The IELTS and TOEFL tests test not only your knowledge of the language, but also your logic, level of critical thinking, ability to summarize, argue, and express a point of view.
Generating ideas, planning, and writing essays are important skills that need to be specially taught.
My colleagues and I help students from different countries and cities to prepare for IELTS and TOEFL via Skype. Often we are approached with such problems and complaints:
"The topics are very difficult, I have no ideas."
"I don't know what to write about homeworkforyou reviews and in what order."
"I can't express a thought."
I know the feeling: a blank sheet of paper, reread the assignment many times, and absolutely nothing comes to mind.
But I am also sure that with planned, regular preparation you can write an essay on any topic.
Before I give recommendations, I want to comment on the most common complaints about writing.
"This is a difficult topic."
All exam topics are adequate to reality. These are issues that we encounter in everyday life, and the arguments "I don't think about it," "This topic doesn't concern me," and "This is a difficult topic" are not accepted.
Learning and work, food and health, family and relationships, parenting, ecology and environmental protection, crime, shopping and advertising, technology and the Internet, transportation and travel...
Aren't these topics relevant to you? We discuss them, read about them, and reason about them every day!
It's another thing that you don't think about how to express your thoughts clearly, you don't pare down your considerations, you don't analyze the causes, effects, advantages and disadvantages. This is something you will have to learn.
"I don't know what to write about or in what order."
As I pointed out above, generating ideas is just a matter of skill. An essay has a clear, organized structure and your job is to understand that structure and put your thoughts into it. The thoughts are different each time, appropriate to the topic of the essay, but the principle is the same.
Related Resources:
How to write an essay in English: tips and rules
WRITING AN ESSAY IN ENGLISH
ESSAY/ASSIGNMENT WRITING
5 tricks for writing a history essay
"I don't know how to express thoughts."
If the thoughts are there, that's already good.
Vocabulary and grammar are the second issue.
I know that many people are intimidated that their ideas will be too wizened and there won't be enough words to express them in writing. So these students try to simplify their thoughts, sift out the really worthwhile (but more complicated) thoughts, and end up not knowing what to write about.
Figure out what your problem is: a lack of ideas or a lack of resources to describe them. The second problem is much easier to solve. Even if your level is high, but you don't know what to write about, you won't have a quality essay.
So first learn how to generate ideas (you can start with your native language), and then look for ways to express them in English.
Generating ideas, planning, and writing essays are important skills that need to be specially taught.
My colleagues and I help students from different countries and cities to prepare for IELTS and TOEFL via Skype. Often we are approached with such problems and complaints:
"The topics are very difficult, I have no ideas."
"I don't know what to write about homeworkforyou reviews and in what order."
"I can't express a thought."
I know the feeling: a blank sheet of paper, reread the assignment many times, and absolutely nothing comes to mind.
But I am also sure that with planned, regular preparation you can write an essay on any topic.
Before I give recommendations, I want to comment on the most common complaints about writing.
"This is a difficult topic."
All exam topics are adequate to reality. These are issues that we encounter in everyday life, and the arguments "I don't think about it," "This topic doesn't concern me," and "This is a difficult topic" are not accepted.
Learning and work, food and health, family and relationships, parenting, ecology and environmental protection, crime, shopping and advertising, technology and the Internet, transportation and travel...
Aren't these topics relevant to you? We discuss them, read about them, and reason about them every day!
It's another thing that you don't think about how to express your thoughts clearly, you don't pare down your considerations, you don't analyze the causes, effects, advantages and disadvantages. This is something you will have to learn.
"I don't know what to write about or in what order."
As I pointed out above, generating ideas is just a matter of skill. An essay has a clear, organized structure and your job is to understand that structure and put your thoughts into it. The thoughts are different each time, appropriate to the topic of the essay, but the principle is the same.
Related Resources:
How to write an essay in English: tips and rules
WRITING AN ESSAY IN ENGLISH
ESSAY/ASSIGNMENT WRITING
5 tricks for writing a history essay
"I don't know how to express thoughts."
If the thoughts are there, that's already good.
Vocabulary and grammar are the second issue.
I know that many people are intimidated that their ideas will be too wizened and there won't be enough words to express them in writing. So these students try to simplify their thoughts, sift out the really worthwhile (but more complicated) thoughts, and end up not knowing what to write about.
Figure out what your problem is: a lack of ideas or a lack of resources to describe them. The second problem is much easier to solve. Even if your level is high, but you don't know what to write about, you won't have a quality essay.
So first learn how to generate ideas (you can start with your native language), and then look for ways to express them in English.