What does it mean to live a finite life in an infinite universe? 🪐

What is our place in this ocean of galaxies? Is there life on other planets? What kind of research should we invest in that will be useful?

These were the questions professor Brian Cox, a physicist and a science popularizer, tried to answer in his lecture "Horizons" I attended in New York this week.

These topics, along with black holes, wormholes, spacetime et cetera, are certainly fascinating. Even more fascinating, perhaps, is seeing someone I've listened to on YouTube—live!

If you haven't heard Brian Cox yet, here are some fascinating interviews on the Joe Rogan podcast:

# 2217
https://youtu.be/Rc7OHXJtWco?si=Fmip-Agyls4NmuDw

# 1233
https://www.youtube.com/live/wieRZoJSVtw?si=PoYgJv5SfE2Cfi2m

# 610
https://youtu.be/QZl3ohphHSE?si=kTFcUtWau8lgoU8J

Is there an online personality (say, a podcaster or a scientist) you would like to see live? Is there someone you are a fan of that you have seen live?

More importantly, what is your answer to this question: What does it mean to live a finite life in an infinite universe? 🪐

Three language riddles from New York. 🗽🇺🇸

I have just returned from an awesome vacation in New York. Here are three language riddles from my trip.

1️⃣ What was the only question the customs officer asked me?

2️⃣ What's arguably the most useful phrase that you will need probably every day that no course book teaches you?

3️⃣ When you are buying a meal, the cashier will ask you this question: "_______ or to go?" What's the missing part?

Drop your ideas in the comments. 📝

Btw, since I'd been to New York many times before, I wasn't trapped in the tyranny of having to explore the usual touristy places and enjoyed the city off the beaten track—and fell even more in love with it as a result 💜. So, if you need advice, dm me.

And here are the answers to the language riddles above—thank you all for participating!!! 💜

1️⃣ What's the only question the customs officer asked me?

"Why are you here?" This, of course, means "What's the purpose of your visit" and synonymous questions—just like many of you guessed—but the phrasing surprised me. And, for the record, I had all my Airbnb reservations at the ready, but he didn't need them. 🤷‍♀️

2️⃣ What's arguably the most useful phrase that you will need probably every day that no course book teaches you?

"What's the restroom code?" Because New York is a big city, many restrooms have codes. So I found myself asking this question regularly. Yet, no course book teaches that.

3️⃣ When you are buying a meal, the cashier will ask you this question: "_______ or to go?" What's the missing part?

"To stay or to go?" The more expected version in my mind was—again, like many of you offered—"Here or to go?" Well, there is something that is correct and something that people say naturally. I love "To stay or to go." It's very poetic.

What were some simple, yet unusually-worded phrases that you encountered when you traveled in an English-speaking country? Share in the comments. 📝

IELTS Writing Task 2: The reasons and advantages dilemma 🐊

Essays that combine these two questions can be a bit problematic:

- Why is this / What are the reasons for this?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of this / Is this a positive or negative development?

Well, they are only problematic if you want to write about the positives—because the positives, in essence, repeat the reasons (even if they are wrapped up in a bunch of synonyms).

For example, let's take this topic: "Some people choose to have their first child at an older age. What are the reasons? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?"

Many people find themselves writing something like this:

- Reason: First, people aim to gain financial security before they have children.
- Advantage: People have financial security when they have children.

One solution to this dilemma is, of course, to always write about the negatives. But if you don't want to, what you need to do is build on and extend the reason.

For example:

- Reason: First, people aim to gain financial security before they have children.
- Advantage: When parents have a stable income, they can afford to pay for the hobbies and activities that their child enjoys or that will be useful in the future. For example, if the child wants to play music, it is financial security that will enable parents to pay for music school or to buy good quality instruments.

In this case, the reason is the springboard for the advantage. ↗️

Over to you. How would you extend this reason to make it sound as an advantage?

Reason: People want to enjoy their 20s and 30s to the fullest, without the burden of the responsibilities and limitations entailed by parenthood. Thus, instead of starting a family, they prefer to lead a carefree life, going out and traveling on a regular basis.

Share your advantage that would build on this reason in the comments. 📝

Consider these two texts—identical in meaning but different in form—about the pain of being a freelancer. 📝

1️⃣
"Cafés are both a pleasant and a natural setting for work. This is evidenced by their intellectual origin, which shows that they’ve always been a place to nurture ideas. The atmosphere of a café is generative and convivial and is therefore the right place for me if I need to finish a piece of work that is moving very slowly. In addition, it reminds me that I am a member of society. Most people might not need this reminder if they work from offices; however, I do due to the fact that I am a freelancer."

2️⃣
"Cafés are not only a pleasant setting for work, but a natural one – as their intellectual origins testify, they’ve always been a place to nurture ideas. Generative and convivial, the atmosphere of a café is often just what I need to get moving with a piece of work that’s dragging its feet – but also, it reminds me that other humans exist (I believe most people get this from offices?)."

Which text reads like an IELTS essay and which one reads like an article in a magazine? Which one keeps the reader engaged? The second one, no doubt. But why?

Well, there are tools and techniques that can make your texts more engaging—and they are not secret ones. Or, they won't be if you join my brand new mini-course "Writing with The Guardian."

"Writing with The Guardian" is a writing mini-course based on articles from The Guardian. It is geared towards the C2 Proficiency exam (or CPE) articles but is also good for a variety of non-fiction and creative non-fiction types of writing.

📝 What will we do?
- read and discuss two articles from the "The Guardian";
- work with sophisticated lexis and sentence structures;
- explore the power of punctuation to enhance meaning;
- explore a wide range of writing tools and techniques that will keep the reader engaged;
- After all that, you'll write a CPE article (or a non-fiction piece if you don't need CPE).

📝 Who is the course perfect for?
- people who have taken CPE and want to stay in a good writing shape;
- people who want to take CPE some time in the future;
- people who blog, write copy, or write for pleasure—and those who want to.

📝 Deets:
- Course instructor: Irina Lutsenko
- Course duration: one month (4 classes)
- Classes: one 90-minute class a week, in real time on Zoom
- Homework: one week - reading, next week - writing (2 articles in total)
- Feedback: personalized, detailed feedback on every piece of writing
- Price: 8,000 rub a month (4 classes). Feedback included.

📆 Summer 2025 schedule:

- June: Saturday 11-12:30 Moscow time
- July: TBA

A great summer mini-course!

💌 💌 💌 @iraluts

#IELTS processes: a common mistake (and how to fix it) 🧋

Here is a simplified text for the task above. Can you spot the mistake?

"The water first goes into a filter and then into a large tank with water softener and chemicals. After this, it is directed into a pump, from where it is forced into electric heaters. In the next stage, the water is sent into a special carbonation container."

The mistake I often see in IELTS process denoscriptions is that substances simply travel from place to place (or from tank to tank)—and nothing happens to the substance but movement. Until, suddenly, by the end of the answer, the substance miraculously turns into something else in some unfathomable way.

How to avoid these travel-like denoscriptions?

1️⃣ Turn the names of places or containers into actions verbs.

- The water goes into a filter >> The water is filtered.

- The water goes into a carbonation tank >> The water is carbonated.

2️⃣ Add a purpose to the place.

- The water goes into a mixing tank to be blended with coloring, syrup, and flavor.

- The carbonated water is then directed to the next tank so that it can be mixed with coloring, syrup, and flavor.

This task is sometimes problematic even for higher levels because the answer tends to be very short, around 160-170 words. My answer is 214 words long. Would you like to see it? 🧋

#ieltswritingtask1

Giving away three one-to-one consultations with me for free

Because I want to give back to the community 💜

For a chance to get a one-to-one consultation with me for free, just write a message to me explaining why you need it @iraluts. 💌

In your message:
- Introduce yourself;
- Explain what kind of help you need and/or what questions you have;
- Explain why you think I am the right person to help.

I will choose three people who I think I can help the most. 💜

Important:
- Word count limit: 100 words.
- Deadline for accepting applications: Saturday, 14 June 11:00 Moscow time.
- Messages with sloppy formatting will not be considered.

📅 All meetings will take place on Zoom, on Sunday, 15 June, between 11:00 and 15:00 Moscow time (precise time to be decided together). One meeting is 30-40 minutes.

💜

#IELTS Writing: Simplicity or complexity?

I often recommend IELTS writers aiming for 7.5+ to add complexity to their writing—complexity of both ideas and language.

And I often take flak for that. Many IELTS trainers and examiners recommend otherwise.

But let's drill deeper into what simplicity and complexity might look like in an IELTS essay. Compare the two excerpts below.

Topic: It is the responsibility of schools to teach children good behavior in addition to providing formal education. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

1️⃣

"First and foremost, the ideas of what constitutes good behavior vary widely. As a result, the behavior that is taught at school might be different from what parents teach at home. For example, teachers might discourage any questions in class. However, parents might encourage asking questions because they believe this improves creativity."

2️⃣

"First and foremost, the ideas of what constitutes good behavior vary widely. As a result, what is included in the curriculum or the code of conduct might be in conflict with what the student’s family believes to be appropriate. For example, teachers might enforce discipline in class by discouraging any questions or deviations from the laid-out procedures. A child’s parents, however, might encourage questions and rule breaking because these are considered to be signs of creativity and free thinking in the family."

Do you honestly believe the first answer would get a higher score than the second one?

I see quite a lot of writing that is similar to that in the first excerpt—there aren't any mistakes in it, and the ideas are good, but it's just ... too simple. So, yeah, I believe in complexity, guilty as charged.

At the same time, complexity mustn't come at the expense of meaning, style, and readability. Writing something like this is probably not the best idea:

3️⃣

"First and foremost, the ideas of what constitutes good behavior vary widely, resulting in a situation when the tenets encapsulated in the curriculum or the code of conduct do not cohere with the dogmas the student’s family not only believes to be appropriate but also tries to intrench indelibly. For example, teachers might enforce discipline in class by discouraging any questions or deviations from the laid-out procedures, while a child’s parents might encourage inquiry, probing, and anarchical demeanor owing to the fact that these are considered to be signs of creativity, ingenuity, and fecundity in the family."

Complexity is better than simplicity, but balance is king. 👑

#ieltswritingtask2

Another podcast! 🥳🥳🥳

Ever since that awesome podcast in Ad Astra School, I've been dreaming of being on another podcast. My dream has come true—I've been invited!

By whom, you ask?

Please welcome Maria Polukhina—a book club host, a teacher trainer, and a prominent member of the Russian ELT community.

Maria has a beautiful American accent (and you know my penchant for American English) and is a goldmine of idiomatic language (which she uses naturally and to convey all the right shades of meaning). 🇺🇸💜

Surprisingly, she hasn't joined any of my writing projects yet (outrageous, I know)—but I believe she'll get there because she is an avid reader. And reading is the gateway to writing.

You can find out even more about her on her vibrant and super-useful Telegram channel: https://news.1rj.ru/str/mari_languages.

To find out even more about us, about learning, reading, writing, or something else, drop us a line about what you would like us to cover in the podcast. Question? Topics? Concerns? Write a comment or dm me @iraluts. 💌

And stay tuned! 💜

IELTS WRITING RECAP 2024

Enjoy 🎉

📄 DIYORBEK'S IELTS

IELTS essays: under-explaining, over-explaining, and balance. 👑

I often see two extremes in #IELTS essays: under-explaining and over-explaining. Extremes are no good. Balance is king. 👑

Who is the judge though? Your reader. The trick is to be able to read your reader's mind. As usual, let's look at some specific examples.

Topic: In some parts of the world, many famous people are regarded as ‘role models’ and they are having an increasing influence on the young. Is that a positive or negative development?

1️⃣ Under-explaining.

"First and foremost, famous people present carefully curated personas to the public. This means they might not reveal the whole truth and misrepresent what it took to achieve success. As a result, younger people often put enormous effort into pursuing what they cannot accomplish anyway, wasting their time and facing disappointment."

The ideas are clear. But the reader is likely to be left with a nagging feeling, "Nice. But tell me more."

2️⃣ Over-explaining.

"First and foremost, famous people present carefully curated personas to the public rather than their real selves, thereby imposing unrealistic ideals on the public. In fact, many even hire PR teams who are responsible for the image presented publicly and who plan what to post or how to spin a certain fact. This means celebrities might not reveal the whole truth and thus misrepresent what it took to achieve success. They might, for example, speak about hard work, resilience, determination, and commitment on their way to top accomplishments while failing to mention their friends or relatives who introduced or recommended them to the right people. As a result, younger people often put enormous effort into pursuing what they cannot accomplish anyway, wasting their time and facing disappointment. Instead, they could have pursued goals that would be more realistic with their abilities, being more likely to succeed."

The ideas are all good and valid. But the reader might think, "OMG, I get it. Did you really have to write so much to say this?"

3️⃣ Balance.

"First and foremost, famous people present carefully curated personas to the public rather than their real selves, thereby imposing unrealistic ideals on the public. This means they might not reveal the whole truth and misrepresent what it took to achieve success. They might, for example, speak about hard work and resilience, while failing to mention their friends or relatives who introduced or recommended them to the right people. As a result, younger people often put enormous effort into pursuing what they cannot accomplish anyway, wasting their time and facing disappointment."

The ideas are the same. I told the reader a bit more and removed ideas that, while valid, are not absolutely essential.

See my full essay in the book shared above. ❤️

#ieltswritingtask2

Thanks for having me!!! 🌸❤️💡

How much can you learn from one sentence?

When it comes to writing, you often here that you need to learn from reading. It is true, but you need to know what to look for.

What can you find in this sentence?

"It’s also true that a sea of laptops changes a place’s vibe, from chatty community hub to co-working space (insufferable, as discussed); no doubt the ratio of we laptoppers to other punters must be as carefully calibrated as our behaviour."

I find at least three things for my students to practice: a metaphor, parentheses, a semi-colon. (Actually more, but let's stop here for now.)

What we do in my "Writing with..." courses is we learn to notice writing techniques and to then implement them.

If this is something you would like to do, how about my summer mini-course "Writing with The Guardian"?

"Writing with The Guardian" is a writing mini-course based on articles from The Guardian. It is geared towards the C2 Proficiency exam (or CPE) articles but is also good for a variety of non-fiction and creative non-fiction types of writing.

📝 Who is the course perfect for?
- people who have taken CPE and want to stay in a good writing shape;
- people who want to take CPE some time in the future;
- people who blog, write copy, or write for pleasure - and those who want to.

📆 July 2025 schedule: Thursday 10-11:30 Moscow time

📝 More about the course: https://vk.com/market/product/writing-with-quotthe-guardianquot-47977221-10225379

📝 Student's article from this course: "Who’s Talking? Finding a Human Voice in the Age of ChatGPT"

💌 @iraluts

The summer season of my legendary Creative Writing Club is open! 🌸

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 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, 6-27 July, 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.

💌 To join, write a comment with a creative ending to this phrase: "On that fateful day, when the warm weather was returning to the city like ... ." Then message me @iraluts. If your answer is creative, you're in.

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.

PS: This project is in no way helpful in IELTS prep. If anything, it might be detrimental. ‼️

📆 Enrolment closes: 5 July, 23:00 Moscow time.

Testimonials and stories from previous seasons:
https://vk.com/market/product/creative-writing-47977221-1461432

IELTS Speaking: Taking advantage of forgetting something

In your IELTS speaking test, you might forget a specific detail, like, say, a number or an actor's name. This is not something to worry about—it's totally normal to forget things if you are speaking spontaneously, especially in stressful situations.

If you do, you can say "... this actor, I forget his name, ... ." Or you can treat this moment as an opportunity to use a cool lexical item.

Here are some words that will come in handy if you can't name something quickly.

1️⃣ I can't remember (the name) offhand. / I can't give (an example) offhand.

2️⃣ I can't give (an example) off the top off my head.

3️⃣ (His name) is on the tip of my tongue, but I just can't remember it right now.

4️⃣ I'm blanking on (the name) right now / I'm drawing a blank on (the name) right now.

5️⃣ (The exact number) just slipped my mind for some reason / because I'm a bit nervous right now.

6️⃣ I'm really bad with names. (So the name just slipped my mind.)

Say one of these, relieve yourself of the burden of remembering, and keep speaking.

Any other phrases? Share in the comments.