❄️ IELTS timing—and nothing else matters ❄️

One major stumbling block in IELTS writing for many people is the time constraints. Very few people can comfortably finish their writing in 60 minutes. By "comfortably" I mean calmly, with proper brainstorming and proofreading.

You might struggle too. But when you start working on timing, you might realize you "lose" something else—ideas, cohesion, lexis, and/or grammar—and this thought might deter you from working on timing. And then you are stuck in a vicious cycle.

To help my students get out of this cycle, I told them to do the following as I sent them off on the winter break: Go back and write all our course tasks from September-December again, under strict timing conditions. ❄️

Yes, again. I know—you might say, "It's not sensible to write the same task again." But it is. When you write the same task, part of the difficulty is removed because you don't have to come up with ideas (organization, lexis, grammar). Removing part of the difficulty is very sensible if you struggle. At this point, it's also sensible to ignore any other weaknesses and not to seek feedback.

And then you can write the same task the third or even the fourth time—until you hit the desired time limit. You can stop there, or you can continue and add challenges, such as certain lexical items or grammatical structures.

Generally, meeting the time limit in IELTS writing is just a matter of the number of answers you have written, just a sheer number. And if writing many different IELTS answers is out of reach today—for whatever reason—write the same answer two or three times. ❄️

And while we are on the topic of timing, I tell my students, "Forget the recommended timing—20 and 40 minutes. Aim for 15 and 30 minutes—you need time to brainstorm, take notes (albeit mentally) and proofread. Maybe even to take a bathroom break."

So if you needed something to do during this insanely long New Year break, here is an idea: Work on finishing your IELTS writing set in 45 minutes. 🏡