Irina Lutsenko: IELTS, writing, cohesion

My #Creative Writing Club has come to its inevitable end 🦋

I love love love this project because we write what we want -- for self-expression. For example, ...

I'll share a story I wrote. I am rarely satisfied with my creative work, but I really like this story.

"The blazing sun is hoisting up out of the sea a piercing stare that doesn’t burn. It scours the seascape and stumbles on a small rowboat gently rocking on waves. Small waves gently lap against the boat. The oars are submerged into water on both sides, like arms of a desolate, disconsolate old man. The oarlocks creak quietly in tune with the waves. Moist, squishy eelgrass blades are twining around the right oar, clinging to it, as if they were the hands of a witch trying to drag it to her dark underworld.

Seagulls are squawking and squealing. One large seagull is screeching. It is flying alone around the boat: it alights on the side, then ascends again, then makes a circle around and screeches, screeches, screeches.

Inside the boat is another seagull. It sits on the floor. It doesn’t have feathers in places. The bald patches of the body, desolately, disconsolately gray, ooze puss and stench. Its eyes are covered with a semi-transparent patina that looks like egg white. One webbed foot is sticking out at a crooked angle, as if it fell off and a passer-by picked it up and placed it nearby so that it doesn’t get lost. The seagull blinks occasionally, oblivious to the screeching around it.

The blazing sun is hoisting up out of the sea a piercing stare. It doesn’t burn, it doesn’t heal. It doesn’t judge, it doesn’t soothe. It doesn’t frown, it doesn’t cry. It watches in silence." (By Irina Lutsenko @iraluts)

The image, like all creative images on the channel, is by Anna Skopina.

And I'll ask the participants to share their stories or impressions about my Creative Writing Club in the comments. ⬇️

Dynamic Writing: how to break a wall of text

Again, let's look at examples. Which paragraph sounds more dynamic and engaging?

1️⃣
On day eight, I wake up at 5.04 am without an alarm because the morning beckons. However, I do not bound out of bed to seize the day. 

2️⃣
On day eight, I wake up at 5.04 am without an alarm. The morning beckons. Do I bound out of bed to seize the day? I do not. 

Both texts communicate the exact same meaning. But the first text is just too straightforward -- it simply communicates facts. The second text, however, engages the reader with such things as: shorter sentences, an elliptical sentence, a question and an answer.

To practice these simple techniques that will make your text more dynamic, join my workshop or my mini-course.

1️⃣ My workshop "Dynamic Writing: How to break a wall of text" 

Tuesday, 28 July, 11:00 Moscow time 

More: https://t.me/irinalutsenko/731

2️⃣ My mini-course "Writing with The Guardian"

- Tuesday 10-11:30 Moscow time
- Thursday 12-13:30 Moscow time 

More: https://t.me/irinalutsenko/715

💌 @iraluts

#IELTS with Irina be like ...

Two groups have recently finished their 10-month IELTS writing courses.

One group's google doc is 307 pages, and the other's 317 pages. (Plus, every student has their individual Google doc.) That's 300+ pages of exercises, materials, comments, my sample answers.

And that's just my introductory course. I also have secret IELTS writing groups, which are open only for my old students. (One person from such a group got IELTS writing 9! ⭐️)

If you have a VK account, you can read student testimonials here.

New IELTS groups will be starting in September. 🍁

In the meantime, here is where you can read my IELTS Writing answers:

1️⃣ On this channel: #Irina_writes_IELTS

2️⃣ In this pdf collection: https://t.me/irinalutsenko/551

3️⃣ Behind the paywall (200+ answers, regular donations and one-time downloads):
https://boosty.to/irinalutsenko

💌 @iraluts

On making your text move dynamically

Compare these two texts, identical in almost everything except ... Which moves faster? Which is easier to read?

One is an excerpt from an article in "The Guardian." Another is my downgraded rewrite.

1.

It is 5.15am and I am walking down my street, feeling smug. The buildings are bathed in peachy dawn light. “Win the morning and you win the day,” suggests productivity guru Tim Ferriss. The prize is within my sights: an oat-milk latte, my reward for getting up ridiculously early.

The trains have not started running yet and the silence seems to magnify hitherto inaudible sounds. There is a mysterious squawk of gulls. I live in Camden, north-west London, many miles from the seaside. I have certainly never heard them here before.

2.

It is 5.15 am and I am walking down my street, feeling smug. The buildings are bathed in peachy dawn light. Productivity guru Tim Ferriss suggests that if you win the morning, you win the day. The prize, which is my reward for getting up ridiculously early, is an oat-milk latte, and it is within my sights. The trains have not started running yet and the silence seems to magnify hitherto inaudible sounds. There is a mysterious squawk of gulls, which I have never heard before as I live in Camden, north-west London, many miles from the seaside.

The first text is the original. The second text is a representation of what I call "a wall of text" -- no paragraphs and very long sentences with no interruptions.

The interruptions -- paragraphs, direct speech, dashes, to name a few -- stop the reader's mind from wandering. They make the text more dynamic and readable.

To try your hand at these and other tools of making your text more dynamic, you can join:

1️⃣ My workshop "Dynamic Writing: How to break a wall of text" https://t.me/irinalutsenko/731

2️⃣ My mini-course "Writing with The Guardian" https://t.me/irinalutsenko/715

These are my pet projects I only run in summer. Because the rest of the year is reserved for IELTS -- and you can't have these kinds of fun in IELTS.

💌 @iraluts

Dynamic writing: how to break a wall of text 

No one wants to read a wall of text -- and you don't want to write one. What do I mean by a wall of text? A paragraphless, punctuationless wall of sentences that the eye cannot break into manageable chunks.

To learn to make your texts more dynamic and engaging with the help of structural tools, join this practical workshop. 

📝 Tools:
- Paragraphing 
- Punctuation to enhance meaning: colons, brackets, dashes, ellipsis
- Varying sentence length, structures, and types 
- Visual tools: all caps, italics, bold

📝 Great for:
- blogging
- copywriting
- non-fiction and creative non-fiction
- CPE / CAE articles and reviews

📝 This is a practical workshop. You will be expected to participate on google docs -- to work with my texts and write your own. It's best to join with your camera on and from a good work station.

Duration: 90-105 minutes (depending on the number of the participants) 

Price: 2500 RUB 

Schedule: Tuesday, 28 July, 11:00 Moscow time

Important: You will get the materials, but there will be no video recording. I don't record my workshops because I believe this ensures a safe space for everyone to participate openly, without the fear of making mistakes, asking questions, and just being themselves.

💌💌💌 @iraluts

IELTS 21. Quiz below ⬇️

#Duolingo English Test Writing: picture description task 🏝

What makes a good picture description in #DET?

Here is an example by our DET instructor Mariia Botina (DET 160 out of 160!):

"I see a picture of a beach during low tide, with boats stranded on the shore. It doesn’t seem like it’s a very well-kept beach, judging by its size and wild grass and trees around. The water has a magnificent color with foaming cyan waves hitting the shore. This may well be off the beaten track and only used by locals. "

Here are some things that are expected from a high-level response and why mine was just that:

1. Advanced descriptive words, not just obvious adjectives. I used "stranded, wild, off the beaten track." This is advanced vocabulary that fits the context, not just fancy words.

2. Participle clauses to connect ideas, e.g. "judging by." Here I killed two birds with one stone - both speculation and a clause.

3. Speculative language: "may well be, doesn’t seem like."

4. Appropriate sentence length and answer length. A good answer is between 30-50 words. Mine is 52. It uses different sentence structures, which we see in my answer.

So, on the one hand, the answer looks quite simple. But on the other, there is some great language there!

This summer, we are running a workshop on teaching writing for Duolingo English Test.

The workshop will cover:
- Types of writing tasks and time constraints for each one
- Assessment criteria
- Ways to approach each task
- Types of questions that you’re likely to encounter during the exam
- The necessary language for each type

Instructor: Mariia Botina, DET 160 out of 160

Price: 2500 RUB

Schedule: Friday, 17 July, 11:00 Moscow time

Place: in real time on Zoom, some participation is expected

💌 Sign up: @iraluts

How to launch 6 projects and maintain sanity

I was recently launching six projects at the same time (note to self -- bad idea):

1. IELTS Writing Task 1 Overviews Sprint: 32 people joined

2. IELTS Writing Task 1 Overviews workshop: under 10 people

3. Duolingo Writing Sprint: 12 people joined

4. Creative Writing Club: 23 people joined

5. Creatie Writing Bootcamp: under 10 people

6. Writing with The Guardian: under 10 people

That's a lot of people, a lot of messaging, and a lot of admin.

When I launch many projects at the same time, I get tens and tens of messages a day. Some of them I don't reply to -- guilty as charged.

I don't reply to poorly written messages because I just don't have the bandwidth (sorry not sorry). And that's how I maintain my sanity.

It's a good idea to write very clear messages, following this formula, for example:

"Hi Irina, my name is [Name Last name]. I would like to join [word-for-word name of project]. Here is my [the thing requested in the post.]"

This simple formula will stand you in good stead in many situations. It communicates what you want clearly and concisely -- you can't go wrong with that. 💜

#IELTS Writing Task 1: passenger-kilometers

This came up in my recent overviews sprint.

I was writing an overview for this task, when my curious brain suddenly said, "Hm, Irina, what exactly is passenger-kilometers? Let's research this word."

The terms measures the total volume of passenger travel by multiplying the number of passengers by the distance they traveled.

For example:

- If 1 person travels 20 km, they contribute 20 passenger-kilometers (1 × 20).
- If 4 people travel together for 20 km, they contribute 80 passenger-kilometers (4 × 20).

Why does it matter? One word: lexis.

❌ First and foremost, you cannot use the word "distance" in this task.

✅ Here are some alternatives:

- Passenger volume

- Transport activity

- Transport performance

- Total passenger movement

Disclaimer: The alternatives were suggested by Gemini. ❗️

In this task, understanding the concept "passenger-kilometers" is super-important for correct paraphrasing. I hope this post helps.

Try your hand at the overview for the attached task in the comments, making sure to use the right alternatives for "passenger-kilometers" -- and stay tuned for the next overviews sprint!

(More about the sprint: https://t.me/irinalutsenko/714)

#Duolingo English Test sprint: "Write about a picture" task

It’s the toughest task in terms of timing - what can we write in just 60 seconds? So let’s practice together!

It's plain and simple:

Join the sprint to write one picture description a day for 7 days. Every day, you will get one Duolingo English Test "Write about a picture" task. Within the next 24 hours, you have to write your description. Then you get mine and the next task. The purpose is to practice typing fast, thinking fast and learning from others!

The sprint is led by Mariia Botina -- a teacher on my team who got 160 out of 160 on Duolingo English Test. 💡

Start: 6 July, 9:45 am Moscow time

Place: Telegram chat, no real time meetings

Price: free

Feedback: no individual feedback

Important:
- If you don't write by the deadline, you have to leave.
- If you don't write, but don't want to leave, no worries - you can stay if you pay a fine of 1,000 RUB (for each instance of not writing the task).
- Deadline: 9:45 am Moscow time every day.

💌 To join, send me a DM @iraluts with one sentence about the attached picture.

When you message me @iraluts, please introduce yourself with your name and last name. My name is Irina Lutsenko -- I want to know yours. Nameless subscribers and people with nicknames or aliases won't be admitted.

#DuolingoEnglishTest #DET

The summer season of my legendary Creative Writing Club! 🦋

It’s perfect for people who want to unleash their creativity and have fun writing in English.

🦋 Here is how it works:

- I prepare inspiring #creative writing prompts and exercises;
- We meet on Zoom for some pre-writing practice;
- We write stories on our own over the following five days;
- We share and review each other’s works on a collaborative Google doc;
- We meet again, and the cycle is repeated.

🦋 The nuts and bolts:

- There will be four sessions meeting weekly on Sundays, 5 July - 26 July, 11 am Moscow time. One session is around 45 minutes.
- Not participating in online sessions is OK as long as you keep in touch, write, and review other people’s work in time.
- If you join, you have to write one work and review one participant’s work every week. If you don’t write or review other people’s work by the deadline, you’ll have to leave.

❗️ This is an AI-free zone. The goal of the project is self-expression, so let's express ourselves -- us, humans.

💌 The project is free. To join, message me @iraluts with a creative ending to this sentence: "The blazing sun is hoisting up out of the sea ... ." ☀️

💌 When you message me, please introduce yourself properly. My name is Irina Lutsenko - I want to know yours. Nameless subscribers and people with nicknames or aliases won't be admitted.

Enrollment closes: 4 July, 20:00 Moscow time. 📅

ENROLLMENT CLOSED.

❗️❗️❗️ This project is in no way helpful for IELTS. If anything, it might be detrimental.

The overview is the most important part of your #IELTS Writing Task 1

How do you write a good one?

In this practical workshop, you will learn how to nail your overview for all types of IELTS Academic tasks:
- tasks with figures (with and without a time change);
- tasks with combinations of charts;
- maps and floor plans;
- processes.

What will happen in this workshop?

- You will get my list of questions that help you choose the key features for each task type;
- We will look at my examples and discuss how I chose the key features;
- You'll write your own overviews, get my feedback, and compare them with mine afterwards.

The workshop is based on my extensive IELTS taking, teaching, and writing experience:
- IELTS 9 x4, Writing 8.5 x3
- IELTS prep experience: over 10 years
- IELTS answers written: over 200

Important: This is not a webinar. This is a practical workshop where you are expected to write. Please join with your camera on and from a good work station.

📌 Price: 2500 RUB

📅 Monday, 6 July, 11-12:30/13:00 Moscow time

The duration might vary between 90 and 120 minutes, depending on the number of participants and the speed of writing.

📍 Place: in real time on Zoom, camera must be on, participation is expected

❗ You will get the pdf of the presentation and the document with the overviews, but there will be no video recordings!

Why don't I record my workshops?

I believe participation without recording ensures a safe space for attendees to participate openly and without fear of asking questions or making mistakes.

💌 Sign up: @iraluts

How much can you learn from one sentence?

When it comes to writing, you often hear that you need to learn from reading. It is true, but you need to know what to look for.

Take a look at the screenshot. It's a small piece of text, but each sentence contains a lot of things precious for writing: metaphor, ellipsis, dahes, parentheses, to name just a few. ❤️

What we do in my "Writing with..." courses is we learn to notice writing techniques and to then implement them.

If this is something you would like to do, how about my summer mini-course "Writing with The Guardian"?

It is a course geared towards the C2 Proficiency exam (or CPE) articles but is also good for a variety of non-fiction and creative non-fiction types of writing.

📝 Who is the course perfect for?
- people who have taken CPE and want to stay in a good writing shape;
- people who want to take CPE some time in the future;
- people who blog, write copy, or write for pleasure - and those who want to.

📝 More about the course:

https://t.me/irinalutsenko/715

📝 Student's articles written in this course:

- "Who’s Talking? Finding a Human Voice in the Age of ChatGPT"

- "You do not talk about Fight Club (enough)"

💌💌💌 @iraluts

I was today years old (actually yesterday but nevermind) when I found out that ...

Seasons are backwards in Australia. And you might think: So what? Who cares?

But... But there are #IELTS tasks about Australia. 🇦🇺

I was writing the overview for the attached IELTS task 1 the other day. Look at what I wrote with my northern-hemisphere brain:

Overall, ... , both cities tend to have colder weather late spring through early autumn, ... . The rainfall pattern, however, is drastically different: while in Canberra precipitation levels increase in summer ...

Can't do that!

Summer is not summer in Australia. Summer is December through February. Et cetera.

Anyways, try your hand at this overview in the comments with backwards references to seasons or avoiding such references altogether. ⬇️