A common IELTS Writing Task 2 mistake 📝📝📝

Scrutinize the following sentences from our students' essays and think about what the mistake might be.

1. "For example, it could be difficult to make a correct and clear machine translation for idioms and proverbs, because software could translate word by word, which could be wrong."
2. "It is likely people believe that universities can give fundamental knowledge."
3. "Additionally, it might be thought that studying at university or college might benefit in the future."

The mistake is over-hedging, i.e. using hedging excessively or even unnecessarily. Hedging is used in academic writing to sound cautious or uncertain and is necessary to leave space for alternative opinions. For example, you might say, "it might not be necessary to learn languages any more as translation software is very advanced now" or "a formal degree might not longer be a prerequisite for getting a good job" because you know that some people will disagree and it's not always the case anyway.

But some things don't require hedging even in academic writing - some things are just facts or common knowledge. But even if you want to leave space for uncertainty, one word for that is enough.

Here are my re-writes of the sentences above:
1. Machine translation of idioms and proverbs is often erroneous because machines translate them word-for-word.
2. Many people believe that universities give fundamental knowledge.
3. Additionally, some people might think studying at university or college is beneficial for their future.

Do hedge, but don't over-hedge. 💪