8.0W Chạm đến RITING nhờ đọc BBỘỘ VVOOCCAABBUULLAARRYY THE EECCOONNOOMMIISSTT MR. PETER NGUYEN MS. GRISELDA NGUYEN ((VVEERRSSIIOONN 11))
riting is the most challenging among the four skills of the IELTS exam, simply because it is a creative endeavour in and of itself, and true creativity never comes easy. Regardless of the ample templates and fixed essay structures that can easily be found on the Internet, to sit down and turn them into a complete Task 2 essay of 250 words is still a daunting task. This is because you are lacking in two crucial aspects of the writing process: reasonable ideas and relevant, specific vocabulary. And a side effect of this is you often find writing a tedious, monotonous, mind-numbing task which forces you to be a conformist, rather than a creator of something of your own, writing the same thing over and over again for the sake of a decent score, rather than learning to think creatively, sharpen your reasoning skills and let the score come inevitably. TO IELTS LEARNERS, HIGH ACHIEVERS AND TRAINERS PREFACE W Robert Greene, the world-renowned author of ‘Mastery’ - a book about how to achieve complete mastery of a craft, once remarked that to be creative, you need: (1) a deep, well-organised base of knowledge acquired through thousands of hours of learning (Malcom Gladwell estimated the figure is somewhere around 10000 hours.) (2) the ability to weave through that base freely and come up with something original. This strongly resonates with the editor of this book, inspiring him to put hundreds of hours into it, with the hope that it can somehow help his fellow struggling writers/IELTS trainers to overcome their reluctance and see the beauty of writing creatively, even within the constraints of the IELTS writing exam marking criteria. As I began teaching IELTS preparation professionally years ago, I’ve been pondering a question: What are the reading sources that Have the same register as the required in the IELTS Writing exam, which is semi- formal? Consist of vocabulary exactly like the type required in the IELTS Writing exam, which students can read for pleasure, and at the same time internalise the expressions naturally and use them effortlessly? Have the most up-to-date, intriguing, reasonable ideas relevant to common IELTS Writing topics like education, environment, healthcare, entertainment, crime, tourism, etc.? Have a style that is easy to imitate, which should be concise, to the point, using as few words as possible to express an idea? The answer is: The Economist. It has all of the criteria listed above. I only came to this conclusion after hundreds, if not thousands of hours sitting alone in my study, reading like a maniac all of these newspapers I could get my hands on. This booklet (the first of many) includes roughly 1500 vocabulary items, encompassing all of the topics often encountered in the IELTS exam. I’m pretty sure if you can study and master their usage, your IELTS writing score would soon approach 8. It’s a long and painstaking process, but nothing worthwhile in life ever comes easy. To use these items in your writing process in the most efficient way, you should: Read the article first, and underline/note down the vocabulary you can’t figure out from the context (1) Use the vocabulary list provided to check the meaning of the words underlined in Step 1 (2) (3) Read my interpretation on the page Peter’s IELTS Corner to grasp a deeper understanding of the ideas in the article, as well as the lexical items (4) Pick a real IELTS WT2 question that I included at the end of each post, and try to WRITE a body paragraph using 3-5 items you’ve just learned. Don’t rush it. Take your time. It might take you 40-60 minutes, but this is when you are really internalising the items. If you do this step right, you can’t not remember them
Preparing to do the thing isn’t doing the thing. Scheduling time to do the thing isn’t doing the thing. Making a to-do list for the thing isn’t doing the thing. Telling people you’re going to do the thing isn’t doing the thing. Messaging friends who may or may not be doing the thing isn’t doing the thing. Writing a banger tweet about how you’re going to do the thing isn’t doing the thing. Hating on yourself for not doing the thing isn’t doing the thing. Hating on other people who have done the thing isn’t doing the thing. Hating on the obstacles in the way of doing the thing isn’t doing the thing. Fantasising about all of the adoration you’ll receive once you do the thing isn’t doing the thing. Reading about how to do the thing isn’t doing the thing. Reading about how other people did the thing isn’t doing the thing. Reading this essay isn’t doing the thing. The only thing that is doing the thing is doing the thing. Go and do the thing. PREFACE At the same time: Have a notebook of your own, and spend time writing down the vocabulary you find most challenging to remember. For example, if there is an item you’ve encountered 2-3 times but still can’t think of a way to use it, note it down. Use the tips I’ve outlined here for help. Treat it like a milestone to be conquered, and look at it once in a while. And don’t forget the context. Write every day. Start with a sentence. Then a paragraph. Then an essay. Just pick a random question and write. Don’t worry about it sucking, because it will suck. After a while, re-read your drafts and improve them. You’ll notice how much better at writing you’ve got. Write, rewrite, repeat. Be patient. Rome was built one brick at a time. Same for your writing skill. And whenever you feel like you are losing the fight against procrastination, read this poem: Do the Thing Ha Noi, Peter Nguyn Founder and Director of Studies and Head Teacher at Peter’s IELTS Corner.
MR. PETER NGUYEN Thầy Peter tên thật là Nguyễn Phúc Bằng. Một số thông tin về thầy: 109K2 Nguyen Phong Sac, Cau Giay, Hanoi. 037 413 3739
[email protected] ACADEMIC TEAM FOUNDER & HEAD TEACHER TẠI PETER’S IELTS CORNER ACADEMIC ASSISTANT MS. GRISELDA NGUYEN Cử nhân Trường Đại học Hà Nội, Khoa Ngôn ngữ Anh IELTS Overall 7.5 (7.5 Writing, 8.0 Reading) (Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân) Cử nhân Đại học Ngoại Thương Hà Nội, Khoa Kinh doanh Quốc tế. IELTS Overall 8.5, với điểm thi cao nhất: 9.0 Listening, 9.0 Reading, 8.5 Speaking, 8.0 Writing. Chứng chỉ CELTA do đại học Cambridge (Anh) cấp 8 năm kinh nghiệm giảng dạy IELTS tại các trung tâm tiếng Anh lớn tại Hà Nội. Được học viên đánh giá cao nhờ chuyên môn vững vàng, phong cách giảng dạy dễ hiểu, tận tâm và truyền cảm hứng. Không chỉ hướng dẫn về IELTS, thầy còn mang đến những lời khuyên giá trị giúp học viên định hướng học tập và sự nghiệp một cách hiệu quả.
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