IELTS Writing Task 2: How to write an introduction

[0:03]Hello. In this lesson I'm going to show you how to write an introduction paragraph for your IELTS writing task 2 essay. Now this is the essay title we're going to look at. The best way to improve health is to do regular exercise. To what extent do you agree? Well, let's first look at the statement. Now, IELTS have given us this, which is the best way. It's a method. It's a solution. And it's a solution to improving health. So our essay is all about improving health. And their solution, their best solution is to do regular exercise. So that is what IELTS have said. That's the statement. And we have to give our opinion. To what extent do you agree? Now, what does this mean? To what extent? Well, that means how much do you agree? You don't need to agree or disagree. You need to think about it and think, do you agree with all the sentence? Is there something you don't agree with? Do you agree with most of it? So that's how you analyze it. Right, well, let's have a look at what information we need to put in our introduction. Now, for many academic essays, there are three parts to the introduction. There's the hook. There's a background statement, and there's a thesis statement. So let's look at each part of this. The first one, the hook. Now, a hook is a sentence that has lots of interest in it. So that immediately, the reader wants to continue. And we use that in many essays. But do we use it for IELTS essays? The answer is, no, we don't need it. Let me explain why. Firstly, the examiner is not looking for interesting ideas. Interest is not assessed in your IELTS essay. So if your introduction is interesting or boring, it makes no difference. Secondly, another reason that you don't need the hook. And that is, you don't have much time. You have a total of 40 minutes. And in those 40 minutes, you need to analyze the statement, plan your essay, and at the end of your essay, when you finish, you need to check it. So really, you only have about 35 minutes to write that essay. There is not enough time to worry about having a hook that the examiner doesn't want anyway. So forget the hook. The next thing, the background statement. What is the background statement? The background statement basically is this statement paraphrased. So I'll just put here paraphrase the statement. So I'll just put here paraphrase the statement.

[4:09]So IELTS give you a statement, you need to paraphrase it, which means you need to write it again with the same meaning, but use your own language. I know that many students think they can just copy that. But that will not help you for your essay. If you copy those words, they are not yours. And the examiner will not take them. So please don't copy the sentence, just paraphrase it. And the next thing is the thesis statement. The thesis statement is your answer and it is an introduction to your ideas.

[5:05]So we've got two parts to the introduction. We've got paraphrasing the statement and giving our answer, introducing our ideas. So just those two parts, and in this lesson, I'm going to show you how to write them. Let's start with the background statement. So we need to paraphrase this sentence here. Now they start with the best way and we need to paraphrase that. Well, the word way is a solution, it's a method. So solution, method, you could use both words. I'm going to use method. And the best, another way to say that. I would use the most effective method. So let's write that down. The most effective method in developing and improving health. So let's just see what I've done here.

[6:40]Firstly, I've added an extra word. And I've added this to show IELTS that I can paraphrase and I understand the meaning. I've added this word because I still like it. I still think it's a very good word to use for this sentence. But they say improve, I say improving. This is also paraphrasing. I'm using the same word, but a different form of the word. So I've taken the word and I've changed it a little bit. This is very good for IELTS. So it means you don't have to change the word completely. You can just change the form of the word. So the most effective method in developing and improving health. Now we need the next bit. They say is to do. I will say is considered to be. Is considered to be. So I've changed this part for considered to be. And now we've got regular exercise. Now, exercise I want to keep. I don't want to use sport, because sport and exercise are not really the same thing. Sport is a game, often it involves a team. It involves equipment. Exercise is something you can do on your own, it's not a game, it's just some movements. So I want to keep the word exercise, but that means I want to change the word regular. So I could say daily. It's not exactly the same, but it's more or less the same. I could say frequent. That's quite similar. But for this essay, I'm going to say daily. It's considered to be, oops. Daily exercise. Now, I have finished my background statement. So this sentence and this sentence has the same meaning. But I've used different words, I've altered it, and this is my background statement to start my IELTS essay.

[9:23]Let's have a look now at writing the thesis statement. This is probably a little bit more difficult. So how do we start the thesis statement? Well, our thesis statement, do you remember, it's our answer. And the question is to what extent do you agree? So this question is asking for my opinion. Now, the examiner is looking for your answer. So I want to show the examiner my answer, and I want to help him or her find it easily. And to do that, we can say, in my opinion, Now, when we start the thesis statement with that, for that question, it means that the examiner can see that, find the answer. That's great. That is a good, organized, logical, academic essay for IELTS. So in my opinion, Now, do we agree or disagree? Well, I want to agree. I really think that exercise is the most important way to gaining health. I really believe that. I think maybe there are other ways, there are more things we can do, but I think exercise is very important. So I'm going to agree. So in my opinion, I agree that, oops, let's write it correctly. I agree that exercise is the key to health. So that is nice and clear. Very clear answer. But do I want to stop here? My thesis statement is also a chance for me to introduce my ideas. Now, am I going to write an essay that is only about exercise? Well, to be honest, I don't want to write more than 250 words only about exercise. It's very useful to have some more relevant but different ideas. So I'm going to add a little bit more to this essay. And I'm going to say, however, I also believe that diet is important. So by doing this, I have introduced a new solution to health, and that is diet. I'm not saying it's the key, it's not the most effective, but it is important. So I agree that exercise is the key, but I also think that diet. That means what we eat. Is important. Now, you can see that I have written two sentences for my thesis statement. It is possible to have two sentences, or you could have one and you could link these together in a better way. That's up to you. Right, well, let's have a look at the whole introduction together. And here is the finished introduction. The background and the thesis statement together. The most effective method to developing and improving health is considered to be daily exercise. In my opinion, I agree that exercise is the key to health. However, I also believe that diet is important. Now, let me give you some tips so that you can practice writing your introduction at home. The background statement. This should have the same meaning as the statement given by IELTS. Do not copy the IELTS statement. You need to paraphrase it to use different language with the same meaning. So for example, IELTS said the best way, and we say the most effective method. You don't need to change the words fully. For example, IELTS say improve, and I have written improving. You can keep the word and change the form of the word. For the thesis statement, that is your answer and an introduction to your ideas. It is an agree disagree essay, that means an opinion essay. And I have put in my opinion, so that the examiner can find it quickly and easily. That is the key to a good academic essay. Logical, organized, easy to read. My answer is clear. I agree that exercise is the key. You can see another paraphrase. The most effective way, the key, lots of paraphrasing. And I have also added another solution so that I can have different main points. So I've added about diet. Now my thesis statement has two sentences, that's fine. But if you want to connect it and make one long complex sentence, you can. You can change this part and connect them together. So that's your background and your thesis statement. How many words does your introduction need to be? How long should the introduction be? Well, this is about 35 words. And that's fine. Usually, your introduction for IELTS will be between 35 and 50 words. I don't really recommend that you write more than 50 words, 50-55. Don't go further because you don't have a lot of time. And you must arrive quickly to the body paragraphs, and you need time to write the body paragraphs, to develop the idea, to support the ideas. So don't spend too long on the introduction. Now, if you've found this lesson useful, please press like and share it with your friends. That would be wonderful. Now, I hope you will practice writing the introduction at home. Make sure that you practice the background statement. It's the easiest part of the whole IELTS essay. Just paraphrase the statement. You can practice and practice. If you don't have many IELTS essay titles, please visit my blog. I have more than 100 for you to practice. My blog is www.IELTSLiz.com. Also the thesis statement. This is more difficult to write because you need your answer ready, and you need your ideas ready. So you need to look at the essay title, plan your answer, and practice giving your answer clearly in that way. Well, that's all for this lesson. Good luck. Keep practicing. And I'll see you again in another IELTS lesson.