Category: IELTS Writing

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IELTS Dehradun Uttarakhand Tel: 8439000086 , 8439000087

IELTS Writing preparation posts are here.

How To Write An Overview

Overview is the most important part of the writing task 1 of IELTS. The examiner tends to read the overview of the answer first, before reading your other part of the answer. It is therefore very important for you to answer it properly. You need to write it in a way that the examiner gets a clear view of the main trends of the graph,and the other important information that can be grasped from the graph.

What Are You Expected To Write?

Now, if you want a

Band 5 – Relate details mechanically with no clear overview; there  may be no data to support the description

Band 6- Present the overview with information appropriately selected

Band 7- Present the overview clearly telling the main trends, differences and similarities.

What Is An Overview?

Overview is the paragraph that contains  a short summary of the main features. This is done by picking out the 3-4 most significant trends that you notice and then writing them plainly. You need not to either support or go against it. All you are required to do is tell them plainly in the paragraph.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

This is the sentence you will see after the main question in almost every writing task 1 of the IELTS and this is exactly what you need to do in the overview paragraph.

Let us take an example.

cumulative_emissions of GHG

cumulative_emissions of GHG

Overall there are 10 regions. United States, China, European Union, Russian Federation, Brazil, Indonesia, India, Japan, Canad, Mexico and the rest of the world.Out of these, United States, Japan and European Union and the rest of the world make up the majority, with the rest of the world being the largest. Mexico and Canada  make up a very small proportion.

We can then include these things in an overview paragraph:

The pie chart is comprised of ten regions in total with United States, Japan and European Union contributing maximum to the green house emission. United States has the single biggest share and Mexico, Canada cause the least green house gas emission.

Now, here have I talked about any numbers, who is greater than the other by how much. In this paragraph i.e. the over view paragraph all that I have done is reported what I saw visually and that is exactly what you need to do in the overview paragraph.

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Get A 6+ Band

When preparing for IELTS, all of us want at least a band more than 6. But then some get it and some don’t. But then what stops you to get a 6+ band!! Well, there could be many, but let’s talk about the five most common mistakes students make in their writing task that stops them at 5 or a 5.5.

  1. Missing clear overview- The overview is a short paragraph that tells the reader 2 or 3 of the most significant things about the chart, graph, table etc. It should contain no data and instead describe the main features in general terms. Students instead of writing an overview, straight away start writing the answer. If you notice the marking scheme of IELTS clearly, you will find out that to get a band 7 or more, a clear overview is very important.
  2. Mention Everything- In the questions of writing task, you are asked to summarize the information. Most students start writing about every thing that is mentioned in the graph, which lands them no where. This normally leads to a very disorganized essay and often means that you run out of time, or even worse, run over time and fail to complete Task 2. So, prioritize your answer and make sure it is organized.
  3. Complicate The Questions- When answering the question, students think that since it is an IELTS exam, it needs to be tough. However, the IELTS test makers know that you have seen the graph for the first time, and you have only 20 minutes to explain the graph. So, they only expect you to tell clearly about the major trends and answer properly.
  4. Unorganized Ideas – The most logical way to organize a Task 1 essay is:Paragraph 1- IntroductionParagraph 2- Overview of main features

    Paragraph 3- Details of main features 1

    Paragraph 4- Details of main features 2 .Often students, forget this and rather write quite haphazardly. If you write properly and according to a set pattern, you are more likely to get high marks.

  5. Incorrect Data Description – Often while explaining the data, students understand it wrongly. For instance if the prices increased from 12000 to 15000, they have increased by 3000, but students rather, write that the increase was of 5000 or something else. This causes you to lose marks.

So, go on, avoid mistakes and score high.

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Paraphrasing The Question

The first paragraph of the IELTS writing task 1, requires you to paraphrase the question simply. But, then there is a difference between simply putting down the question as it has been given to you and moulding it to make it unique. Paraphrasing is simply re-writing a phrase or sentence so that it has the same meaning, but with different words.

There are different ways by which you can paraphrase the written question.

  1. Use Synonyms- Synonyms are the words that have same meaning as the given word. For instance, human is the synonym of people. This method simply replaces words with the same meaning in order to produce a new sentence. Example-

My car has broken down.

My vehicle is not working anymore.

Here, I have replaced the words with their synonyms. This is the most common method that is used by students to paraphrase. But while doing so, make sure that you use words with the same meanings and not similar meanings.Similar meanings are not good enough and will lose you marks. For example- Teenagers and young people are similar words but they are still quite different. Teenagers are people of age 13-18, while young people are the ones between 18-30.

2.Change The Word Order – Changing the word order means either adding or subtracting words or change the form of the word. But while doing so, make sure that the grammar of the sentence is not affected badly. Remember that you are being judged on your ability to produce error free sentences in the IELTS test as well as use a range of grammar structures.

Apart from these you can either change active to passive voice or vice versa.

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Family # Writing Practice

Have you found yourself in a situation when you had an idea in your head but you could not explain it? When you felt a choke in your neck, as if you want to say something but the word just doesn’t comes out and in that struggle you mumble different words which have no meaning all together. Well, this happens because you have a weak vocabulary or you don’t know how to use the words that you know. It might also be possible that you are not confident, but for now, we shall consider the previous two conditions i.e. either you have a weak vocabulary or you don’t know how and when to use those words.
So, be calm and delve into the new venture of learning words and using them in an exciting way.
In this first article, we will begin with something we all are part of and we all love, FAMILY.
Now, every topic has its own vocabulary( words related to it). And family is no different.
Check out the entire list of family vocabulary HERE.
Now, let us start using them.
About My family.
So, let us begin. When asked about your family, there are few things you have to tell.
1. Who do you live with?
Now, suppose you live with your parents and have a brother or a sister. You must write, I live with my mother, my father and a younger brother.
What have you done, you have used the verb- live, wrote the names of the people you live with. And that is all required to begin with.
2. Where do you live?
Now, there has to be some place where you are currently staying. State the name of the place. You must write, I live in Dehradun( now this place can be anywhere in the world).
3. Now, you need to elaborate.
Tell, more about your parents and your brother or sister.
My mum’s name is Catherine.
She is Indian and speaks Hindi and Kumaoni.
She is a home maker.
She is tall and a little plum, she’s got long brown hair, brown eyes.
My dad’s name is Philip.
He is an Indian as well.
He is tall and a little fat. He has got black hair and brown eyes.
He works in a Thermal Power Plant.
My brother is Mayank.
He is an engineering student and loves to read engineering books.
He is tall, and has got brown hair and eyes.

QUESTION TIME
Choose the correct option-

1.
  1. We lives in Dehradun.
  2. We live in Dehradun.
2.
  1. She speak Hindi and Kumaoni.
  2. She speaks Hindi and Kumaoni.
3.
  1. My mother is an indian.
  2. My mother is an Indian.
4.
  1. She is home maker.
  2. She is a home maker.
5.
  1. My father name is Philip.
  2. MY father’s name is Philip.
6.
  1. She has got long hair.
  2. She has got long hairs.
7.
  1. He works in Thermal power plant.
  2. He work in thermal power plant.

ANSWERS
1. 2
2. 2
3. 2
4. 2
5. 2
6. 1
7. 1

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