🐝 Sarcasm in my C2 Proficiency Writing class 🐝

Is sarcasm an innate ability or a skill? I think it's the latter. And it's just one more tool for us to use in writing (if need be).

Today, I gave my students some techniques and asked them to write a sarcastic paragraph about an heirloom they inherited from a member of their family. What they produced is pure beauty.

1️⃣ Viktoria
"The best thing my mom passed down to me is my anxiety disorder. This definitely makes for a better heirloom than any rings or necklaces that other moms give to their daughters."

2️⃣ Olga
"Having an apartment of 40 m2, living there in a family of five and keeping an old gigantic sewing machine, one that nobody uses? That is so smart. Let’s hope one of my grandchildren will be a seamstress."

3️⃣ Darya
"People have always tried to pass down little items to be remembered by future generations. More often than not, these heirlooms are anxiety, eating disorders and a whole bouquet of insecurities (priceless things, aren’t they?) But on rare occasions you might end up with something of great value - an optimistic outlook."

4️⃣ Lena
"Who could have thought that eventually I'll end up with such an impressive heirloom. What was particularly impressive was its uselessness, and it left me with my mouth agape for what felt like an eternity. And here was I, posed with a dilemma - should I pass it down to the next generation, so they'll share my exact sentiment?"

See, sarcasm in writing is nothing but a bunch of techniques.

Disclaimer: While sarcasm is a valid writing tool as it can give your text a certain tone, use it sparingly and don't use it at all if it's not something you actually enjoy. While I can appreciate sarcasm in creative writing, I am one of those people who don't normally appreciate it in real life. 🐝

⚡️ TOEFL is changing! ⚡️

Starting July 26, 2023, TOEFL iBT® test takers will see several new enhancements. Here is a brief summary:
- streamlined instructions and navigation
- a shortened Reading section with only two reading passages and 10 questions each
- a more concise and modern Writing task which replaces the current Independent Writing task
- removal of all unscored test questions

The test will now take just under 2 hours to complete. This makes it the shortest of the three most popular English-language tests.

Click the link below to find out more.

https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt-enhancements.html

📝 Coherence or me being meticulous with meanings in my "Writing with New Scientist" class 📝

To practice a certain grammar structure, I take a sentence from the article and create a sentence frame.

For example, here is a sentence I chose today: "By the early 2010s, primatologists had started to take a keen interest in the findings, with some devising a battery of tests to explore chimpanzee intelligence."

And here is a sentence frame I asked my students to complete to practice the structure in bold: "Writing is a mysterious and much-feared skill, with most people ... ing ... ."

Now look at three examples and identify one that does not work.

1️⃣ Writing is a mysterious and much-feared skill, with most people thinking it can only be mastered by higher beings…

2️⃣ Writing is a mysterious and much-feared skill, with most people spending hours and hours to master it.

3️⃣ Writing is a mysterious and much-feared skill, with most people postponing to get to grips with it.

The sentence that doesn't work is the second one. There is no logical connection, and thus no coherence, between "a mysterious and much-feared skill" and "spending hours and hours to master it." A more logical sentence would be: "Writing is a difficult skill, with most people spending hours and hours to master it."

And that's the way I treat writing. Writing is not about grammar or cohesion alone, in isolation. First and foremost, it's about meaning.

How would you finish, "Writing is a mysterious and much-feared skill, with most people ...ing ... "? Share in the comments. 📝

📅 IELTS Writing: Wednesday 14:00-15:30 MSK

One student with a proven IELTS Writing 7.5 is waiting for a group. Will you join her on the journey to IELTS Writing 8?

This is a question I asked in my VK community. And several people wanted to joined because the schedule worked. And because they have a C2 after all. And I didn't admit them.

This group is not about the level. This groups is about the needs. People who have never written any IELTS tasks simply have different needs from those who have already written a plethora thereof.

If you have already completed an IELTS writing course and/or are familiar with all the tasks, message me @iraluts.

If you are an IELTS newbie, wait for a full course in the new academic year or join one of these groups that started recently:

1️⃣ Thursday 16:00-17:30 MSK, 7.5+
Started one month ago. Starting "agree/disagree" essays this week.

2️⃣ Wednesday 16:00-17:30 MSK, 7.5+
Started two months ago. Starting the "pie charts, bar charts, table" module this week.

💌 @iraluts

🦋 IELTS Writing: paraphrasing the topic 🦋

It's a nice, sunny Saturday afternoon... and what is Irina doing? Checking IELTS essays, of course. Today I want to share one thing I noticed in my student's introductions.

📝 Topic: "Advertising can change people's priorities and have a negative impact on their lives. To what extent do you agree or disagree?"

📝 Student's essay: "It is sometimes argued that advertising can alter people’s values and have a negative influence on their lives."

OK, technically, the student paraphrased the topic. But the paraphrase is very close to the original despite the fact that it contains different lexical items.

📝 My paraphrase: "There is an opinion that people can be affected by advertising to such an extent that the quality of their lives deteriorates significantly."

Let's try to zero in on what exactly makes my paraphrase different from the original? Well, lexical items for sure, but also the sentence structure.

One thing that allowed me to use a new sentence structure is using different subjects. For example, in the topic we had "advertising can change people's priorities" - then why don't we make "people" or "priorities" the subject of the sentence? Or, "have a negative impact on their lives" - why don't we make "lives" the subject?

Use this simple technique: try changing the subject of the sentence. Chances are the whole structure will be changed.

📝 And now, try to implement this simple technique and paraphrase this essay topic: "Some people think that rising prices on the fuel for cars and other vehicles can solve different environmental problems."

✈️ IELTS Writing Task 1: synonyms for "departures area" ✈️

Most words in Writing Task 1 don't really have synonyms. And they shouldn't because they denote very specific things.

Today, we were discussing the redevelopment plans for Southwest Airport (IELTS 16 Test 3). So you have "departures area." What else can you possible say? "Departures hall" and "Departures zone" - that's it.

Well, there is also "departure lounge," but it's different because it means "a seating area in an airport where passengers wait immediately prior to boarding" (so not the whole departures area of the airport).

But the more important question is why do you even need many synonyms in Writing Task 1?

You shouldn't need many. Avoiding repetitions should be achieved through words like "it" or "one" or "this part of the airport."

OK, here is a challenge for you. This week my students are writing a task that goes: "The plans below show two different layouts for the same training room." How would you avoid repeating "layout" and "training room"?

IELTS essays: What if I can't find a good example for my essay?

We were talking about examples in IELTS essays and, after we had looked at a bunch of bad examples, a student asked me, "What if I can't find a good example for my essay?" Here is my answer, which is twofold.

1️⃣ You don't always need an example. You need one when you want to illustrate a more abstract idea. But what if your ideas are very clear already and don't need an illustration? Then you don't need an example.

2️⃣ If you think you need an example, but can't think of one, you're in trouble - you are writing about something you don't know and can't convincingly argue. You shouldn't be writing that at all. Consider coming up with another argument.

What would be your answer to the student's question?❓

⛩ IELTS Task 1 maps: Is it an entrance or an exit? ⛩

Sometimes we have to discuss philosophical questions when we discuss Writing Task 1. Like, when you see a door on a map or a floor plan - is it an entrance or an exit? Aren't all (or most) entrances also exits at the same time? 🤨

So if you see a door which is not clearly labelled as "entrance" or "exit," what should you write?

To decide, think about the function of the door and the way the person experiences it. Let me exemplify.

This week, we were discussing the Southwest Airport task (IELTS 16 Test 3). So the departures areas will probably have an entrance, while the arrivals zone will probably have an exit (even though technically, of course, you can exit the departures zone and enter the arrivals zone).

If you have a hotel or a gym with a reception, it is better to say "near the entrance there is a reception" rather than "near the exit there is a reception." Because people typically see and need the reception when they enter the building (even though technically, of course, you might see or even need a reception when you leave).

I love IELTS Writing Task 1, do you? 💜

‼️ IELTS news: full assessment scales are now available on the official website. ‼️

"Full" means they are the exact ones used by examiners. But don't get your hopes up - they are very similar to the good old band denoscriptors. So nothing is really changing - we will keep working on developing ideas fully, using cohesion in a way that attracts no attention, et cetera, et cetera.

https://www.ielts.org/news/2023/ielts-writing-band-denoscriptors-and-key-assessment-criteria

‼️ Make sure to read both PDFs:

1️⃣
https://www.ielts.org/-/media/pdfs/ielts-writing-key-assessment-criteria.ashx

2️⃣
https://www.ielts.org/-/media/pdfs/ielts-writing-band-denoscriptors.ashx

📚 OER: Open Educational Resources 📚

I first heard of this thing at TESOL 2023 in Portland (Oregon) because I attended a talk by two people who created an OER textbook on academic writing.

Open Educational Resources (OER) are learning, teaching and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain or are under copyright that have been released under an open license, that permit no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation and redistribution by others.

Here is the link to the OER textbook the speakers I listened to created. It's called "Reading, Writing, Research, and Reasoning: An Advanced ESL Text."

https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Languages/English_as_a_Second_Language/Reading_Writing_Research_and_Reasoning%3A_An_Advanced_ESL_Text

Have you heard of or even used OERs?❔

Hi everyone!

My passion for writing, creative writing in particular, is well-documented. I typically run my famous Creative Writing Club for a month two times a year. But this year, I am considering taking it one step further and launching a proper course that will be taught by an American specialist through a grant program (which means the course will be free for you!). In order to apply for a grant, I want to get a better understanding of your needs. Help me out by filling out this form.

Yours,
Irina Lutsenko

https://forms.gle/kNBxUJ9nWdpbvGvPA

🌊 IELTS writing task 1: unusual paraphrase of "people" (a bad one and a good one) 🌊

We were discussing generating electricity in a hydro-power station in one IELTS class today.

One student wrote this: "... water produces electricity, which is then supplied to citizens." The last word, "citizens" caught our eye. Does one have to be a citizen to get access to that electricity? Does anyone check their passport before supplying them with electricity? Of course not. Can we say residents then? Or simply people?

None of the above.

Electricity is not supplied directly to people. It's supplied to buildings. So the best things to say in this case is: "... produces electricity, which is then supplied to residential buildings / public facilities / industrial facilities." The ending will depend on the diagram you have.

So it's better not to think about paraphrasing per se.

It's better to think about meaning.

Sick and tired of writing for exams? Do you want to find your voice and share your message? Then this course - one of my favorite courses to teach - is exactly what you need. 🌻

"Write for real: Blogging in English" is a course for people who want to write for real readers and share real thoughts. To hell with writing for exams - it’s time to write for real!

🌻 What will you learn to do?
- hook your reader and keep them engaged;
- write an effective noscript;
- write an effective introduction and conclusion;
- write concisely and precisely;
- use stylistic devices;
- try out different types of posts (from listicles to travel stories to book reviews);
- format and punctuate.

🌻 What will you write?
Social media posts and stories, something like these ones
written by me:
- https://vk.com/iralutse?w=wall-47977221_10109
- https://vk.com/iralutse?w=wall-47977221_7735
- https://vk.com/iralutse?w=wall-47977221_10703

and by my students:
- https://iraluts.blogspot.com/2021/03/at-risk-of-incurring-curse-from.html
- https://iraluts.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-finger-licking-dinner-dish-no-unicorn.html
- https://iraluts.blogspot.com/2022/07/saying-no-to-human-zoos.html
- https://iraluts.blogspot.com/2022/09/knocked-down-by-beauty.html

🌻 Will you get feedback?
You bet! You will write one piece a week, which I will scrutinize and comment on.

Price: 6000 rub a month (4 sessions). Feedback included (one answer a week).
Course duration: 3 months (12 classes)
Class length: 90 minutes

📅 Summer 2023: Tuesday 14-15:30 am MSK

💌 Pm me to sign up @iraluts

And find out more at https://vk.com/market-47977221?screen=group&w=product-47977221_3696542%2Fquery

📝 IELTS Writing: "These are great!" says Irina never rarely. 📝

In my first IELTS class today, I put these two conclusions written by my students in front of the group's eyes and said, "Look. These are simply great. Let's identify why."

I rarely say that. But do do give credit when credit is due. The conclusions below are excellent. They just are. As you read, try to understand why.

1️⃣ "To conclude, although non-conventional medicine appeals to many people, I believe this is a negative trend due to the threat it poses to a sick individual’s health and due to additional expenditures it incurs."

2️⃣ "In conclusion, turning to alternative medicine is neither safe nor economiсal. The former is explained by the absence of trustworthy scientific research and evidence, while the latter is illustrated by the exorbitant prices for different treatments. Thus, both of these reasons make the trend negative."

Here is why:

1️⃣ Each conclusion summarizes the respective essay so well you don't even need to read the whole thing to understand what it is about.

2️⃣ The arguments are united into one beautiful, coherent whole with the help of parallelism and other cohesive devices (which ones? share in the comments).

Pure beauty, isn't it?

📝 IELTS writing: a case of fixed CC 📝

Just in case you were wondering - CC stands for "Coherence and cohesion." In this post, I will share a piece of a paragraph written by a student with CC lacking and my rewrite.

🗒 Student's original writing:

"On the other hand, criminal behavior is often shaped by circumstances, which is the opinion I agree with. Poverty, hunger, and social injustice are the factors that can lead to criminal behavior. Being neither able to satisfy basic needs, such as food or clothes, nor having the access to more socially-accepted solutions, a person is likely to commit a crime."

The ideas are good, but each sentence seems to be disconnected.

🗒 My rewrite:
"On the other hand, criminal behavior is often shaped by circumstances, which is the opinion I agree with. People are more likely to commit a crime when they are unable to satisfy their basic needs, such as food or clothes, and when they don’t have access to more socially-accepted solutions for this problem. Among the most common factors leading to this are poverty, hunger, and social injustice."

How did I make the piece more cohesive?

Btw, this is not the only possible rewrite. Feel free to write your version in the comments. 📝

IELTS 18 is out! 🎉🎉🎉

Here are the essay topics:

Test 1
The most important aim of science should be to improve people's lives. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Test 2
Some university students want to learn about other subjects in addition to their main subjects. Others believe it is more important to give all their time and attention to studying for a qualification. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Test 3
In many countries around the world, rural people are moving to cities, so the population in the countryside is decreasing. Do you think this is a positive or a negative development?

Test 4
In many countries, people are now living longer than ever before. Some people say an ageing population creates problems for governments. Other people think there are benefits if society has more elderly people. To what extent do the advantages of having an ageing population outweigh the disadvantages?

I will be writing all of them shortly. Which one should I start with? Which one would you start with? Which one or ones seem challenging?

🦩 IELTS writing: a case of fixed CC 🦩

🗒 Topic: "Some people say that the best way to teach children to behave well is to punish them. Others argue that rewarding and praising children is a better way to teach them the difference between right and wrong. Discuss both views and give your own opinion."

🗒 Here is the student's paragraph arguing the first view.

"On the one hand, it could be argued that punishment is the most effective instrument to make children acquire social norms. Knowing that misbehavior is punished, children are likely to follow the rules set by adults. When experienced on a regular basis, unpleasant emotions, associated with punishment, such as fear and guilt, will encourage children to avoid them in the future. Punishment is therefore believed by some people to have a much more forceful effect than any other method."

In the third sentence, "negative emotions" come out of the blue, which means cohesion is lacking. Why don't we connect the emotions to the punishment more directly?

🗒 My re-write:

"On the one hand, it could be argued that punishment is the most effective instrument to make children acquire social norms. When children are punished, they experience negative emotions, such as fear and guilt. In order to avoid these unpleasant emotions in the future, children follow the rules set by adults and avoid misbehaving. Punishment is therefore believed by some people to have a much more forceful effect than any other method."

The paragraph now has a smoother flow.

🗒 And here is a paragraph from my essay:

"On the one hand, it could be argued that punishment is the best behavior modification technique as it teaches children out of undesirable behavior most effectively and quickly. It does so because when children are punished for unacceptable actions, they indelibly connect these to extremely unpleasant emotions. This deters them from repeating the actions because avoiding negative consequences or feelings is an inherent drive all people have. Punishment is thus believed by some people to have a much stronger effect on behavior than any other technique."

My original paragraph is more complex than the student's paragraph or than my rewrite, but I think it's important to move from simplicity to complexity one step at a time rather than trying to write something fancy and complex immediately (it won't work anyway).

Btw, did you know that I write almost all the IELTS tasks I give my students? 😜

📝 Not only is inversion a high-level structure, but it is also the root of all evil. 📝

Just kidding. What is the root of all evil is the pursuit of life hacks. One popular IELTS writing (and speaking) life hack seems to be "Use inversion. More inversion. And then some. It's such a high level structure that the examiners will go "wow" and immediately give you band score 10."

Admittedly, it is a high-level grammar structure. But grammar is not just grammar. It has meaning. Inversion is an emphatic structure, which is used to express very strong emotions, like shock or outrage. Because of this meaning, this structure is very rare and is even more so in IELTS essays.

Don't use inversion in sentences that don't require emphasis, like: "Not only do I like apples, but I also like pears," or "Not only do many people people eat fast food nowadays, but they also drink cola," or "Not only is there Academic IELTS, but there is also General Training IELTS."

If you use inversion in sentences that don't need emphasis you are not using it entirely accurately anyway. Because there are two components to accuracy: form and meaning. For complete accuracy you need to get both right.

Here are two examples of sentences in which inversion is appropriate:

1️⃣ Say, someone stole my IELTS essay. I could say: Not only did she steal my IELTS essay and published it as her own, but she also blocked me on social media when I confronted her about that.

2️⃣ Imagine I got a nasty subscriber who I decided to ban from my community on VK. I could say: Not only did he write toxic comments on my posts, but he also started assaulting other subscribers.

In these examples, my outrage that is totally justified. And so is the use of inversion.

Feel free to share your outrage in the comments (but use inversion wisely). 📝

🍒 IELTS Writing: Both views essays - can you agree with both opinions? 🍒

When it comes to essays with this instruction "Discuss both this views and give your own opinion," my strong recommendation is to simply side with one of the given views. But a student asked me recently, "What to do if both positions are sensible and provide a good point of view? Why can't I agree with both of them if I consider them mutually effective?"

There is a lot to unpack here.

First, in all IELTS essay topics, both positions are always sensible - if one position was clearly better than the other, there would be no point in asking.

Second, both positions can be mutually effective, but they can also be mutually exclusive. Let's take a look at some examples.

1️⃣ "Some people believe that professionals, such as doctors and engineers, should be required to work in the country where they did their training. Others believe they should be free to work in another country if they wish. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion."

People cannot be required to work and free to work at the same time. How can you agree with both these views? This doesn't make sense. The position is not clear.

2️⃣ "Some people say that the best way to teach children to behave well is to punish them. Others argue that rewarding and praising children is a better way to teach them the difference between right and wrong. Discuss both views and give your own opinion."

Two behavior modification techniques cannot be the best and better at the same time. They can co-exist and be effective, but they cannot both be the best.

3️⃣ "Some people believe that it is the responsibility of individuals to take care of their own health and diet. Others, however, believe that governments should make sure that their citizens have a healthy diet. Discuss both views and give your opinion."

Can an individual and the government take care of the individual's health at the same time? Yes, this makes sense.

The overall answer to all the "can I do this, can I do that" questions is: You can do anything you want in IELTS essays as long as you address the prompt appropriately, express the position clearly, explore the topic in depth and develop ideas fully.

🦉 IELTS writing: Is it ok to start a sentence with "and" or "but"? 🦉

You might have heard that you mustn't start your sentences with "and" or "but."

And for good reason.

But it's not that simple.

The good reason is that starting your sentences with these conjunctions gives your writing an informal and emphatic feel. And it's not the feel you want your IELTS writing to give off, right? So, ideally, do follow this advice when you can. But, at the same time, don't become too obsessed. IELTS is not about strict, rigid, prenoscriptive rules. IELTS is about the big picture. If everything else is absolutely impeccable, one sentence starting with one of these conjunctions shouldn't be a problem.

And did you know that minor errors and lapses are OK even at band 9?

So, my advice would be: Rather than chasing one-size-fits-all answers to questions like this, focus on the big picture.

But if you respectfully disagree, do share in the comments.