L…vû¹XjF ÕT 3;C… û+¨v#kÌk

 IELTS
 JOURNAL 
 
55 
A big problem for some students is that they don't have well-formed 
opinions. They are not sure what to write about topics like 
homeschooling, immigration or gun control. The good news is that there 
is no 'correct' opinion - the examiner is only looking at how well you 
express your opinions in English. So, after doing some research (see 
point 2 above), make sure you have an opinion of your own.
 
How to write faster 
Here is some advice: 
1.
 
The first step is to write better, not faster. If you cannot get the score 
you need when it takes you 2 hours to write an essay, you will not be 
able to write a good essay in 40 minutes. 
2.
 
Read the following story about a student who started slowly and got 
faster with practice. 
“I was worried that it took her 4 hours to write a band 7 essay for 
homework,” Kim said. In fact, spending 4 hours to write an essay is a 
good idea. This kind of hard work leads to great results! The important 
thing is to be able to write your first band 7 essay. At first it might take 
you 4 hours, but you will get faster with practice. 
PS. The student mentioned above got a band 7 in her exam about 6 
weeks later! 
3.
 
The next step is to break the 40 minutes into smaller parts. For example, 
you could practice writing introductions in only 5 minutes. Don't work on 
full essays, just practice the parts according to special task types. That’s 
called focused practice. 
4.
 
Separate the 'thinking' from the 'writing'. Do all your thinking (planning 
or brainstorming) in the first 10 minutes. When you are happy with your 
essay plan, start writing. Try to stick to your plan so that you can focus 
on writing rather than more thinking.