Write ups, poetry, story, anecdotes, articles and musings. This is a platform through which I wish to converse with people of all types and interests. Currently, I am engaged in offering customised EL training solutions for IELTS. I have the track record of making hundreds of seven seven bands, especially for speaking and writing. For personalized PAID IELTS training via Email ID, please respond to: jaypeesarefine@gmail.com. or 9 387 227 157. Type in. 'vaatupura A' on google.
Monday, September 29, 2014
A very good attempt by Ms. Dhanya Elizabeth Sebastian
A very good attempt by Ms. Dhanya Elizabeth Sebastian
Today, the high sales of consumer goods reflect the power of advertising and not the real need of the society in which they are sold.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Advertisement is a medium between manufacturers and consumers. Since advertisers are paid by the makers of the product, manufacturer is the king for them. Therefore, they are ready to strengthen the advertisement well enough to make people buy the product blindly. This makes me agree with the given view to a greater extent.
Primarily, each and every person is attractive in their own ways. But fairness product advertisements try to relate beauty with fairness to increase sales. Even people who are fair enough will buy these fairness creams to look more charming.
Secondly, the actual use of a car is to transport people from one place to another. But a majority of the crown consider car as a material for visualizing their wealth and showcasing their luxury. And these misconceptions are not bloomed in their own minds, rather sown by the automobile advertisements.
Thirdly, advertisements are playing with the emotional intelligence of people. That is, these commercials prove that their products can alter our life itself. Let me exemplify it. Some jewelry promotion exercises picturise that parents can show their love and care for their daughters by giving the jewelry bought from a particular jewel brand. Actually these materials play no role in strengthening their bonds. Children could feel the love and care only when their parents express it through their behaviour and life.
However, advertisements are the only ways to know about national and international products and their quality. We should note that advertisements have a major role in educating us.
In short, governments should impose strict rules in order to guard people from getting fooled. Along with it, people should be aware of the fact that advertisers are always with the manufacturers, and consumers have to use their reasoning to keep themselves away from these commercial pitfalls.
Typeset and correction. Jaypee. Hosted on. www.jpsukham.blogspot.com
The highlighted areas had negligible corrections
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Write of the week's taks one. by Riny Augustine
The table depicts the medal (table) status of seven countries in the 2012 Olympics Games staged in London. All the countries are ranked in terms of the number of gold medals they achieved in the games and there are details of other medals; silver and bronze.
It is clear that the United States had the overall lead by wining the highest number of gold, silver and bronze medals; 46, 39 and 29 respectively. They made an astonishing victory by achieving a total of 104 medals. This is closely followed by China that won (around) 88 medals. The Great Britain was (Was was missing) positioned as third even though it was far behind Russia while considering the total score into account.
The other nations like South Korea Germany and France could achieve only meager numbers of gold medals; approximately less than three times of the champions, the US. South Korea held the lowest position while considering total number of medals.
Overall, the United States had stolen the show in the London Olympics held in 2012. (written as crowned the London 2012 Olympic Games)
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Curiosity, commerce and capability of space mission. ielts essay
Some people hold the view that it is human curiosity, commercial scope and technologic capability that make many nations take up highly risky and exponentially expensive space missions.
Do you agree or disagree with this view?
There is great substance in the view that curiosity, commerce and capability are the things that drive many nations invest hugely in risky space missions. Obviously, I have enough reasons to agree with the given view.
Coming to curiosity, it is not an exaggeration to record that man’s eye for the unknown and unseen has always been open and this inherent love is the very catalyst that has propelled the space missions of the world to this far. For example, man always wants to see what is there, what is not there, what is possible there and what is not possible there in the outer space.
The commercial factor of this investment and interest can be seen in many angles. Anyway, I find it right to cite an example from my country, India, to illustrate. Our latest space mission to the Mars burnt out 4,500 million rupees and it was risky but turned out to be successful. The world now knows that India has the technology that can be hired or bought out, obviously, for a cost which, in commercial terms, would be much bigger than what India had invested in it.
Finally, the position a nation wields in the power equations of the world nations is governed by many factors like military, manpower, natural resources, industry and, of course, space capability. Naturally, ambitious space missions, if successful, will take nations to different planes of power and recognition. No wonder nations of all types try their luck in space missions, how ever risky and expensive the job is.
In brief, the three propellants that keep risky and costly space missions attractive for many nations, no doubt, are curiosity, commerce and capability. This is made very much clear with enough evidences and examples here.
280 words
Ajaypeesdoc. 25.9.14
Friday, September 19, 2014
The most brilliant write up my student Ms. Hima has written in an exam condition
Though modern communication tools are said to be able to keep people close, there is a view that people these days are much more distant from one another than they used to be.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this view?
The arrival of modern technology in communication has indeed helped keep people closer. However, some feel that this is not true. In today’s context, I disagree with the statement to a greater extent. 33 words.
The main drive behind all communication devices is to reduce the distance between people. This goal has been met by these tools to a greater extent. It can be proved by borrowing an example from our day-to-day life. Cell phone, which is a popular means of communication medium, is used by millions. Even an ordinary home-maker can receive calls at any time from any corner of the world. This, in another way, has been a blessing for those who stay away from their loved ones as they can contact them much easily and be in touch more frequently. 99 words
Besides, other applications like video calling create a feeling that their close ones are always with them. Also, computers and other handy instruments like notepad with access to social hubs such as Twitter and Facebook have enabled people to understand the up-to-date status of all known people. This also shows that communication aides narrow down the distance between people. 59 words
Despite all these communication devices, people at times feel loneliness. This is because, with the improved technology available, people find it unnecessary to visit homes. Thus a feeling of distance is felt for many. 35 words
From all these points, it is hard to say that the gap in relationships has become wider with the availability of communication tools, even though some exceptional cases might be there. But for the majority, it has helped reduce the gap. 41 words
270 words
Comments:
• Task is excellently met with words, paragraphs, examples and agreement.
• Vocabulary is brilliant in the sense that candidate sounds good at words on communication and related technology.
• Punctuation and cushioning agents are cleverly put to make the reading really a pleasure.
• Grammar and structure, as anyone can see, are more than enough to take the write up go far above seven, I would say.
Errors: Para 1. In today’s context – is written us in respect of today. I disagree with is written as disagree to. Para 2. Cell phone is written as mobile. Para 3. Have enabled is written as have abled. Para 4. Despite all these communication devices is written as Despite of all this. They are just negligible considering the rest. Hats off to HIMA.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Many poor nations encourage rich countries to make investments in their (former’s) manufacturing sector. This FDI, foreign direct investment, is supported and opposed by many.
• What could be their arguments for and against this poor-rich association in manufacturing?
Foreign Direct Investment, (FDI), from rich nations to poor ones, has always been a topic of discussion all over the world. Obviously, supporting and opposing camps could have their own points to prove their respective stances. Let me see what those points may be. 44 words.
The supporting school of though might hold the view that, when money comes to work, it would generate greater money. This may be made clear looking at the manufacturing sector that spins money across the world. The second thing could be the belief that it would generate huge employment possibilities as this sector always calls for great numbers of people - skilled, tech savvy and professionally qualified- alike. Besides this, technology transfer, from the rich to poor, could be a great advantage as this is what keeps the globalized world functioning. Global market access is another plus. 96 words
Moving on to the other camp, it may hold the view that FDI is an encroachment on a nation’s financial freedom. That is, foreign investors might dictate financial terms and conditions which would not be up-to likes of their poor counterparts. In addition to this, the presence of foreign manufacturers might pose a potential threat to the national counterparts that might take a beating in the long run. Yet another stance would be this that these foreign investors would eye greatly on sizeable returns and they might throw the national concerns to the winds. 94 words.
Objectively observing the views, it may be concluded that FDI could have many takers depending on its positives. I think, allowing selective investment is likely to do more favours for the poor. 32 words
266words
Ajaypeesdoc
Try to see the write-up in the following angles:
• Lexical Resource:
• Cohesion and coherence:
• Grammar, structure and usage:
• Task fulfillment:
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Five task two ielts questions
Five task two questions ielts
1.
Water as a cannot-do-without resource of life is greatly being commoditized across the world. The reasons for this change are different in different places.
• See the reasons for this change keeping your place in the perspective?
• Is this development so bad or there are some upsides for this?
2.
Women in general are much less inclined to crimes and the crimes they happen to commit are much less severe than what their male counterparts do. Therefore, it is alright to trial women criminals through much more humane court of law.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this view?
3.
Tourism is the biggest money-spinning industry in the world, and it is finding new areas to augment revenue every passing day. This heightened position tourism enjoys is both good and bad.
• What are those elements that make tourism industry so attractive?
• Do you think augmenting tourism possibilities is worth promoting?
4.
Fossil fuel levels are finding new lows across the spectrum and the numbers of automobiles - in all possible means of travel - are on the rise.
• How dangerous is this disparity in your view?
• What all ways can you suggest to offset this fuel- automobile dichotomy?
5.
Seeking and acquitting knowledge calls for a lot many faculties and they differ from person to person. However, there is a common thread that runs through all.
• What are the elements that constitute the common thread of knowledge-seeking?
• Do you think that people these days are a greater advantage in terms acquiring knowledge?
Monday, July 14, 2014
All the repeated global discussions on environmental concerns notwithstanding, the extent of damages meted out to the planet is not showing any let up. In this respect, some say these international exercises are of no significance anymore while others say the discussion element is very much needed.
• Which view do you support and state why?
The world over, parlays on green concerns have experienced greater frequency today than ever. But there is no visible decline in the cases of damages done to the Planet. This fact does not, in any way, undermine the need for more frequent discussions.
The initial thing with which I am going to endorse the idea is that periodic discussions may leave great room for the world to take stock of what has happened to the Planet so far. For example, when the pro-planet parties from around the world meet at a place, they can air their concerns and evaluate the present scene and find out who does what for the Planet, both good and bad.
The second point is that there is great scope for creating green consciousness among people across the spectrum. For instance, the Climate Summit in Bali, Indonesia, a few years back had invited huge media attention and the whole population got informed of the fact that green concerns are real and on their face. It is not a simple fiat by any means.
Besides these, there is yet another argument to advocate the need for international climate discussions. These venues may become instrumental to making member nations go responsible for all the activities they have done, are doing and are going to do in the days to. When the frequency increases, the leaders will think twice before they embark on any anti-planet development exercise.
The conclusion is that further discussions on environmental concerns will have greater relevance in the days to come than what they have today. Obviously, the “no significance” element sounds premature to me.
270 words
Friday, July 11, 2014
Listening tip from jaypee
Listening tip
Manage your time in listening
of the 27/28/29 minutes listening
you need hardly 20 minutes audio for the test
the remaining parts are introduction, instruction and gaps
it is how you manage this time so as to go ahead of the audio presenter.
by the time he or she comes to tell you, you should have had clear picture of the topic ahead
so that you can predict answers and be cool.
when you go ahead of the audio, make note of the bold letters and words printed on the text
those words will be emphasised and you can be conscious of what questions follows next.
missing out questions can very well be avoided.
when you fail to get a question right, leave and go with the audio.
you can write wrong answers. you do not want 9 out of 9.
still remember, in listening, every points counts and every point is counted.
good luck
Greater communication; two opinions
The extent of communication people have among themselves these days is getting greater. Some people find it encouraging while others see it with disdain.
• Why are there two differing views on the extent of communication people have?
Being connected or communicating with others, like near and dear ones, business to business or with whosoever, is the order of the day, and people look at this greater extent of communication differently. This essay will see why views on this differ.
People mostly would find it encouraging in several ways. In world of seamless possibilities for travel and being away for longer times, communication might help people to be emotionally balanced. For example, talking to people is a great relief especially the loved or near ones who are far off. Second thing could be that great business is taking place in most communications. For example, executives, even ordinary workers, make use of communication for their own businesses. Besides this, extensive communication keeps people more informed, empowered and encouraged. It keeps people poised to face the challenges of life.
All these facts notwithstanding, there is substance in the disdain show by people on this. The primary thing is that too much of anything is not good. For example, these days communicating with others has become the sole job of great many people consuming precious time, valuable money and huge energy. Besides this, the greater extent is at the cost of many other priorities like regular sleep, right foods and balanced behavioural patterns, especially among the young. Above all, there could be concerns on health risks and crimes based on indiscriminate communication.
In short, the two contrasting views on greater communication time are based on solid reasons. However, since there is no U turn from this turn of events, we much decide on how communication is too much. It should not cost us dearly.
270 words
Ajaypeesdoc.11.7.014
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Reading. a tip
when you find a reading question taking more time than usual, the best thing you can do is ignore that question with a marking. You do not need 9 out of 9, rather you can make mistakes or write wrong answers.
The problem is
you may lose time
you may not get the answer
you may panic when pressed with time
the following passage will suffer.
the result is poor performance.
so when in very big doubt, ignore the question. An answer, i repeat, an answer should not be at the cost of many answers. and this difficult answer may not be right as well, if you are unlucky.
so go on reading time-bound.
History as a mainstream higher education discipline is slipping off many campuses in this information era, and many people hold the view that studying it is not worth it now.
• Why is history losing its position as a discipline?
• Do you endorse the view that history has no significance in these times of change?
Much water has flowed down the bridge of higher education where history was as good as any other course. But, today, it is being pushed off many higher education centers. This happens in many ways and, in my view; history is the only stream which never loses its significance.
The onslaught of new generation courses is the primary force that has pushed history out. For example, an IT qualification involving a few years is enough for one to make huge material difference in his or her life. History falls short of this. Besides this, a qualification in history demands for great number of years and unusual patience and excellent attitude. The nuclear parents and their children are not ready to invest in such a stream. Coupled with these is the fact that not many institutions are ready to promote courses in history; rather they go with the current of high demand, and history gets sidelined.
However, it is a fact that history is an evergreen stream of study, and there is no new generation course which does not have something to with history. For example, the most eulogized information revolution is actually a by-product of history. Let me cite another example. All the freedom, conveniences, happiness, material comforts and monitory possibilities we have are the logical continuation of history. Further, the students who learn art, architecture, archaeology and geography can enjoy their studies greatly if they know some history.
My conclusion is that the losing popularity of history as a course is really discouraging, no matter what the reasons are. To me, history as such will always be a thing of the present, but all the so-called info-explosions will become history. History is present.
Ajaypeesdoc
290 words
08.07.14
Monday, June 9, 2014
Ten top tools to do Academic reading successfully
It’s a download from the net.
For many academic IELTS candidates reading is the hardest paper and the one which requires most training. Here I suggest some different ways to make that training as efficient as possible. These pieces of advice are fairly general and are designed to help you think about the best way to train yourself in IELTS reading and how to avoid some common mistakes.
1. Beat the fear – read as much as possible
My first suggestion is to read as much as possible. By this I don’t mean do endless IELTS practice tests, I mean do as much general reading as possible. I suggest you focus on reading short articles on topics that interest you or on topics that are common in IELTS – newspapers and magazines are a great resource here.
One reason why this is such a good idea is that many candidates freeze in the reading believing it is too hard and so fail to get their band score. If, however, you read enough “native English” before the exam, you will become more and more confident in looking at texts where you don’t understand every word. Confidence is a very important concept in IELTS.
If you look at Daily Exercises, you will find lots of possible exercises for you. The idea is to find something that interests you and read. That’s all.
2. Improve key skills – skimming and scanning and reading in detail
A major problem in the exam is the length of the texts and you will not have time to read them all carefully. You need to train your speed reading skills so that you can read as efficiently as possible. 2 skills here are skimming which is reading quickly for general meaning and scanning which is looking for specific information.
You may sometimes see advice saying that you don’t need to read in detail. Incorrect. Bad advice. You shouldn’t read the whole text in detail but you will need to parts of the text in detail – if you want to get the right answer. Put simply, skimming and scanning are useful skills to help show you where the answer might be: reading in detail tells you what the answer is.
You might want to look at this post on improving your reading speed.
3. Time management – experiment to see what works
Because the texts are so long you need to have a definite strategy for how you manage your time in the exam to make sure you finish on time. This means deciding:
• how long you look at the text before answering questions
• how long you spend on each question
• how long you spend on each group of questions
• how long you spend on each text
• do you leave time at the end to go back at look at unanswered questions?
There is a lot to consider here. You will find books and websites that insist you do it their way. They may claim to have a magic formula and that you must do this or you must do that. Ignore them. Their advice may be good for some people but not for you.
The key point here is that different learners have different styles and different needs. Much the best advice here is to experiment and try different approaches and see what works best for you.
Focus on the question – avoid careless errors
The texts in IELTS are typically quite hard, so candidates spend as much time as possible reading the texts. Mistake. Why? Well, a huge amount of mistakes are made by not focussing enough on the exact question. It can be easy if you are in a hurry to miss a word such as “always” or “often”: the problem is those sorts of words can change the meaning of questions.
There is an easy solution to this problem: it is to go back and look at the question before you write in the answer. Make sure that the question says what you think it says. You will normally save yourself 2/3 marks this way.
5. Learn the exam – know the different types of questions
There are 8/9 different types of reading question that examiners may use. Before the exam, you should make yourself familiar with each type of question as they are slightly different. What I suggest is that you look at my series of tutorials on the different types of reading questions as a first step to see what the question types are. The next stage is to experiment and see what techniques you are going to use for each type of question.
This may mean that you approach different types of questions differently.
6. Train yourself, don’t test yourself
One common mistake candidates make is to practise exam questions too much. Exam practice is important to learn the timing (3 above) and learn the question types (5 above), but that does not mean that every time you practise reading you need to do it in exam conditions. My suggestion is that you do some “open book” tests where you can see the answers as you do the questions. This way you will learn how examiners set questions and how to find the answers. If you just test yourself, this may not happen. How often and when you do this training will depend on your preparation programme.
7. Learn how to underline
This is a very specific piece of advice. You may believe it is wrong to write in books and generally I’d agree with you, but IELTS is different. A very strong suggestion is that you should underline words in the text in the exam. There are at least two reasons for this:
1. if you underline key words in the text, it can help you organise the text and this will save you time in the exam
2. if you find an answer, it is sensible to underline the part of the passage that relates to the question as a check (see 4 above) and to write the number of the question next to it in case you find a better answer later
How you do this will depend on you and your style. Some people underline different types of words in different ways.I’d only add that less is more: if you underline too much, it can become confusing.
8. Beware word matching – be careful with key words
One very common mistake is to match a word in the question with a word in the text and to think you have found your answer. It is almost never that simple and I am tempted to say that if the words do match, then that is not your answer. What you are normally looking for are either synonyms (words with a similar meaning) or paraphrases (short bits of text that say the same as the question.
One reason candidates make this mistake is that teachers (myself included) tend to say look for key words in the question. This is helpful advice to show you where the answer might be and which paragraph it might be in. After that you need to go back and read the whole question carefully to see what the answer is.
Focus on the question – avoid careless errors
The texts in IELTS are typically quite hard, so candidates spend as much time as possible reading the texts. Mistake. Why? Well, a huge amount of mistakes are made by not focussing enough on the exact question. It can be easy if you are in a hurry to miss a word such as “always” or “often”: the problem is those sorts of words can change the meaning of questions.
There is an easy solution to this problem: it is to go back and look at the question before you write in the answer. Make sure that the question says what you think it says. You will normally save yourself 2/3 marks this way.
9. The questions follow the text – normally
This is a very practical piece of advice and could save you a lot of wasted time. Typically, the questions will come in the order of the text: so the answer to question 3 will come after the answer to question 2. This can be very helpful in the exam if you are a quick worker who goes through the questions once for the easy ones and then a second time for the harder ones. If you have answer 4 underlined (see 7 above) and answer 6 underlined then you know where answer 5 must come.
One word of warning. In certain types of question (eg paragraph matching) the order of the questions are jumbled.
10. The questions or the text – which do you read first
There is no one right answer here.
Text books tend to advise you to read the text quickly first so that you know how the text is organised. This helps as you will save time later by knowing which paragraph will contain the answer. This can be a good approach, particularly for high level candidates provided you don’t spend too much reading and you have notes/underlinings afterwards.
Many teachers say that you should read the questions first and not read the whole passage. There is logic here too. Normally, you do not have to understand the meaning of the whole passage to answer the questions, so why waste time reading it? This approach can work, especially for lower level candidates who might not understand too much of the passage anyway.
However, thee is always a third way. Life is not black and white. It is quite possible to decide to use different strategies for certain question types. In paragraph matching you are going to have to read the whole passage, so you might decide to read first then. In the short answer questions, you might decide you look at the questions first. As ever, you decide.
The only bad piece of advice is the one that tells you you must do it their way. Ignore them. The only right way is the way that works.
11. Fill out the answer sheet
Okay, this is an eleventh tip. Practise filling out the answer sheet before you get to the exam. Too many avoidable mistakes are made this way. I’d go further: whenever you practise IELTS reading, use an answer sheet. This is what I do with my classes. Two points:
1. when you go through the answers in your practice book, make sure that you have written the answer exactly as it is in the book – anything else will lose you the point
2. you need to fill out your answers in the 60 minutes. They don’t give you any more time.
Ten ways to bust stress in exams.
Think ahead – be one with a plan
The main idea with all these ideas is that you want to feel in control.
1. Get there on time – don’t be early, don’t be late – remember to find out where the exam is
You rush into the test centre in a hot sticky mess because you lost your way. Clearly a bad idea. So I suggest is getting there hours early – that just leaves you too much time to worry about things. All you have to do is figure out the difference between being on time and in time and to do the obvious thing and not just know where the test centre is, but work out how you are going to get there.
2. Have a plan for the exam and stick to it
One of the problems with exams is that you have to deal with time pressure. That’s the bad news. The good news is that you should know before the exam what amount of time you need for each type of question. You may want to be a little flexible in how you decide to spend your time, but the idea is not just to make a plan, but stick to that plan.
3. Simulate the exam – turn off your phone and ignore your boyfriend for an hour or so
If this is the first time around, how about trying to simulate the test. One way in which the exam often goes wrong is that 3 papers are fine but one is just worse – you lost concentration
To do this need an environment to work in where you will not be disturbed: no music or no telephone calls. It may help to try and do this away from where you normally study – a quiet library would be good.
4. Match your study habits to the test – build your concentration skills
This is a similar idea. Exams often go wrong, not because you don’t know what to do, you just don’t do it: you lose concentration and panic sets in. That’s bad, you want to block out the world and concentrate on the test – do that and you should come close to performing your best. One solution is to learn to concentrate for a specific amount of time – the time of each paper in the exam.
The obvious way to do this is to study for the same amount of time as the test. This means, for example, practising your writing in a block of 60 minutes, it does not necessarily mean you have to write a part 1 and part 2 in that time. The idea is that you are training yourself to concentrate for a set period of time to prepare for the exam.
5. Taper down – get there in the mental shape of your life – no last minute cramming
The temptation is to study right up to the last minute. What if they give you a question you’ve never seen before? If you had sat up the night before, you may have been able to study for it. This is the wrong attitude as far as I’m concerned. Do that and you may tire yourself out – waste mental energy. You may not want to take the day before the exam off, but I do suggest that you should take it easy. One idea is to spend the day before making a plan for the exam – how long you will spend on each part of the paper – that way you will feel in control on the big day.
Don’t believe me? You won’t find world class athletes in full training before the Olympics – they “taper down”. What that means is that as the competition becomes closer, they do less and less. - and IELTS does require stamina.
Think physical
You’re probably aware of the saying mens sana in corpore sano; in my experience, it translates into most languages. Perhaps the reason for that is it contains a universal truth – there is a strong connection between the mental and physical. Exams are a mental exercise and to excel in them, it doesn’t harm to think physical.
1. Don’t do caffeine before exams – certainly not in excess
Caffeine may stimulate you, but it can also make you anxious – put you on edge, as we say. In an exam, you need to focus of course, but in a calm way. The best advice seems to be that you should avoid caffeine if you are prone to stress – and exam time is stress central! I’d add here that caffeine doesn’t just mean coffee, energy drinks often contain it too.
2. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out
This time a positive piece of advice. Deep breathing really does work: it can calm the soul and bring your heart rate down. There are a number of different deep-breathing techniques that you may care to try out – but as lying down isn’t really practical in an exam centre, perhaps you should focus on the breath counting exercise here.
Think positive
It is very easy to get a mental block about a certain paper especially if you have taken the exam a few times and the result in one paper refuses to get better. It really does help to have a “I can” attitude. This is true of life too, but is especially true for language exams: there is a strong connection between self-confidence and the ability to communicate – and language is all about communication.
1. Visualise your answer
This is another idea borrowed from athletics. A very common technique used by professional athletes is visualisation. The essential idea is that if you can see yourself doing something, that helps you to actually achieve it. Problems often happen because candidates get lost in the detail and forget to look at the big picture of what they are trying to achieve.
How can this help you in exams? One way is to “see” your complete essay just as Usain Bolt sees himself breaking the tape first. See a complete essay in your head and you are much more likely to write it.
2. Get off to a good start – work your way into the exam
As someone who has done more than his fair share of oral examining, I can tell you that it really helps to get off to a good confident start. Candidates who start well almost always go on to complete the test well.
How does this apply to IELTS? Do NOT learn answers to part 1 speaking: examiners can always tell if you are doing this and they will be very UNIMPRESSED: this is a bad start. Rather just listen to the question and give it a short and simple response – the first questions are designed to be easy. Do that and you have the confidence to move on to the tougher questions later.
In writing, most candidates have a preference for either task 1 or 2. How about starting with the one you feel better about – even if it is task 2? All you need to do is remember to leave the correct amount of time for the other task.
3. You get marks for doing well too – remember your strengths
A common mistake is to think that IELTS scores are calculated by seeing how few mistakes you make and you can stress in an exam because you become obsessed by the idea of avoiding mistakes. You make a mistake and think: “Oh @$%&”. Don’t. Try and remember that you are rewarded for things you get right too: if you have a strength, concentrate on that too.
One application here is in the speaking exam. We all make mistakes when we speak – native speakers too. If you hear yourself saying something incorrectly, don’t panic. It often works to go right ahead – be fluent. Fluency and coherence are as important as grammatical accuracy.
4. You don’t need 100% – make a mistake and move on
This is a related idea. Quite often candidates go wrong because they mismanage their time by spending too much time on a question they can’t answer. IELTS is a strange exam because it is one test for people at all levels: the only people expected to get “100%” are educated native speakers. Put another way, the test is designed so that almost everyone will make a few mistakes.
In practice, this means that you should allow a certain amount of time for each question. If you can’t do it, move on to the next question and relax.
Think beyond IELTS
IELTS is an exam that can make all the difference to your life. One reason why you may perform badly and become tense is that it all means too much. Here are two, slightly contradictory, thoughts for you.
1. IELTS is absurd sometimes – you can go again
Recently I have been contacted by two separate candidates who got 9.0 in three papers but failed to get the overall score they needed. This is frankly absurd. 9.0 is a sensational result in one paper: in three…!!!! I also have a long-term correspondent who has completed a masters degree in Australia, but who still cannot get the right result for immigration/work. Again, silly.
And, well, I think it helps to remember that it is still just a silly test, not a moral judgement on who you are. More practically, you can take the test again or apply for a re-mark – it isn’t the end of the world. Even more practically, why not book two tests at once. I very much doubt you will ask for your money back if you get the score first time around.
2. Maybe you’re not ready yet
Don’t worry about getting the wrong result, that may not be a bad thing. IELTS can be silly, but it mostly works quite well. If you get a score that is less than you need, that may mean that you are not ready yet to go where you want to go. The very worst IELTS stories I know relate to people who got the correct score and then found that 5.5/6.0/6.5/7.0 in IELTS didn’t equip them for life on the other side.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Integration challenges: ielts essay
People have always experienced integration challenges whenever they have been to strange places. Some say, nowadays these challenges are much higher in number while others say they (the challenges) are much fewer.
• Which view do you support and state why?
• Make a few suggestions to reduce the number of integration challenges.
It is hard to separate integration challenges from the lives of migrants. However, some say these challenges are bigger in number today, while others say, smaller. I find the second opinion worth supporting. Anyway, there are ways to reduce their numbers further. 45 words
The primary thing is that, today, migration is an everyday affair and there are people of all places in all places. For example, almost all popular migration destinations have great population mix, and a new immigrant is not put to many challenges. Secondly, migration service providers face stiff completion these days and they do much to see that their clients are comfortably placed. For example, airport pickup, finding accommodation, arranging jobs, opening bank accounts and the like had been big challenges once, not now. True, shocks and surprises are fewer. 95 words
Though their number is smaller, it is good to see how we could minimize them. The first recommendation is to understand the fact that all such challenges are for a short while, and they are for good as well. Secondly, it is a good idea to learn more deeply about the differences of the place where one is going to be in. The media are here for that. Besides all these, picking up some working knowledge of a few foreign languages beforehand will reduce great number of embarrassing conditions; while meeting strangers, managing travels, making friends, to mention a few. 95 words
So, it is proved with evidences and examples that integration challenges are much fewer today, and the recommendations I have made are of great help to those who happen to face challenges when they move out looking for greener pastures. Migrants should take these challenges as opportunities. 45 words.
280 words
Ajaypeesdoc. 7.30 pm. 7.5.14
Monday, March 24, 2014
Private sector investment in sports infrastructure is opposed and supported by many people.
• What could be their corresponding arguments?
Sports infrastructure all over the world has always received investments from private players. Anyhow, there are opposing views on this. Let us see the possible arguments of both the camps.
Whatever sports merits nations across the world have got are mostly being materialized by private participation. This could be the primary argument. For example, many sports giants boast of world class tracks and fields, stadia, indoor and outdoor extravaganzas, state-of-the-art training facilities. All these are but greatly for giants in sports.
They may again hold the view that almost all sports icons from across the world owe a lot to business organizations to a great deal. For example, Sponsoring world cups, hosting events, absorbing icons as ambassadors, and so on are a few of those gestures, though for their business, being shown by private players.
Let us see what the other camp would hold. Businesses spend for sports, but it is not for sports alone; rather it is for them. Sports get benefitted of course. This might be their trump card. The global Corporate giants like PEPSICO, Toyota, Sony, KFC, Johnson & Johnson, to mention a few, have had great dividends from sports, they may argue.
The industrialization happening in sports may make unethical practices like doping, match fixing and betting common across the spectrum. Buying out sports icons, owning up teams, barring and banning players could be cited as examples.
In short, like any private venture in any field, sports field also invites both praise and flak. It is quite common. Obviously, the arguments might differ as well. But, both parties must admit the fact that it is a win-win equation.
270 words
Ajaypeesdoc
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