Simon’s ielts writing task 2

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IELTS Writing Task 2
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Compiled by Diyorbek Hayitmurodov ielts-simon.com Page 149 
FROM SIMON:
There are various reasons why I don't like these sentences. I'll explain the overall problem in 
Saturday's lesson here on the blog. 
For now, I'll just say that some of the vocabulary could be described as unnatural or even pompous*. 
For example: 
- considerably escalated increasing awareness 
- Notwithstanding the fact that 
- undertaken to tackle this nuisance 
- exterminate the problem 
- turning urgent attention to 
Please DON'T use these phrases in your IELTS test. As a native speaker, I would never use them, so 
I recommend that you don't either. 
* pompous: when people use pompous language, they are trying to show off, but they go too far, and 
the result is something that sounds unnatural or even funny. 
Posted by: Simon | 
Wednesday, May 18, 2016 at 15:20
 
Wednesday, May 25, 2016 
IELTS Writing Task 2: ignore the word 'academic' 
Many people are confused by the idea that they are doing the IELTS 
academic
writing test. They 
think this means that they need to use "academic" words, or that IELTS writing is similar to university 
academic writing. 
All of this is wrong. Here's why: 

Examiners are not looking for "academic" words. There is nothing in the scoring criteria that tells 
examiners to do this. Instead, examiners are told to look for a 
wide range
of 
vocabulary, 
collocations
, and some 
less common vocabulary
. 

IELTS writing (especially task 2) is more like a 
high school
writing task, rather than a university 
assignment. In a university assignment, for example, you will never see the question "do you agree 
or disagree?". At university you are expected to use research as the basis of your writing, but in the 
IELTS test you only have your own ideas and opinions. You are even told that you can use 
examples from your own personal experience in IELTS writing task 2. This isn't very "academic"! 
So, it's best to ignore the word "academic". Ignore any advice that relates to university academic 
writing; IELTS writing has its own 'rules' and requirements, and I do my best to explain these here on 
the blog.