IELTS Success: Writing Effective Paragraphs

Hi, everyone. I'm Jade. What we're talking about today is writing paragraphs. And I'm

going to give you a structure you can use in the IELTS writing paper, in the discursive essay

section. And you can also use what I'm teaching you today in the CAE exam, but also more generally

in discursive essays because people who don't have much experience writing essays or plus

writing essays in English can often lose control of the essay because they're not really writing

with a structure in mind. And when that happens, you just start talking about something else

that's not even related to the question. So you don't actually get very good marks when

you write an essay that's not about the question. Did you know that? Well, anyway, it happens sometimes.

So this structure is very fixed, and it's repetitive. So you would follow the structure

in your first paragraph. And then, you'd do three or four similar ones. It's fixed for

a reason, to keep your essay under control, to keep you answering the question.

So let's have a look at a typical IELTS kind of question. "These days, many students decide

to attend university in a foreign country. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of

attending university in a foreign country."

So first, what we need to do is we need to make a little plan. And I know the advantages

and disadvantages based on my personal experience because I was lucky enough to study in a foreign

country when I was a student. Yeah. I spent a year in Amsterdam. So what were the pros?

Make friends from other countries. "Make friends -- other countries." I'm not going to -- actually,

I'm just going to write a shortened version because it doesn't fit here. Make friends

from other countries. Learn a language. What else? Challenge yourself. What else? Travel.

Also, sometimes, expense might be a factor. Now, university is really, really expensive

in the UK, so it may be an advantage to go study in a different country where it's a

bit cheaper. So potentially, it could be cost.

What are the disadvantages, then? You might get homesick. You might miss your parents,

or you might miss your dog or something. You get homesick. You know, it might actually

be more expensive for you. If you go to -- if you move to a country where university is

really expensive. So it could be expensive. Maybe learning a language is a disadvantage

for some people because your grades might not be as good.

So we could put in the language barrier.

So this is the really quick plan for when you're writing a discursive essay like this.

It really helps, especially if it's about advantages and disadvantages. You've got them

all down here. So when you're writing the essay, you can just take any one of those.

It's not important to have, like, highly original ideas. You don't have to think of something

really amazing. It's just an IELTS essay or similar.

So here's the basic plan, and here is the simple structure to follow. We're going to

use a set phrase. Then, we're going to elaborate on that. That means say it a little bit more.

Then, we're going to do a sentence with "however" where we show a complicating factor or something

is that, maybe, shows that what we're talking about we're not so clear about. And then,

as an optional sentence, you can share your experience. And this can be altogether one

paragraph. You finish that. Then, you do the same thing, but you pick a different point,

either an advantage or a disadvantage.

So let's have a look at the set phrases. You can just learn these set phrases to use in

your essays. "One of the reasons" -- well, obviously, it won't be about studying abroad.

You just change it to fit your question. "One of the reasons to study abroad..."

"The main advantage of studying abroad..." "A good reason to study in a foreign country is..." So we

just take one of the pros because these are all positive statements. "One of the reasons

to study abroad is so you can make friends with people from other countries." "The main

advantage of studying abroad is to challenge yourself." "A good reason to study in a foreign

country is to learn a foreign language."

Okay? Then, you've got the first part of your introduction written.

Then, you go on to elaborate, so a little bit more about it. This bit is more general.

So let's imagine we're writing this point about making friends. "When one studies in

a foreign country, it is possible to make friends from different countries, which can

be interesting." Okay. Let's talk about this a little bit because again, it's not the world's

most highly original sentence, but for the IELTS, it's good. You're making a -- you're

still talking generally, and you're elaborating on your point. When you write like this, you

keep your sentence quite short and controlled, and that means you don't lose control of them.

Why am I saying "one" here? In just normal speech, I would say "when you study in a foreign

country". But essays are more formal, so that's why I've written "one" there for the general

"you". "When one studies in a foreign country, it is possible to make friends from different

countries." Okay. We still haven't said that much. But now, we can do a relative clause

using "which". You can always use "which" after a comma. And, you know, I'm not saying

anything amazing here. "Which can be interesting." I'm just using a relative clause in a grammatically

correct way. I mean, you could be more original. "When one studies in a foreign country, it

is possible to make friends from different countries, which can be highly fulfilling

on a personal and deep, inspiring level." But you don't need to write that.

Moving on. Now, you can show the opposite side of the coin, the complicating factor.

You can say "however". So what are the disadvantages here? So you can take one of the -- see what

you write the plan for? You can just take one of these. "However, it may be difficult

to make friends due to the language barrier." When you're writing this kind of essay, you

can just say things. You don't have to believe that it's true. It's okay to write something

that's not necessarily your opinion. Some people find that really hard to do. It's like,

"I don't really think that." Just -- it's okay in this kind of essay.

And then, the optional part, you maybe want to make your paragraph slightly longer. Or

maybe you've already written two or three short paragraphs, so this one, you can vary

the length and make it a little bit different by sharing your experience. And that's a good

thing to do in an IELTS exam anyway. So you can use one of these set phrases. "In my opinion",

"in my experience", "in my view". For me, it would be quite easy to say "in my experience",

okay? Related to what we've already talked about. "In my experience, it is not difficult

to make friends when attending university in a foreign country because everybody is

very open to meeting new people." And there, that brings it to a close. Put that all together,

and you've got a paragraph.

Now, what do you need to do? You need to do the same thing three more times, and then

you should have enough. And then, you get to the conclusion.

So if you follow this pattern, you'll be okay when you do your IELTS exam

or CAE or similar discursive essay.

So what I'd like you to do now is go do the quiz on the website. Do the quiz. Take this

lesson a little bit further. Plus, I would like you to subscribe here on my EngVid channel.

I would also like you to subscribe on my personal channel as well where there's more stuff for

you to improve your English and your communication. And

-- yes. That's everything; isn't it?

What am I going to do now? I don't know what we're going to do now.

I am going to do some tug of war. Okay.