctors or teachers, also perform their duties with distinction, but they earn far less than those sports stars. Secondly, sports are always highly recommended by doctors as they are of crucial significance in terms of keeping healthy, and an intense sports match with renowned athletes in it can largely stimulate people to participate in that sport. Clearly, those sports stars deserve the merit as well as the reword. Lastly, they have to undertake years of hard training and undergo excruciating pain when they get hurt to reach the plateau, therefore, it is understandable that their endeavour is finally paid off.
Whoops!! Your argument are not consistent Point (1) is AGAINST earning a lot of money (which is your TOPIC sentence too) but points (2) and (3) are JUSTIFYING the earning a lot of money. This is a very serious error. Your content must be logically coherent. Apart from that – in this case your LANGUAGE is good here, and not too extravagant.
It seems to me that the main reason why people believe advertising is very powerful is because customers always tend to buy products following advertisements. I completely disagree with this for a variety of reasons. Firstly, advertisements only inform us about the choices we have. There are no other strong functions pushing customers to purchase products in advertising. Secondly, large amounts of companies do not raise the sale rates of their products although they invest a huge number of money in advertising. Finally, customers have rational attitudes against modern advertising as the quantity of deceptive advertisements is gradually increasing.
This is good Lin – much better organised. Well done. In detail: sentence (1) good sentence (2) good. Sentence (3) not good – I don’t understand (4) Good (but should be “amount of money” not “number”) (5) I understand what you mean but the English is bad – maybe “Customers are highly sceptical about modern advertising … (search for this phrase i the search box – it is exercise A18)
My suggestion: if you want to expand on your point use an example – do not try another general sentence as it will go wrong (see sentence (3) ) WIth your first point you could put “For example, when I want to buy a new car it is useful for me to read about the different models and to see what they look like.”
But don’t make it too long – keep it short and clear – that is your target for now.
Now: write it again – trying to improve it following my suggestions.
Good luck.