Academic vocabulary

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Improve your academic vocabulary. Which of the following words are safe to use for your IELTS writing task 2 essay? The meaning for each word is given in brackets

  • Dissonance (discord / difference of opinion)
  • Gist (general idea / essence)
  • Latent (concealed / hidden)
  • Quack (fake / swindler)
  • Falter (hesitate)
  • Partially (not completely / to a degree)
  • Prattle (chatter)
  • Orate (make a speech)
Answers
There is only one word which cannot be used in an academic piece of writing and that is the word “quack”. This is slang and is inappropriate to use in formal writing. However, although the other words are acceptable to use, the word “prattle” is unlikely to be used but of course it does depend on the topic of the essay . Furthermore, the word “gist” can be used in formal writing, for example ” the gist of the argument was …” but be careful of other ways of using this word.
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IELTS Speaking Part 3: What makes a good painting?

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Question

What makes a good painting?

Ideas and Vocab

  • the composition of all the parts
  • the painter has a good eye (to know when something is good)
  • perspective and symmetry (sizing and balance of all parts)
  • using a particular style or an unusual technique (skill)
  • the subject (person / landscape / animal etc)
  • the balance of colours and contrasts
  • to bring about an emotional response – it touches people
  • to evoke a memory or idea
  • impact – something you can’t take your eyes off
  • historical background or relevance

Model Answer

From my perspective, I suppose a good painting is one you can’t take your eyes off. For me, it’s either due to the colours and images or because of the emotional reaction I might have to the painting. But I know that for other people, they think a good painting is usually because of the skill involved in painting it or because of the unique creativity of the artist. I guess that a good painting means something different to everybody.

Video Watch

This video shows an art dealer talking about what makes a good painting. It is not a video made for language learners so the English is advanced but hopefully you can still learn a lot from it.

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