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Oxford Online English, IELTS Essay - Tips to Write a Good IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay

IELTS Essay - Tips to Write a Good IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay

Hi, I'm Mikey.

Welcome to Oxford Online English!

In this lesson, you can learn how to write an IELTS task two essay.

Task two in the IELTS writing exam is the biggest challenge in IELTS for many students.

You have 40 minutes to write an essay, which could be on almost any topic.

In this lesson, you'll see a model question and a possible answer to it.

You'll learn how to write your own IELTS essay, and we'll share useful tips to help

you improve your IELTS writing score.

Let's start with our sample question:

Some people believe that everyone should be free to make their own lifestyle choices,

even if those choices are unhealthy.

Other people think that the government should intervene to influence people's choices,

for example by putting high taxes on unhealthy products.

Discuss both of these views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge

or experience.

So, where do you start?

You're under time pressure in the IELTS writing exam.

This means that many IELTS candidates read the task quickly and start writing as fast

as possible.

It's understandable, but it's also a mistake.

To write a good answer, you need to understand the task well, and you need to have a plan

for what you're going to write.

It's easy to misunderstand the question, or to misunderstand a key word in the question.

This will hurt your score.

So, you need to analyse the task.

How can you do this?

First, read the question and try to explain what it's asking in your own words.

Look at our sample question again.

Could you rephrase this question in your own words?

Try to make it as simple as you can.

Think about it.

Here are some suggestions:

Should people be allowed to make their own lifestyle choices, even if they're very unhealthy?

Should the government try to make people live healthier lives, even if it means that people

lose some personal freedom?

Of course, there are other possibilities.

This is an important step; if you don't have any ideas here, it suggests you haven't

understood the question fully.

That means you need to go back and read it again, and think about it more.

What's next?

Secondly, you need to identify how many things the task is asking you to do.

Not all IELTS questions are the same.

Some questions ask you to do one or two things.

Other questions ask you to do three or four things.

What about here?

How many things is this question asking you to do?

You have to ‘discuss both of these views'.

That means you need to discuss the idea that everyone should be free to make their own

lifestyle choices, and you also need to discuss the idea that the government should intervene

to influence people's choices.

You need to give your own opinion, so you need to reach a conclusion about which viewpoint

you agree with.

Finally, you need to give reasons for your answer and include relevant examples.

So, you need to do four things here.

When you read the question in your IELTS exam, add numbers to the task, like this.

This way, you can check when you're planning or writing, and make sure you aren't leaving

anything out.

Let's review: when you analyse the task, you should try to rephrase the question in

your own words, and then work out how many things you need to do.

What comes next?

This is a super-important step, even if you feel that you don't have time.

If you don't plan, it's hard to write a clear, well-organised essay.

This makes it difficult to get higher scores.

When planning, you need to:

One: decide what your conclusion is going to be.

Two: decide how many body paragraphs you're going to have.

Let's think about these steps for our sample question.

There are three basic conclusions you can reach here.

You could say that people are free to make whatever unhealthy choices they want, and

the government should not get involved.

You could say that the government should intervene to influence people's decisions, and that

people are not free to make absolutely any bad choices they want.

Or, you could go for a balanced conclusion, where your position is a compromise between

both sides.

What do you think?

If you were writing this essay, what would your conclusion be?

Remember that one conclusion isn't better than another.

You can say whatever you want.

However, you should know what your conclusion is before you go any further.

Otherwise, it's impossible to make a coherent plan.

Next, you need to plan your body paragraphs.

An important point: each body paragraph should have one main point, and only one main point.

Don't put many different ideas in one paragraph.

You also need to make sure your body paragraphs are consistent with your conclusion.

If your conclusion is that people are free to make unhealthy choices, then you can't

include a body paragraph talking about the negative effects of unhealthy lifestyle choices.

Let's look at three sample plans:

Body paragraph 1: people are free to decide what to do with their own bodies

Body paragraph 2: it's not the government's job to be a parent to people

Conclusion: people are free to make whatever unhealthy choices they want

Here's another possibility:

Body paragraph 1: people's unhealthy choices have a negative effect on other people and

society as a whole Body paragraph 2: the government should make

unhealthy lifestyle choices expensive, difficult or illegal

Conclusion: people are not free to make any unhealthy choices they want, and the government

has a duty to intervene Finally, here's a third possible plan:

Body paragraph 1: people are free to decide what to do with their own bodies

Body paragraph 2: people's unhealthy choices have a negative effect on other people and

society as a whole Body paragraph 3: the government should encourage

healthier choices, and discourage less healthy ones

Conclusion: people are free to make whatever unhealthy choices they want, but the government

should also push people towards making healthier choices

Which plan is better?

They're all good plans.

One isn't better than another.

And, of course, there are many other possibilities!

It depends on the ideas you have.

For this lesson, we're going to use the third plan to write a model IELTS essay.

Let's review quickly: your plan needs to do two things.

One: your plan needs to be consistent with your conclusion, so that all your ideas support

your final point.

Two: you need to have one (and only one) main idea in each body paragraph.

At this point, you're ready for the next step.

There are three things you can do in your introduction:

First, you can provide a ‘hook': something which shows why the topic you're writing

about is interesting or relevant.

This could be some background information, a rhetorical question, an interesting fact,

or something similar.

Secondly, you can reframe the question to show how you are going to approach it, and

how you are interpreting the key ideas in the task.

Finally, you need to give an indication of what your essay will talk about, and what

your conclusion will be.

The first part is the least important.

If you can think of a good hook, great!

If not, don't worry about it.

The second part—reframing the question—is important if you're aiming for higher scores.

If you're aiming for a lower score, you don't have to do this.

Be careful with reframing and paraphrasing; many IELTS candidates have problems with this.

Not doing it at all is better than doing it badly.

The third part is essential.

Your introduction must signal which direction you intend to take, and what your conclusion

will be.

This shows the examiner that you have a coherent plan, and you know where you are going.

Let's look now at a model introduction:

Are you free to destroy your own health?

If I want to smoke 60 cigarettes a day, eat fast food for every meal, or drink a litre

of vodka daily, am I free to do so?

In this essay, I will show that while you cannot stop people from making bad choices,

the government can and should play an active role in encouraging people to live more healthily.

You can see all three parts in this introduction.

The first sentence is partly a hook, partly a reframing of the question.

You're using a rhetorical question to address the topic directly.

The second sentence reframes the question in terms of personal freedoms.

This is relevant, because in the body of the essay we're going to focus on this aspect

of the task.

The third sentence explains very clearly where the essay will go.

Reading this, the examiner will know what your conclusion is going to be.

That's a good thing: in a coherent essay, your conclusion should not be a surprise.

Let's review quickly: when you write an introduction, you absolutely must signal which

direction you'll take, and what your conclusion will be.

You should consider reframing the question to highlight the ideas you want to focus on

in your essay.

You can optionally include a hook or some background information, but it isn't necessary.

After your introduction, you need to move on to your body paragraphs.

Start your body paragraph by writing a topic sentence.

The topic sentence summarises the main idea of your paragraph.

Let's remember the plan we're using: So, our topic sentence for the first body

paragraph could be the sentence from the plan:

People are free to decide what to do with their own bodies.

Or, you could say something more sophisticated, like:

People frequently make self-destructive choices, and to a certain extent they should be free

to do so.

This is better, not only because it uses more advanced grammar and vocabulary, but also

because it also signals the conclusion: people are free to make bad choices, but that freedom

has limits.

After your topic sentence, you need to develop your idea by going into more detail.

For example:

Choosing what to eat or drink, how much exercise to do, how many hours to sleep, and whether

to smoke or not are personal matters and very basic freedoms.

This is fundamentally the same idea as the topic sentence, but more detailed.

Where the topic sentence is general, the second sentence is more specific.

If possible, add an example to support your point, like this:

For example, consider a man who does no exercise and regularly eats large amounts of processed

junk food.

His habits are clearly unhealthy, but equally clearly they are his decisions to make.

You can see that the paragraph starts with a generalisation, and then gets more and more

specific.

This is a good pattern to follow in your body paragraphs.

Finally, it's good to end your paragraph with a mini-conclusion which restates the

central idea of the paragraph:

It is hard even to imagine a world in which people are forced to exercise regularly, or

prevented from eating what they wanted; the idea is manifestly ridiculous.

So, in the last sentence you're going back to generalisation, but using the specific

ideas you mentioned in the paragraph.

Maybe you're thinking, “That's easy for you, but I don't have the vocabulary

to write something like that.”

Maybe, maybe not, but you can still follow the same ideas.

Start with a topic sentence, go into more detail, add an example if possible, and then

restate the central idea of the paragraph at the end.

Follow the same structure for your remaining body paragraphs, and then it's time to write

your conclusion.

When writing a conclusion, you need to do two things:

One: state your opinion clearly.

Two: connect all of the key ideas from the task that you've discussed in your body

paragraphs.

Start your conclusion with a very clear, direct statement of your opinion.

For example:

I strongly agree that everyone should be free to make their own lifestyle choices, including

unhealthy choices.

The government should do more to discourage people from making unhealthy lifestyle choices.

Both of the views expressed in the question are correct.

This shows the examiner that you're addressing the question directly and that you have a

clear opinion.

This has a big effect on your IELTS writing score.

Next, you need to connect the key ideas from the task that you've discussed in your body

paragraphs.

Be careful not to simply repeat ideas.

Look at a model conclusion now:

Both of the views expressed in the question are correct.

People are, and should be, free to make unhealthy lifestyle choices if they want to.

However, because of the wider impact of such choices, the government also has a responsibility

to encourage healthier lifestyles and disincentivise unhealthy habits.

You can see that we cover the idea of personal freedom from paragraph one, the idea that

individual choices have broader consequences from paragraph two, and the idea that the

government should encourage people to make healthier choices from paragraph three.

This is a strong conclusion, because it provides a clear position, and also connects everything

together in a coherent way.

You can see the full text of the model essay on our website: Oxford Online English dot

com.

There's a link underneath the video.

We have a question for you: what topics do you find easiest or most difficult to write

about in IELTS essay questions?

Please let us know your ideas in the comments!

Thanks for watching!

See you next time!

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Hi, I'm Mikey. ||Mikey

Welcome to Oxford Online English!

In this lesson, you can learn how to write an IELTS task two essay. ||||||||||IELTS||| In dieser Lektion lernen Sie, wie man einen IELTS-Aufsatz für die zweite Aufgabe schreibt.

Task two in the IELTS writing exam is the biggest challenge in IELTS for many students. |||||||||greatest difficulty|||||| Aufgabe zwei in der IELTS-Schreibprüfung ist für viele Schüler die größte Herausforderung in IELTS.

You have 40 minutes to write an essay, which could be on almost any topic. Sie haben 40 Minuten Zeit, um einen Aufsatz zu schreiben, der ein beliebiges Thema behandeln kann.

In this lesson, you'll see a model question and a possible answer to it.

You'll learn how to write your own IELTS essay, and we'll share useful tips to help

you improve your IELTS writing score. |||||writing band score

Let's start with our sample question:

Some people believe that everyone should be free to make their own lifestyle choices, |||||||||||||lifestyle options Manche Menschen sind der Meinung, dass jeder die Freiheit haben sollte, seinen eigenen Lebensstil zu wählen,

even if those choices are unhealthy. |||||unwholesome auch wenn diese Entscheidungen ungesund sind.

Other people think that the government should intervene to influence people's choices, |||||||intervene|||| Andere sind der Meinung, dass die Regierung eingreifen sollte, um die Entscheidungen der Menschen zu beeinflussen,

for example by putting high taxes on unhealthy products. |||imposing||taxes||| zum Beispiel durch die Erhebung hoher Steuern auf ungesunde Produkte.

Discuss both of these views and give your own opinion. ||||perspectives||||| Diskutieren Sie diese beiden Ansichten und geben Sie Ihre eigene Meinung ab.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge Begründen Sie Ihre Antwort und fügen Sie relevante Beispiele aus Ihrem eigenen Wissen ein

or experience. oder Erfahrung.

So, where do you start? Wo soll man also anfangen?

You're under time pressure in the IELTS writing exam. Bei der IELTS-Schreibprüfung stehen Sie unter Zeitdruck.

This means that many IELTS candidates read the task quickly and start writing as fast Das bedeutet, dass viele IELTS-Kandidaten die Aufgabe schnell lesen und ebenso schnell mit dem Schreiben beginnen

as possible.

It's understandable, but it's also a mistake. |compreensível||||| Das ist verständlich, aber es ist auch ein Fehler.

To write a good answer, you need to understand the task well, and you need to have a plan Um eine gute Antwort zu schreiben, müssen Sie die Aufgabe gut verstehen und einen Plan haben

for what you're going to write. für das, was Sie schreiben werden.

It's easy to misunderstand the question, or to misunderstand a key word in the question. |||get wrong||||||||||| |||interpretar mal||||||||||| Es ist leicht, die Frage falsch zu verstehen oder ein Schlüsselwort in der Frage falsch zu verstehen.

This will hurt your score. ||prejudicar|| Dies wird sich negativ auf Ihr Ergebnis auswirken.

So, you need to analyse the task. ||||examine||

How can you do this? Wie können Sie das tun?

First, read the question and try to explain what it's asking in your own words. Lesen Sie zunächst die Frage und versuchen Sie, in Ihren eigenen Worten zu erklären, worum es darin geht.

Look at our sample question again. Sehen Sie sich unsere Beispielfrage noch einmal an.

Could you rephrase this question in your own words? ||reword this question|||||| ||reformule|||||| Könnten Sie diese Frage mit Ihren eigenen Worten umformulieren?

Try to make it as simple as you can. Versuchen Sie, es so einfach wie möglich zu machen.

Think about it. Überlegen Sie es sich.

Here are some suggestions: Hier sind einige Vorschläge:

Should people be allowed to make their own lifestyle choices, even if they're very unhealthy? Sollte es den Menschen erlaubt sein, ihren eigenen Lebensstil zu wählen, auch wenn er sehr ungesund ist?

Should the government try to make people live healthier lives, even if it means that people ||||||||plus saines||||||| ||||||||healthier||||||| Sollte die Regierung versuchen, den Menschen ein gesünderes Leben zu ermöglichen, auch wenn dies bedeutet, dass die Menschen

lose some personal freedom? perder||| etwas persönliche Freiheit verlieren?

Of course, there are other possibilities. Natürlich gibt es auch andere Möglichkeiten.

This is an important step; if you don't have any ideas here, it suggests you haven't |||||||||||||indicates|| Dies ist ein wichtiger Schritt; wenn Sie hier keine Ideen haben, bedeutet dies, dass Sie noch keine

understood the question fully. |||completamente die Frage vollständig verstanden hat.

That means you need to go back and read it again, and think about it more. Das bedeutet, dass Sie zurückgehen und ihn noch einmal lesen müssen, um darüber nachzudenken.

What's next? Was kommt als Nächstes?

Secondly, you need to identify how many things the task is asking you to do. Zweitens müssen Sie feststellen, wie viele Aufgaben die Aufgabe von Ihnen verlangt.

Not all IELTS questions are the same. Nicht alle IELTS-Fragen sind gleich.

Some questions ask you to do one or two things. Bei einigen Fragen werden Sie aufgefordert, ein oder zwei Dinge zu tun.

Other questions ask you to do three or four things.

What about here? Wie wäre es mit hier?

How many things is this question asking you to do? Um wie viele Dinge bittet Sie diese Frage?

You have to ‘discuss both of these views'. Sie müssen "beide Ansichten diskutieren".

That means you need to discuss the idea that everyone should be free to make their own Das bedeutet, dass Sie die Idee diskutieren müssen, dass jeder die Freiheit haben sollte, seine eigenen Entscheidungen zu treffen.

lifestyle choices, and you also need to discuss the idea that the government should intervene Lebensstilentscheidungen, und Sie müssen auch die Idee diskutieren, dass die Regierung eingreifen sollte

to influence people's choices.

You need to give your own opinion, so you need to reach a conclusion about which viewpoint ||||||||||||||||point de vue ||||||||||||||||perspective |||||||||||chegar a|||||ponto de vista Sie müssen Ihre eigene Meinung äußern, d.h. Sie müssen zu einem Schluss kommen, welcher Standpunkt

you agree with. dem Sie zustimmen.

Finally, you need to give reasons for your answer and include relevant examples. Schließlich müssen Sie Ihre Antwort begründen und relevante Beispiele anführen.

So, you need to do four things here. Hier müssen Sie also vier Dinge tun.

When you read the question in your IELTS exam, add numbers to the task, like this. Wenn Sie die Frage in Ihrer IELTS-Prüfung lesen, fügen Sie der Aufgabe Zahlen hinzu, etwa so.

This way, you can check when you're planning or writing, and make sure you aren't leaving Auf diese Weise können Sie beim Planen oder Schreiben prüfen, ob Sie nicht etwas vergessen haben.

anything out.

Let's review: when you analyse the task, you should try to rephrase the question in Noch einmal zur Erinnerung: Wenn Sie die Aufgabe analysieren, sollten Sie versuchen, die Frage so zu formulieren

your own words, and then work out how many things you need to do. Ihre eigenen Worte, und berechnen Sie dann, wie viele Dinge Sie tun müssen.

What comes next? Was kommt als nächstes?

This is a super-important step, even if you feel that you don't have time. Dies ist ein sehr wichtiger Schritt, auch wenn Sie glauben, keine Zeit zu haben.

If you don't plan, it's hard to write a clear, well-organised essay. |||||||||||organized| Ohne Planung ist es schwierig, einen klaren, gut organisierten Aufsatz zu schreiben.

This makes it difficult to get higher scores.

When planning, you need to:

One: decide what your conclusion is going to be. Erstens: Entscheiden Sie, wie Ihre Schlussfolgerung lauten soll.

Two: decide how many body paragraphs you're going to have. Zweitens: Entscheiden Sie, wie viele Absätze Sie haben wollen.

Let's think about these steps for our sample question.

There are three basic conclusions you can reach here. |||fundamental|||||

You could say that people are free to make whatever unhealthy choices they want, and

the government should not get involved.

You could say that the government should intervene to influence people's decisions, and that Man könnte sagen, dass die Regierung eingreifen sollte, um die Entscheidungen der Menschen zu beeinflussen, und dass

people are not free to make absolutely any bad choices they want. Die Menschen sind nicht frei, absolut jede schlechte Entscheidung zu treffen, die sie wollen.

Or, you could go for a balanced conclusion, where your position is a compromise between |||||||||||||middle ground| Oder Sie könnten sich für eine ausgewogene Schlussfolgerung entscheiden, bei der Ihre Position einen Kompromiss darstellt zwischen

both sides. |two parties

What do you think?

If you were writing this essay, what would your conclusion be? Wenn Sie diesen Aufsatz schreiben würden, wie würde Ihre Schlussfolgerung lauten?

Remember that one conclusion isn't better than another.

You can say whatever you want.

However, you should know what your conclusion is before you go any further. Sie sollten jedoch wissen, was Ihre Schlussfolgerung ist, bevor Sie weitergehen.

Otherwise, it's impossible to make a coherent plan. ||||||logical| caso contrário||||||| Sonst ist es unmöglich, einen kohärenten Plan zu erstellen.

Next, you need to plan your body paragraphs. Als Nächstes müssen Sie Ihre Textabsätze planen.

An important point: each body paragraph should have one main point, and only one main point. Ein wichtiger Punkt: Jeder Absatz sollte einen Hauptpunkt haben, und zwar nur einen Hauptpunkt.

Don't put many different ideas in one paragraph. Fassen Sie nicht viele verschiedene Ideen in einem Absatz zusammen.

You also need to make sure your body paragraphs are consistent with your conclusion.

If your conclusion is that people are free to make unhealthy choices, then you can't

include a body paragraph talking about the negative effects of unhealthy lifestyle choices. ||||||||effects|||| |||||||||||estilo de vida| einen Absatz einfügen, in dem die negativen Auswirkungen einer ungesunden Lebensweise erläutert werden.

Let's look at three sample plans: |||||plans Schauen wir uns drei Beispielpläne an:

Body paragraph 1: people are free to decide what to do with their own bodies |||||||||||||bodies Hauptteil, Absatz 1: Die Menschen sind frei zu entscheiden, was sie mit ihrem eigenen Körper tun wollen.

Body paragraph 2: it's not the government's job to be a parent to people |||||government||||||| Hauptteil, Absatz 2: Es ist nicht die Aufgabe der Regierung, die Menschen zu erziehen

Conclusion: people are free to make whatever unhealthy choices they want

Here's another possibility: ||option

Body paragraph 1: people's unhealthy choices have a negative effect on other people and ||||||||impact|||| |||não saudáveis||||||||| Hauptteil, Absatz 1: Die ungesunden Entscheidungen der Menschen haben negative Auswirkungen auf andere Menschen und

society as a whole Body paragraph 2: the government should make society|||||||||

unhealthy lifestyle choices expensive, difficult or illegal ||||||illegal ungesunde Lebensstilentscheidungen teuer, schwierig oder illegal

Conclusion: people are not free to make any unhealthy choices they want, and the government ||||livres||||não saudáveis||||||

has a duty to intervene Finally, here's a third possible plan: ||responsibility|||||||| ||dever||||||||

Body paragraph 1: people are free to decide what to do with their own bodies corpo|||||||||||||

Body paragraph 2: people's unhealthy choices have a negative effect on other people and Hauptteil Absatz 2: Die ungesunden Entscheidungen der Menschen haben negative Auswirkungen auf andere Menschen und

society as a whole Body paragraph 3: the government should encourage |||||||||promote or support

healthier choices, and discourage less healthy ones |||desencorajar||| gesündere Entscheidungen zu treffen und von weniger gesunden zu entmutigen

Conclusion: people are free to make whatever unhealthy choices they want, but the government ||||||quaisquer|||||||

should also push people towards making healthier choices ||encourage towards||||| ||incentivar||||mais saudáveis| sollten die Menschen auch dazu bringen, gesündere Entscheidungen zu treffen

Which plan is better?

They're all good plans.

One isn't better than another. Das eine ist nicht besser als das andere.

And, of course, there are many other possibilities!

It depends on the ideas you have.

For this lesson, we're going to use the third plan to write a model IELTS essay. In dieser Lektion werden wir den dritten Plan verwenden, um einen IELTS-Musteraufsatz zu schreiben.

Let's review quickly: your plan needs to do two things.

One: your plan needs to be consistent with your conclusion, so that all your ideas support

your final point. Ihr letzter Punkt.

Two: you need to have one (and only one) main idea in each body paragraph.

At this point, you're ready for the next step. Jetzt sind Sie bereit für den nächsten Schritt.

There are three things you can do in your introduction: |||||||||introduction section Es gibt drei Dinge, die Sie in Ihrer Einleitung tun können:

First, you can provide a ‘hook': something which shows why the topic you're writing |||||attention grabber|||||||| |||||gancho||||||||

about is interesting or relevant. über interessant oder relevant ist.

This could be some background information, a rhetorical question, an interesting fact, ||||contextual information|||rhetorical|||| ||||informação de fundo||||||| Das kann eine Hintergrundinformation sein, eine rhetorische Frage, eine interessante Tatsache,

or something similar. oder etwas Ähnliches.

Secondly, you can reframe the question to show how you are going to approach it, and |||reformuler la question|||||||||||| |||rephrase|||||||||||| |||reformular||||||||||abordar|| Zweitens können Sie die Frage neu formulieren, um zu zeigen, wie Sie sie angehen werden, und

how you are interpreting the key ideas in the task. |||understanding|||||| |||interpretando|||||| wie Sie die Schlüsselbegriffe der Aufgabe interpretieren.

Finally, you need to give an indication of what your essay will talk about, and what Schließlich müssen Sie angeben, worum es in Ihrem Aufsatz gehen wird und welche

your conclusion will be. wird Ihre Schlussfolgerung lauten.

The first part is the least important. ||||a|a menos| Der erste Teil ist der unwichtigste.

If you can think of a good hook, great! Wenn Ihnen ein guter Aufhänger einfällt, super!

If not, don't worry about it. Wenn nicht, machen Sie sich keine Gedanken darüber.

The second part—reframing the question—is important if you're aiming for higher scores. |||restructuring the question|||||||||| |||reformulação|||||||||| Der zweite Teil - die Formulierung der Frage - ist wichtig, wenn Sie eine höhere Punktzahl anstreben.

If you're aiming for a lower score, you don't have to do this. ||visando||||nota|||||| Wenn Sie eine niedrigere Punktzahl anstreben, müssen Sie dies nicht tun.

Be careful with reframing and paraphrasing; many IELTS candidates have problems with this. |||||rewording||||||| Seien Sie vorsichtig mit Umformulierungen und Paraphrasierungen; viele IELTS-Kandidaten haben damit Probleme.

Not doing it at all is better than doing it badly. ||||||||||poorly Es ist besser, es gar nicht zu tun, als es schlecht zu tun.

The third part is essential. Der dritte Teil ist wesentlich.

Your introduction must signal which direction you intend to take, and what your conclusion |||indicate|||||||||| Ihre Einleitung muss erkennen lassen, in welche Richtung Sie gehen wollen, und was Ihre Schlussfolgerung sein soll

will be.

This shows the examiner that you have a coherent plan, and you know where you are going. ||||||||logical structure|||||||| ||||||||coerente|||||||| Das zeigt dem Prüfer, dass Sie einen kohärenten Plan haben und wissen, wohin Sie wollen.

Let's look now at a model introduction: Schauen wir uns nun die Einführung eines Modells an:

Are you free to destroy your own health? ||||harm||| Sind Sie frei, Ihre eigene Gesundheit zu zerstören?

If I want to smoke 60 cigarettes a day, eat fast food for every meal, or drink a litre |||||cigarettes||||||||||||litre of soda Wenn ich 60 Zigaretten am Tag rauchen, zu jeder Mahlzeit Fast Food essen oder einen Liter trinken will

of vodka daily, am I free to do so? |de vodka||||||| |vodka||||||| |vodka||||||| Wodka zu trinken, kann ich das tun?

In this essay, I will show that while you cannot stop people from making bad choices, In diesem Aufsatz werde ich zeigen, dass man Menschen zwar nicht davon abhalten kann, schlechte Entscheidungen zu treffen,

the government can and should play an active role in encouraging people to live more healthily. ||||||||||promoting|||||in a healthy way

You can see all three parts in this introduction.

The first sentence is partly a hook, partly a reframing of the question. Der erste Satz ist teils ein Aufhänger, teils eine Umformulierung der Frage.

You're using a rhetorical question to address the topic directly. Sie verwenden eine rhetorische Frage, um das Thema direkt anzusprechen.

The second sentence reframes the question in terms of personal freedoms. |||reformule|||||||libertés personnelles |||rephrases|||||||liberties Im zweiten Satz wird die Frage in Bezug auf die persönlichen Freiheiten neu formuliert.

This is relevant, because in the body of the essay we're going to focus on this aspect ||||||||||||||||aspect Dies ist wichtig, denn im Hauptteil des Aufsatzes werden wir uns auf diesen Aspekt konzentrieren

of the task.

The third sentence explains very clearly where the essay will go. Der dritte Satz erklärt sehr deutlich, wohin der Aufsatz gehen wird.

Reading this, the examiner will know what your conclusion is going to be. Wenn der Prüfer dies liest, weiß er, wie Ihre Schlussfolgerung aussehen wird.

That's a good thing: in a coherent essay, your conclusion should not be a surprise.

Let's review quickly: when you write an introduction, you absolutely must signal which Um es kurz zu machen: Wenn Sie eine Einleitung schreiben, müssen Sie unbedingt angeben, welche

direction you'll take, and what your conclusion will be. |you will||||||| in welche Richtung Sie gehen werden und was Ihre Schlussfolgerung sein wird.

You should consider reframing the question to highlight the ideas you want to focus on |||||||emphasize|||||||

in your essay.

You can optionally include a hook or some background information, but it isn't necessary. ||facultativement||||||||||| ||if desired||||||||||| ||opcionalmente||||||||||| Sie können optional einen Aufhänger oder einige Hintergrundinformationen einfügen, aber das ist nicht notwendig.

After your introduction, you need to move on to your body paragraphs.

Start your body paragraph by writing a topic sentence. Beginnen Sie Ihren Hauptteil mit einem Themensatz.

The topic sentence summarises the main idea of your paragraph. |||résume|||||| |||condenses|||||| |||resume||||||

Let's remember the plan we're using: So, our topic sentence for the first body

paragraph could be the sentence from the plan:

People are free to decide what to do with their own bodies. |||||||||||corpos

Or, you could say something more sophisticated, like: ||||||refined|

People frequently make self-destructive choices, and to a certain extent they should be free ||||autodestructrices|||||||||| ||||harmful to oneself||||||degree|||| ||||autodestrutivas||||||até certo ponto|||| Menschen treffen häufig selbstzerstörerische Entscheidungen, und bis zu einem gewissen Grad sollten sie frei sein

to do so.

This is better, not only because it uses more advanced grammar and vocabulary, but also Dies ist besser, nicht nur weil es eine fortgeschrittenere Grammatik und einen größeren Wortschatz verwendet, sondern auch weil

because it also signals the conclusion: people are free to make bad choices, but that freedom |||indicates||||||||||||

has limits. |boundaries

After your topic sentence, you need to develop your idea by going into more detail. ||tópico|frase||||||||||| Nach dem Themensatz müssen Sie Ihre Idee weiterentwickeln, indem Sie mehr ins Detail gehen.

For example:

Choosing what to eat or drink, how much exercise to do, how many hours to sleep, and whether Die Entscheidung, was man isst oder trinkt, wie viel Sport man treibt, wie viele Stunden man schläft und ob man

to smoke or not are personal matters and very basic freedoms. |||||pessoais|questões||||liberdades zu rauchen oder nicht, sind persönliche Angelegenheiten und sehr grundlegende Freiheiten.

This is fundamentally the same idea as the topic sentence, but more detailed. ||||||||tópico|frase||| Dies ist im Grunde derselbe Gedanke wie der Themensatz, aber ausführlicher.

Where the topic sentence is general, the second sentence is more specific. Während der Themensatz allgemein gehalten ist, ist der zweite Satz spezifischer.

If possible, add an example to support your point, like this: Wenn möglich, fügen Sie ein Beispiel hinzu, um Ihren Standpunkt zu untermauern, etwa so:

For example, consider a man who does no exercise and regularly eats large amounts of processed |||||||||||||||processed food ||||||||||regularmente||||| Nehmen wir zum Beispiel einen Mann, der keinen Sport treibt und regelmäßig große Mengen an verarbeiteten Lebensmitteln isst.

junk food. unhealthy food| lixo|

His habits are clearly unhealthy, but equally clearly they are his decisions to make. ||||||also|||||||

You can see that the paragraph starts with a generalisation, and then gets more and more |||||||||généralisation|||||| |||||||||general statement|||||| |||||||||generalização||||||

specific.

This is a good pattern to follow in your body paragraphs.

Finally, it's good to end your paragraph with a mini-conclusion which restates the ||||||||||||réitère| ||||||||||||reiterates the|

central idea of the paragraph: main||||

It is hard even to imagine a world in which people are forced to exercise regularly, or ||||||||||||compelled to||||

prevented from eating what they wanted; the idea is manifestly ridiculous. |||||||||manifestement| stopped|||||||||clearly absurd|absurdly unreasonable |||||||||manifesta claramente|

So, in the last sentence you're going back to generalisation, but using the specific

ideas you mentioned in the paragraph. ||stated earlier|||

Maybe you're thinking, “That's easy for you, but I don't have the vocabulary

to write something like that.”

Maybe, maybe not, but you can still follow the same ideas.

Start with a topic sentence, go into more detail, add an example if possible, and then

restate the central idea of the paragraph at the end. répéter||||||||| reformule|||||||||

Follow the same structure for your remaining body paragraphs, and then it's time to write ||||||remaining|||||||| ||||||restantes||||||é hora||

your conclusion.

When writing a conclusion, you need to do two things:

One: state your opinion clearly. |declaração|||

Two: connect all of the key ideas from the task that you've discussed in your body

paragraphs.

Start your conclusion with a very clear, direct statement of your opinion. ||||||||I believe that||| ||||||||afirmação|||

For example:

I strongly agree that everyone should be free to make their own lifestyle choices, including |firmly|||||||||||||

unhealthy choices. não saudáveis|

The government should do more to discourage people from making unhealthy lifestyle choices.

Both of the views expressed in the question are correct. ||||expressed|||||

This shows the examiner that you're addressing the question directly and that you have a ||||||abordant|||||||| ||||||responding to|||||||| ||||||abordando||||||||

clear opinion.

This has a big effect on your IELTS writing score.

Next, you need to connect the key ideas from the task that you've discussed in your body

paragraphs.

Be careful not to simply repeat ideas. Achten Sie darauf, dass Sie nicht einfach Ideen wiederholen.

Look at a model conclusion now: Schauen Sie sich jetzt einen Musterabschluss an:

Both of the views expressed in the question are correct.

People are, and should be, free to make unhealthy lifestyle choices if they want to. Es steht den Menschen frei, sich für einen ungesunden Lebensstil zu entscheiden, und das sollte auch so sein, wenn sie es wollen.

However, because of the wider impact of such choices, the government also has a responsibility ||||broader consequences|effect influence consequence||||||||| ||||mais ampla||||||||||

to encourage healthier lifestyles and disincentivise unhealthy habits. |||||décourager|| |||||deter|| |||||desincentivar||

You can see that we cover the idea of personal freedom from paragraph one, the idea that |||||abordamos||||||||||| Sie sehen, dass wir den Gedanken der persönlichen Freiheit bereits in Absatz eins behandeln, den Gedanken, dass

individual choices have broader consequences from paragraph two, and the idea that the |||wider|effects|||||||| |||mais amplas|||||||||

government should encourage people to make healthier choices from paragraph three.

This is a strong conclusion, because it provides a clear position, and also connects everything |||||||offers||||||links|

together in a coherent way. |||de forma coerente|

You can see the full text of the model essay on our website: Oxford Online English dot

com.

There's a link underneath the video. |||debaixo de||

We have a question for you: what topics do you find easiest or most difficult to write Wir haben eine Frage an Sie: Welche Themen sind für Sie am einfachsten oder am schwierigsten zu schreiben?

about in IELTS essay questions?

Please let us know your ideas in the comments!

Thanks for watching!

See you next time!