6 Ways To Improve Your Writing Skills For IELTS | TLG Blog

6 ways to improve your writing skills for IELTS · 1. Understand the prompt · 2. Always make an outline · 3. Put your best foot forward · 4. Keep it simple (Your ... EnquireNow Blog News ContactUs COVID-19 AboutUs OurMethodologyandStaff WhyChooseUs Membershipsandaccreditations Partnerships Workforus LanguageCourses GeneralEnglish AcademicEnglish IELTSPreparation PrivateCourses EnglishforWomen UniversityPathways InternationalFoundationProgrammes Pre-SessionalPathwayProgramme Pre-MastersProgrammes Locations London Birmingham Nottingham ForStudents Accommodation SocialProgramme GuidelinesandPolicies UsefulInformation ForAgents Blog 6waystoimproveyourwritingskillsforIELTS Manypeoplestrugglewiththe IELTSexampreparation,it’swell-knownforbeingtough,andwilltestanyone’slanguageabilitiestothelimit.Foralotofpeople,thewritingpartofthetestcanbethemoststressful,butdon’tworry,wehavesometoptipsforanyonewhomightbefindingittough. Takealookatsomeofourinsightsandadvice,andyou’resuretoacetheIELTSwritingtest.   1.Understandtheprompt Whetheryou’rewritingfortheAcademicorGeneralTest,oryou’reonTask1orTask2,makesureyouunderstandexactlywhatthepromptisaskingyoutodo.Ifyouarewritingaletter,makesureyouidentifytheregister(formalorinformal)andknowwhatsalutationsandclosingsareacceptable.Ifyouarewritinganopinionessay,makesureyoucanidentifybothsidesoftheissue.Ifyouaredescribinggraphsorprocesses,firstidentifywhatthegraphsshow,thenidentifythemaintrendsandusefulfeaturestocompare.Onceyouwrapyourmindaroundthetask,youcanbegintheoutlineforyourpaper. 2.Alwaysmakeanoutline Beforeyoustartwriting,youshouldmakeanoutline.Studentssometimesarguethatbecauseitisatimedtest,theyshouldn’tspendpreciousminutesmakinganoutline.Thisissimplynottrue!Anoutlinewillsaveyoutimebykeepingyoufocusedasyouwrite,soyoudon’tdeviatefromthetopic.Anoutlinewillalsohelpyouorganiseyourideasandputtheminthebestorderbeforeyoustartwriting.Mostimportantly,havingagoodoutlinemeansyoucanfocusonthelanguageyouareusing(vocabularyandsentencestructure)ratherthantheideasyouwillpresent. Sohowdetailedshouldyouroutlinebe?Youshouldstartbywritingathesisstatement(WritingTask2)orimportantpointstoincludeinyourintroduction.Yourthesisstatementisthedrivingforcebehindyourentireessay,andeveryparagraphwillrelatebacktoandsupportit.ForWritingTask1,organiseyourintroductionbywritingdowntheanswertothequestion:“Whatinformationshouldsomeoneknowaboutthesecharts/graphs/diagrams?”(AcademicTask1)or“Whatisthepurposeofthisletter?”(GeneralTask1). Forthebodyparagraphs,youroutlineonlyneedstoreflectthemaintopicfortheparagraph,theevidencetobeused,and,ifappropriate(Task2),howitsupportsyourthesisstatement.Itisnotnecessarytowriteanythingintheoutlineforyourconclusion,astheconclusionisarestatementorsummaryofyourargument,andyouwillnotbepresentinganynewideas.Inthecaseofletter-writing(GeneralTask1),aformalconclusionmayormaynotbenecessary. 3.Putyourbestfootforward Whenorganisingtheopinionessayduringtheoutlinestage,determinetheorderinwhichyouwillpresentyourideas.Yourstrongestbodyparagraphshouldcomefirst,asthiswillcreateyourreader’sfirstandmostimportantimpressions.Ifyouhavethreebodyparagraphs,putthebestonefirst,followedbytheweakestoneinthemiddle,andlastlythesecond-strongest.Thiswayyourreaderwillleaveyouressaywithagoodimpression. 4.Keepitsimple(Youridea,thatis) ItisimportanttorememberthattheIELTSwritingtasksarenottestinghowwellyouknowthesubject,orhowsmartyouare.TheyassessyourabilitytopresentideasclearlyandcohesivelyinEnglish.Therefore,itisimportanttostructureparagraphsandsentencessothattheypresentoneideapersentenceandonecontrollingideaperparagraph.Supportyourargumentswithevidence(anexampleorexplanation),thenconcludeyourparagraphbylinkingthesupporttoyourthesis. 5.Focusonlanguage,notlength IELTSwritingdoesnotneedtobelong,althoughyoudoneedtoaimfortherequiredwordcount(150and250words).Task2essaysneedonlyhavetwostrongbodyparagraphs,althoughthreeiscertainlyaplusifyoucanmanageit.Youscorepointsforusingcomplexsentencestructureandstrongvocabularyaccuratelyandnaturally.Ratherthanworryingaboutthelengthofyouressay,takethetimetoincludeinterestingvocabularyandavoidrepeatingwords.AsyoupreparefortheIELTSexam,youshouldbeworkingtobuildyourvocabularyforavarietyoftopics.Inaddition,youmaywanttogroupsynonymsorrelatedwordstogetheronflashcards.Thiswillhelpyouthinkofsynonymstousewhilewriting. Alsomakesurethatyouarefamiliarwithandcomfortableusingcohesivewordsandphrasesnaturally.Again,avoidrepeatingthesamecohesivedevices.Youwillimpressthereaderbypresentingclear,concise,andcohesivearguments,sothisshouldbeyourfocuswhilewriting. 6.Proofread! Thiscanbeachallengefortimedtests,butitisessentialtoreserveacoupleofminutesaftereachwritingtasktoproofread.Youshouldlookforsmallmistakesinspellingandgrammar.Thisisnotthetimetodecidethatyourargumentisnoteffectiveandwriteanewparagraph(that’swhatyouroutlineisfor!).Readyouressayandmakesurethatitiscohesive,andaddsentencesorphrasestomakestrongerconnectionsbetweenideasifyouneedto. Ifyou’relookingformorehelpwiththeIELTSexam,itmightpaytoreadourpreviousblogpostfocusingon IELTSspeakingtesttips.   Share FollowUs Back Search EnquireNow Clickanywheretoclose Backtotop Thiswebsiteusescookiestoensureyougetthebestexperienceonourwebsite.Learnmore Accept