Hi guys

Just wanting to explain myself a little bit.

You may have noticed that I've stopped posting. That's because right now I'm overwhelmed with my current job running a school. I may post again in the future, but only when I can find the energy, time and inspiration.

In the meantime, please be aware that there are a lot of IELTS experts that follow this channel, so if you have a question, make sure you ask it in the chat. I'm sure one of them will answer your question as best they can.

If you need writing correction, I haven't stopped that part of my business. You can get these corrections through my website at www.passyourielts.net . The site also has my structures for Task 1 GT, Task 1 AC and Task 2 plus example essays. For bonus videos, please see my Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNPZ1GsGVURbDtxjmyPIIKw

Aside from this, have a great 2022 and best of luck in all your IELTS pursuits.

Pass your IELTS Official Chat, [11/12/2021 11:08 PM]
Let’s answer another question.Someone asked me the following a week or so ago.

“What do you think about Simon essays??? Are they really worth getting 9 band in your view???”I wouldn’t normally comment on other teacher’s work, but I’m familiar with Simon’s example essays and materials as I used them a lot when I first started teaching IELTS. Honestly, the foundation of my writing approach is more inspired by his stuff than any other source (though I’ve incorporated other materials as well). I also saw his videos and thought I could do that as well.

In terms of whether his essays deserve 9s, that decision is entirely down to an examiner’s opinion. I believe he was an examiner, so in his opinion they are 9s, but of course there would be variation between examiners.

From what I’ve seen, his grammar and vocab should get 9s every time. Honestly, he has an easy-to-read natural style to his essays. However, I do think that not all of his essays would get a 9 for CC and TR. Let me explain why.

I often see his body paragraphs use the structure ‘Topic sentence / Firstly (2 sentences) / Secondly (one sentence) / Lastly (1 sentence). In other words, he has a paragraph with a single topic with three supporting ideas. Two of them have only one sentence. This is where I think TR and CC might be restricted.

To get a 9 in TR, there needs to be ‘fully extended and well-supported ideas’. I don’t think you can really claim an idea is fully extended if it only has one sentence. To me, it sounds a bit too much like listing ideas rather than exploring/developing ideas if you have too many ideas in a paragraph that aren’t explored fully. There’s probably an argument that CC might not get 9 as well as there might be a slight lack of progression.

I’d say his stuff is a great resource, but my suggestion would be to only do two supporting ideas (one topic) per paragraph. Always give at least two sentences for any idea you bring in, just to make sure you are covering the requirements of ‘developing main ideas’.

In other words, from a strict reading of the criteria, when I see two points in a paragraph that only have a single sentence, I can’t see how TR 9 can be reached.

Again, his writing is excellent and I’m sure many of his essays are worth 9. @passyourieltsofficial

Let’s answer a common question.Someone recently asked me the following:

“Can we get a higher score in writing if write in a one-sided based approach? As far as I know, a good essay should address all parts of the topic but I was confused a bit when I read some essays of Liz where she chose only one side for the whole essay, which I didn't see in your case.”The answer to this question is a bit unclear. Some examiners say that the highest possible scores in TR are reserved for essays that can acknowledge multiple sides of an argument. Other examiners say that you can get a 9 using a strong-opinion one-sided structure. I think the most accurate answer is that it would depend on the examiner.

All that being said, I really believe the best way to write is to communicate your own true opinion as clearly as possible in around 250-300 words. If the question is pretty simple and only has one obvious answer in your mind, I think you’ll have the best chance of getting a high score by taking a strong opinion single-sided approach. If you are hunting a 9 for TR and the issue being discussed is clearly not black and white, I think explaining your position with more nuance is in order. This may mean agreeing in some contexts, but disagreeing in others, or taking a ‘in some cases x’ ‘in most cases y’ type approach.

The danger of using a two-sided approach to standard opinion essays is that people are often too balanced and don’t come to a clear position, or come to a position when there were equal arguments on both sides. For this reason, most teachers recommend only taking a strong opinion approach.

For a full explanation of how to do a single-sided and a double-sided essay, watch the following videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d_6m_Lf_nk&t=9s (one-sided)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG7E3StET4Y&t=368s (two-sided)

YouTube

How to Write a Strong Opinion Essay

http://app.passyourielts.net www.facebook.com/passyourielts https://t.me/passyourieltsofficial

**You recently spent a night in a hotel and had to put up with a great deal of noise very early in the morning because of a faulty central heating system. The manager promised to contact you regarding compensation but you still haven't heard from him.

Write a letter to the hotel. In the letter

• describe the problem at the hotel
• explain what the manager had said at the time
• say what you want the manager to do.***Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing with regard to an issue I had with my stay in your hotel.

I spent an evening in your hotel on Tuesday last week. In the early morning, I was woken up by a loud noise coming from the central heating system. This noise continued throughout the morning, so I was unable to get back to sleep, which was unfortunate for me since I had some important meetings that I would like to have been fresh for.

When I checked out, I mentioned this problem to your manager. He was very understanding and promised to call me back and arrange compensation once he had received approval from his boss. However, it has now been more than a week and I’m still waiting for his call.

I would ask that you have the manager call me and provide me with a full or at least partial refund of my stay. Honestly, an apology at the time would have been satisfactory, but having been promised compensation and not receiving it is quite disappointing.

I look forward to your prompt reply.

Yours sincerely,
Beyden*(188 words - Band 8+)
@passyourieltsofficial

Let's answer another of your questions.Here's the question quoted below.

"The last thing to ask, which books would you suggest tutors must read to enhance writing efficiency in their class? what about independent learners?"

I often get questions about which books I would recommend. Honestly, for reading and listening, any book is fine. It's the same skill. I personally just use practice tests from the Cambridge series, but you can use any IELTS resource really.

When it comes to writing, I haven't found any books that teach essay writing well. I think a lot of them are fine for Task 1 Academic, but honestly online teachers seem far better for writing. When I learned IELTS, I gave up on textbooks and just used a few common online names. After that I took what I thought were the best ideas from all of them and created my own structures.

In other words, to answer the question, I'd use online teachers for my writing, not textbooks.

Here's a brand new strong opinion essay I wrote today.Advances in technology and automation have reduced the need for manual labour. Therefore, working hours should be reduced.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?

*Over recent decades, the automation of labour has lessened the need for physical labour. Consequently, some have argued that the number of hours expected of workers should be decreased. I completely agree with this point of view.

There are a number of reasons why the application of technology to work should result in shorter work hours. The first reason is that the application of technology to existing jobs allows for equal or greater productivity in a smaller amount of time. The result of this is that it is simply unnecessary to work as hard as in the past to maintain needed levels of productivity. It is also true that being in the workplace is not the only way for people to be productive. If workers had access to significantly more free time, they would be able to spend that time upskilling or gaining qualifications that would allow them to move into careers that make use of their talents more effectively.

Furthermore, giving workers more free time would allow for a general improvement in quality of life across society. People would be able to spend more time with family and friends. As a consequence, family relationships would become stronger, stress would decrease and people would generally become healthier in body and mind. Additionally, this change in behaviour would have a positive effect on the vibrancy of local economies. If people were able to spend more time doing what they enjoy, they would have time to spend money in local shops rather than ordering products online or shopping from large corporations.

In conclusion, as automation has reduced the need for labour, it makes perfect sense to reduce the number of hours across a working week since doing this would have a variety of positive effects on individuals and society*.

(297 words - Band 8) @passyourieltsofficial

Let’s answer another question.A few days ago I received the following interesting question:

“Can you give some info about how to write essays with 1000 word limit? I mean is the structure which we use in IELTS essays suitable for this kind of essay or not?"

Honestly, IELTS writing principles can be applied to this kind of essay, but we have to point out the differences as well.

Firstly, I would say 1000 word essays are pretty unusual. Essays usually start at 1500 words and go up to 3000 words in most universities. Short essays tend to be 300 words or less.

Anyway, the fact is that any essay has the same principles. It should have an introduction, a conclusion and body paragraphs. Introductions should introduce the topic and indicate what the essay will talk about. The conclusion should explain the contents of the body paragraphs and the final position and recommendation of the writer. Body paragraphs should only have one idea (not one theme, multiple ideas like I use for IELTS essays).

One clear difference is that for longer essays it is unusual to put your position in the introduction. The standard approach is to give evidence and then come to a conclusion, whereas for IELTS the best way is to state your position early and then defend it with evidence.

Aside from that, I can’t really think of any differences.

Thanks again for the question. @passyourieltsofficial

Quick post answering simple question.The question I received was the following:

“Does word count really matter in assessing?
Can we get a good score with 230-240 words in T2 and 130-140 in T1 as long as they both completed?”According to the examiners I work and have worked with, being short on the word count only affects TR and TA directly.

The rule is that if you are between (about) 200 and 240 words, you will lose a band score on your TR/TA. It’s a secret, but 241 is enough words to avoid the word count penalty for Task 2. From memory it’s 140 for Task 1.

That being said, if your essay is short, it leaves less time to show a well-rounded argument, evidence of good grammar, vocab etc.

Technically, if you write a 235 word essay, the highest possible score is TR 8, CC 9, LR 9, GR 9 = 8.5.

Thanks for the question.

Hi guys

As you may have noticed, I haven't been posting much IELTS stuff for a while. The reason is that honestly, I don't have much to say anymore. It's hard to keep coming up with stuff and after 3 years, I'm not able to come up with any inspiration for new things to post.

With that being said, I know I have a lot of knowledge to offer on the topic of writing specifically. Perhaps you guys could ask me some specific questions in the chat that I could uses as inspiration for future posts. Honestly, over the last month, I haven't been able to think of a single thing to say. This is probably because my new job (academic manager) is taking up a lot of mental energy, but anyway... as I mentioned, I'd welcome any writing-related questions.

The more specific, the better.

Cheers

In summary:As you can see, there is actually a lot of thought that goes into my writing. I’m also specifically writing to match the band descriptors. When I evaluate and correct my clients’ essays, I’m keeping all these principles in mind to help them get a better score.

I hope you enjoyed getting an insight into my thinking for my essays. @passyourieltsofficial