All IELTS Task 2 Writing essays are opinion essays, so here's how to give your opinion in 'to what extent do you agree or disagree?' essays.
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It’s not always possible to avoid repetition. See my post about this Listening where ‘staff’ is mentioned 34 times! https://app.getbeamer.com/ieltswithfiona/en/new-podcast-hotel-staff-turnover-and-retention
Writing “having said that” isn’t informal if one is aiming for a high band score.
Hi Sudeep. Are you asking if “Having said that” is too informal for academic writing? No, it isn’t too informal for academic writing.
Best wishes
Fiona
His Fiona,
Thank you for such an incredible resource. Just a quick query, about how long should the first/introduction paragraph be?
Kind Regards
Hi Sofia
About 50 – 80 words, given the word limit for IELTS Task 2,
Best wishes
Fiona
Can you recommend more sources of good model answers?
Hi there,
To be honest, I don’t recommend most of the model answers that I see online apart from a few obvious ones like TED-IELTS and IELTS Liz.
There are about 100 model essays in my Members Academy, as we write one every week as part of the programme.
Best wishes
Fiona
In this article, are sample answers you have given good enough to learn from them?
Sorry I don’t quite understand the question. I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to post sample answers that are not good for students to learn from.
Best wishes
Fiona
Thank you very much for your in-depth article on IELTS writing. Please keep up your best works.
You’re very welcome Rajib.
Thanks a lot, your video clear to my doubt and once more thank you for the best explanation.
You’re very welcome Mohammed! Best wishes
Fiona
Hello Fiona,
While writing discuss both views type essays,in the second paragraph when we want to discuss one particular view,is it ok to say the supporters or proponents feel that….Then next sentence as This is because…
Hi Jincy. Yes definitely. That follows the ‘PEEL’ structure (Point – Explanation/Example – Link), so you made your point [Proponents argue that….] and your explanation [This is because…] and then you can link it back to the question in some way [Therefore…] or give your own opinion which links back to the question. Thanks for your comment, Best wishes, Fiona.
Hi Fiona, I have a couple of doubts here.
1. When they say “To what extent” should the structure be that we agree throughout the essay or we can disagree in the 3rd paragraph and conclude saying we agree?
2. When we say agree or disagree? can we just agree throughout?
Hi Dhiraj and thank you for your question. 1. Yes, this is a perfectly acceptable way of structuring your answer (the 3rd paragraph can show the opposite opinion, but say why you think it’s wrong and then go back to your original argument in the conclusion). 2. Yes, you can adopt a one-sided opinion answer – you can say you totally agree and give 3 clear points why you agree. You might want to put some balancing arguments (e.g. in Paragraph 3, as we discussed above) but you don’t have to. The question does not ask for both sides of the argument. I hope that helps, Best wishes, Fiona.
Hi Fiona i Just came across your site and it cleared my doubts regarding “at what extent” type essays but i still have one doubt.
* In essay type ” do you agree or disagree” what should be the structure?
Kindly please help my IELTS test is on 20 January 2021.
Hi Sagar. Many thanks for your comment. The structure depends on how you choose to answer. If you totally agree, then you write a 4/5 paragraph essay on why you agree (as above). The same if you disagree. If you can see both sides, write a paragraph on each. Don’t worry so much about structure. Focus more on making your arguments clear, logical and persuasive, with relevant points and strong examples/illustrations to support your points. The structure is simply a 4 or 5 paragraph essay to organise your arguments and there is not just one correct way to do this. There are several ways. Check out more examples about structures here and find a different type of structure that still works well here. Good luck in your test!
Hi Fiona , this was extremely useful . Thank u so much for clearing the confusion regarding the types of essays. Just one query, is it okay to keep repeating the word ‘school uniforms’ throughout the essay?
Kind Regards.
Hi Aisha. You’re right – ‘school uniforms’ is repeated too much! It’s quite hard to find exact synonyms for ‘school uniforms’. I played around with it a bit and put ‘wearing the same clothes’ and ‘school outfits’. It doesn’t sound quite right, but possibly better for IELTS! Many thanks for your comment.
All the best
Fiona