I often find myself repeating the same advice about #IELTS wri | IELTS ZONE 9.0

I often find myself repeating the same advice about #IELTS writing. This generally happens because, when you are learning a skill, it isn't enough to simply read about it - you have to apply what you have learned and then practise it over and over again. The phrase 'this is easier said than done' sums up this problem nicely.

The truth is that, when you are learning how to do something, it isn't enough to read about it in a passive way; you will only improve if you put the ideas into practice.

Two pieces of advice I have to repeat often are:
1) Only use authentic test materials. Don’t use questions you find online, even for the writing test, and even if they come from a test centre or claim to be ‘recent’ or ‘actual’ IELTS tests. These materials will not help you to improve – even worse, they may encourage you to practise writing in a confusing and repetitive way. Chapter 10 of The Key to IELTS Success explains why.

2) Don’t try to write in a complex way, using long complex sentences and ‘high-level’ vocabulary. Even now, people say to me ‘ I am studying participle clauses so that I can boost my grammar score. Many people make their IELTS journey longer and harder by focusing on learning ‘complex’ grammar and C1 or C2 vocabulary. It makes your journey longer because unless you focus on presenting a clear argument, all you will do is write in a complicated and confusing way that actually lowers you score. I’ve attached an extract from the Grammar chapter of my free book that may help you understand what we mean by ‘complex’ grammar.

You can find a link to my free book here:

https://keytoielts.com/product/the-key-to-ielts-writing-task-2-course/

If you are confused about 'To what extent do you agree or disagree' questions, you will find these posts useful too:

https://keytoielts.com/when-should-i-make-a-counter-argument/

https://keytoielts.com/if-i-agree-with-the-opinion-in-the-task-2-question-should-i-only-mention-that/

Copied from IELTS WEEKLY with Pauline Cullen (Facebook)