I’m curious about whether all of the passages in IELTS reading are formal or not. Because I tend to use some collocations and words from reading passages in my academic writing, so i hope you will give me some advice about that. Thank you!
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Hi and welcome to our forum. Yes, the language used in the IELTS exam is formal since it is supposed to cover topics of an academic nature. Maybe you can give us an example of what you consider as formal as opposed to informal? Regards, Torsten
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Thank you for replying to me! I encountered some expressions ( or collocations), such as :
- " just around the corner" in the sentence: " a few years ago, at the height of the dotcom boom, it was widely assumed that a publishing revolution, in which the printed word would be supplanted by the computer screen, was just around the corner"
- A high- water mark
- Cut both ways ( I don’t remember where I read these phrases, so I can’t give you full context)
I just don’t know if they can be used in academic writings or not. Thank you
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Well, I’m sure you could use all of these phrases in an essay depending on the purpose of your writing. I take it you want to study abroad and are therefore preparing for a test such as the TOEFL or IELTS?
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Actually, taking the IELTS test is a requirement in my career if I want to carve a niche for myself as a doctor in the future. ( I’m gonna practice medicine in half year ).
Is that ok if I post my writing on this forum, with the hope that you will show me my mistakes and give me some advice, sir?
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Sure, go ahead and post your texts and I’ll do my best to give as much advice as possible. By the way, you can call me Torsten if you like.
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Thank you, Torsten. Here is my text, please help me when you have free time.
The task is: Some people think that teenagers should be required to do unpaid work in their free time to help the local community. They believe this would benefit both the individual teenager and society as a whole. Do you agree or disagree?
My essay:
Opinions are divided as to whether adolescents should spend their leisure time on helping the local community without payments or not. Some hold a belief that it merits not only individually but also socially. Personally, I completely disagree with this point of view.
For a variety of reasons, it would be wrong to force young students to do unpaid works for the local in their school break. Firstly, teenagers are at the age of learning and they have to meet quite a lot of deadlines for homework. If they take time out to do unrelated jobs, there will not be time left for their study and some other activities for the comprehensive development, such as doing extra - curriculum activities, playing sports and so forth. Therefore, occupying their little free time is obviously not proper and unfair. Secondly, teenagers may not be physically strong enough and lack the necessary labor skills. This may easily lead to unwanted accidents at workplaces. Finally, the local residents are able to ask for help from diverse resources even without any effort rather than taking advantage of the young, and it may yield a much better result.
In my opinion, adolescents who help their community as a workforce do not benefit from what they do and they even will be the low-quality employees in the future society. In fact, learning is the most effective way of generating a well-educated workforce for the contemporary economy and educating good citizens for a healthy society. Case in point, in numerous parts of Vietnam, the young aged around 15 to 20 are considering making ends meet top priority, and this situation is originating the fact that they are not qualified and skillful enough as requirements of most enterprises. As a result, their applications were denied because of lacking a sense of discipline and labor skills.
In conclusion, the choice of whether helping the local or not belongs to teenagers, but I believe that we should not require them to do works which are others’ responsibility.
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Hi Danh, please take a look at my suggestions. As you can see, your written English is already very good – you can express your thoughts clearly and in a well structured way. Also, I do believe that what you say is much more important than formalities. Due to AI and big data we already have systems that can compose grammatically correct essays on pretty much any topic. What those systems lack though is the ability to think critically. That’s where human beings like you come into play.
Let me know what you think.
Torsten
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Torsten, I really appreciate what you do for me. I also tried some systems ( you mean websites or apps on the Internet, right? ) which use AI to correct my essays but sometimes they’re not flexible, and importantly, I also want my essays were written in a natural way. Anyway, I will think about your suggestion carefully.
One more thing, which band score would you give me, Torsten?
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If you refer to the IELTS system I personally would give you a band 8 score. Based on my own experience critical thinking and analytical abilities are much more important than conformity. Hierarchal systems such as the TOEFL or IELTS primarily measure your ability to conform rather than to express your thoughts freely.
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Yeah, I know what you mean. The IELTS requires test takers doing in conformity with the laws. But I believe that the content and ideas that the writer express are much more important. I hope that I can get that high point in my real test. Many thanks.
Stay healthy!
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