IELTS processes: a common (referencing) problem

"The diagram gives information about the process of making carbonated drinks."

Look at this part of the overview written by a student. Do you notice the problem?

1️⃣ "... a series of various machines, passing through which water is treated with some chemicals, carbonated and mixed with additives before it is ready for distribution."

What does "it" refer to? Water. The problem is what is distributed is not water.

Here is a part of another overview with the same problem.

2️⃣ "Before being packaged, water undergoes processing, which involves thorough purification, carbonation, and mixing with additives."

We don't have a referencing problem per se here, but the fundamental problem is the same: the subject for the first clause is "water," but it's not water that is packaged.

In processes, things change their state and turn into new things. Be mindful of the nouns, pronouns, and verbs.

Btw, how would you rewrite the first or the second sentence?

Ways to avoid repetitions, ranked from best to worst

1. Ellipsis*
2. Reference, substitution
3. Shell nouns
4. Nothing wrong with actual repetitions
5. Synonyms

In the quiz above, can you write, say, "in the next three age groups"? Of course, you can. It's not a wrong answer. But it's not the best answer.

First, ellipsis* is just more elegant. Second, think about the big picture. It's likely that you will have to write "age group" (and synonyms) many more times in your answer. (This specific sentence was taken from my answer to an IELTS task with seven age groups and two genders.) Even if you do find many ways to paraphrase "age group," they will still attract attention and make the answer bulky.

* Ellipsis = the omission from speech or writing of a word or words that are superfluous or able to be understood from contextual clues.

So, if you see an opportunity for ellipsis, seize it.

IELTS Writing is like a delicious layered cake you get to have for dessert after you eat your stinky Brussels sprouts (i.e. reading and listening).

🦋 Please welcome our next Writing Incubator workshop:

🦋 "Feeling the Words: using the five senses in writing" by Elizaveta Zanozina

A good text is like a good croissant. It should fill your nostrils with its rich buttery smell and your mouth with its almondy notes. You should hear it crunch under your soft fingers, its chocolate filling warming your fingers. Its perfect shape and color should make your eyes go wide - a sign of wanting more and more.

Let's face it: not every croissant is like this. Let alone a text. But what if we try to change that?

In the workshop, we are going to practice using the five essential senses in our own writing by creating both traditional denoscriptions and mixing the unmixiable.

📅 26 May, Sunday, 11:00 am MSK, Zoom

🦋 The workshop is free. To join, write a comment on this post finishing this sentence frame: "IELTS writing is like + food + explanation."

For example, "IELTS Writing is like a delicious layered cake you get to have for dessert after you eat your stinky Brussels sprouts (i.e. reading and listening)."

💌 Then message me to get the link to the workshop @iraluts.

Irina's Sunday morning ☀️🌲📝

The morning sun was yelling at her, ruthlessly and insistently, "Irina! Irina! Irina! Wake up, wake up, wake up!" As if the yelling was not enough, it decided to burn her face with its bitter, acidic touch.

Irina complied and stumbled to the kitchen. The mumbling of the bubbling coffee pot was more reassuring.

IELTS joined the cacophony of the morning concert.

Task 1 whispered ever-so tenderly, "Irina, write me first. Look - just three lines. Forest industry. You will smell the pine trees as you write, I promise."

"Irina," Task 2 roared, "Write me first," its roar reverberating and bouncing off the walls.

"No, Task 2! This is no way to lure me into writing! Tone it down!"

Irina sat down at her computer. A subtle coniferous smell emanating from the keys as she clacked away...

My imagination can run wild sometimes, especially with proper guidance. But seriously though, can you think of a better way to spend a Sunday morning than doing some writing, both creative and IELTS?

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" 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);
- format and punctuate.

🌻 Some examples by students:
- https://iraluts.blogspot.com/2022/09/knocked-down-by-beauty.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

📅 Summer 2024: Friday 14-15:30 MSK
📅 Course duration: 2 months (8 classes)
🌻 Price: 8000 rub a month (4 sessions). Feedback included (one answer a week).

More: https://vk.com/iralutse?w=product-47977221_3696542%2Fquery

💌 Dm me @iraluts

Super-excited!!!!!!! I loved being a guest on this podcast!!!!! 🩷🦋

Beyond grateful to Mukhammadali, Alisher, and the video team for this podcast! I loved the experience! 🩷

Happy Sunday and happy watching! 🦋

🦩 Reducing the word count 🦩

There is little I love more about writing than reducing the word count on my own texts.

Yesterday, I submitted three speaker proposals for TESOL 2025 in California 🇺🇸. The word limit on one proposal is 300 words. The first reduction – from 380 words to 320 – is easy. But when it comes to the final edit, you have to fight for every word.

Here are some examples of my fights:

1️⃣
Original:
I give students a piece of text and ask them what potential writing tools they notice.

Reduced:
I give students a paragraph and ask them what potential writing tools they notice.

2️⃣
Original:
While the examples come from my work based on articles from “The Guardian” and “New Scientist,” the fundamental principles behind the activities are the same for any kind of reading.

Reduced:
While the examples come from my work based on articles from “The Guardian” and “New Scientist”, the fundamental principles are universal.

3️⃣
Original:
While I use these activities in my creative writing club, they can be used in different writing classes (except academic writing).

Reduced:
While I use these activities in my creative writing club, they can be used for different purposes.

Your turn. Reduce the word count of this piece:

“I give students a task that requires them to write a full coherent text. The task itself can be different and depends on the course requirements. For example, in this specific case, I asked students to write a letter to the editor with a response to the article we read.”

My overview for this awful task 📝

"Overall, out of the given fruit types, oranges predominated in exports, followed by lemons, grapefruits, and other types. While different countries were the leading exporters of different types of fruit, the largest suppliers in terms of total volumes were South Africa, the USA, and Mexico."

📝 Share yours in the comments.

#IELTS #ieltswriting #ieltswritingtask1

Writing about myself is like treasure hunting – there’s always a chance to stumble upon some something unexpectedly valuable.

🦋 Please welcome our next Writing Incubator workshop:

🦋 "Self-presentation in writing: How to write about yourself even if you hate it" by Maria Botina

Writing about yourself oftentimes feels just as cringy as the interview question “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” Ideas are aplenty, yet doubts also abound. What should I write? I have nothing special to say…

It’s time to leave the doubts in the rear view mirror and calmly work out the strategies to approach each piece of writing with specific goals and examples in mind. This is what we’ll do in our next Writing Incubator workshop.

More specifically:

- We will learn about the types of writing where self-presentation is required: motivation letter, statement of purpose, objective statement, personal statement, covering letter.
- Brainstorm ideas and examples of what makes you special and interesting for the reviewers.
- Learn to identify which of them will work best in what type of writing.
- And, of course, practice!

📅 9 June, Sunday, 11:00 am Moscow time, Zoom

🦋 The workshop is free. To join, write a comment on this post with a creative ending to “Writing about myself is like … .”

💌 Then message me to get the link to the workshop @iraluts.

Writing your own bio is not as easy as it sounds. 📝

Since I am a regular speaker at different ELT events, I already have a whole host of bios of different lengths and with different foci. This is why I could afford to have some fun writing my bios in today’s “Writing Incubator” workshop.

Here are two:

1️⃣ Irina Lutsenko is a dynamic and practice-oriented English teacher with 20 years of experience under her belt … who shudders when she hears “linguo-didactic methods.”

2️⃣ Irina Lutsenko is a self-employed writing teacher who – surprisingly – doesn’t share her breakfast pictures on her socials. A passionate writer, she skips breakfast because morning is her sacred time for writing IELTS answers.

On a more serious note, writing a bio can be hard not only because there is typically a strict word count limit (from 30 to 100 words), but also because you need to tailor it to each specific purpose.

3️⃣ Here is my serious bio for my talks about writing at the MISIS university conference in May:

"Irina Lutsenko is a dynamic English teacher with 20 years of experience under her belt. An alumna of three American exchange programs, Irina is also an avid test taker, boasting IELTS 9 (twice) and CPE A (twice). Irina's passion is writing – she writes tirelessly and inspires others to follow suit. On her mission to empower as many people to write as possible, she designs her own authentic writing courses. Her students write – from essays to novels."

See how each of my bios, fun and serious, focuses on a different aspect.

What’s your bio? Share in the comments (a fun or a serious one). Word limit: 50 words.

It. One tiny word, one giant source of confusion. 🦩

All the sentences below (written by students) contain the same mistake: "it" is used in different meanings and/or to refer to different nouns inside one sentence. Don't do that. And offer your rewrites in the comments.

1️⃣ "The development of such infrastructure is, however, of paramount importance as without it it might be challenging for individuals to have an active lifestyle."

2️⃣ "ChatGPT might make some jobs obsolete. Even more worrisome is the effect it can have on students' understanding of the topics, making it shallow and insufficient."

3️⃣ "Some believe that it is the government’s responsibility to address this crisis as it has the power to influence people’s behavior by introducing new laws and regulations." *

* The last sentence also contains an "implied antecedent" mistake. Find out more here: https://news.1rj.ru/str/irinalutsenko/317

#IELTS #ieltswriting #ieltswritingtask2

IELTS Writing Task 1 Overviews Sprint: 10 days, 10 overviews

It's plain and simple: Join the sprint to write one overview a day for 10 days. Every day, you will get one IELTS Writing Task 1. Within the next 24 hours, you have to write your overview. Then you get mine to compare and the next task.

Dates: 12-23 June
Start: 12 June, 10 pm Moscow time
Place: Telegram chat, no real time meetings
Price: free
Feedback: no individual feedback
Important:
- This sprint will feature tasks with figures only.
- If you don't write by the deadline, you have to leave.
- If you don't write, but don't want to leave, no worries - you can stay if you pay a fine of 1,000 RUB (for each instance of not writing an overview).
- Deadline: 10 pm Moscow time every day.

How to join:

To join, write an overview for the attached task in the comments (use the "spoiler" feature on Telegram). Then message me to confirm @iraluts. 💌

When you message me, please introduce yourself properly. My name is Irina Lutsenko - I want to know yours. Nameless subscribers and people with nicknames or aliases won't be admitted. 🌷

We're off to the races! Stay tuned for the next sprint in July! 🏃‍♀️

#IELTS #ieltswriting #ieltswritingtask1