As an IELTS writing instructor, I am often asked by my students what the secret is to successful essay writing. When I tell them ‘lots of practice, lots of guidance and lots of patience’, they usually look at me a bit disappointed as though my answer was too obvious.

So I tell them, ‘just follow the 4 Cs.’

‘The 4 Cs?’ they ask with new interest.

Yes, the 4 Cs: conciseness, cohesion, coherence and composition. Each needs to be employed properly if you want to score well on your Task 2 essay. In this short article, which I am writing exclusively for www.ielts-blog.com, I would like to touch on each of the 4 Cs and describe how you can use these powerful ideas to heighten your IELTS score.

So let’s begin with conciseness. Unlike other languages which prize long and very elaborate sentences, proper written English is language that says a lot in few words. Students often falsely believe that the longer a sentence is the more academic it sounds. Writing longer sentences in your response is problematic for 2 reasons. The first is it heightens the chances of errors related to coherence. The second is it makes it more difficult for you to control the grammar of the sentence, leading to silly grammatical mistakes. Too often, students receive disappointing marks on their IELTS essay simply because their long sentences led them to issues with coherence and grammar.

So how long should a sentence be? Including cohesive phrases (the second ‘C’ in our list), typical sentences are somewhere between 8 and 15 words.

Now let’s take a look at how to write these cohesive phrases.

Cohesion refers to words and phrases that help ideas link together. Cohesive phrases include wordings like…

Because of this, …
As this shows, …
As can clearly be seen from this example, …
It is clear that…
Thus, the idea that…
To illustrate this, …
After analyzing both points of view, …
To provide a summary, …
Without a doubt, this causes…

What I always suggest to students is to commit many of these phrases to memory and learn how to use them properly. When you get to your examination, you can use these phrases with confidence, which will not only save you time but also reduce the chances of grammatical mistakes.

Our third C is coherence, which is the notion that all ideas you present in your essay should be easily understood by your reader. As you can probably guess, using the cohesive phrases above correctly can really help to boost the coherence in your essay as they clarify your ideas. Coherence is also greatly improved by proper grammar, so make an effort to brush up on this prior to your examination.

Our final C, composition, refers to employing a proper essay structure. This means including a thesis (in the case of an argument essay), at least 2 supporting ideas, real-life examples, proper discussion of those examples as well as some kind of summary and finally a reasoned conclusion. To break it down, an argument essay is most likely going to contain 15 sentences partitioned into 4 paragraphs and follow a pattern something like this:

Introduction paragraph

• A background sentence giving some background information on the essay topic.
• A more detailed sentence linking the background sentence to the thesis.
• A thesis that presents your point of view on your given topic.
• An outline sentence declaring the 2 points you are going to use to support your thesis.

Supporting paragraph 1

• A topic sentence illustrating the first point you will be presenting to support your thesis (this point taken from your outline sentence).
• A sentence showing a real-life example of this topic in action.
• A discussion sentence that shows how your example links or proves your topic sentence.
• A conclusion sentence that links this entire paragraph back to your thesis.

Supporting paragraph 2

• A topic sentence illustrating the second point you will be presenting to support your thesis (this point taken from your outline sentence).
• A sentence showing a real-life example of this topic in action.
• A discussion sentence that shows how your example links or proves your topic sentence.
• A conclusion sentence that links this entire paragraph back to your thesis.

Conclusion paragraph

• A summary sentence that briefly states the 2 points you discussed in your supporting paragraphs.
• A restatement of your thesis using different words.
• A prediction or recommendation based on the topic you have been given.

By employing a logical structure like this you fulfill your essay’s requirement for proper composition.

So, in a nutshell, the 4 Cs make up the essential elements in a successful essay. Conciseness keeps sentences brief, cohesion helps the sentences link together, coherence maintains understanding in the essay and composition links all parts of the essay together logically.

Make an effort to use the 4 Cs properly and I guarantee your IELTS written mark will improve.

Good luck on your exam!

This article was written by Ryan Higgins, an online IELTS instructor, blogger and author. For more of his free IELTS resources, visit his blog.

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Before we begin, there is something else you need to know. In the recent post about the difference between formal and informal writing styles there was a mistake. Although it was caught and fixed almost immediately on the website, the erroneous version was sent to your emails before we could stop it. To clarify, the words “children”, “many” and “much” are formal equivalents of informal “kids”, “a lot of” and “heaps of”. My apologies, if the previous email confused you.

And now to the common mistake in the IELTS Writing test. As you may know, there are 2 tasks, Writing Task 1 and Task 2, and for both Academic and General Training modules Task 1 is shorter (150 words) than Task 2 (250 words). Often people decide to write the Task 2 first, before writing Task 1. No problem so far, but we are getting to the really important bit.

It is essential that you pay attention to the Answer Sheet and write your answers in the right places. There are 2 marked spaces on the Answer Sheet that you get in the Writing test, one says “Task 1″ and the other says “Task 2″. To avoid confusing the examiner who will check your work, you need to make sure that the the essay is written under “Task 2″ and the report (for Academic) or the letter (for General Training) – under Task 1.

If worse comes to worst and you’ve mixed the two spaces, don’t panic. First, finish writing your tasks – wherever you’ve started to write, don’t worry about the wrong places, just take care of the contents and the paragraphing as usual. After the Writing test is over you can ask staff at the test center to affix a note to your work explaining where each task is. It will help the examiner locate the right task and your score won’t suffer.

Good luck with your exam!

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Many of you have asked me about the difference between formal and informal writing in IELTS and this tells me that it’s a common problem. So here is what you need to know about the styles of writing in IELTS.

If you are preparing for the Academic IELTS module, both Task 1 and Task 2 in the Writing test are formal. For General Training candidates, Task 2 in Writing is always formal, and Task 1 can be formal or informal.

As you know, Task 1 for GT module is a letter, and if the topic asks you to write to someone you know, that is an informal letter – as opposed to writing to someone you don’t know, which is formal.

The difference between formal and informal styles is mainly in the vocabulary. Informal words are the ones used in everyday conversations and formal are used in books, contracts, business letters and essays. If the task requires formal writing – avoid using informal vocabulary. If the task requires informal writing, such as a letter to a friend, avoid using formal ‘heavy’ words.

Apart from the vocabulary in formal writing it is best to avoid words like “I”, “you”, “we”, unless you are expressing an opinion. For example in an essay instead of writing “You would find it difficult to get a job without proper qualifications”, write something like “One would find it difficult to find a job without proper qualifications”, or you could write “Finding a job without proper qualifications would be rather difficult”.

For those of you who don’t live in an English speaking country and don’t speak English on daily basis it will be difficult to tell the difference between formal and informal vocabulary, which is why I compiled this short list of words. You could memorize it and use in your writing while practicing – this way the chances you will use the correct word in the exam increase.

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This post was contributed by Mr. Nipun Jain, the head of Benchmark – our evaluation team. On behalf of all the readers I would like to thank Mr. Jain and all the fine teachers of Benchmark.

Transitions

Transitional words and phrases are what gives your essays coherence, we need them to join sentences and thoughts together. Look at the lists below. These are transitional phrases that you can memorize and keep in your arsenal for the IELTS writing module.

AGREEMENT: also, plus, in addition, further, furthermore, moreover, additionally, to add to that, next, in accordance with, accordingly, in agreement, finally, for instance, for example, in exemplification, exemplifying that, in fact, factually speaking, in terms of, and so forth, looking at the nexus between, in coordination with, along those lines, collectively speaking, generally speaking, indeed, undoubtedly, obviously, to be sure.

CONTRAST: however, contrastingly, in contrast, on the contrary, on the other hand, To put it into perspective, from a different angle, nonetheless, nevertheless, but, yet, a catch to this is, sadly enough, as a hindrance, looking at the holdups, oddly enough, instead, in direct opposition, still, and rather.

RESULT: as a result, as a consequence, consequently, thus, therefore, hence, thereby, resulting in, ultimately, in the end, finally, in the overall analysis, in hindsight, in retrospect, retrospectively, vicariously, the long term effect, as a short term result, significantly, as a major effect, effectively, heretofore, hereafter, thereafter, in short, generally, over all, concluding.

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If you have an IELTS exam this weekend, this post can literally save your score. Many people get in trouble with their IELTS Writing for no reason, just because they don’t realize some things are not acceptable in IELTS letters, essays or reports. Here is a number of ways you can get in trouble with your IELTS writing tasks:

1. Using informal English in the IELTS Writing tasks.

Informal English is OK for your Speaking test – it is not OK for your Writing test. Even though not every informal word gets penalized, the more formal your style is, the better your score will be. To demonstrate the difference, informal expression “loads of / tons of” should be replaced with “many” or “much”; “fed up with” should be replaced with “lost his patience”, etc.

2. Using contractions.

Contractions are “it’s” instead of “it is”, “I’ve” instead of “I have”, “we’re” instead of “we are” (these are only a few examples). Contractions are a bad, bad thing to use in your essay, they don’t save you much time and can cost you marks. Do me a favor and forget about contractions in your IELTS writing. Write “should not” instead of “shouldn’t”, “could not” instead of “couldn’t”, “would not” instead of “wouldn’t”. You get the idea.

3. Using slang.

You can use slang any time talking to your friends, but this is the only place where it belongs, in a conversation between friends. Keep it out of your IELTS essays, letters or reports. You can’t write “dunno” instead of “don’t know”, “wanna” instead of “want to” or “gonna” instead of “going to”.

4. SMS-like spelling.

We all are typing SMS messages, chatting on Skype and the like, and there is a bunch of shorter ways to write longer words. We type “u” instead of “you”, “c” instead of “see”, “IMHO” instead of “in my humble opinion”. None of these can appear in your IELTS work, unless you are specifically trying to mess up and get a lower score than you deserve. You need to write the full word and spell it correctly, period.

I hope this post has caught you in time to prevent any of the above mistakes. Good luck with your exam!

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This is the my post about connective words and here you will find words to use in sentences referring to examples, describing reasons or sequencing events in time.

Time

There are many schools in many countries you could go to study to, for instance the schools in London or Birmingham.

One example of how to get better in cooking would be to start reading recipes.

I wanted to be home already just as much as a thirsty man in the desert wanted water.

I am referring to my exams, in particular, IELTS and TOEFL.

My friends, namely Andy and Cindy, have told me about this new exhibition in the city.

Reason

Since you ask, I’d like to tell you my story

Due to illness of the teacher, this lecture is canceled.

This assumption leads us to believe that …

The cause of this unfortunate accident was…

Time

Since 2005 I have been working in …

Until now I wasn’t able to find anything like it.

Meanwhile, I would like to ask for your patience.

At the moment I am experiencing financial difficulties.

Whenever I call him, he appears to be very busy.

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Continuing the topic of previous posts (part 1 and part 2), here are some more connective words to use in your IELTS essay, letter or report. The headings in bold are the purpose for which you are using the connective words.

Certainty

I was very disappointed, obviously because my expectations were too high.

I will certainly let her know your opinion.

You are plainly wrong

She is undoubtedly very beautiful

Condition

I won’t be able to meet you, unless we schedule it in the morning.

Whether you like it or not, this is the truth.

I can guarantee a good result, provided that you study.

I can send you the documents so that you would have proof.

We can have a picnic this weekend, depending on the weather.

Summary

To sum up, I strongly support the efforts of our society to help the environment.

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I was going to post more connective words again, if it wasn’t for an email that gave me another good idea.

These connective words are awesome, but they won’t help you if you are seeing them for the first time and don’t know how to use them in a sentence. So now, I am repeating the whole list – with examples, where appropriate.

Addition

In addition, I would like to point out that my neighbor is disturbing me late at night.

Your life will change forever and similarly, your whole family will feel the change.

Some people have little time for a hobby, and have likewise little will to get one.

Beauty, as well as smarts, is a remarkable quality

We aren’t friends. Besides, I don’t feel it’s my place to set him straight.

Computers are getting faster and faster these days; furthermore, their cost is getting lower and lower.

I’ve wanting a change for a long time, moreover, I feel I deserve one.

Not only this product is good for your hair, but also for the whole body.

Sequence

Initially, you would start putting a plan together.

To begin with, you will need to commit a portion of your time to studying.

Later on there comes a stage when your skills are put to a test.

Consequence

I studied well and as a result, I got a high score.

I was younger and therefore, less experienced.

I upset my friend, thereby causing her pain.

Admittedly, he is the smartest person I know.

Contrast

The book is expensive, however it’s worth it.

She says she feels fine, on the other hand, her face is pale and she doesn’t look healthy.

In spite of the difficulties, the task was completed.

He still insists, though he knows that won’t do any good.

The music didn’t lift her spirit, on contrary, it made her feel weak and vulnerable again.

He felt unwelcome, yet instead of leaving, he stayed.

Eggs for breakfast is not a good idea, I would rather have some toast.

He was her true love, whereas for him she was just another girlfriend.

While they didn’t trust each other, nonetheless they worked together for many years.

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Since many of you have been asking me for tips in Writing, I though a useful collection of connective words would help. It was kindly shared by a student and I am sure that using those words in your essays, letters and reports will positively affect your score.
This is part 1, part 2 is coming tomorrow.

Addition

Sequence

Consequence

Contrast

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This post is basically a common mistake alert. As you know I’m receiving a lot of emails from IELTS test takers and they tell me about their exams, what went right, what went wrong, and we analyze the situation and what should have been done differently.

And here is a point regarding the latest exam. As you know it was identical in many countries and apparently many people had the same problems, because they weren’t mentally prepared.

Assumption # 1

People assumed that task 1 in Academic IELTS will be a chart or a graph – and when they were given a diagram, it came as a complete shock. As a result, it took them longer to get their head around the task and they spent over 30 minutes only thinking what they are going to write in their report. Then it’s a chain accident – if the first task takes you longer, you don’t have enough time for your essay and you are stressed, so the performance goes down the drain.

This could be easily solved by practicing beforehand. Guys, when you practice – don’t choose just graphs, prepare for diagrams as well, it;s important to be prepared for whatever they throw at you and not things you think are likely to appear. If you’re under time pressure and have only a week to study – fine, do just one or two diagrams, but at least try yourself at it.

Assumption # 2

I don’t know why, but people assume that IELTS questions never repeat – when this blog is a proof that they do, and quite often. I’ve got an email from a student that said: “You know what is really ironic? I saw my speaking question the night before my exam in IELTS-Blog, but thought I will never get the same and didn’t practice for it.”

Do yourself a favor – go through the list of recent exams and familiarize yourself with the latest questions. The best chances to get the same questions as before are, of course, in the Speaking test, however in the Writing test we too have seen that the questions were repeated over time.

And above everything else – good luck with your preparation and I wish you an easy exam!

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