Can Idioms Be Used In Academic Writing Text

Jonathan Friesen - Writing Coach

Can you share us any experience? that 39 s almost the same score as a native speaker. Well, first of all, before i started the ielts course i had been listening to bbc radio 4 and reading english books for quite a while, so i was pretty familiar with both spoken and written english, although i never used it. I think before you start the exam rush you first need to make sure you understand the language. Then i started practicing, mostly listening amp reading, as i was very afraid of the other two parts of the test. I managed to get 37 38 right answers in both soon, and i even got 9 39 40 several times, that is, when i was 100% concentrated, so concentration is a key to high score. Sadly, i was very tense during the exam, this is why i got 8.5 in l amp r i guess.

Thanks for the examples of idioms! however, those are the kind of idioms that i suggest you should avoid for the purposes of ielts. Most of them wouldn 39 t be relevant or appropriate in the writing or speaking test. Originally posted by vincent_t no, definitely not vulgar. What i meant was an idiom like this for example: translation and interpreting, on october 21st, 2011 in the speaking and writing tasks of the ielts exam, you can use idioms to make your speaking and essay more interesting.

Even if you already know what an idiom is it is still very important to be cautious with its usage. Every idiom can still be detrimental to your ielts band score if not well chosen and properly used. For example, in the academic writing task, it would be unwise to use informal idioms such as those under the category of daily life idioms. What idea would you like to emphasize or highlight? it is only when you can inject an idiom appropriately into a particular part of your speech or the essay that idioms should be used. Use an idiom to elaborate a thought rather than complicating it, or worse, making it more vague. Also, be natural, and do not use a number of idioms as if the task is to showcase how many idioms you know.

You are there to express, not to impress! to go with these guiding points on effectively using idioms, here are seven idioms that can be used in various topics under the ielts speaking and ielts writing tasks. Notice that all of them fall under the same category which is of ambition and determination. You can use them to answer the personal questions in ielts speaking part 1, the two minute talk in ielts speaking part 2, and the discussion in ielts speaking part 3. Finally, you can include them in writing an opinion essay ielts writing task 2 as well. So, try using these idioms as you talk about ambition and your dreams: at all costs you can use this if you want to talk or write about someone even you yourself who does his/her best to achieve or succeed at something.

In speaking, you might be asked: can you tell me about your ambition? you can then tell the examiner of your particular dream and you can continue with how you will make it happen. This answer sounds very natural and full of conviction as your passion and determination to achieve such ambition are made very prevalent with the use of an appropriate idiom. Beyond your wildest dreams this suggests a positive surprise which it is more than you think you deserve. If the ielts speaking task 2 question asks you to describe a recent success in your life, you can simply talk about it with supporting details and make it very interesting in the last part.

You may finish this task with a good sentence: so, that was really beyond my wildest dreams. Going back to our sample task 2 of the speaking test above, this idiom might be used to explain how you succeed on something. Buckle down this is simply the verb phrase version of at all costs and blood, sweat and tears.

Observe how i express the same thought if i use this instead of at all costs in the given example above. Explore all avenues a very common function of this idiom is when giving a recommendation or possible solution to a problem. Assuming the topic is: a very recent social issue today is the dangerous effects of mining. Whether you affirm or not, you still need not only to provide reasons to support but also recommendations or reminders.

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Sample lines as part of the concluding paragraph of the whole essay: i believe every human activity like mining has also its drawbacks. That is why we need to explore all avenues before doing something that is not very safe to a great number of people in order to minimize unfavourable consequences. This will make your essay more valuable to the readers, and the examiners will definitely give credit to that. Thus, explore all avenues is expressed if you want to say you are very keen on a particular issue or action. Go the extra mile let us still contextualise this as an aid to our writing task 2, especially in the concluding paragraph. Taking the same topic we used above, i will show you how to take advantage of this expression: i believe every human activity like mining has also its drawbacks.

Paddle your own canoe this is yet another great expression if you want to call your readers into action or encourage them to put everything in your opinion essays conclusion. Let us use this sample paragraph again: i believe every human activity like mining has also its drawbacks. Since, it is not advisable to use two or more idioms in one paragraph, let us use this new idiom instead of the previous one without changing the whole idea: i believe every human activity like mining has also its drawbacks. Each of us should also do what we can to face such concerns another term for drawbacks.

After all, a good society always has responsible citizens paddling their own canoes. Language articles language news this lesson looks at 10 different ways to make your writing academic or more formal. I talk you through some of the more important dos and donts to help you write essays that use the right sort of language. You need to write an essay and the convention is that essays use academic language. That said, conventions vary around the world and there is nothing specifically in the marking criteria about formality of language.