Ielts-7-Writing

2. GENERAL
2.1 Vocabulary is one of the four criteria in Speaking and Writing.
a. Keep your own personal vocabulary log. If you do not have
one, start one immediately and keep it up to date for the rest
of your life.
b. Use your vocabulary log to set up a review program.
c. Vocabulary should be functional.
2.2 There is no way for you to get a high score if you do not have a
functional vocabulary of about ten thousand words. Functional
vocabulary means you know all the meanings of the word, the correct
spelling, the correct pronunciation, and most importantly, how to use
the word in a speech or an essay.
2.3 A shallow but wide general knowledge is a key component for a
high overall band score: subjects like history, geography, biology
(botany and zoology), chemistry, mathematics, and so on. It is
absolutely crucial in all the IELTS disciplines.
2.4 Remember, in Speaking and Writing, the examiner is a foreigner.
During your studies, you should not try to make your mother-tongue
tutor happy. Your objective is to make the examiner happy. Your local
teacher can help you with many things, but he or she comes from a
different culture. People live in a foreign country for many years and
still do not know how the locals think. Your culture is in your genes.
You cannot change it completely. Your objective should be to impress
the examiner. From the very first words you speak or write, the
examiner is immediately starting to evaluate you and starting to form
an opinion on what your score will eventually be. Remember, “First
impressions are lasting.”
2.5 Learn new habits. Decide on specific frameworks, sentence
pointers, phrases, and so on and use them at every opportunity. See
point 2.6
for an example. This will give you more self-confidence
and reduce nervousness.
2.6 If you want a mediocre score, you only have to do and say mediocre
things. However, if you want a special score, you have to do
something special. You have to do something that most other students
do not do. You have to stand out from the maddening crowd. This is
only fair. For example, if someone asks you, “How are you?” and you

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answer, “I’m fine, thank you,” that is mediocre, and you cannot expect
a high score. But if you answer, “I’m bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,
thank you. And you?” then your score will immediately become
substantially higher.
2.7 In Listening and Reading, the scoring is done mechanically. It is
completely objective and cannot be manipulated by anyone. In
Speaking and Writing, however, the scoring is done by a human being
called the examiner. This is a subjective action. Your score
completely depends on what the examiner is feeling and thinking
about your work. Refer to 
2.4 above
.