🌹 Synesthesia: a taste that will tickle your olfactory receptors louder than Mona Lisa 🌹

Synesthesia is the stylistic device we played with in my Creative Writing Club today.

It involves describing a thing with the help of senses not normally associated with it, e.g. describing a voice (= sound) with the help of touch, or a dish (= smell, taste) with the help of sound. This stylistic device allows you to come up with vivid denoscriptions that will be more memorable than something bland like, "beautiful" or "delicious" (or, god forbid, synonyms).

Just take a look at the beauty my awesome creative writers came up with for this prompt "He brought me a bouquet of roses —":

1️⃣ He brought me a bouquet of roses — an annoying earworm of a song you might hear in any shopping mall.

2️⃣ He brought me a bouquet of roses — and every time I looked at them it was like hearing bright red acrylic nails scratching on a chalkboard.

3️⃣ He brought me a bouquet of roses — a bland morning oatmeal eaten on a gloomy day.

4️⃣ He brought me a bouquet of roses — they were shouting at me with their red petals and thick thorns.

5️⃣ He brought me a bouquet of roses — crispy like the brown paper they were wrapped in, crying in protest in its high-pitch voice once I started uncovering them.

6️⃣ He bought me a bouquet of roses — a dozen small crimson vortexes, pulling me deeper into this mad infatuation and dulling my vigilance like a small brassband playing a lullaby.

It somehow turned out that roses don't have a good reputation...

So try your hand at synesthesia in the comments saying something good about a bouquet of roses or using a different flower:

📝 He bought me a bouquet of [any flower] + synesthesia.

🦩 Fancy terms like "an appositive": a do or a don't? 🦩

When I teach writing, I sometimes throw around fancy terms like "appositive" or "cataphoric reference." And students sometimes tell me, "Irina, do we really need to know the terms? Can't we learn to write without knowing the terminology?"

Generally, I don't think terminology is really necessary - you can be a good writer without knowing the academic terms for the tools you are using. But I still think the fancy terms can serve a useful function.

Consider the appositive. An appositive is a noun or pronoun set beside another noun or pronoun to explain or identify it. It is a really good way to avoid using a "which" clause, a clause that many students tend to overuse in IELTS writing.

Here is an example from IELTS Writing Task 1:

1️⃣ The less economical way, one with a "which" clause: "The figure then plunged to 2%, which was an all-time low."

2️⃣ The more economical way, one with an appositive: "The figure then plunged to 2%, an all-time low."

So, when giving feedback, I could tell a student, "Why don't you use that thing here where you use a noun or pronoun set beside another noun or pronoun to explain or identify it?" Or I could simply say, "Why don't you use an appositive here?"

Where do you stand on this? Are fancy terms a do or a don't? Also, speaking of fancy terminology, did you spot any resumptive modifiers in my post?❓

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🐾 Your foot in the door: pronunciation or writing? 🐾

My recent quest for a pronunciation coach gave me a lot of food for thought.

One discovery was that pronunciation classes are surprisingly expensive. But why? I asked my students. One opinion voiced was, “Pronunciation is what makes a good impression because it’s the first thing people hear from you. The stakes are high, and so are the prices.”

I wish I could say, “Can’t argue with that.” But I can argue with that – and I have experience to support my case.

Let’s consider some of my achievements – four random choices off the top of my head:
1. My 💎 application
2. My ELEX application
3. My RELO grant proposal
4. My TESOL 2024 talk proposal

The first two had an interview stage, a stage where you can let your pronunciation shine. But it was the second stage, a stage that you get to if and only if you pass the first one – writing.

The remaining two did not have any interview or speaking stage at all. The decision was made based entirely on writing.

It’s not just beautiful pronunciation that makes a good impression, you know. Writing can be your foot in the door for some awesome, life-changing experiences too.

🐾 What is your experience? What was your foot in the door – pronunciation or writing?

📝 Two new IELTS Writing groups starting soon:

- Wednesday 16:00-17:30 Moscow time (Starting on 7 February)
- Thursday 16:00-17:30 Moscow time (Starting on 8 February)

A 10-month, thorough skill-building course for levels C1+ and above (IELTS 7.5+). Synchronous, live, on Zoom, with me.

💌 Message me @iraluts

Find out more and read testimonials (don't need an account to open):
https://vk.com/iralutse?w=product-47977221_3696544%2Fquery

Thank you, British Council Uzbekistan! 💜

🦋 My Creative Writing Club 🦋

The winter season of my Creative Writing Club has come to its inevitable end. And it was one of the best seasons ever! 

Just think about this:

1⃣ We have a Google Doc that is 114 pages or 46,000 words long! I have docs like this in my IELTS courses, but those are 10 months long. This club was only one month long. 

2⃣ We have 440 active comments - and I mean just Google comments in the special boxes on the right. Under 20 people created 440 comments on each other's stories! This level of engagement is just beyond imagination. 

3⃣ The participants explored deep and meaningful topics: war, loss, suicide, motherhood, to name but a few. 

My Creative Writing Club is free and will remain free - because I want to give everyone an opportunity for a creative outlet in the company of like-minded writers. 🦋

Here are some stories from previous seasons. Stay tuned for stories from this season! 
- "Fixing Starts With the Tap" 
https://iraluts.blogspot.com/2021/10/fixing-starts-with-tap.html 
- "A tree, a home and a life. Split in half."  https://iraluts.blogspot.com/2023/08/a-tree-home-and-life-split-in-half.html 

And stay tuned for next season - summer 2024.   

Image by the wonderful Anna Skopina 🦋

📝 IELTS paragraph rewrite 📝

Topic: "The global demand for oil and gas is increasing. Some believe that we should therefore encourage the exploitation of remote areas. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?"

The paragraph below, written by a student, has very good key ideas, but the development is vague and repetitive (underlined). In my rewrite, I kept the key ideas, but made the development more specific.

📝 Original:

"Admittedly, exploiting pristine areas of the world for obtaining oil and gas does have two main benefits. One benefit is that it potentially saturates the oil and gas supply market, as a result of many new origins of these resources. This results in lower prices for these fossil fuels, thereby benefiting governments and their population as it improves their purchasing power. The second advantage would be that governments could enhance their supply of oil and gas for future generations. In fact, these resources are limited, meaning that our children and grandchildren might not have the privilege of using them. Only when new sources of supply are discovered, then can we be sure of meeting the oil and gas needs of our future generations."

📝 My rewrite:

"Admittedly, exploiting pristine areas of the world for obtaining oil and gas does have two main benefits. One benefit is that it potentially saturates the oil and gas supply market, thus resulting in lower prices for these fuels and preventing global shortages. This, in turn, would ensure continuing economic growth as most countries, industrial and transportation sectors in particular, are still predominantly dependent on these fuels. The second advantage would be that governments could ensure the supply of oil and gas for future generations. Since the supplies in existing locations are finite, they are bound to run out soon. While alternative fuel sources exist, they currently meet only a fraction of people's needs: renewable sources of energy, such as wind or solar power, are unreliable and nuclear power is not used widely due to safety concerns. Thus, the exploitation of new locations would leave future generations with enough fuel to prosper, while allowing them time to further develop alternative fuel sources to meet the demand."

This is not the easiest topic, I would say. Let's scratch our heads together about the disadvantages. The first one would obviously be the disruption of the environment. But what could be other disadvantages?❓

My writing tips. 📝💜

Beyond thrilled to have my essay featured on the British Council Uzbekistan channel. 💜

#Irina_writes_IELTS

Topic:Some people believe that the typical classroom situation with a teacher will disappear by 2050. Do you agree or disagree?

The world is changing, and so too is education. So much so that some people argue that the classical classroom setting with a teacher and a student present will no longer exist in the future. I, however, completely disagree with this opinion for two reasons.

One is that students will increasingly opt for synchronous classes with an educator teaching in real time. They will do so because they will seek live interaction with both the teacher and the other students in order to be able to ask questions immediately or exchange ideas as such interaction not only facilitates learning but also reinforces motivation. This has become evident in recent years after the proliferation of self-paced online courses, which people first welcomed as a more convenient way to study but then struggled to complete, with the average completion rate being only 5-15%. Thus, despite other formats being available, students will likely prefer more traditional ones, a choice that will generate demand and, consequently, supply on the part of the educational institutions.

Even more important is the second reason – the equality this type of education setting provides. Were all materials to be available in the digital form or online only, those who do not have access to technology or to a quiet learning space would have no access to education at all. Coming from deprived backgrounds already, such people would therefore be put at a further disadvantage. The traditional school-based system, while not impeccable or all-encompassing, still gives every student a chance to learn, thereby allowing them an opportunity to improve their social status. Given how crucial this system is as a social mobility mechanism, governments will preserve it in order to ensure equal access to education.

In conclusion, the classical, well-established form of education – one with teacher-led, classroom-based instruction – offers significant benefits in terms of knowledge acquisition and equality of opportunity. It is for this reason that this form of education will, in my opinion, exist well into the future, regardless of how the world might change.

336 words

Irina Lutsenko

Finally, speaking. 🪻💜

How to enjoy IELTS essays

A question from a subscriber: “And I have a question for @iraluts, a guru of IELTS writing. What are your recommendations on how to enjoy writing exam essays when it is not creative writing at all?”

I have three recommendations.

1️⃣ Rewire your attitude. To do so, check where the attitude comes from. Sometimes I see that the negative attitude to IELTS writing comes from other people and toxic comments about how stupid the topics are rather than from some real fundamental distaste for writing essays. Stay away from negativity and join communities in which people actually like IELTS. Negativity is an obstacle.

2️⃣ Find connections between the topic and your life. Try the topic on for size – imagine that the IELTS topic is a personal question to you. I’ll give you a couple of examples.

📝 Topic: "There’s no need to go out to see a live performance (a show, a concert) because it’s better to watch it on screens. Do you agree or disagree?"

This is fairly straightforward. I personally like live performances even though I can watch the same artists on YouTube. Why? Think about your last performance. Why did you go? Did you enjoy it?

📝 Topic: "Some people think governments should act to change the way people live so that they live a healthy life. Others, however, feel people should be free to live as they want. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion."

This topic is a bit more philosophical. Let’s explore it. What are some things governments can and cannot do to your lifestyle? Let’s say they recommend eating five portions of fruit a day. Are you fine with that? How about eating less meat? What if they introduce obligatory “нормы гто” exams? What if they outlaw smoking entirely? Would you personally welcome these measures? Would you be happy to comply? Why or why not? Would you rather rely on your own decisions? Why?

3️⃣ Imagine that someone is asking you the question in the topic because they need answers to make important decisions.

Let’s go back to the topics above. For the first topic, imagine that someone wants to buy or sell a concert venue or an event-planning business. So they need your advice because they don’t want to end up bankrupt.

‼️ One important caveat for recommendations 2 and 3: Don’t write any of these things directly. Only use these recommendations to spark interest and find arguments for your essay.

Any other recommendations? Share in the comments.