IELTS Live - Task 2 Writing for Excellence, Band 9

hi students and welcome to today's live IELTS class my name is Adrian and I'm streaming to you from beautiful Budapest here in Hungary I hope everybody is having a healthy and productive week so far in this class we are looking at IELTS task 2 writing excellent band 9 essays that's the target that's what we will talk about hi bitter hi Hina hi jainneil good to see many of our members joining in on the class while we wait for a few more of your classmates this lesson is presented to you by AE help calm for academic IELTS success visit us there and for general IELTS check us out at G IELTS help.com on both of our websites we have loads and loads of great materials for you lots of members hopping in on class Amir Khyber Michael MUC Sood BEC John nice to see all of you joining in where websites look like this this is our academic here with the blue background click that big red button to join our premium package for the general it's the green background click that red button to join there if anybody has questions you can always contact me at Adrian at AE help.com for those students who like to work with hardcopy books you can get our books from Amazon just search for a helps academic IELTS and G helps general outs for exam books alright so task 2 right now for the members this is a members chat class you have to click the join button beside the subscribe button to become a member of our YouTube channel but of course everybody is welcome to watch and lots to learn we will have an all chat class coming up in 90 minutes that will focus on the reading section alright now I do believe that today's task 2 question was requested by Khyber I'm not mistaken you might correct me Khyber as we look at it so we'll get right into it all right you sitting your IELTS exam students and you've finished the listening section you finish the reading section you finish task one of the writing section and now you're on to task two feeling probably a little bit mentally exhausted at this point in the game so it's that much more important to go through the correct steps follow the right strategy and stick to your guns meaning stick to your plan okay you've probably been sitting in the exam room for oh I'd say two hours and 20 minutes at this point so mental fatigue is probably setting in a little bit okay which is totally normal that's why having good practice before the exam and staying with the right strategy is so so important and then step one of course is to read the question carefully it's very dangerous to read quickly through the question especially after you've done two hours and 20 minutes of exams already okay alright so let's do that let's read this question it looks short and simple but hey it could be challenging let's see IELTS task 2 writing you should spend about 40 minutes on this task nowadays food has become easier to prepare has this changed improved the way people live alright it's a very nice question thank you Khyber for submitting this one and then of course the full question is give reasons for your answer using your own ideas and experience alright hi hon hi Reggie or hi Daniel write at least 250 words okay cool so um we've read the question what do we do next I'm going to do this a little bit where it's more our members giving us the right ideas I'm just going to confirm the right ideas and we'll move along so what do I do next everyone what's my next step right away as soon as I even with simple looking questions like this one it's especially important to do this so Kairos has paraphrase yeah paraphrase the question right good luck Angelina in your exam I'll keep my fingers crossed I'm sure you'll do awesome just be yourself be brave you're a smart person you'll do great okay all right and be specific with your answers Angelina so answer the questions specifically okay focus on the question topic controlling idea answer it specifically that's the key for you okay all right so we paraphrase it so let's do that yeah Rajveer hina Michael you're alright let's let's paraphrase this question so I'm gonna do that you do that as well all right that's mine I see a few others coming up as well it's great abhishek says nowadays meals have ended up simpler to prepare has this changed advanced the manner of human life give reasons free answer using your own ideas and experience very good Abhishek very very good it's a nice paraphrase I can tell that you prepared for the class fantastic okay Khyber says these days human nutrition has become effortless to arrange mmm has this change developed individual lifestyle okay Khyber it's not bad but it's a little bit off in this case nutrition is not the same as food careful with that so when you're paraphrasing students make sure that the synonym that you choose is accurate in the context okay that's very very very important that's where sometimes you might need feedback from a teacher or a native speaker to say hey does that work because in this case Khyber nutrition and food do not paraphrase each other well I'll be Scheck's paraphrase of meals is much better in this case in this question Khyber food is referring to a meal something that we cook and or as you can see in my paraphrase the dishes that we make so it's prepared food nutrition the definition for nutrition Khyber is more like the selection and types of foods that we include into our diet like vegetables fruits vitamins different kinds of proteins it doesn't necessarily refer to the actual prepared meal or a dish that we put in front of ourselves and others for dinner supper breakfast okay so you have to be careful with what you use to paraphrase word choice is definitely one of the trickier parts for many students to get those higher bands so careful and always check ok Rajveer says food preparation is an effortless job these days has this development made human lives better explain your reasons and include your own life views and examples very good it's very nice Rajveer very nice paraphrase back John says these days it is straightforward to cook meals keep it a little not sustenance bit awkward back janet's but it's not bad cook meals has this alteration advanced the way individuals live okay Beck John that's pretty good that's quite close okay good use of words and content doctor Krishna says in recent times culinary arts have evolved to become simpler easier to achieve doctor Krishna culinary arts I think or culinary yeah culinary arts would be the the clearest they're simpler I don't know about that dr. Krishna because culinary arts have actually become more complex in many ways we actually make more complicated dishes these days than in the past as well so has this made a difference in lifestyle give reasons and share your own experiences that's by the way why I really liked this question Khyber and I decided to put it in for today's class because it's actually an interesting question it seems quite simple but there are quite a few elements to this question that make it a fairly tricky ok fairly tricky so always go step by step all right ok huh son that's a good paraphrase as well Jenny low food has become simpler to make or simpler to prepare not simpler to ready that doesn't make sense ok all right ok let's keep going so we have a good number of members now which is fine members I'll keep looking at different people's feedback at different times but we'll move on this is my paraphrase here these days making dishes has become simpler than in the past has this development made individuals lives better ok explain your thoughts with your own notions and background that's what it's asking ok all right so what's my next step so I step one was paraphrase step two what do I do yeah I'll be shocked very good so identify topic and controlling ideas right and here I'm gonna intend clearly the topic and controlling idea or ideas sometimes there's multiple of course so what's the topic here members what are we talking about okay when you're identifying the topic and the controlling ideas make sure that you're always using the original question okay always always always use the original question okay always always so let's go back to the original question what's the topic very nice so Amir says it's preparing food Hina said it's food preparation Rajveer says food preparation very good yeah so food preparation that's the topic that's the topic absolutely okay very good nice all of you who I did by the way I know that many of our members when they were new to this channel and new to our lessons they had a really challenging time to identify the topics and the controlling ideas and I can see that many of you are much faster and more accurate now to pick out the right controlling idea and the right topic am i right when I say that do you feel that so do many of you feel that since you've been practicing this at the topics and the controlling ideas are more accurate and faster for you to identify do you feel that okay so food preparation okay try to create it as adjective-noun rather than preparing food okay so food preparation that's that's better okay cool so I'm glad you're feeling that that's really great by the way the reason that's so great is not just for IELTS but also for university and for communication in business that is essential to maximize your end results your end goals okay so that's great I'm really happy about that so the topic is food preparation what's the controlling idea here because I think many students would make the mistake to think that it's about food for the topic but here that would be a big mistake so it's not about food it's about food preparation okay and what's the controlling idea what is the controlling idea okay yeah very good Amir so Amir says is simpler not necessarily is it faster let's go back to the original question yeah so the question here it's not faster Amir careful it's easier okay it might still take three hours to prepare a turkey just like it did fifty years ago but it's easier to prepare the turkey it's not necessarily faster so be really careful here with the qualifying words okay so it could be a part of it you might be able to give an example like that later in the essay Amir but for now definitely focus on the fact of easier don't change that okay all right so is easier food preparation better for people right that's the controlling idea so not easy but easier because it's relative to the past it's what we can assume from this question is easier food preparation better for people okay that's kind of what the question is there alright so we'll go through the what why how so the question is as you should clearly identify is what is food preparation so what is that what does that actually mean yeah Rajveer that's a good way to put that as well has recent development in food preparation improved our lives yeah Turk very says due to advancements in kitchen technology has made the controlling quality of food prep has improvised careful Turk it's a little bit confusing watch your grammar and word form okay so daniil says the definition for what is food preparation is making raw products into edible dishes right or meals okay yeah so Rajveer says it's the process of preparing consumable dishes from raw ingredients it's not materials careful students when you're talking about food of course as you know in most languages or maybe all languages there's very specific words for food because food is such an important part of our lives so you have to be careful okay so what is food preparation food preparation is the process of creating desirable dishes from raw ingredients okay that's what I would say okay and the next question is why do we do it right makes us quite unique as humans not all living beings prepare food in fact humans are quite possibly one of the only living creatures on earth that actually prepare food so why do we prepare food doing this kind of what why how practice especially at home before your IELTS exam is extremely good to expand your thinking your vocabulary so it really helps for the overall process of becoming an excellent writer No just in English but in any language came um Hassan says we cook so we can survive I don't think so huh son I think if we're hungry enough we could go out there and just start eating raw food whatever we can get our hands on so I don't know if I agree with you on that huh son a hundred percent we could just pick berries and attack a fish in the river and chew it apart I'm sure if we're hungry enough we we do that so Hina says for eating or to survive Michael fan says to eat and to keep us energetic Rajveer says to satisfy our hunger and to reget required nutrition yes so some types of foods definitely would be difficult to consume in their raw form a good example would be a potato right so eating a potato or raw maybe not such a good idea but definitely to satisfy our hunger so for pleasure and for nutrition nutrition is not necessarily the same as survival okay survival would be one extra step it would be kind of like to live for the next day survival I don't think we need to prepare food but to get all of our nutrition and in desired quantities and in a kind of way that we can enjoy yeah definitely we prepare food right think about it the more hungry you are the less you prepare food I don't know about you but if I'm hungry enough sometimes I just go at the fridge and grab a slice of cheese or a slice of cold cuts or something like that so for pleasure and for nutrition let's say okay all right then how do we prepare food good so now you're thinking this is where visualization of course is really important yeah pooja says to delight our taste buds absolutely Pooja that's a nice sentence that could come in handy in the in the essay okay so Khyber says using the microwave yeah okay it's it's more just warming up food in the microwave we don't really prepare it but let's say okay using the microwave oven sure how else rahu a Preet says gas fire barbecue so some kind of a stove yeah glass-top the ceramic right okay fry bake boil sure bet John that's okay as well think about a broader concept as well yeah so Angelina says by slicing cutting cooking seasoning yeah so the process of applying heat is one part of it but also there are other parts to the process as well so slicing chopping blending mixing okay combining ingredients cooling right lots of foods that we have to put into the fridge and cool them down before we can eat them so this is where you want to be as visual as possible and I know some people are more into cooking than others which is fine but I don't think it would be honest to say that we're not familiar with cooking so we've seen people around us cook even if we ourselves haven't cooked a lot of us have seen cooking shows so we know that there's quite a few different steps or processes that go into the art of cooking or the culinary arts of course it's a entire field of human employment so lots goes into it absolutely and now we go onto the controlling ideas so what would beam so here I'm going to leave it to you what would be the first question to ask for the controlling ideas so to get a good idea on this essay to stay focused and this is where questions become more important than answers and I've said this a lot of time students that asking the right question is often much more important and often times more difficult or challenging than giving the right answer okay so what's the right question here what's the best question so Khyber says has this improved our lives okay it's been a number of these okay michael says why is it a better life Becton says does it improve the way people live okay okay Rajveer says why is easier food preparation better for human beings all right muck Sood says is it easier cook than the last couple of decades came Abhishek says what is easier food preparation better for people all right how son says how does food preparation make people's lives better all right I'm gonna stop there okay so we've got seven answers to my question and they're all different as you can see and it looks to me like nobody's asking the exact same okay so what's happening here what should we do to get more clarity what do I need to do okay definitely we want to find the right question here and that's that looks like it's a bit of a challenge at this point so what do we need to do what do you need to do what's your strategy here to figure out okay it's a bit confusing here at this point I need to figure out the right question khyber definitely don't start answering if you start answering before you have the right question it's really easy to go off track so Rahul preet says read the question again sure that's not a bad tip we could do that especially when it's such a short question right so nowadays food has become easier to prepare has this change improve the way people live all right so we did that Abhishek says become the reader and the writer so start to have that dialogue between the reader and the writer that's very very good I'll be check and it's no surprise that Abhishek actually is the closest to the right question so I'll be shek says and I like that okay Abhishek says ask yourself or become the reader and the writer have a dialogue about the original question and of course students look at the controlling idea and return to the basic what why and how okay so if we go back we look at the controlling idea so is easier food preparation better for people okay so definitely the what has to come into play here so what is easier food preparation and why would that be better for people that would be the two-part question right and that would also be the question that the reader and the writer are asking from each other so the reader would say to the writer what is easier food preparation in the content of this essay and why would you think that that makes people's lives easier or more difficult and then you end as the writer have to answer that right so if we go back to the list of questions that came up here when I asked what's the next question to ask I think it was this one here that Abhishek asked what is easier food preparation and why is it better for people that would be the secondary part of that question okay and that's the right idea okay that's the right idea so let's go with that one is that clear everyone so there were a lot of different questions but Abhishek was the closest and when I asked what should you do when it's confusing at this point I'll be sure gave the best answer right away said become the reader and the writer and have that discourse that dialogue okay so very well done all right so the question is what is easier food preparation compared to the past okay because you have to define that for your reader here you have to define that for your reader so what is that okay what is easier food preparation compared to the past now give me an answer and you'll see where we'll go with it the reason to have the right ideas here and the right questions is because your se is going to become much easier to write when you do that okay so what is easier food preparation compared to the fat past and this is where a mere what you said before you said it's why in some ways it's it's faster right so that could be it okay so pooja says microwave pooja that would be the how that would be your method right but the reason why you're saying microwave is because microwave is a faster method and it's Charlie sent is saying after it requires less physical effort okay so it is faster it requires less physical effort okay what else because of course again remember that dialogue right you're having that dialogue so quick to prepare Hina absolutely beg John you're answering more the why how question okay so reverse it here right so what is easier food preparation compared to the fast it's passed it's faster it requires less physical effort what else don't mix the why in the how too much okay so sure easier that's very good Rajveer so easier or more convenient to get ingredients yeah absolutely so we have a lot more ingredients available to us a lot faster yeah you know minimizing the time that's all just faster still right so faster means less time minimizing time abhishek says more delicious i'm not sure about that i'll be checked that it's more delicious we're still focusing on easier so how do you define mine easier remember to not just think qualitatively but also to start thinking about quantitative as well okay other points that come to my mind are maybe something like less training needed okay and more control over the process so those are a couple ones that come into my mind as well all right and then the next one here would be why is so the next question is why what's the next question you me the full question okay I don't want to give you this question I've given you the start of the question we already talked about it a bit let's see who remembers it okay it still remember the controlling idea of the original question why so that's definitely enough okay it's a 300 word essay let's say 250 minimum right so think 300 so these these are enough points there yeah so Hasan exactly why does this make people's lives better yeah okay or worse right we don't know that yet if it's just better it could be worse as well but the question is asking so the original question is asking has this change improved the way people live so you could answer yes it has or you could answer no it hasn't okay or you could answer yes in some ways it has and in other ways it hasn't that's another option here but I'm not going to get too much into that right so keep thinking of the original question so why does this make people's lives better or so does it improve it or how does it make it worse okay so Rajveer says less cooking time so saves people time which can be invested elsewhere okay sure any other way so khyber so that's so usually students one answer comes really easily right and I think for most of you this answer is coming really easily it saves people time which can be invested elsewhere so you can use that time for other activities spend it with your family do more projects go exercise etc what else so jennie-o says to make delicious food and save time pooja says it's better with recipes available online saves energy Charlie says safety okay that's actually one Charlie yeah so safer sure that's a little bit of an odd one I think but it's one sure all right now when we're talking about the past we're not necessarily talking about like thousands of years ago Hasan so going out and hunting okay how many of you have tried Chinese dishes how many of you have tried dishes from India how many of you have tried dishes from Japan how many of you have tried dishes from Thailand from other cultures and cuisines around the world okay so when it's difficult for you to think of all of the general idea start to think specifically right what do you do at home how do you use modern technology in preparing food what kind of foods do you eat what kind of foods do you make okay so think about that okay so coming up with the right ideas will definitely help you alright so I would say it saves people time which can be invested elsewhere cuisines cuisines I'll just go dishes all right okay yeah all right so it also allows you to eat a broader range of dishes okay and potentially more nutrients all right so those are definitely some positives are there negatives to it as well maybe okay I'm sure if we kept going down this rabbit hole we'd come up with some negatives as well so now yes Reggio says people can try different cuisines there's a lot of availabe of ingredients not like before exactly Pooja so in most parts of the world and it's always developing there's more and more ingredients available there's more and more ability for people to quickly and easily make foods from different parts of the world using more advanced technology and more availability of ingredients absolutely okay now there's still a question left here so how do we prepare food in an easier way and this is where a lot of your answers for the what would come in through the use of modern technology and the of greater availability of [Music] ingredients in local stores okay so that would be the answer there all right I want to move along a little bit okay so here we go all right so let's get into it now the next step is the thesis okay from all of this you should be able to create the thesis so using this information specifically the Y from the controlling ideas create the thesis statement okay don't get lost so go step by step again remember what I said at the beginning you've been in the exam for two hours ten minutes two hours twenty minutes at this point so you really need to go step by step of course the what why how all of that is happening in your head during the exam okay so Angelina if you're still watching the class remember that these what why how for the topic what why how for the controlling ideas that's all going on in your head and I know you probably are familiar with that because you're in your post grad studies so that's going on very quickly in your head but this is going down on paper and that's your thesis so once you've come up with this and remember your goal here is always to quickly write an effective essay that gets you a high band score I think for this question a lot of students would try to argue that the fact that it's easier to make food as bad for people but I think that would actually be a difficult argument okay so come up with your thesis okay come up with your thesis and again when you come up with your thesis have the original question in mind nowadays food has become easier to prepare has this changed improved the way people live okay so give me the thesis has this change improved the way people live give me your thesis I'm really looking forward to it Khyber says the primary development in human lives and food preparation is the invention of technological devices which can allow an individual to be involved in other everyday tasks mm-hmm it's very convoluted Khyber and kind of confusing it's I wouldn't consider that a strong thesis the thesis should be very clear and very direct where if 20 people read it 19 of them should say yeah I have a really clear idea of what question you're answering and where you're going with this essay ok so remember the question is has this change improved people's lives Aamir says although some individuals believe that this has a negative effect on humans lives I think it's a positive development because it's safer and we can save time ok it's easier the question is easier so safer Amir is maybe not the best one to go with here it's a part of it but I would only think about that if I'm writing like a thousand word essay here Hassan says despite the fact that food preparation consumes less time and energy nowadays I believe that it has a negative effect on human health due to large amounts of calories consumed interesting Hassan that's a negative but that's just one write so if you're gonna go negative I would probably go negative and positive I can kind of see where you're going with it huh some so you're gonna write one paragraph on less time and energy and the next one on more calories that could work Hassan you're doing a two-sided okay so a Beck John says personally I think it's I think easier food preparation has improved people's lives because it saves time and energy yes you could go with that Beck Jon time and energy are a little bit synonymous but she could go with that Rajveer says the art of preparing food has become easier and it is a positive development of human beings as it saves time and energy and as well as expands the range of cuisines that's what I would go with so I would go with something that Rajveer wrote so the process of preparing meals has become significantly easier than before and this has led to a positive improvement for individuals as they are able to save time and experience cuisines okay so that's what I would go with that's what I feel would give me the chance at the ban nine that I'm looking for in 300 words okay so the process of preparing meals has become significantly easier than before and this has led to a positive improvement for individuals as they are able to save more time and experience more cuisines okay and it's definitely a first person s aim so we're gonna stick with first person here okay all right so there's a few different ways that we could go about this and again I think Hassan what you did is an OK approach as well where you're saying it saves time and energy on one hand so it's positive but on the other hand people are over eating because it's easier to prepare food and that's a negative so you could do that as well and I think you could get a fairly good mark with that also but I think that might be a little bit more difficult just my opinion Hassan but I think half of 1/6 of the other okay so half dozen one six of the other I would go with this I would I would just go with the positive size has it been an improvement yes it has because of a and B I wouldn't I wouldn't go on both sides there okay so let's stick with this kind of a thesis for practice purposes okay let's come up with the hook okay so when we come up with the hook so we're gonna get into the introductory paragraph here okay and we're gonna come up with the hook the hook I'll leave it up to you let's see what you come up with okay Hina you don't need to include into the thesis how it's become easier yet that could be in the background of your introduction okay remember Hina that the thesis is simply your answer to the question with two points okay bet John food is the basic need of human survival it's too general because remember back John for the hook you want to use the topic okay and these essays they're 250 300 words back John so you want to be specific so food is the basic need of human survival sounds like the topic is food but that's not the topic don't forget what the topic has Beck John okay right Hassan says food preparation is an integral part of human life on a daily basis that's much more accurate Beck John do you see Hassan's hook how much more accurate it is simply because he's using the full topic so Hassan says food preparation is an integral part of human life on a daily basis that's much more effective for this essay than saying food is the basic need of human survival okay Khyber says the 20th century has brought with it many advancements Khyber that's way too general okay I need to see the topic in your hook ok Rajveer says food preparation has been revolutionized in today's modern era that's great yeah absolutely so Rajveer is also on mark because he's using the topic and he's sticking with this question in a much more specific way ok students it's so sad for me when I see IELTS candidates who obviously have a high level of English and they only get AB and six point five or seven because they're using these very generic kinds of ideas and sentences like the 20th century has brought with it many advancements it's a good sentence Khyber but it's not a good answer to this question so I can't give you a nine I can give Rajveer a nine I can only give that a six five okay pooja says food preparation it has always been an art kay pooja it's not bad you have the topic in there I'm not sure where you're going with the art part of it but okay I'll be check says food preparation is the art of living nowadays yeah how about this one preparing food as a challenge most people face on a daily basis mm-hmm I'll get you thinking I think okay so again think about your own lives right so I'm sure that in your own life when you wake up when it comes suppertime at some point most of us will have a moment where we go what am I going to make today and how am I going to do it so even if somebody in our family cooks more than another oftentimes of course it's the wife and many cultures but even the men come to this challenge frequently enough to think what am I making today and how am I gonna do it so from thinking about that this is what comes to my mind preparing a preparing food as a challenge most people face on a daily basis do I need to go to the grocery store right now do I have all the ingredients what do I gotta do okay all right that's much better back John okay and then comes the background which will be your definitions and importance and then will come your thesis so I'm gonna leave the background and the definitions and importance for you to do for homework for tomorrow I'll do the same and then we'll continue with the body paragraphs tomorrow okay so there we go an important point from today's lesson students be very careful with these questions in the IELTS where it seems really simple okay so here it seems really simple nowadays food has become easier to prepare has this change improved the way people live simple is not always easy so careful with it in this one again thanks Kyra for this question it's a very good example of this where you really have to be careful about the way you think through the question especially after two hours of doing an exam in English it becomes so much more important to visualize and go through the steps okay yeah son that's exactly why I thought this was a great when I think that's why Khyber sent it to me because I think Khyber was working on this and you realized that wait a second this is a bit of a challenging question it seems really simple but it's quite challenging so if as you're going through the right steps as long as you're able to have that writer reader dialogue that Abhishek very cleverly identified you can still do really really well okay never feel like I'm lost or I don't know what's going on all right we'll stop there for today everyone and we'll pick it up tomorrow from the body paragraphs so finish up the introduction will share the backgrounds with each other at the start of class just to get going tomorrow okay for everybody who's watching AE help comm for academic IELTS a lot of these strategies are discussed there in HD videos for the general IELTS GL's help calm okay that's where you'll find all of our materials for general IELTS thank you so much great participation nice dialogue members that's really really useful for development and I'll see you in 30 minutes for some reading bye for now

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Keywords: IELTS, Task 2, writing, essay, paragraphs, sentences, vocabulary, introduction paragraph, band 9, body paragraphs, conclusion, IELTS description, English examination, writing IELTS, writing for task two, second part of writing, writing strategies, IELTS task 2, Lesson, Teacher, Learn, Student, Lessons, Learning, Free, Intro, Tutorial, IELTS task 2 explain, IELTS task 2 learning, IELTS task 2 explanations, plan, planning, understand, skills, strategies

Id: oQh-DxLp8bE

Length: 54min 15sec (3255 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 04 2020