The Thirteen Sentence Essay

This video describes how to use your thirteen sentence essay worksheet. This worksheet is a very important one for helping you put what you've learned into practice in the real exam. By following it through a few times, you'll commit the structures you've learned to memory and you won't have to worry on test day.

To use the worksheet, simply click here. You can click 'file' and 'make a copy' to create your own editable copy of the sheet.

Here is the sample essay:

Celebrities can often be found sharing their views on political issues that have nothing to do with their profession.
Is this a positive or a negative development?

Recently, influencers have started offering their point of view on things they are not specialists on.  In this essay, I will argue that this is a negative development. First, because it is easy for celebrities to be wrong. Second, because this can cause people to ignore experts.

Celebrities can easily be mistaken about important issues. While celebrities are usually famous for one thing, they are often asked about important issues that they know little about. As a result, when celebrities are asked about these issues, they can often give damaging bad advice. For example, celebrities such as Joe Rogan, who has millions of listeners, have used their platform to promote dangerous information about Covid 19 vaccines.

To make things worse, when people pay attention to celebrities, this can cause them to ignore experts. When people deeply admire their favourite celebrities, they are far more likely to listen to them rather than an expert. Although experts have years of experience and knowledge, it is hard for them to be as engaging or persuasive as celebrities. For example, if a TV star like Jeremy Clarkson promotes misinformation about climate change, he is far more likely to be listened to than climate scientists simply because he is famous.

To conclude, I believe that celebrities sharing their opinion about political issues is mostly negative. First, because celebrities can be misinformed. Second, because when celebrities talk about these issues, people are more likely to ignore experts. 

Question Types in the IELTS Writing Exam

This video breaks down the five types of essay you might come across in the IELTS writing exam. Answering the wrong question is the fastest way to lose grades in the IELTS exam, so it's a must-watch. In the video, I refer to the sample essay book which you can also download from this page. 

Eighteen Sample Essays for IELTS Learners

If you're studying IELTS writing, one of the most important ways you can practice is to look at examples of good essays. That's why we are offering you this collection of high-band IELTS essays. There are a few different ways you can use them:

1. Use the essay questions as questions for practice essays.
2. Analyse the essays in the book to see what makes them high-band.
3. Explore how the structure of the essays changes for different question types.
4. Write essays using the topics in the book. Then, compare your essay to the sample essay and see what you like and dislike about each one

All of these methods are far more focused than simply reading the book and will help you get more from it.

Click here to get your copy.

Join our facebook group

If you want to get help with your IELTS, our Facebook group is the place to turn. It's a great place to ask questions. I'll also be running live Q&A classes and essay reviews in the group. To join, just click here and request to join.