LOOK AT HOW THE IDEAS ARE LINKED. CAN YOU SEE THAT THE WORD "TH...

Question

3. Look at how the ideas are linked. Can you see that the word "this" is an

important linking word?

Have a look at

warming problem

Here are some ideas for a discussion essay about the following question:

Some people believe that the salaries paid to professional sportspeople are too high,

while others argue that sports salaries are fair.

Discuss both views and give your opinion.

View 1: sports salaries are too high

•

Sports professionals earn too much money.

•

They do not provide a vital service.

•

Football players earn enormous salaries by simply kicking a ball.

•

We could all live happily without professional football.

•

We should value professionals such as nurses and teachers more highly.

View 2: sports salaries are fair

•

It is fair that the best sportspeople earn a lot of money.

•

Sport is a multi-million-pound industry.

•

There is a large audience of sports fans who are willing to pay.

•

Televised games or events attract many viewers.

•

Being a top sportsperson requires hours of practice.

PS. I'm trying to write a book with ideas for all the IELTS Writing topics. I'll let you

know when it's finished.

8 IELTS SHARE

I've had some great responses about the video lesson, but some students were

surprised that you can get a band 9 using "Firstly, Secondly, Finally".

Is the phrase "First and foremost" better than "Firstly"?

The answer is NO.

Using simple organising language like "Firstly, Secondly" makes you focus on the

REAL CONTENT of what you are writing - topic vocabulary, collocations, examples.

This is what the examiner wants to see.

Spend your time preparing ideas, opinions and examples for IELTS topics, not

learning alternative ways to write "Firstly".

Do not use the following phrases instead of "Firstly" when you are organising ideas in

an essay:

•

At first

•

Initially

•

In the beginning

•

At the beginning

•

In the first place

These phrases do exist in English, but they are not the same as "Firstly".

In the same way, do not use these phrases instead of "Finally":

•

At last

•

At the end

•

In the end

•

In the last place

As I said yesterday, you don't need to learn different ways to say "Firstly" or

"Finally". The examiner is not looking for 'difficult' organisational phrases. Spend

your time learning good 'topic vocabulary' instead.

'Advertising' has been the topic of IELTS writing task 2 several times this year. It's a

Here are some opinions about advertising, taken from my

9

•

Advertising should be ______.

•

Advertising ______ children should be controlled or even banned.

•

Unhealthy foods should not be marketed ______ attracts children.

•

Products that can be a risk to health should ______ warnings.

•

However, advertising is necessary in free ______ economies.

•

It creates ______ products.

•

Governments should only ______ false information or products that are

harmful.

Fill the gaps with these words/phrases:

market, in a way that, regulated, display, censor, demand for, aimed at

PS. 'Advertising' is uncountable (you can't say "an advertising" or "advertisings").

'Advertising' is the name of the industry, activity or profession (like 'marketing'). 'An

advertisement' (or 'advertisements') is what you see on TV, in the street, in

newspapers etc.

Today I asked my students about the vegetarianism topic. They found it quite difficult

to give both sides of the argument. It's important to be able to discuss both sides of an

issue, even if there are points that you don't agree with.

Here is a summary of the arguments in favour of a vegetarian diet, according to

the speaker in yesterday's video:

•

A vegetarian diet is healthier.

•

Eating a hamburger a day can increase your risk of dying by a third.

•

Raising animals in factory farm conditions is cruel.

•

Meat production causes more emissions than transportation.

•

Beef production uses 100 times the amount of water that vegetable production

requires.

•

LOOK AT HOW THE IDEAS ARE LINKED. CAN YOU SEE THAT THE WORD "TH...

3. Look at how the ideas are linked. Can you see that the word "this" is an

important linking word?

Have a look at

warming problem

Here are some ideas for a discussion essay about the following question:

Some people believe that the salaries paid to professional sportspeople are too high,

while others argue that sports salaries are fair.

Discuss both views and give your opinion.

View 1: sports salaries are too high

Sports professionals earn too much money.

They do not provide a vital service.

Football players earn enormous salaries by simply kicking a ball.

We could all live happily without professional football.

We should value professionals such as nurses and teachers more highly.

View 2: sports salaries are fair

It is fair that the best sportspeople earn a lot of money.

Sport is a multi-million-pound industry.

There is a large audience of sports fans who are willing to pay.

Televised games or events attract many viewers.

Being a top sportsperson requires hours of practice.

PS. I'm trying to write a book with ideas for all the IELTS Writing topics. I'll let you

know when it's finished.

8

IELTS SHARE

I've had some great responses about the video lesson, but some students were

surprised that you can get a band 9 using "Firstly, Secondly, Finally".

Is the phrase "First and foremost" better than "Firstly"?

The answer is NO.

Using simple organising language like "Firstly, Secondly" makes you focus on the

REAL CONTENT of what you are writing - topic vocabulary, collocations, examples.

This is what the examiner wants to see.

Spend your time preparing ideas, opinions and examples for IELTS topics, not

learning alternative ways to write "Firstly".

Do not use the following phrases instead of "Firstly" when you are organising ideas in

an essay:

At first

Initially

In the beginning

At the beginning

In the first place

These phrases do exist in English, but they are not the same as "Firstly".

In the same way, do not use these phrases instead of "Finally":

At last

At the end

In the end

In the last place

As I said yesterday, you don't need to learn different ways to say "Firstly" or

"Finally". The examiner is not looking for 'difficult' organisational phrases. Spend

your time learning good 'topic vocabulary' instead.

'Advertising' has been the topic of IELTS writing task 2 several times this year. It's a

popular topic, so you need some ideas and opinions about it.

Here are some opinions about advertising, taken from my

9

Advertising should be ______.

Advertising ______ children should be controlled or even banned.

Unhealthy foods should not be marketed ______ attracts children.

Products that can be a risk to health should ______ warnings.

However, advertising is necessary in free ______ economies.

It creates ______ products.

Governments should only ______ false information or products that are

harmful.

Fill the gaps with these words/phrases:

market, in a way that, regulated, display, censor, demand for, aimed at

PS. 'Advertising' is uncountable (you can't say "an advertising" or "advertisings").

'Advertising' is the name of the industry, activity or profession (like 'marketing'). 'An

advertisement' (or 'advertisements') is what you see on TV, in the street, in

newspapers etc.

Today I asked my students about the vegetarianism topic. They found it quite difficult

to give both sides of the argument. It's important to be able to discuss both sides of an

issue, even if there are points that you don't agree with.

Here is a summary of the arguments in favour of a vegetarian diet, according to

the speaker in yesterday's video:

A vegetarian diet is healthier.

Eating a hamburger a day can increase your risk of dying by a third.

Raising animals in factory farm conditions is cruel.

Meat production causes more emissions than transportation.

Beef production uses 100 times the amount of water that vegetable production

requires.

A vegetarian diet is cheaper.