IELTS WRITING TASK 2 TIPS

WRITING TASK 2

Hallo guys, this is me again, your most charming blog author of all time. So today, we are going to talk about a strategy to do your IELTS Writing Task 2. As you may have known, we already discussed the material for the writing along with a simple yet powerful template.


 If you still haven’t checked it yet, go to this link

WRITING TASK 2 MATERIAL

We also have some samples of Writing Task 2 that you can find in this blog, or take a look at this example
WRITING TASK 2 SAMPLE

TIPS

However, some of you may still find it difficult to do the writing and this post will try to find out what kind of difficulties are common in IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to solve the problem. Here are some suggestions for you:


a. Familiarize yourself with the topics 

The topics for IELTS Writing are actually quite typical and thus you can actually do some exercises before having the real Writing test. Some of you folks, are big fans of internet that you may be able and willing to crawl all day long for new information. Make this a good way of expanding your knowledge and vocabulary. Do not restrict your reading list only to the topics that you like. Do not just read show and fashion articles. Instead, expose yourself to a wider range of reading, starting from arts, politics, economy, or even international affairs. Do bare in mind that I don’t suggest you to master the topic and become an expert in the fields aforementioned. No. You just need to familiarize yourself with the structure of the writing of different articles. It is quite safe to assume that each topic may have specialized terms and in fact, the arrangement of the writing is also different. At this point, we have to go back to the rule stating that:

To be a good writer, you need to be a good reader
You can be a good reader by reading good articles
And you can read good articles written by good writers of different topics

b. Find good examples

Some people find it really hard to start a writing, simply because they have no idea. A little peculiar, but it does happen. So, here is the deal. Every time you get a topic from which you have to write an essay, try to think of what happens around you. Try to take some real examples and try to give some arguments based on what you feel and think of that particular examples. Let’s say, you have an article about the negative effect of internet that eventually affects one’s social life. You can just think of a game addict in your school or neighborhood and list some of the social problems he/she may have. You can say that he/she may stay at home most of the time and have no time just for chatting or going to the bar. Once you find an example, try to explain it in a more formal way. And remember that you do not need to be an expert in E-sport or social science when writing about this topic.

c. Brainstorming

Try to do brainstorming before you actually start writing. Let’s try this trick by using this topic.


In recent years, some countries have experienced very rapid economic development. This has resulted in much higher standards of living in urban areas but not in the countryside.
This situation may bring some problems for the country as a whole.
What are these problems?
How they might be reduced?

Okay, after reading the topic, you know that there are several points that you have to cover in your writing. Try to list them!
a. Economic development (what change does it bring?)
b. Standard of living (what kind of betterment?)
b1. Facilities
b2. Job
c. City (what’s up with folks in urban area?)
c1. Having some trouble with high urbanization rate
d. Rural (what’s with the folks living in rural area?)
d1. Need more facilities
d2. Need more jobs
e. Problems (what problems?)
e1. Food scarcity as the folks leave the farm
e2. Urbanization
e3. Crowded city, rising crime rate, slum area
f. Solution (how to deal with the problems?)
f1. Better facilities
f2. More jobs (not depend on farm)

After having those main points, try to sort them out based on the template.

SAMPLE BASED ON TEMPLATE

Alright, enough for the material. Now let’s take a look at this example and then try it by yourself. Remember, write at least 150 words and make sure you include all points as it has been explained in the template.

Overview

Economic development has brought about positive change in terms of the standard of living in many countries. There have been many aspects of life improved by the rise of economy such as public facilities, health, education, job opportunities, and many other positive things. However, there is still a gap between those who live in urban area and people who live in rural areas. This gap is worsen by the fact that a great deal of establishment is still centralized in big cities that eventually lead to a belief that rural citizens are left behind. 
Pretty good overview, right?
Now, you can expand the ideas by elaborating the difference of living in cities and living in rural area.

Give two most striking examples!

People in big cities have easy access to health facilities and more job opportunities, while citizens from rural area usually have to travel far away from just to get a proper medication. There have been several hospitals in the rural area, but it only gives basic medication and not quite ready for operation or has no specialists. In terms of job opportunities, citizens in rural area are restricted only to farming and in many cases, they only become a worker and not the land owners that the salary is not good enough. People in cities have many more choices and thus have better income.

Expand the explanation

Now, try explain the problems in more general way.
Gap in terms of economy and social welfare is not good for the country in general because it leads to other complex problems. The first problem is the high urbanization rate in which people from rural area leave their hometown to work in big cities. This can be a problem for the rural people for many of the young generation go to cities and abandon the farm. This may lead to food scarcity that has national impact. In some developing countries, some of the workers also come to city without having skill and experience and end up living in slum area or even getting involved in crime. This, in turn, also becomes a problem for people living in the city in a way that the place where they live becomes denser and crowded. Urbanization also results in many more social problems that could be harmful in not managed properly.

Provide solutions

Last, try to offer some solutions for the problems.
Since the gap is caused by economic aspect in the first place, government needs to manage the budget better, balance the spending and try to improve rural’s standard of living. In terms of social justice, government needs to build better facilities in rural areas so that villagers are equally treated as those living in the cities. Instead of focusing only on farming, government can start building a creative industry and help the villagers market their products. Internet is a good way of marketing and hence improvement in terms of communication is also needed for better living. Once social and economic opportunities are well distributed, it is hoped that there will be balance between the rural and urban area.

Sound fair enough?

-Ross

Category: Tutorial TOEFL