背模板，背作文這應該是一些烤鴨在應對雅思寫作中常用的伎倆吧?烤鴨們拿到雅思作文題目第一個想法是什么?是馬上回憶之前背過的跟題目相關的詞匯句型呢?還是迅速頭腦風暴要寫什么?無論如何，在動筆之前一定要對文章有個大致的安排，在心里面給出一個outline!千萬不要提筆就寫，然后寫到一半發現沒思路了，或者寫著寫著就跑題了~~

　　總而言之，寫作之前還是好好為你的大作選幾個好的ideas，并把它們組織起來~~下面就看看具體怎么操作吧!

　　Planning IELTS essays and finding ideas

　　This lesson looks at how planning better can help you write better essays. I focus in particular on ideas something that catches many candidates out. The two key points are that the ideas you need to write an IELTS essay are fairly simple and it helps to make a difference between ideas, reasons and examples.

　　Problem 1 not enough ideas 觀點不夠

　　This is one of most common reasons for candidates to go wrong in the writing paper. They see a question. Try to think of ideas. Come up empty and panic. You will find part of my solution to this below. For now, I will just say that you need very few ideas to write a good essay and those ideas can be simple ideas too. Dont buy a book on ideas for essays, instead learn this tip:

　　Tip you need only 2 ideas to write an essay and those ideas are often found in the question

　　Problem 2 the ideas are confused 觀點混淆

　　This is also a very common mistake. There are plenty of ideas to write an essay. The problem is that the reader/examiner does not know what the main ideas are.

　　Tip make sure you have one main idea per paragraph. This should be clear from the first sentence of the paragraph

　　Problem 3 too many ideas 觀點太多

　　Yes, some people do have too many ideas. This is a trap for candidates aiming for a high score. In particular, if they are used to writing academic essays. IELTS is a 250 word essay marked on language. That means it is probably much shorter than you are used to and there are no marks for quality and quantity of ideas.

　　Tip select only enough ideas to write a complete essay that means one per paragraph

　　Finding ideas for essays 怎么確定觀點呢?

　　Step 1 understand the difference between ideas, reasons and examples 區分觀點、原因、例子的區別

　　When I ask my students in a class for ideas, they quite often stare at me in silence. When I ask them the question why or ask them to give me an example, they have plenty to say. That should tell you there is a difference between ideas, reasons and examples. The good news is ideas are not the problem in IELTS, what you need are reasons and examples. They are normally much easier to find.

　　A paragraph is one idea: supported with reasons and examples. You only need two ideas.

　　Step 2 learning where to find ideas for essays?試著從問題里找觀點

　　The ideas you need for an essay are nearly always found in the question. They are typically so big that you think they are too easy to be a real idea. Thats the trap. What do I mean? Take this example:

　　Human activities have endangered many animal and plant species. Some people think it is too late to save them, while others think humans should still take some action. Discuss both views and express your own opinions.

　　This is one of the harder questions I have seen recently, but the ideas you need are simple enough.

　　It is too late to save endangered species

　　It is not too late to save species

　　It is that easy. Those two ideas are your two main topic paras. All you need now are some reasons and examples.

　　Step 3 finding reasons and examples ask yourself questions 通過問問題來確定原因和例子

　　Here you have different options. One trick is simply ask yourself the questions why? or how? or when? or what? That is often enough.

　　Step 4 thinking vocabulary gives you more ideas 通過詞匯來激發靈感

　　This is something else I use with my students a lot. It might also work for you. The concept is that once you have words, then ideas come naturally from those words. Try thinking of planning words and see if it works for you.

　　Organising and selecting your ideas reasons and examples

　　Key concept one idea per paragraph supported by reasons and examples 一段一觀點

　　Look at these two sample paragraphs from the essay and see how I use simple ideas from the question:

　　Much of the argument against taking any action to save these species is that the process is irreversible. Just to take one example, there are now so few Giant Pandas left in the wild, they will in all probability become extinct in the foreseeable future. There are simply too few bamboo forests left in order for them to survive. This is also the case with many other endangered species who have lost, or are losing, their natural habitat.

　　NotesThe first sentence outlines what the paragraph is about. It is the idea from the question: Some people think it is too late to save them. The rest of paragraph is an explanation of that idea

　　Giant Pandas arre threatened and will die out

　　Problem with habitat

　　Other species have same pattern

　　The opposite view is that it is the responsibilty of mankind to act and try and save these species for posterity.There is a moral aspect to this argument because most of these species are only endangered because of mans actions and it is our duty to make amends. Another consideration is that advances in science, especially in the field of genetics, mean that we may be able to recreate some of their lost habitats. It is no longer the case that the only option is to preserve these species for future generations in zoos and botanical gardens.

　　Notes

　　You should see that this paragraph follows almost the same model. There is one clear and simple idea in the first sentence. It relates back to the question words: while others think humans should still take some action. The rest of the paragraph explains that idea:

　　moral duty because it is our fault

　　science can now help through genetics

　　zoos are not the only solution

　　Key concept you dont need to include all your reasons and examples

　　My notes for this essay included all this. They are my notes, so you dont need to understand them all. What I want you to see is that I have not included everything. In an academic essay I might have. Here I have selected the ideas that were easiest to write about.

　　zoos

　　breed in captivity

　　preservation

　　giant pandas

　　medical benefits

　　loss of habitat

　　river dolphins

　　biodiversity

　　logging and rainforests

　　dams

　　progress of man

　　deforestation

　　bamboo forest

　　science

　　cloning

　　genetics

　　moral responsibility

　　Key concept balance your paragraphs

　　There are a number of different possible essay structures. My default structure is to have 2 paragraphs that balance each other it is surprising how often this structure works. It is good for the coherence of the essay, it also makes it easier to write especially if you are short of ideas. You use the second content paragraph can reflect the ideas in the first paragraph, but from the opposite point of view.

　　背模板，背作文這應該是一些烤鴨在應對雅思寫作中常用的伎倆吧?烤鴨們拿到雅思作文題目第一個想法是什么?是馬上回憶之前背過的跟題目相關的詞匯句型呢?還是迅速頭腦風暴要寫什么?無論如何，在動筆之前一定要對文章有個大致的安排，在心里面給出一個outline!千萬不要提筆就寫，然后寫到一半發現沒思路了，或者寫著寫著就跑題了~~

　　總而言之，寫作之前還是好好為你的大作選幾個好的ideas，并把它們組織起來~~下面就看看具體怎么操作吧!

　　Planning IELTS essays and finding ideas

　　This lesson looks at how planning better can help you write better essays. I focus in particular on ideas something that catches many candidates out. The two key points are that the ideas you need to write an IELTS essay are fairly simple and it helps to make a difference between ideas, reasons and examples.

　　Problem 1 not enough ideas 觀點不夠

　　This is one of most common reasons for candidates to go wrong in the writing paper. They see a question. Try to think of ideas. Come up empty and panic. You will find part of my solution to this below. For now, I will just say that you need very few ideas to write a good essay and those ideas can be simple ideas too. Dont buy a book on ideas for essays, instead learn this tip:

　　Tip you need only 2 ideas to write an essay and those ideas are often found in the question

　　Problem 2 the ideas are confused 觀點混淆

　　This is also a very common mistake. There are plenty of ideas to write an essay. The problem is that the reader/examiner does not know what the main ideas are.

　　Tip make sure you have one main idea per paragraph. This should be clear from the first sentence of the paragraph

　　Problem 3 too many ideas 觀點太多

　　Yes, some people do have too many ideas. This is a trap for candidates aiming for a high score. In particular, if they are used to writing academic essays. IELTS is a 250 word essay marked on language. That means it is probably much shorter than you are used to and there are no marks for quality and quantity of ideas.

　　Tip select only enough ideas to write a complete essay that means one per paragraph

　　Finding ideas for essays 怎么確定觀點呢?

　　Step 1 understand the difference between ideas, reasons and examples 區分觀點、原因、例子的區別

　　When I ask my students in a class for ideas, they quite often stare at me in silence. When I ask them the question why or ask them to give me an example, they have plenty to say. That should tell you there is a difference between ideas, reasons and examples. The good news is ideas are not the problem in IELTS, what you need are reasons and examples. They are normally much easier to find.

　　A paragraph is one idea: supported with reasons and examples. You only need two ideas.

　　Step 2 learning where to find ideas for essays?試著從問題里找觀點

　　The ideas you need for an essay are nearly always found in the question. They are typically so big that you think they are too easy to be a real idea. Thats the trap. What do I mean? Take this example:

　　Human activities have endangered many animal and plant species. Some people think it is too late to save them, while others think humans should still take some action. Discuss both views and express your own opinions.

　　This is one of the harder questions I have seen recently, but the ideas you need are simple enough.

　　It is too late to save endangered species

　　It is not too late to save species

　　It is that easy. Those two ideas are your two main topic paras. All you need now are some reasons and examples.

　　Step 3 finding reasons and examples ask yourself questions 通過問問題來確定原因和例子

　　Here you have different options. One trick is simply ask yourself the questions why? or how? or when? or what? That is often enough.

　　Step 4 thinking vocabulary gives you more ideas 通過詞匯來激發靈感

　　This is something else I use with my students a lot. It might also work for you. The concept is that once you have words, then ideas come naturally from those words. Try thinking of planning words and see if it works for you.

　　Organising and selecting your ideas reasons and examples

　　Key concept one idea per paragraph supported by reasons and examples 一段一觀點

　　Look at these two sample paragraphs from the essay and see how I use simple ideas from the question:

　　Much of the argument against taking any action to save these species is that the process is irreversible. Just to take one example, there are now so few Giant Pandas left in the wild, they will in all probability become extinct in the foreseeable future. There are simply too few bamboo forests left in order for them to survive. This is also the case with many other endangered species who have lost, or are losing, their natural habitat.

　　NotesThe first sentence outlines what the paragraph is about. It is the idea from the question: Some people think it is too late to save them. The rest of paragraph is an explanation of that idea

　　Giant Pandas arre threatened and will die out

　　Problem with habitat

　　Other species have same pattern

　　The opposite view is that it is the responsibilty of mankind to act and try and save these species for posterity.There is a moral aspect to this argument because most of these species are only endangered because of mans actions and it is our duty to make amends. Another consideration is that advances in science, especially in the field of genetics, mean that we may be able to recreate some of their lost habitats. It is no longer the case that the only option is to preserve these species for future generations in zoos and botanical gardens.

　　Notes

　　You should see that this paragraph follows almost the same model. There is one clear and simple idea in the first sentence. It relates back to the question words: while others think humans should still take some action. The rest of the paragraph explains that idea:

　　moral duty because it is our fault

　　science can now help through genetics

　　zoos are not the only solution

　　Key concept you dont need to include all your reasons and examples

　　My notes for this essay included all this. They are my notes, so you dont need to understand them all. What I want you to see is that I have not included everything. In an academic essay I might have. Here I have selected the ideas that were easiest to write about.

　　zoos

　　breed in captivity

　　preservation

　　giant pandas

　　medical benefits

　　loss of habitat

　　river dolphins

　　biodiversity

　　logging and rainforests

　　dams

　　progress of man

　　deforestation

　　bamboo forest

　　science

　　cloning

　　genetics

　　moral responsibility

　　Key concept balance your paragraphs

　　There are a number of different possible essay structures. My default structure is to have 2 paragraphs that balance each other it is surprising how often this structure works. It is good for the coherence of the essay, it also makes it easier to write especially if you are short of ideas. You use the second content paragraph can reflect the ideas in the first paragraph, but from the opposite point of view.