VOCABULARY BUILDING: HOW TO BUILD YOUR WORD POWER

BUILD YOUR WORD POWER:

Building your word power certainly pays of in the long run. You can certainly use a good variety of words to use in the IELTS writing module. Remember, the key is to use the words accurately and appropriately (just using difficult words but inaccurately can cause the candidate to lose marks, so be careful.) 

Using a good variety of words is impressive and also useful, however words cannot be memorized merely by cramming the dictionary everyday or by learning them from other sources without reference to their usage because the words memorized will be forgotten as there is no cognitive support to help remember them. Confused? Don't be. WORDS CAN BE REMEMBERED ONLY IN CONTEXT. If you don't know their usage in real life you won't remember them!!

For example:

"GREGARIOUS" might be a difficult words to memorize and later recall and use in everyday life or even in EXAMS. However, if you know that "gregarious" is an adjective, in addition to knowing its actual meaning [which is: (for people) liking to be with others or (for animals) living in groups], you will be able to use it more properly in a sentence. Similarly if you knew its actual usage in a "sentence" you will be able to remember it even better. Here's a sentence usage:

• Jennifer is a gregarious person who loves to go out with friends and family.

• Lions are gregarious animals. They always live in groups.

So now you know:

• the word's meaning,
• what part of speech it is (it is an adjective, and adjectives describe nouns)
• and how it can be used in different types of sentences

RESOURCES:

So to learn words in context use specific vocabulary books like:

• English Vocabulary in Use by MC Carthy and Felicity O Del or
• Oxford Word Power Dictionary which help in learning words in context.
• Cambridge Online Dictionary is also a good resource

IELTS WRITING: Which Essays score well at IELTS?

Which Essays score well at IELTS? Well, this can certainly be categorized as one of the million dollar questions. IELTS is a test of English, so the first obvious reply which comes to one's mind, is that essays written in good (accurate and appropriate) English can achieve a good score. However, there is a lot more to it than just English (though good command over English is certainly important). Here are a few points which give an insight into well-written, high scoring essays:

1. Essays which are relevant to the topic with no (or only minor) digressions from the main theme give a good impression. They show that the candidate has understood the topic and has the ability to write well on a specific topic.
2. Good essays are always well planned. This means that in a well-written essay, ideas are presented in a logical sequence (and not in a haphazard manner). The essays begin with an introduction, followed by arguments one after the other in a logical pattern (and do not give the impression that the writer is writing without planning or in an irregular manner. More tips on planning in the following posts.)
3. The writer argues or proves his point of view through valid examples from real life situations, facts and figures etc. Even if there are no specific examples to be shared the arguments should be logical and verifiable.
4. Good essays always show a range of appropriate and relevant vocabulary.
5. High scoring essays show accurate usage of English with no or very few grammatical, spelling and sentence structure errors.
6. The essay should be appropriately divided into paragraphs. Well-written essays have balanced paragraphs where every paragraph presents and explains a new idea or point of view (which is relevant to the main topic and linked to the previous paragraphs).
7. The use of language should be highly appropriate and should not contain inappropriate slang words or phrases. Similarly language usage is also affected by the type of material one is writing for example formal letters need to be very meticulous, polite and straight forward while informal letters can be casual and friendly depending on the person they are being addressed to.
8. The written material should be legible, i.e. it should be clear enough for the examiner to be able to read it. A piece of writing which cannot be read properly, cannot be marked properly. Though handwriting is a skill mastered earlier in life with only minor improvements possible later in life, candidates should at least try to write clearly and in a font size which is easily visible and readable by the examiner.
9. Well-written essays always leave a good impression. This means that they are concluded properly (and the examiner is not left wondering what the final thoughts of the candidate might have been!). This is just like having a first impression in the beginning and a last good impression in the end by giving an impressive ending to the piece of writing.
10. Essays falling short of the provided word limit do not score well! Therefore candidates should write sufficiently on the given topic to at least reach the required word limit, otherwise they will miss out on vital marks.

The above mentioned points will be discussed in detail in upcoming posts to shed light on individual aspects of a well-written essay. Make sure to cover all these points and the final score will speak for itself. Good Luck!