#ielts #ieltsprep #ieltspreparation #ieltsgoals #studyielts #ieltswriting
The IELTS writing exam is
separated into two tasks. Task 2 of the IELTS writing exam, whether you
are completing the general training or academic exam, is a formal
opinion essay.
A high quality and effective essay introduction usually includes 3 important elements:
1. Hook - A hook is an interesting fact, quotation or general statement about a topic that catches the reader's attention and makes them want to read more.
2. Background statement - This paraphrases the essay question and gives explains to the reader what the essay is about.
3. Thesis statement - This is a brief outline of your opinion; your answer to the essay question.
Now, there is one important difference between an IELTS writing task 2 essay and other academic or formal essays: time. The IELTS writing test is 1 hour and you must complete two writing tasks within that time. You will have 20 minutes to complete writing task 1, which leaves 40 minutes for you to complete writing task 2. Once you have spent 5 very important minutes planning your essay, you are left with just 35 minutes to show the IELTS examiner how advanced your formal writing skills are.
The secret to writing an effective IELTS essay introduction is to forget the hook.
Wait, what? Yes! It's true.
The highest scoring IELTS essays are written by students that have not wasted time thinking about an interesting hook, they go straight to paraphrasing the question. Paraphrasing is rewriting a sentence with different vocabulary or changing the grammar in such as way that the meaning remains exactly the same, and it is an essential skill to score highly in the IELTS exam.
Repeating the question is a bad idea and a complete waste of your valuable writing time because it doesn't tell the examiner anything about the quality of your writing skills, and the examiner will likely skip past it or form a negative opinion about your writing ability before you have even answered the question.
The first thing you should do after you have noted your ideas in your essay plan is to analyse the question and look for opportunities to paraphrase. For example, let's look at the following essay question:
To what extent has the internet made life more convenient?
To what extent indicates that you must write a for and against essay, with advantages and disadvantages of the internet, before concluding with your own opinion, but the most important words in the question are internet and convenient.
Writing some important vocabulary about the internet around the question can help you find synonyms to paraphrase for your background statement and avoid repetition in the main body of your essay.
online
digital communication
web
cyberspace
information superhighway
computer network
Information age
The word convenient makes reference to modern lifestyle, so let's now think of some vocabulary that might be useful to use in your essay.
daily needs
habits
routine
comfort
Synonyms for convenient
comfortable
suitable
beneficial
helpful
advantageous
accessible
This essay questions requires you to write about how important the internet has become in modern life. Knowing some synonyms for important can help you to increase your IELTS writing score for a wide variety of IELTS topics and essay questions.
Synonyms for important
essential
indispensible
profound
crucial
significant
far-reaching
Now I have a list of alternative vocabulary, I am ready to paraphrase the question:
The internet has had profound and far-reaching implications for modern living and having access to an abundance of information in cyberspace has not only made life more comofortable, but completely revolutionised the way that people go about their daily habits and routines.
This sentence uses advanced vocabulary to acknowledge that the internet is very important and convenient and summarises for the reader what the essay is about. The following sentence shows that I agree that the internet is extremely convenient but that I am also aware of some disadvantages associated with using the internet. To some extent, giving up our privacy and personal data is the price we pay for the convenience of the internet.
