IELTS WRITING – Task One (4)

This chart  is easy to read and understand, but how can you write about it? If you write about everything, you’ll have much too much information and will waste your time in the test. You need to look at the main trends or, important ideas. What are the main things that you can see easily?

If your friend couldn’t see the chart, but was interested, what would you tell them?

writing4a

Write a response, THEN check the example answer below.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

Introduction with overview

Imagine that the person you are writing for cannot see the graph. Tell them what it’s about.

Tell the reader …

  • The type of graph (bar, pie, line)
  • Title and dates – (don’t use exactly the same sentence structure as question or legend)
  • The scale

Provide

  • An overview

Report the main information

  • Use accurate numbers (eg. 11 gold medals)
  • Use words like – while, whereas, in contrast to, etc. – in complex sentences to compare different aspects of the information

Parameters

  • Write at least 150 words.
  • Use one paragraph for the introduction
  • Use one to three paragraphs for the rest of the information.

writing4b

IELTS WRITING – Task One (3)

A chart like this one is easy to understand, but tricky to write about. There are lots of things you could say. In fact there is far too much information. You will need to choose the main ideas.

So what are the main ideas? Look at the chart and think about what you can learn quickly.
LOOK NOW.

These are the things I saw:
1. The US won in all categories.
2. The top 4 countries had much higher numbers of medals than the remaining 6 countries.
3. Two countries were out of order if you looked at the total number of medals they won.

What did you see? Once you’ve worked out what the chart is about and what the main ideas are, you are ready to start writing. So check ‘what you need to do’ below … and … start writing!

TIP: Many students forget about the subject and start writing sentences that are quite silly if you think about them.
America was biggest. The smallest country was Australia.
Oops! ‘Countries’ are not the subject. The subject is ‘the number of medals won at the Olympics’. Make sure that your subject is always clear!

writing3a

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

Introduction with overview

Imagine that the person you are writing for cannot see the graph. Tell them what it’s about.

Tell the reader …

  • The type of graph (bar, pie, line)
  • Title and dates – (don’t use exactly the same sentence structure as question or legend)
  • The scale

Provide

  • An overview

Report the main information

  • Use accurate numbers (eg. 11 gold medals)
  • Use words like – while, whereas, in contrast to, etc. – in complex sentences to compare different aspects of the information

Parameters

  • Write at least 150 words.
  • Use one paragraph for the introduction
  • Use one to 3 paragraphs for the rest of the information.

writing3b

IELTS WRITING

Which writing task do you prefer?
Which one is most important?
How long should you spend on each task in the test?

Well, the recommended time is 20 mins on Task 1 and 40 mins on Task 2. Both tasks are important, but most marks are allocated to Task 2 so you need to get a good mark on that to have any chance of getting the overall IELTS score you need.

One way to manage your time in the test is to start with Task 2. That way you can ensure that you spend enough time on it.

IELTS WRITING Tip 1

IELTS WRITING Tip 1