Thanksgiving and IELTS Writing Task 1 or read like Irina 🦃
Irina reading an article about Thanksgiving be like: "OK, what do we have here for IELTS Writing Task 1?"
📝 Ways to introduce figures:
- nine-in-ten Americans (91%)
- Another 5%
- Around a quarter (26%)
📝 Avoiding repetition:
- some people are more likely than others to do so
- the same is true of 88% of immigrants who
- Ellipsis: 26% of Americans plan to have dinner with six to 10 other people, 15% with three to five other people, and 4% with one to two other people
📝 Topic sentences and paragraph transitions:
- Immigration status also plays a role.
- Smaller get-togethers are more common
📝 Punctuation to communicate meaning:
- Dashes: – whether it’s because they are working or traveling or for some other reason –
- Colon: Smaller get-togethers are more common: 26% of Americans plan to have dinner with six to 10 other people ...
📝 Even more phrases for cohesion:
- The rest don’t celebrate Thanksgiving.
- The remaining Americans plan to have Thanksgiving dinner alone ...
📝 What else? Ah, right, a correlative conjunction pair:
- whether it’s because they are working or traveling or for some other reason
Do you read like I do? Did you see all this beauty?
Head over to the source to mine even more great IELTS Writing Task 1 language and then share in the comments what you mined. 🦃
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/11/21/the-vast-majority-of-americans-celebrate-thanksgiving-but-their-traditions-and-activities-vary-widely/
#ieltswritingtask1
Irina reading an article about Thanksgiving be like: "OK, what do we have here for IELTS Writing Task 1?"
📝 Ways to introduce figures:
- nine-in-ten Americans (91%)
- Another 5%
- Around a quarter (26%)
📝 Avoiding repetition:
- some people are more likely than others to do so
- the same is true of 88% of immigrants who
- Ellipsis: 26% of Americans plan to have dinner with six to 10 other people, 15% with three to five other people, and 4% with one to two other people
📝 Topic sentences and paragraph transitions:
- Immigration status also plays a role.
- Smaller get-togethers are more common
📝 Punctuation to communicate meaning:
- Dashes: – whether it’s because they are working or traveling or for some other reason –
- Colon: Smaller get-togethers are more common: 26% of Americans plan to have dinner with six to 10 other people ...
📝 Even more phrases for cohesion:
- The rest don’t celebrate Thanksgiving.
- The remaining Americans plan to have Thanksgiving dinner alone ...
📝 What else? Ah, right, a correlative conjunction pair:
- whether it’s because they are working or traveling or for some other reason
Do you read like I do? Did you see all this beauty?
Head over to the source to mine even more great IELTS Writing Task 1 language and then share in the comments what you mined. 🦃
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/11/21/the-vast-majority-of-americans-celebrate-thanksgiving-but-their-traditions-and-activities-vary-widely/
#ieltswritingtask1
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Missing word? 📊
New York serves the largest share of disabled students in the country at 20.5% of its overall public school enrollment. Pennsylvania (20.2%), Maine (20.1%) and Massachusetts (19.3%) serve the [_?_] shares. (Source: pewresearch.org)
New York serves the largest share of disabled students in the country at 20.5% of its overall public school enrollment. Pennsylvania (20.2%), Maine (20.1%) and Massachusetts (19.3%) serve the [_?_] shares. (Source: pewresearch.org)
Anonymous Quiz
7%
further
13%
runner-up
31%
remaining
29%
next-largest
7%
second-to-large
12%
lower-ranking
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To capitalize or not to capitalize Category Names in IELTS Writing Task 1? 📊
A great question from students!
If you have the task above, should you write:
- The salaries in Tourism were ...
- The salaries in tourism were ...
- The salaries in "Tourism" were ... ?
Personally, I see no reason to capitalize category names that are usual nouns.
But let's check with some resources.
1️⃣ The Pew Research website
Here are some random sentences about sectors of employment:
"Among the major service-industry sectors, the biggest was trade, transportation and utilities (27.8 million workers), followed by education and health services (24.3 million), professional and business services (21.5 million) and leisure and hospitality (16.7 million)."
(Source: Link 1)
"Last year, the two groups with the highest unionization levels were protective service occupations (such as police officers, firefighters and security guards) and education, training and library occupations, both at 35.3%. Not surprisingly, both groups are composed largely of public-sector workers."
(Source: Link 2)
2️⃣ The Little, Brown Handbook (H. Ramsey Fowler, Jane E. Aaron)
Capitalize only when a rule says you must.
❌ I am determined to take an Economics course before I graduate from College.
✅ I am determined to take an economics course before I graduate from college.
✅ I am determined to take Economics 101 before I graduate from Madison College.
It seems capitalization of category names that are common nouns is not necessary. The question is whether it it a mistake (along with quotation marks)... What do you think? ❓
#ieltswritingtask1
A great question from students!
If you have the task above, should you write:
- The salaries in Tourism were ...
- The salaries in tourism were ...
- The salaries in "Tourism" were ... ?
Personally, I see no reason to capitalize category names that are usual nouns.
But let's check with some resources.
1️⃣ The Pew Research website
Here are some random sentences about sectors of employment:
"Among the major service-industry sectors, the biggest was trade, transportation and utilities (27.8 million workers), followed by education and health services (24.3 million), professional and business services (21.5 million) and leisure and hospitality (16.7 million)."
(Source: Link 1)
"Last year, the two groups with the highest unionization levels were protective service occupations (such as police officers, firefighters and security guards) and education, training and library occupations, both at 35.3%. Not surprisingly, both groups are composed largely of public-sector workers."
(Source: Link 2)
2️⃣ The Little, Brown Handbook (H. Ramsey Fowler, Jane E. Aaron)
Capitalize only when a rule says you must.
❌ I am determined to take an Economics course before I graduate from College.
✅ I am determined to take an economics course before I graduate from college.
✅ I am determined to take Economics 101 before I graduate from Madison College.
It seems capitalization of category names that are common nouns is not necessary. The question is whether it it a mistake (along with quotation marks)... What do you think? ❓
#ieltswritingtask1
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Our last workshop of the season...
🦋 “Grammar mistakes that go past the editor’s eye” by Evgenia Karabatova
Have you ever caught a typo in a book? Spotted an awkward sentence in a published article? Has that experience made you question your own accuracy in English?
In this workshop, we’ll dive into the sea of sneaky mistakes that slip through professional editors and teach you how to identify and correct them.
What will we do?
- Explore real-life examples of published errors.
- Learn about common mistakes, such as the infamous comma splice, misplaced modifiers or subject-verb agreement.
- Participate in exercises to spot and correct errors in text.
- Apply your skills by drafting and editing short passages, focusing on clarity and precision.
This workshop will be of great use for everyone aiming to refine their writing pieces and sharpen their grammar-checking skills.
Evgenia is a regular participant of all my creative writing projects and an avid creative writer. She is also an avid listener (!) of books in English. Follow her Telegram channel Под Звуки Книг https://news.1rj.ru/str/evgreads 🦋
📆 8 December, Sunday, 11:00 am MSK, Zoom
💌 The workshop is free. To join, write a creative ending as a comment on this post for, "Mistakes are nothing but ... " and then message me to get the link @iraluts.
‼️ Please note that this is a workshop, not a webinar or a lecture. If you join, you have to participate.
🦋 “Grammar mistakes that go past the editor’s eye” by Evgenia Karabatova
Have you ever caught a typo in a book? Spotted an awkward sentence in a published article? Has that experience made you question your own accuracy in English?
In this workshop, we’ll dive into the sea of sneaky mistakes that slip through professional editors and teach you how to identify and correct them.
What will we do?
- Explore real-life examples of published errors.
- Learn about common mistakes, such as the infamous comma splice, misplaced modifiers or subject-verb agreement.
- Participate in exercises to spot and correct errors in text.
- Apply your skills by drafting and editing short passages, focusing on clarity and precision.
This workshop will be of great use for everyone aiming to refine their writing pieces and sharpen their grammar-checking skills.
Evgenia is a regular participant of all my creative writing projects and an avid creative writer. She is also an avid listener (!) of books in English. Follow her Telegram channel Под Звуки Книг https://news.1rj.ru/str/evgreads 🦋
📆 8 December, Sunday, 11:00 am MSK, Zoom
💌 The workshop is free. To join, write a creative ending as a comment on this post for, "Mistakes are nothing but ... " and then message me to get the link @iraluts.
‼️ Please note that this is a workshop, not a webinar or a lecture. If you join, you have to participate.
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Missing word? ☃️
"But as the technology evolved, so [__?__] did an extraordinary idea." (Source: New Scientist)
"But as the technology evolved, so [__?__] did an extraordinary idea." (Source: New Scientist)
Anonymous Quiz
31%
as
30%
much
14%
well
13%
too
11%
also
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Dictionaries for IELTS writing at levels 7.5 and higher 📚
I will tell you right off the bat: The Cambridge and Oxford dictionaries are not it. I tell my students not to rely on them. Not that they are bad. They are just simplified—they only give you the basic understanding of the word, without nuance. They are meant for lower level learners. For top scores, we need nuance and precision.
To really really understand a word, we actually need to check several sources. I tell my students to look the word up in at least three dictionaries. So you can still use Cambridge or Oxford dictionaries, but make sure to use more.
My go-to dictionaries:
1️⃣ Merriam-Webster. I love it for the examples. The phonetic writing is a nightmare. Some definitions can be convoluted.
2️⃣ Collins. It has a different way to give definitions—as a full sentence. The examples are shorter than in Merriam-Webster.
3️⃣ Dictionary. The simplest of the three, I guess. The sources of the examples are different from the two dictionaries above.
Important!‼️
When you look the word up, read the example sentences from the web or from corpora that go with the definitions. The examples might be even more important than the definitions.
Here is what to pay attention to when exploring the example sentences:
- Is the noun mainly used in singular or plural?
- is the verb typically used in active or passive?
- Is the verb transitive or intransitive?
- Is the word mostly used in positive or negative contexts?
- Is it used in specific context only (e.g. economic or biological)?
- What words are used around the word? What are the collocating nouns, adjectives, and verbs? What prepositions is it used with? If the word has several prepositions, for example, which ones are more common? Is there a difference in meaning?
One thing about writing is that students suddenly realize they don't know certain words as well as they think they do. I keep correcting words like "comprise, on the contrary, tendency."
So I tell my students, "Dictionaries are your best friend. Use them religiously and check each word in at least three."
And sometimes dictionaries don't help. In another post, I'll tell you how to use Google search to check phrases, chunks, and half-sentences if dictionaries don't help. (In the meantime, you can give me an example of a chunk you needed or used in your writing, but couldn't check in a dictionary.) 📝
I will tell you right off the bat: The Cambridge and Oxford dictionaries are not it. I tell my students not to rely on them. Not that they are bad. They are just simplified—they only give you the basic understanding of the word, without nuance. They are meant for lower level learners. For top scores, we need nuance and precision.
To really really understand a word, we actually need to check several sources. I tell my students to look the word up in at least three dictionaries. So you can still use Cambridge or Oxford dictionaries, but make sure to use more.
My go-to dictionaries:
Important!
When you look the word up, read the example sentences from the web or from corpora that go with the definitions. The examples might be even more important than the definitions.
Here is what to pay attention to when exploring the example sentences:
- Is the noun mainly used in singular or plural?
- is the verb typically used in active or passive?
- Is the verb transitive or intransitive?
- Is the word mostly used in positive or negative contexts?
- Is it used in specific context only (e.g. economic or biological)?
- What words are used around the word? What are the collocating nouns, adjectives, and verbs? What prepositions is it used with? If the word has several prepositions, for example, which ones are more common? Is there a difference in meaning?
One thing about writing is that students suddenly realize they don't know certain words as well as they think they do. I keep correcting words like "comprise, on the contrary, tendency."
So I tell my students, "Dictionaries are your best friend. Use them religiously and check each word in at least three."
And sometimes dictionaries don't help. In another post, I'll tell you how to use Google search to check phrases, chunks, and half-sentences if dictionaries don't help. (In the meantime, you can give me an example of a chunk you needed or used in your writing, but couldn't check in a dictionary.) 📝
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Number of stages in a process 🤷♀️
This is the task from my IELTS Writing class today. Each next overview raised my eyebrows higher and higher.
- Overall, the process consists of two parts, ...
- Overall, the process involves three key phases: ...
- Overall, the process consists of four main steps: ...
- Overall, there are five main steps involved in the process, ...
So I ask my students, "What does this teach us about process overviews?"
Don't get obsessed with the precise number of stages. Sometimes it's not clear what to count as a separate stage—and that's OK, so don't busy yourself with that.
You can write a great overview without "The process consists of N stages."
My overview begins "The process involves using... ." Try your hand at this overview in the comments (using my beginning or your own.) 📝
This is the task from my IELTS Writing class today. Each next overview raised my eyebrows higher and higher.
- Overall, the process consists of two parts, ...
- Overall, the process involves three key phases: ...
- Overall, the process consists of four main steps: ...
- Overall, there are five main steps involved in the process, ...
So I ask my students, "What does this teach us about process overviews?"
My overview begins "The process involves using... ." Try your hand at this overview in the comments (using my beginning or your own.) 📝
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What coordinating conjunction does 🔤 stand for in FANBOYS? ☃️
Anonymous Quiz
47%
Nor
11%
Neither
11%
Nevertheless
9%
Notwithstanding
22%
Whaaaaa? Gotta google FANBOYS...
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One major stumbling block in IELTS writing for many people is the time constraints. Very few people can comfortably finish their writing in 60 minutes. By "comfortably" I mean calmly, with proper brainstorming and proofreading.
You might struggle too. But when you start working on timing, you might realize you "lose" something else—ideas, cohesion, lexis, and/or grammar—and this thought might deter you from working on timing. And then you are stuck in a vicious cycle.
To help my students get out of this cycle, I told them to do the following as I sent them off on the winter break: Go back and write all our course tasks from September-December again, under strict timing conditions.
Yes, again. I know—you might say, "It's not sensible to write the same task again." But it is. When you write the same task, part of the difficulty is removed because you don't have to come up with ideas (organization, lexis, grammar). Removing part of the difficulty is very sensible if you struggle. At this point, it's also sensible to ignore any other weaknesses and not to seek feedback.
And then you can write the same task the third or even the fourth time—until you hit the desired time limit. You can stop there, or you can continue and add challenges, such as certain lexical items or grammatical structures.
Generally, meeting the time limit in IELTS writing is just a matter of the number of answers you have written, just a sheer number. And if writing many different IELTS answers is out of reach today—for whatever reason—write the same answer two or three times.
And while we are on the topic of timing, I tell my students, "Forget the recommended timing—20 and 40 minutes. Aim for 15 and 30 minutes—you need time to brainstorm, take notes (albeit mentally) and proofread. Maybe even to take a bathroom break."
So if you needed something to do during this insanely long New Year break, here is an idea: Work on finishing your IELTS writing set in 45 minutes.
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Two writing workshops coming up at the beginning of January ⛄️
1️⃣ "Coherence and Cohesion in exam essays"
This workshop on coherence and cohesion will feature:
- explanation of the difference between coherence and cohesion;
- a summary of most common cohesive devices and techniques (at least eight - yeah, it's not just adverbs or pronouns);
- examples of good and flawed or even non-existing CC;
- exercises and quizzes.
All examples are based on my IELTS essays, but the fundamental principles are the same for essays in different exams.
Find out more at (you don't need an account to view):
https://vk.com/market/product/coherence-and-cohesion-47977221-8662991
2️⃣ "Dynamic writing: how to break a wall of text"
No one wants to read a wall of text—and you don't want tot write one.
This workshop will feature some techniques that make texts more dynamic and engaging:
- Paragraphing
- Bullet points and subheadings
- Punctuation to enhance meaning: colon, brackets, dashes, ellipsis
- Varying sentence length, structures, and types
- Word count reduction
- Some simple stylistic devices
Find out more at (you don't need an account to view):
https://vk.com/market/product/quotdynamic-writingquot-workshop-47977221-8621058
💌 @iraluts
This workshop on coherence and cohesion will feature:
- explanation of the difference between coherence and cohesion;
- a summary of most common cohesive devices and techniques (at least eight - yeah, it's not just adverbs or pronouns);
- examples of good and flawed or even non-existing CC;
- exercises and quizzes.
All examples are based on my IELTS essays, but the fundamental principles are the same for essays in different exams.
Find out more at (you don't need an account to view):
https://vk.com/market/product/coherence-and-cohesion-47977221-8662991
No one wants to read a wall of text—and you don't want tot write one.
This workshop will feature some techniques that make texts more dynamic and engaging:
- Paragraphing
- Bullet points and subheadings
- Punctuation to enhance meaning: colon, brackets, dashes, ellipsis
- Varying sentence length, structures, and types
- Word count reduction
- Some simple stylistic devices
Find out more at (you don't need an account to view):
https://vk.com/market/product/quotdynamic-writingquot-workshop-47977221-8621058
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Yet another year with fluctuating fortunes - but with some awesome events too! ❤️
In 2024, I proudly
- ... presented at TESOL 2024 in Tampa, Florida!!! 🇺🇸
The TESOL International Convention and Expo is the biggest event in the ELT industry, with over 3,000 attendees from all over the world. Presenting at this event is undoubtedly one of the most important highlights of my teaching career. More: https://vk.com/iralutse?w=wall-47977221_12168
- ... was a guest on a podcast in Bukhara!!! 🇺🇿
One of the most treasured memories of 2024. Beyond grateful to Mukhammadali, Alisher, and the video team for this podcast. Absolutely loved being a guest on Ad Astra Muse! Watch it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly7ZbJUBfYc&t=1s
- ... presented at MISIS University Conference in Moscow. 🇷🇺
Another hugely important highlight of my career because I gave my first ever plenary talk. And it was the first time ever when I presented two days in a row. Absolutely wonderful, warm, welcoming audience!!!
- ... taught a creative writing course at ITMO University. Isn't is great that a technical university invested into a creative writing course for its students?
- ... taught an intensive IELTS camp for gifted kids from the LETOVO school. I don't often work with teenagers, but teaching these kids was pure pleasure. Grateful to have been invited.
- ... took two courses with American instructors as a student: "Writing College and Grant Applications" and "Drama Techniques to Boost Speaking and Writing Skills." New knowledge, new ideas, new perspectives.
- ... wrote another 3000-word story (my third one) in my "Creative Writing Bootcamp" project. Couldn't have done it without my creative team.
- ... continued the short story reading club "Small Stories Big Ideas." Hosted by the one and only Irina Kireeva - an avid reader and a professional book club host, both in person and online.
- ... continued spreading the passion for writing with free projects: "Creative Writing Club," "Writing Incubator," and "Poetry Writing mini-course." These projects are done by my like-minded writing fans who are happy to share their passion too: Veronika Shirobokova, Alena Nikitina, Evgenia Karabatova, Elizaveta Zanozina, Maria Botina, Svetlana Kukharevich.
I couldn't have done so much - and so meaningfully - without the people mentioned and many others helping behind the scenes. My unending gratitude to every single person who contributed and supported us! 💜
And, of course, the wonderful New Year image is by the wonderful Anna Skopina - the artist behind all my visuals on social media over the last two years. So happy to have found her! 🧡
My motto for 2025 is "Do more." What is yours?❤️
In 2024, I proudly
- ... presented at TESOL 2024 in Tampa, Florida!!! 🇺🇸
The TESOL International Convention and Expo is the biggest event in the ELT industry, with over 3,000 attendees from all over the world. Presenting at this event is undoubtedly one of the most important highlights of my teaching career. More: https://vk.com/iralutse?w=wall-47977221_12168
- ... was a guest on a podcast in Bukhara!!! 🇺🇿
One of the most treasured memories of 2024. Beyond grateful to Mukhammadali, Alisher, and the video team for this podcast. Absolutely loved being a guest on Ad Astra Muse! Watch it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly7ZbJUBfYc&t=1s
- ... presented at MISIS University Conference in Moscow. 🇷🇺
Another hugely important highlight of my career because I gave my first ever plenary talk. And it was the first time ever when I presented two days in a row. Absolutely wonderful, warm, welcoming audience!!!
- ... taught a creative writing course at ITMO University. Isn't is great that a technical university invested into a creative writing course for its students?
- ... taught an intensive IELTS camp for gifted kids from the LETOVO school. I don't often work with teenagers, but teaching these kids was pure pleasure. Grateful to have been invited.
- ... took two courses with American instructors as a student: "Writing College and Grant Applications" and "Drama Techniques to Boost Speaking and Writing Skills." New knowledge, new ideas, new perspectives.
- ... wrote another 3000-word story (my third one) in my "Creative Writing Bootcamp" project. Couldn't have done it without my creative team.
- ... continued the short story reading club "Small Stories Big Ideas." Hosted by the one and only Irina Kireeva - an avid reader and a professional book club host, both in person and online.
- ... continued spreading the passion for writing with free projects: "Creative Writing Club," "Writing Incubator," and "Poetry Writing mini-course." These projects are done by my like-minded writing fans who are happy to share their passion too: Veronika Shirobokova, Alena Nikitina, Evgenia Karabatova, Elizaveta Zanozina, Maria Botina, Svetlana Kukharevich.
I couldn't have done so much - and so meaningfully - without the people mentioned and many others helping behind the scenes. My unending gratitude to every single person who contributed and supported us! 💜
And, of course, the wonderful New Year image is by the wonderful Anna Skopina - the artist behind all my visuals on social media over the last two years. So happy to have found her! 🧡
My motto for 2025 is "Do more." What is yours?
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Click on the links for more details and for testimonials. You don't need a VK account to view the links.
All classes are taught in real time, on Zoom. No video recordings.
❄️ Writing
1. IELTS writing
A long and thorough skill-building course: several groups, different levels, tons of writing, tons of feedback.
https://m.vk.com/product-47977221_3696544
2. Writing with New Scientist
A writing course based on articles from the "New Scientist" magazine and geared towards IELTS prep. A perfect pre- or post-IELTS course. Different levels.
https://m.vk.com/product-47977221_5061302
3. Write for real: blogging, non-fiction, creative non-fiction
This course is about finding your voice and sharing your message in writing. To hell with exams - it’s time to write for real!
https://m.vk.com/product-47977221_3696542
❄️ Speaking
Speaking with New Scientist (C1, C1+, C2)
A speaking course based on articles from the "New Scientist" magazine and geared towards IELTS and C2 Proficiency Speaking tasks but also good for those who have a penchant for deep, meaningful discussions. Very rich in lexis.
https://m.vk.com/product-47977221_5911089
❄️ C2, old group
C2 Proficiency with New Scientist
A general English course based on articles from the "New Scientist" magazine, with some CPE preparation (speaking and writing tasks).
Schedule: Friday 16:00-17:30 MSK.
❄️ One-to-one
https://m.vk.com/product-47977221_9286849
1. If your profile name is a nickname or an alias, please introduce yourself properly - with your name and last name. My name is Irina Lutsenko. Nameless subscribers and people with nicknames or aliases won't be considered.
2. Tell me about yourself in 100 words or less. Answer all or some of these questions as needed: What course do you want to join? Why? What are your goals and course expectations? What is your experience of learning English? What is your experience of writing? Have you taken IELTS or other exams? What were you scores?
3. If you want to enroll in a writing group, I'll give you a placement task - an IELTS or IELTS-like essay.
4. We'll schedule an interview.
PS:
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Irina Lutsenko: IELTS, writing, cohesion pinned «⛸ Winter 2025: new groups and good old ones ⛸ Click on the links for more details and for testimonials. You don't need a VK account to view the links. All classes are taught in real time, on Zoom. No video recordings. ❄️ Writing 1. IELTS writing A long…»
This is a reading club based on short stories written in my 3,000-word Creative Writing Bootcamp. The stories deserve to be discussed - and the authors will be there to discuss them with you! ❤️
The stories are amazing. They make you think. They make you ask questions. They make you want to discuss them. So you'll do just that:
- read a story;
- discuss it;
- ask your questions and get your answers from the writers themselves!
The writers will be joining the sessions, so you'll be able to ask them not only about their stories and stylistic devices, but also about their writing process. How cool is that?(Very! How often do you get a chance to discuss a story with the author?!)
📅 Winter 2025: Sunday, 12:00 pm Moscow time, on Zoom, starting on 12 January.
Here are the featured stories:
1. Irina Lutsenko
“Two lost souls” – a story about three lonely people looking for love as best they can
2. Alena Nikitina
“Where the house used to be…” – an auto fiction story with a flair of mystery about the connections we make with places
3. Evgenia Karabatova
“Together be like” – conversations about ups and downs in life of one beautifully messy couple
4. Elizaveta Zanozina
"Not Everything Is About Love” – a poignant tale of real partnership
5. Veronika Shirobokova
“A Purrfect Catastrophe” – a story about a cat who finds home
And the wonderful host this season is Irina Kireeva – an avid reader and a host of several book clubs, in-person and online, in English and in Russian. https://news.1rj.ru/str/life_insideout❤️
💌 The project is free. To join, message me @iraluts with a creative ending to this sentence: "Reading a short story is like ... ." By joining, you commit to reading and discussing the stories meaningfully. Please, no joining "just to look."
The stories are amazing. They make you think. They make you ask questions. They make you want to discuss them. So you'll do just that:
- read a story;
- discuss it;
- ask your questions and get your answers from the writers themselves!
The writers will be joining the sessions, so you'll be able to ask them not only about their stories and stylistic devices, but also about their writing process. How cool is that?
📅 Winter 2025: Sunday, 12:00 pm Moscow time, on Zoom, starting on 12 January.
Here are the featured stories:
1. Irina Lutsenko
“Two lost souls” – a story about three lonely people looking for love as best they can
2. Alena Nikitina
“Where the house used to be…” – an auto fiction story with a flair of mystery about the connections we make with places
3. Evgenia Karabatova
“Together be like” – conversations about ups and downs in life of one beautifully messy couple
4. Elizaveta Zanozina
"Not Everything Is About Love” – a poignant tale of real partnership
5. Veronika Shirobokova
“A Purrfect Catastrophe” – a story about a cat who finds home
And the wonderful host this season is Irina Kireeva – an avid reader and a host of several book clubs, in-person and online, in English and in Russian. https://news.1rj.ru/str/life_insideout
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Consider these two texts, identical in meaning but different in form.
1️⃣
"Burgers. French fries. Cola. You know they are bad for you—obesity and all. You know that after you eat them you can't do anything but lie on a couch like a beached whale listening to your stomach moan and groan. Yet... Yet, you (and let's be honest—most of us) keep eating these foods. The question is then: Why?"
2️⃣
"Fast food is known to cause obesity and numerous health issues. Yet, despite clear scientific evidence of the harm caused, its consumption is increasing worldwide. This essay will discuss the potential reasons why people continue consuming unhealthy foods in large amounts."
Imagine a reader who is not an IELTS examiner and who actually has a choice to read or not to read your writing. Which text is more dynamic? Which text will keep this reader engaged? The first one, no doubt. The second text is still a good one—as an IELTS essay. No one will read a wall of plain text like this voluntarily for pleasure.
No one wants to read a wall a text—and you don't want to write one.
To learn to make your texts more dynamic and engaging with the help of structural tools, join my practical workshop "Dynamic Writing: How to Break a Wall of Text."
📝 Tools:
- Paragraphing
- Bullet points and subheadings
- Punctuation to enhance meaning: colon, brackets, dashes, ellipsis
- Varying sentence length, structures, and types
- Visual tools: all caps, italics, bold
- Some simple stylistic devices
📝 Good for:
- blogging
- copywriting
- non-fiction and creative non-fiction
- CPE / CAE articles and reviews
📆 Schedule Winter 2025: Saturday, 11 January 11:00 Moscow time, on Zoom
Duration: 90-105 minutes (depending on the number of the participants)
Price: 1700 ₽
❗️ This is a practical workshop. You will be expected to participate on Google Docs. It's thus best to join with your camera on and from a good work station.
You will get the materials, but there will be no recordings! ❗️
💌 @iraluts
"Burgers. French fries. Cola. You know they are bad for you—obesity and all. You know that after you eat them you can't do anything but lie on a couch like a beached whale listening to your stomach moan and groan. Yet... Yet, you (and let's be honest—most of us) keep eating these foods. The question is then: Why?"
"Fast food is known to cause obesity and numerous health issues. Yet, despite clear scientific evidence of the harm caused, its consumption is increasing worldwide. This essay will discuss the potential reasons why people continue consuming unhealthy foods in large amounts."
Imagine a reader who is not an IELTS examiner and who actually has a choice to read or not to read your writing. Which text is more dynamic? Which text will keep this reader engaged? The first one, no doubt. The second text is still a good one—as an IELTS essay. No one will read a wall of plain text like this voluntarily for pleasure.
No one wants to read a wall a text—and you don't want to write one.
To learn to make your texts more dynamic and engaging with the help of structural tools, join my practical workshop "Dynamic Writing: How to Break a Wall of Text."
📝 Tools:
- Paragraphing
- Bullet points and subheadings
- Punctuation to enhance meaning: colon, brackets, dashes, ellipsis
- Varying sentence length, structures, and types
- Visual tools: all caps, italics, bold
- Some simple stylistic devices
📝 Good for:
- blogging
- copywriting
- non-fiction and creative non-fiction
- CPE / CAE articles and reviews
📆 Schedule Winter 2025: Saturday, 11 January 11:00 Moscow time, on Zoom
Duration: 90-105 minutes (depending on the number of the participants)
Price: 1700 ₽
❗️ This is a practical workshop. You will be expected to participate on Google Docs. It's thus best to join with your camera on and from a good work station.
You will get the materials, but there will be no recordings! ❗️
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❤10☃6⚡3
The winter season of my legendary Creative Writing Club is on! ⛄️
It’s perfect for people who want to unleash their creativity and have fun writing in English.
⛄️ Here is how it works:
- I prepare inspiring creative writing prompts and exercises;
- We meet on Zoom for some pre-writing practice;
- We write on our own over the following five days;
- We share and review each other’s works on a collaborative Google doc;
- We meet again, and the cycle is repeated.
⛄️ The nuts and bolts:
- There will be four sessions meeting weekly on Sundays 12 January -2 February 📆;
- The schedule is Sunday 11 am Moscow time. One session is around 45 minutes.
- Not participating in online sessions is OK as long as you keep in touch, write, and review other people’s work in time.
- If you join, you have to write one work and review one participant’s work every week.
- The project is free, but if you don’t write or review other people’s work by the deadline, you’ll have to leave.
- Our project chat will be on Telegram.
💌 If your creative juices are flowing and you are itching to participate, write comment with a creative ending to the phrase "On his way there, snow started falling softly, as though ... ." Then message me @iraluts to introduce yourself and to confirm. If your answer is creative, you’re in.
❗️ ❗️ When you message me, please introduce yourself properly, with your full name. My name is Irina Lutsenko - I want to know yours. Nameless subscribers and people with nicknames or aliases won't be admitted.
❤️ Stories and testimonials from previous seasons: https://vk.com/market/product/creative-writing-47977221-1461432
PS: This project is in no way helpful in IELTS prep. If anything, it might be detrimental.❗️ ❗️
It’s perfect for people who want to unleash their creativity and have fun writing in English.
- I prepare inspiring creative writing prompts and exercises;
- We meet on Zoom for some pre-writing practice;
- We write on our own over the following five days;
- We share and review each other’s works on a collaborative Google doc;
- We meet again, and the cycle is repeated.
- There will be four sessions meeting weekly on Sundays 12 January -2 February 📆;
- The schedule is Sunday 11 am Moscow time. One session is around 45 minutes.
- Not participating in online sessions is OK as long as you keep in touch, write, and review other people’s work in time.
- If you join, you have to write one work and review one participant’s work every week.
- The project is free, but if you don’t write or review other people’s work by the deadline, you’ll have to leave.
- Our project chat will be on Telegram.
PS: This project is in no way helpful in IELTS prep. If anything, it might be detrimental.
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⚡8❤3🎉3☃2
Writing is the most challenging part of the IELTS test. But it won't be if you take this course.
📝 We will cover all types of IELTS writing tasks:
Writing Task 1:
- Line graphs
- Bar charts, pie charts, tables (with and without a time change, with numbers and with %)
- Processes (natural + industrial)
- Maps, floor plans
- Combinations of types, unusual tasks
Writing Task 2:
- To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
- Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
- What are the reasons for this? What are some ways this problem can be solved?
- What are the reasons for this? Is it a positive or negative development?
- Do you think it is a positive or a negative development?
- Different types of advantages and disadvantages questions
- Unusual, two-part questions
📝 You will write 40-50 answers, and I will give written, detailed, personalized feedback on all of them!
📝 We'll work on, among other things:
- Coherence, cohesion, progression
- Sharp Task Response and understanding the topic
- Developing and supporting ideas
- Grammatical range
📝 Course duration:
- 4 months *
- 10 months (all courses 7.5 and above are 10-month courses)
📝 Classes meet weekly in real time on Zoom. One class is 90 minutes.
📝 Price: 9000 RUB a month (4 classes). Feedback included (at least one answer a week).
📝 This course is not about life hacks and shortcuts. It's about building your skill thoroughly and meticulously with the help of my profound understanding of IELTS writing and experience thereof. This course is not a lecture series either. There are no recordings - all classes happen live, here and now. Skills are not built by watching. Skills are built by doing.
📝 Writing is a must! People who don't write will be expelled.
💃 A little bit about IELTS and me:
- IELTS 9 x2
- IELTS Writing 8.5 x3
- IELTS teaching experience over 10 years
- A prolific IELTS writer myself, with over 200 posts on VK Donut!
📅 New group Winter 2025, 7.5+, course instructor Irina Lutsenko
- Wednesday 15:30 MSK
📅 New groups Winter 2025, 6.5, 7, course instructor Anastasia Alexandrova
- Monday 11:00 am MSK
- Saturday 9:00 am MSK
Find out more (don't need an account to view): https://vk.com/market/product/ielts-writing-academic-47977221-3696544
💌 @iraluts
📝 We will cover all types of IELTS writing tasks:
Writing Task 1:
- Line graphs
- Bar charts, pie charts, tables (with and without a time change, with numbers and with %)
- Processes (natural + industrial)
- Maps, floor plans
- Combinations of types, unusual tasks
Writing Task 2:
- To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
- Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
- What are the reasons for this? What are some ways this problem can be solved?
- What are the reasons for this? Is it a positive or negative development?
- Do you think it is a positive or a negative development?
- Different types of advantages and disadvantages questions
- Unusual, two-part questions
📝 You will write 40-50 answers, and I will give written, detailed, personalized feedback on all of them!
📝 We'll work on, among other things:
- Coherence, cohesion, progression
- Sharp Task Response and understanding the topic
- Developing and supporting ideas
- Grammatical range
📝 Course duration:
- 4 months *
- 10 months (all courses 7.5 and above are 10-month courses)
📝 Classes meet weekly in real time on Zoom. One class is 90 minutes.
📝 Price: 9000 RUB a month (4 classes). Feedback included (at least one answer a week).
📝 This course is not about life hacks and shortcuts. It's about building your skill thoroughly and meticulously with the help of my profound understanding of IELTS writing and experience thereof. This course is not a lecture series either. There are no recordings - all classes happen live, here and now. Skills are not built by watching. Skills are built by doing.
📝 Writing is a must! People who don't write will be expelled.
💃 A little bit about IELTS and me:
- IELTS 9 x2
- IELTS Writing 8.5 x3
- IELTS teaching experience over 10 years
- A prolific IELTS writer myself, with over 200 posts on VK Donut!
📅 New group Winter 2025, 7.5+, course instructor Irina Lutsenko
- Wednesday 15:30 MSK
📅 New groups Winter 2025, 6.5, 7, course instructor Anastasia Alexandrova
- Monday 11:00 am MSK
- Saturday 9:00 am MSK
Find out more (don't need an account to view): https://vk.com/market/product/ielts-writing-academic-47977221-3696544
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Missing word? ⛄️
The behaviour of simple animals like fruit flies is usually assumed to be highly deterministic, involving reflexive responses to external stimuli. In fact, it is [_?_] but. (Source: New Scientist)
The behaviour of simple animals like fruit flies is usually assumed to be highly deterministic, involving reflexive responses to external stimuli. In fact, it is [_?_] but. (Source: New Scientist)
Anonymous Quiz
41%
Anything
17%
Everything
33%
Nothing
8%
Something
❤8☃6⚡4🎉2
Missing word? 💡
"We tend to be optimistic about our own lives. We are also optimistic, although less [_?_], about our family and friends." (Source: New Scientist)
"We tend to be optimistic about our own lives. We are also optimistic, although less [_?_], about our family and friends." (Source: New Scientist)
Anonymous Quiz
7%
---
50%
So
8%
Such
25%
As much
9%
As such
☃10❤8⚡5🎉2
A great IELTS Writing Task 1 answer by a student 🍋
"The charts show how many metric tons of fresh citrus fruit were exported from seven different countries in 2010. Overall, oranges were the most prevalent type of fruit sold overseas, followed by lemons, grapefruits and other types. The two leading countries in terms of total supply volumes were South Africa and the US.
Oranges comprised the highest volume of export (2.6 million metric tons altogether), with South Africa being the leading seller (1 million metric tons). Following closely came Egypt and the US, with about 900,000 and 700,000 metric tons respectively.
Second in popularity were lemons, traded internationally by Turkey and Mexico in almost the same volume: with half a million metric tons by the former and just 50,000 metric tons fewer by the latter. Argentina sold half the volume Turkey did: 250,000 metric tons.
Unlike for lemons, with 1.2 million metric tons sold altogether, the total sum for grapefruits was just about a half of that. The major sellers of this citrus fruit were South Africa, the US and Turkey. The first two countries sold slightly less than a quarter of a million metric tons each, while Turkey was only 50,000 metric tons behind (175,000).
As for unspecified types of citrus fruit, the leading trader was Mexico. Interestingly, it sold 450,000 metric tons, which was exactly the same volume as its lemon export. The other countries that traded other types were Israel and the US, but their exports didn’t exceed 10 metric tons each."
254 words
By Ekaterina Syomina
This is a really good answer for a less-than-good task. First, the scales on each type of fruit are different, which is not very common. Second, paraphrasing “exports” is a bit challenging, as is showing lexis and grammar range. But I think Ekaterina did a great job showing that range.
🍋 See my overview for this task here: https://news.1rj.ru/str/irinalutsenko/420
#Irina_ielts_students #ieltswritingtask1
"The charts show how many metric tons of fresh citrus fruit were exported from seven different countries in 2010. Overall, oranges were the most prevalent type of fruit sold overseas, followed by lemons, grapefruits and other types. The two leading countries in terms of total supply volumes were South Africa and the US.
Oranges comprised the highest volume of export (2.6 million metric tons altogether), with South Africa being the leading seller (1 million metric tons). Following closely came Egypt and the US, with about 900,000 and 700,000 metric tons respectively.
Second in popularity were lemons, traded internationally by Turkey and Mexico in almost the same volume: with half a million metric tons by the former and just 50,000 metric tons fewer by the latter. Argentina sold half the volume Turkey did: 250,000 metric tons.
Unlike for lemons, with 1.2 million metric tons sold altogether, the total sum for grapefruits was just about a half of that. The major sellers of this citrus fruit were South Africa, the US and Turkey. The first two countries sold slightly less than a quarter of a million metric tons each, while Turkey was only 50,000 metric tons behind (175,000).
As for unspecified types of citrus fruit, the leading trader was Mexico. Interestingly, it sold 450,000 metric tons, which was exactly the same volume as its lemon export. The other countries that traded other types were Israel and the US, but their exports didn’t exceed 10 metric tons each."
254 words
By Ekaterina Syomina
This is a really good answer for a less-than-good task. First, the scales on each type of fruit are different, which is not very common. Second, paraphrasing “exports” is a bit challenging, as is showing lexis and grammar range. But I think Ekaterina did a great job showing that range.
#Irina_ielts_students #ieltswritingtask1
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Conjunctions, elements, and yet another boring post by Irina ⛄️
The post is going to be technical and boring, but I feel compelled to write it because it's about a very common mistake.
So, can you spot the mistake in these sentences?
1️⃣ "They can choose their lifestyle, including their job, dietary behaviour, bad or good habits."
2️⃣ "One or two curse words, ironic or sarcastic phrases dropped innocently every now and then, do not really make a difference when used separately."
3️⃣ "While writing a thesis, we sometimes succumb to common temptations like having another cappuccino with cinnamon, taking a pause to catch up with the news or to read a bit of a recently acquired novel."
Elements on a list. What are they? They can be different things—nouns, verbs, adjectives, phrases—but they are things identical in importance and form.
Some simple examples:
- Two elements: "I like apples and pears."
- Three elements: "I like apples, pears, and kiwis."
In conventional writing, the last element on a list must be connected with "and" or "or" because this indicates the end of the list. Easy-peasy.
But things get complicated when sentences are long and elements are complex.
1️⃣ Let's take this sentence apart: "They can choose their lifestyle, including their job, dietary behaviour, bad or good habits."
Don't let the "or" fool you. One type of elements here is nouns: job, behavior, habits. Another is adjectives: bad, good. The "or" we have connects adjectives. The last noun element doesn't have an "and" or an "or."
Fix: "They can choose their lifestyle, including their job, dietary behaviour, and bad or good habits."
2️⃣ Let's do the same with the second sentence: "One or two curse words, ironic or sarcastic phrases dropped innocently every now and then, do not really make a difference when used separately."
Just like in the previous sentence, some elements are connected, some aren't. The "or"s connect numbers and adjectives. But nouns—words, phrases—are not connected. If we use another "or," however, the sentence would have too many. So I have a more elegant fix.
Fix: "A curse word or a sarcastic phrase dropped innocently every now and then does not really make a difference."
Proper connections between elements are important because they help the reader to identify things that are equal/parallel in value and not to get lost in the sentence.
✏️ You turn.
Can you spot the mistake? How would you rewrite this sentence, making sure to connect elements properly? Try your hand in the comment.
"While writing a thesis, we sometimes succumb to common temptations like having another cappuccino with cinnamon, taking a pause to catch up with the news or to read a bit of a recently acquired novel."
🌸 PS: There is a stylistic device in creative writing called asyndeton—deliberate omission of a conjunction. But this device should be reserved for stylistic purposes and has no place in more conventional types of writing.
The post is going to be technical and boring, but I feel compelled to write it because it's about a very common mistake.
So, can you spot the mistake in these sentences?
Elements on a list. What are they? They can be different things—nouns, verbs, adjectives, phrases—but they are things identical in importance and form.
Some simple examples:
- Two elements: "I like apples and pears."
- Three elements: "I like apples, pears, and kiwis."
In conventional writing, the last element on a list must be connected with "and" or "or" because this indicates the end of the list. Easy-peasy.
But things get complicated when sentences are long and elements are complex.
Don't let the "or" fool you. One type of elements here is nouns: job, behavior, habits. Another is adjectives: bad, good. The "or" we have connects adjectives. The last noun element doesn't have an "and" or an "or."
Fix: "They can choose their lifestyle, including their job, dietary behaviour, and bad or good habits."
Just like in the previous sentence, some elements are connected, some aren't. The "or"s connect numbers and adjectives. But nouns—words, phrases—are not connected. If we use another "or," however, the sentence would have too many. So I have a more elegant fix.
Fix: "A curse word or a sarcastic phrase dropped innocently every now and then does not really make a difference."
Proper connections between elements are important because they help the reader to identify things that are equal/parallel in value and not to get lost in the sentence.
Can you spot the mistake? How would you rewrite this sentence, making sure to connect elements properly? Try your hand in the comment.
"While writing a thesis, we sometimes succumb to common temptations like having another cappuccino with cinnamon, taking a pause to catch up with the news or to read a bit of a recently acquired novel."
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1❤26⚡11☃4