Common Mistakes

How to Think of Ideas 

Now that we know exactly what the question is asking us to do, we need to think of specific and relevant ideas. There are many strategies for thinking of ideas for IELTS task 2 questions but for problem solution questions I like to use something called the ‘coffee shop method’.

Instead of brainstorming or mind-mapping- which take too much time and lead to irrelevant ideas in my opinion- you should just pretend you are in a coffee shop with a friend and they have just asked you a simple question. In this case, it would be “What are the problems and solutions associated with sea level rise on humans?”

If you were talking to a friend about this, I’m sure you would have no problem thinking of at least 2 or 3 problems and solutions. This method takes you out of an exam situation and puts your mind into a more relaxed environment.

There are several problems and solutions including:

Problem: flooding of people’s homes and businesses

Solution: build flood barriers or move to higher areas

Problem: loss of agricultural land and starvation

Solution: switch to more suitable crops

Problem: displacement of millions of people

Solution: move people in a planned and orderly way before the floods

Problem: groundwater undrinkable

Solution: build desalination plants

As you can see, I didn’t think of lots of problems and then lots of solutions. For each problem, you should think of a solution that directly solves this problem.

You now have lots of ideas, but now you must decide which ones to use. I always tell my students to pick the ones you know most about i.e. that you can explain and give relevant examples