Tips, Writing Samples, Grammar

This is an extension to the training I provide at MENTOR Private Coaching at Kesavadasapuram, Trivandrum.  
On this page IELTS aspirants can find useful tips and free material which I hope will

help them to crack the four modules – Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking

If you are interested in making use of the full-fledged training, you can contact me by phone,      
e-mail.   I have undergone training with the British Council and I’ve been training IELTS candidates
for more than seven years.

I can assure you a warm, friendly but thoroughly professional and individualized coaching.  
The fee at present is Rs. 7500 for the full course.  Duration?   It’s three months. 
 A one month course is also available at Rs 5000. 

Here’s a myth about writing essays: 
To score 7 or 8 in writing, one must have an excellent vocabulary and use rare, 
high-sounding words.  
Far from it!  What you need is vocabulary appropriate to the topic.   If you squeeze in a few words, that is not going to impress the examiner.  They look at criteria like Task Response, Coherence, Cohesion and Grammar and of course, Vocabulary.   That is vocabulary associated with the topic you are writing on.

So, my advice is to build a vocabulary related to various topics.   No doubt, learning new and difficult words is good as it can help you score in Reading Test.  But if you have a collection words and phrasal verbs on various essay topics, it would help you in writing as well as in Speaking.   Here are some examples:

Fast food:

           Convenience food,  snacks, pizzas, hamburgers,  fast food intake,  consumption,  obesity,  obese, (avoid the word ‘fat’) fast food outlets,  eat fast foods from an early age, traditional foods,  fall prey to lifestyle diseases.

Tips

          How many paragraphs should I write? 

Well, there are no hard and fast rules.   But, four is a good number.  
 That is one paragraph as an introduction two paragraphs as body and one last paragraph as conclusion.   

You can also write five or six paragraphs in total.  But more than six may not be a good idea.

           Organize your paragraphs:

Start your paragraph (that is, the second and third) with a topic sentence. 

 And a topic sentence is a sentence which has the main idea of the paragraph. 

 In other words, state the main idea of your paragraph at the beginning. 

 Then, you explain this main idea, if possible, with examples.

  See the paragraph on why children eat fast foods more nowadays: 

A probable explanation could be that today fast foods are more easily available than in the past.
 The number of outlets serving fast foods has increased greatly in recent years.  Nowadays they can be found in

almost all cities and towns serving pizzas, burgers and such other foods.  
 Moreover, often such eating places are located at city centres near cinema halls or close to 
schools and colleges.   As a result, teenagers and children tend to eat more fast foods.     

                                                                        

Now see the full essay:

Children in many countries are taking more fast food and convenience snacks nowadays when compared to earlier times.  
Why are children doing this and how serious are the consequences?

What to write:   The topic is children eating fast food.  The question asks the reasons and the  consequences of this trend.  Write separate paragraphs for reasons and consequences.

  

Essay Plan:   Para 1: introduction; 

                                    ( Avoid long introductions.  Write something general about the topic. )

Para 2&3: reasons why children eat more fast foods;  

Para 4: consequences;

Para 5: conclusion.

 Model answer:

Today fast foods are very popular with youngsters and they start eating them from a very young age.  I feel this is an unhealthy trend, and there could be a number of reasons for it.

A probable explanation could be that today fast foods are more easily available than in the past.  The number of outlets serving fast foods has increased greatly in recent years.  Nowadays they can be found in almost all cities and towns serving pizzas, burgers and such other foods.   Moreover, often such eating places are located at city centres near cinema halls or close to schools and colleges.   As a result, teenagers and children tend to eat more fast foods.     

Now see the full essay:

Children in many countries are taking more fast food and convenience snacks nowadays when compared to earlier times.  Why are children doing this and how serious are the consequences?

What to write:   The topic is children eating fast food.  The question asks the reasons and the  consequences of this trend.  Write separate paragraphs for reasons and consequences.

  

Essay Plan:   Para 1: introduction; 

                                    ( Avoid long introductions.  Write something general about the topic. )

Para 2&3: reasons why children eat more fast foods;  

Para 4: consequences;

Para 5: conclusion.

 Model answer:

Today fast foods are very popular with youngsters and they start eating them from a very young age.

  I feel this is an unhealthy trend, and there could be a number of reasons for it.

A probable explanation could be that today fast foods are more easily available than in the past.  

The number of outlets serving fast foods has increased greatly in recent years.  

Nowadays they can be found in almost all cities and towns serving pizzas, burgers and such other foods. 

Moreover, often such eating places are located at city centres near cinema halls or close to schools and colleges. 

As a result, teenagers and children tend to eat more fast foods.     

Likewise, the colour and taste make fast foods more attractive than traditional, healthier food.  

Fast foods companies use special ingredients to make them tastier and most of these food items are fried in oil

which make them more delicious than conventional preparations.   

There is enough evidence to show that regular consumption of fast foods can produce dangerous consequences.    

A major outcome is that children become obese when they eat such foods often and fall prey to lifestyle diseases

such as diabetes or heart problems early in life.     Not only that, fast foods do not contain vitamins and minerals

 essential for body growth and this can adversely affect the health of the growing children. 

Without doubt, it is a serious problem that children today eat more fast foods than traditional foods.                        

Easy availability and better taste attract them early in life and they continue the habit throughout their lives. 

I feel that parents and concerned authorities should take necessary action to promote healthy eating habits among children.     

Grammar Tips:

Most of the - Most  

    Use ‘Most’ to talk about people/ things in general.  Do not use ‘Most of the’ for this purpose.

          E.g. Today most of the children have a thorough knowledge of computers. Ï  Today most children…P

‘Most of the’ is used when we talk about a particular group.

              Most the children in our locality do not play any outdoor games.   ß This refers to children in our locality.

More

      Do not use ‘more’ to mean ‘a large quantity’.   • ‘More’ is used only to compare.

  E.g. Young people spend more money on fashion. Ï    Young people spend much / a great deal of money on ...ü

Instead of ‘more’ use the following to show quantity:

             many / much / several / a great deal of / a great number of / very/ some.

 Correct use of ‘more’:  Usually, ‘more’ is followed by ‘than’

    E.g. Villages are more peaceful than cities. Trains are more comfortable than buses.