“advantages outweigh the disadvantages?” is a common IELTS essay question in writing task 2 which many people struggle with. Below is an sample essay question to practice this type of essay and also some tips to help you.
What is an IELTS Advantages Outweigh Disadvantages Essay?
Take a look at the two essays below:
Essay 1
In recent years, more and more people are choosing to read e-books rather than paper books.
Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
The essay question asks a direct question to you which is a question of choice. Whenever you are asked for choose something, you know it requires an opinion. This type of advantage disadvantage essay is very different to the normal advantage essay:
Essay 2
The development of tourism contributed to English becoming the most prominent language in the world. Some people think this will lead to English becoming the only language to be spoken globally.
What are the advantages and disadvantages to having one language in the world?
As you see, Essay 2 only asks you to present the advantages and the disadvantages rather than choose between them. This is the most typical type of essay question and you can find tips about it on this page: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES ESSAY.
So, Essay 1 is the advantages outweigh disadvantages essay type and it is different. Read below to learn tips for tackling it.
Tips for IELTS Outweigh Essay Questions
To answer this type of IELTS essay question you must:
- Brainstorm ideas supporting both sides first.
- This question is asking for your opinion so you will need to decide your opinion.
- do you think the advantages or the disadvantages are most important? Which one?
- Write your answer to the question in the thesis statement in your introduction stating your opinion clearly.
- you can use the word “outweigh” in your introduction if you want
- or you can simply explain if there are more advantages and less disadvantages or vice versa
- avoid formulaic statements for your thesis statement – this means don’t use a memorised phrase.
- don’t write “this essay will…” this isn’t how you write your own opinion. You must use words such as “In my opinion” or “I think”.
- Body paragraphs should cover both advantages and disadvantages whilst at the same time making it very clear which one is more important. This isn’t an advantages AND disadvantages essay – it is about presenting and arguing your opinion.
- Make sure your support points in the body paragraphs are 100% relevant and don’t stray off topic.
- Re-state your opinion in the conclusion using different language
Be Careful
- The “outweigh” essay question is not exactly the same as the Advantages and Disadvantages essay question. Don’t turn it into a discuss without any clear opinion or you will get a low score for Task Response.
MODEL ESSAY FOR IELTS ADVS OUTWEIGH DISADVS
In recent years, more and more people are choosing to read e-books rather than paper books.
Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
An increasing number of people are using e-books as a reading tool, such as a kindle, instead of traditional paper books. I believe there are significant benefits to using e-books over paper books with only a few minor drawbacks.
E-books have enormous advantages over the paper book mainly because of the vast number of books that an e-book device, namely a kindle, can contain. Kindles are able to contain thousands of books which you can categorise and organise on a device that is lighter than a tablet. For people who are travelling or those who want easy access to multiple books, these devices are perfect. Furthermore, e-books can be purchased with the click of a button giving instant access to the book without having to wait for delivery.
On the other hand, there is a downside to choosing an e-book over a paper book. The main issue is that it can be hard to find books on specialist subjects in electronic form. Many specialist and old books are only available as a paper book and can only be found in libraries. Another point to consider is that e-books are yet another device which people are glued to and that does have an impact on eye sight and health in general. It has long been known that people spend too much time on their devices and therefore reading a paper book might actually be preferable from time to time.
In conclusion, I think e-books have brought numerous gains to people’s lives through accessibility and convenience that truly benefit people’s lives, but there are disadvantages that should not be ignored.
Recommended for Writing Task 2
…………………………………………..
Advanced Lessons & E-books for IELTS Writing Task 2
Advanced Writing Lessons for Target band 7, 8 & 9
.
Hope you’re doing well!
I wanted to clarify the main difference between the “advantages and disadvantages” essay and the “advantages outweigh disadvantages” essay in IELTS Writing Task 2. Is the key difference really just about taking a stance on which side outweighs the other?
For instance, should a regular advantages and disadvantages essay have an objective conclusion (e.g., “There are both advantages and disadvantages to consider”)? So does that mean I should not put any interpretation and put the facts into the table just they are? Meanwhile, would the “outweigh” essay require stating my position more clearly, like saying, “I believe the disadvantages outweigh the advantages”?
Thank you for your help!
The main difference is one is asking for your opinion, while the other is just asking you to state the advantages and the disadvantages in a neutral way. When you are simply asked to state advantages and disadvantages, you don’t need an opinion, but it is possible to voice an opinion as a final comment in the conclusion (but it is not a necessary step). The outweigh essay definitely requires an opinion in the introduction, voiced again in the body of the essay and summarised in the conclusion – without an opinion for this type of essay, you would fail in Task Response because the instructions are specifically asking you to voice your view by asking you to choose.
Hey Liz, How is your health. I did another essay can you please check it out If you have time.
It is often believed that change is more beneficial in comparison to avoiding or being stagnant. In my opinion, I think change brings about more benefits than harm to people.
Although there are some drawbacks mentioned below, the positives that change brings in one’s life is far substantial than the negatives. Firstly, change helps one to evolve and bring about positive changes in his or her life, through different experiences that would occur due to changes in their environment. For instance, a person who struggles with social anxiety can evolve and through further interaction and experience can be more confidant and charismatic. Secondly, Change can also lead major characteristic development, one can nurture more patient, strength and other great characteristic trait through change happening in his environment.
Admittedly, there are a few drawbacks that change can bring along. One such drawback is how unexpected changes can bring worry and anxiety to people, and can put them in much vulnerable position then they are already in. For example a sudden shift in their financial circumstance may lead to instability, putting one through immense stress. Another problem that might occur is how unstable and unpredictable changes can build one character for worse, a person facing setback after setback due to some unforeseen changes can lose all hope and diverge to a path of wrong doing or negative behaviour (from which there is no turning back)
In conclusion, the positive development and an opportunity to improve oneself which changes bring along outweighs some drawbacks it carries.
Task Response is 25% of your marks and that is all about how you address the direct issues in the essay question and fulfil the instructions. You haven’t provided the essay question or the precise instructions.
My bad, here is the question: It is often considered that change is more beneficial to people than trying to avoid it and have everything remain the same. Do you think the advantages of change outweigh the disadvantages?
Now I can understand the essay. The main issue with this essay is that you have not convinced me at all about your opinion that change is more beneficial than not. Your arguments for the disadvantages of change are much stronger. You also haven’t repeated your opinion in the body paragraph of the side that you support making your opinion almost insignificant to this essay.
1) the advantages of change – A) change in the workplace (whether wanted or unwanted) can lead people to take on new jobs and develop new skills which opens up new avenues for future opportunities and careers B) change can make life interesting rather than stagnant bring new life, experiences and new people C) it can help people become more adaptable and dynamic which is particularly important in this ever changing modern world
2) if you agree that change is the most important thing, then you must have strong arguments for it and express your view again when writing that body paragraph. Then you must restate your position in the conclusion.
3) Don’t use brackets in writing task 2, use clauses.
Otherwise, you’ve got a strong structure and good signposting which are essential in a good essay.
thanks liz I will make the necessary changes can I keep the same points for advantages, I will affirm my opinion in body paragraph 1 and will keep the rest same does that work liz.
Hopefully, it should work fine.
thanks for your feedback. Through your blog post and advance courses I have had visible improvement in writing. Still I am very nervous about writing as I will be writing my ielts this November
You’ve got plenty of time. Make sure to improve your grammar during that time to remove any errors from your writing because all errors lower your score. And work on ideas for topics. Good luck!
(I was trying to write it in the original thread but I think it reached its max limit)liz, I mostly make errors in subject verb agreement but I am not able to realise that I have made a mistake and yeah I am practicing reading and writing every day and I am aiming to get band 7 or more in writing.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you 🙂
thank you so much 🥺🥺
hi liz can you please look into it Increasing number of people now prefer e-books over traditional books to get their reading needs covered. In my opinion, I think that the benefits of carrying e-book far outweighs that of a normal book.
On the one hand carrying an ebook has a lot of benefits whose magnitude far surpasses some drawbacks mentioned below. Firstly, one does not have to worry about carrying heavy books around as all of their favourite books can be found in one device with just a simple click ready to be read. Due to the ability to download books on the go, one can take along as many books as one wants to a trip or work. With battery generally lasting about a week, one does not have to worry about charging. Secondly, the books available to download are far cheaper upto 20 times than a paperback version, only an initial investment is required to get an e-book reader even that can be avoided if one is comfortable to use a mobile device as an e-book reader.
Admittedly, there are some minor drawbacks when using an ebook. One problem that might occur is eye strain due to excessive exposure to screen, this can be overcome by using an e-book reader which comes with an e-ink display rather than using a mobile phone. Another problem that is quite common with e-book readers is how they can easily lose interest from a book and would never complete it, due to a variety of option available to them. Lastly, holding an actual book while reading forms a kind of connection with the reader and results in an outflow of dopamine which makes the reader happy.
In conclusion, the option and versatility an e-book provides while been cheaper than an actual book, clearly outweighs some disadvantages it caries.
Although my website does not offer a feedback service, I do have time for a quick comment. You’ve got very clear structure and a very clear opinion. Well done. But be careful with wording. This isn’t about “carrying” an e-book. This is about using an e-book. Sometimes when you paraphrase incorrectly or have poor word choice, it can really affect the whole essay and confuse the reader – for this reason, you must never paraphrase unless you are 100% sure. It is better to repeat a word, than have a point become irrelevant.
Hi liz, after going through your videos I have approach this question in both way
Health services are a basic necessity. However, private companies have made them quite costly for ordinary individuals.
1) state the adv and disadvantages of private healthcare
2) do the advantages of private healthcare outweigh the disadvantages?
Services related to health such a hospitals are a basic necessity for any person, but private companies have made it quite expensive for poor and middle income families and individuals. Private Hospitals certainly provide better healthcare and advance treatments, but there are also some drawbacks to be considered.
On the one hand, privatisation of health care facilities surely result in certain benefits. One can get world class treatment from private hospitals as they spend a ton of money on research, which helps them develop new treatments and methods to tackle life threatening health related issues. Another reason that privatisation of hospital can be advantageous is the luxury amenities they can provide to the customer, like hospital room comparable to hotel and resort, delicious meals and even some kind of recreational activities to not get bored.
On the other hand there are obvious downside privatisation of healthcare can cause to middle income families. Firstly, private healthcare centres can be extremely costly, when compared to public hospitals. Many have to take huge loans to get admitted into private hospitals due to the unavailability of a good public hospital, which leads one to be in debt. Secondly, private hospitals can overcharge their customers for even the most basic service they provide, a service whose actual cost should be around 50 dollars can be overcharged upto 100 times that amount by a private hospital . Lastly, private healthcare centres goal is to generate revenue as they are a for profit business, unlike government hospitals whose Moto is to save an individual as they are funded by the government.
In conclusion, while private hospitals have their upsides, the high cost and motivation to keep money a priority over life can be concerning.
—————————————————————————————
Services related to health, such as hospitals, are a basic necessity for any person. However, private companies have made healthcare quite expensive for poor and middle-income families and individuals. In my opinion, I think that the privatization of the healthcare system brings about more harm than good.
Admittedly, there are some basic advantages to the private healthcare system. Firstly, they can provide better treatment compared to an underfunded public hospital. They offer state-of-the-art treatment and employ capable health professionals to attend to patients. This ensures faster diagnosis and treatment. Another additional benefit is the level of comfort private hospitals can provide, such as comfortable rooms and private attendants. However, all these experiences are only available to those who can afford them.
Nevertheless, despite the advantages mentioned above, I believe the disadvantages of the private healthcare system greatly outweigh the advantages. One significant disadvantage is the cost of accessing a private healthcare center. Someone who barely makes ends meet cannot afford to go to a private hospital and receive the desired treatment. Due to the lack of public health infrastructure in some countries, this often forces individuals to take out loans and fall into debt. Another issue is that private hospitals can overcharge for even the simplest treatments. A simple treatment that should cost around $50 can be charged at up to 100 times that amount. The last obvious issue is the intention of private hospitals, which is to earn money as they are for-profit organizations. One cannot expect to receive treatment from a private hospital if one cannot pay, whereas a public hospital provides care for free.
In conclusion, the overcharging by private healthcare providers far outweighs the additional benefits they offer.
Although my website isn’t aimed at giving feedback on writing, I will make a few comments. On the whole, you have nailed the IELTS skills needed for a strong writing task 2 essay. Both essays take the right approach and clearly fulfil the tasks given for a high score. A few points to note:
1) language – avoid anything too informal such as ” a ton of money” – it would be better to write “private hospitals have large financial resources which allow them to invest heavily on research…”
2) linking words – avoiding using “like” instead of “for example”. “like” as a linking word is informal and only suitable for the speaking test. This is a small error, but all errors should be avoided.
3) Your last point of the disadvantages of private hospitals isn’t strong. Whether it runs as a business or not doesn’t really show a downside. It would have been better to state that due to the cost of private health care some people actually cannot afford life saving treatment, such as for cancer, which can lead to unnecessary death.
4)grammar – ” there are obvious downside privatisation of healthcare can cause to middle income families” – this should be “there are obvious downsides to the privatisation of healthcare which can cause problems for middle income families”. Pay close attention to lengthy sentences and try to avoid errors. Also, it might have been better if you hadn’t only talked about middle income families but also people living on the poverty line. While middle income people might incur debt, people on the poverty line are likely to die because they simply cannot afford any treatment.
5) be careful letting one body paragraph getting longer than another. With the essays above, it is fine. But if the difference in length becomes greater, it could affect your score for Task Response.
Good job with your essays!!
Thanks for such a detail feedback, I am facing difficulty in getting the subject, verb, agreement right. I did revise the concept but whenever I write an essay there are always some mistakes related to it.
I have never seen a band 9 sample for such question. But, I attempted to follow your instructions and took as an example your band 9 essays, particular advantage and disadvantage type (though you recommended not doing it).
It is important for people to take risks, both in their professional lives and their personal lives.
Do you think the advantages of taking risks outweigh the disadvantages?
Some people believe that taking risks is key for professional and personal growth. While there are, indeed, potential drawbacks to daring actions such as endangering one’s health, causing conflicts with loved ones, or making misguided work decisions, there are still numerous rewards in risk-taking, including leaving one’s comfort zone, improving the quality of life, and achieving career satisfaction.
On the one hand, adventurous behavior can create life-threatening situations. Take, for example, the act of jumping off a cliff, which can be fraught with serious consequences for one’s physical health or even result in disability. Moreover, risk-taking may cause conflicts within the family, as loved ones might feel neglected regarding their thoughts and feelings. Additionally, overconfidence in one’s actions can lead to misguided work decisions, ultimately damaging one’s reputation.
On the other hand, risk-taking can lead to significant life changes and career rewards. In other words, taking the chance to leave one’s comfort zone and finding energy and confidence within oneself can open the door to new experiences and opportunities, build self-confidence and resilience, and ultimately lead to a better lifestyle. Another reason that taking risks can be advantageous is that it can contribute to achieving career goals. With all the motivation and energy dedicated to trying new career opportunities, one could pave the way to professional success.
In conclusion, while there are drawbacks to taking risks, numerous opportunities would be missed, potentially leading to life dissatisfaction and depression. Overcoming fears and finding a middle ground with loved ones is important to trying out new opportunities, taking risks, to achieving life goals.
Taking risks, whether in one’s professional or personal life, is often viewed as a crucial element for growth and success. While some may argue that risks can lead to potential failures or setbacks, I believe that the advantages of taking risks outweigh the disadvantages, as they create opportunities for learning, growth, and achievement.
In professional life, taking risks can open doors to new opportunities and career advancements. Many successful entrepreneurs and business leaders attribute their achievements to the calculated risks they took. For instance, starting a new business, changing career paths, or investing in innovative ideas often requires a level of uncertainty, but the potential rewards—such as financial gain, professional fulfillment, and personal satisfaction—can be significant. Moreover, without taking risks, individuals may stagnate in their careers, missing out on the chance to improve their skills or achieve higher goals.
In personal life, taking risks is equally important. People who step outside their comfort zones, such as moving to a new city, trying new hobbies, or building new relationships, often experience personal growth. These experiences can lead to increased confidence, resilience, and adaptability, qualities that are essential for facing life’s challenges. While there is always the chance of failure or disappointment, the lessons learned from taking risks in personal life often lead to long-term benefits.
On the downside, taking risks can sometimes result in failure or loss. In professional settings, a business venture might fail, or a risky career move could backfire, leading to financial instability. Similarly, in personal life, risks such as relocating to a new place or entering a new relationship might cause emotional or social difficulties. However, these setbacks are often temporary, and the experience gained from taking risks can still contribute to personal and professional growth.
In conclusion, while there are potential disadvantages to taking risks, such as failure or setbacks, the advantages—such as new opportunities, personal development, and professional growth—far outweigh the downsides. In my opinion, taking risks is essential for achieving success and realizing one’s full potential.
Hello Liz, thank you for these resources. I attempted the essay below
Nowadays, more people prefer to read e-books than the traditional paper books. In my opinion, I believe that the advantages of e-books far outweigh whatever disadvantages there may be.
Firstly, e-books are weightless. In the world we live in today, most people have mobile devices such as phones and tablets with them most of the time which they can use to access their electronic books wherever they are without the need to take anything else with them. This is particularly useful when travelling as the space that would have been occupied by hard copy books can be used for something more important.
Secondly, e-books are advantageous in that they can be shared with friends and loved ones that are miles apart. They also possess the benefit in that if available online, they can be accessed by people far away, even in other countries. This is especially beneficial to students in developing countries who may not be able to access hard copies of newer edition textbooks, however, if these textbooks are available online, they can simply be download on mobile devices.
The third and perhaps the most important advantage of e-books is the conservation of trees. Traditional books are made of paper, which is derived from trees. Thousands, if not millions of trees have to be cut down yearly for the purpose of producing paper for books. This practice has contributed to climate change and harmed our environment. Moreover, these trees that are felled were once homes to abundant wildlife such as birds, snakes, frogs etc. which end up being displaced or killed.
A few disadvantages of e-books is that they are limited to only those who have mobile devices and access to the internet. Also, the prolonged screen time can be damaging to the eyes especially when the print is small and the text is bulky.
In conclusion, e-books are easily accessed at the click of a button on mobile devices, do not take up extra space in bags or luggage, can be easily shared to loved ones and friends, and have a wider coverage in terms of accessibility. Moreover, they preserve our planet by reducing deforestation. I strongly believe that the advantages of using e-books far outweigh their disadvantages.
Thank you Liz!
Go to the main section for writing task 2 on my website and learn about paragraphing. Also have a look at the model essays and how they are written. The model essays are there to learn from.
In the future, all cars, buses and trucks will be driverless. The only people travelling inside these vehicles will be passengers.
Do you think the advantages of driverless vehicles outweigh the disadvantages?
The artificial intelligence technology may produce passenger vehicles in the near future that don’t require any drivers. There are a few negative aspects of this development like loss of jobs for drivers or dependency of humans on machines but from my perspective, the merits surpass the demerits because this advancement will lead to less smoother traffic, ease in travel and lesser accidents. The details of my argument are explained below.
Traffic without drivers will cause complete follow up of rules resulting in peace on roads and also create easy journey. The drivers are ultimately humans who can make unintentional mistakes while driving. For instance, if a person is stressed out, his driving might be affected. However, the computers are error free and will follow the instructions installed in them making the driving flawless.
In addition, driverless transport system will ensure less accidents securing the life of people and eliminating destruction of vehicles. As the computer operated vehicles will obey the commands inserted in them, the chances of mistakes on roads are diminished. This point cannot be neglected that these new cars and buses will drastically affect the job opportunities for drivers and also produce a sense of dependency in human population upon the technology. However, there may be other jobs to fill in for the drivers related to the new established system. Hence, such transport system will provide a great control over accidents resulting in security of life and assets.
To sum up, in my opinion, driverless vehicles will be an exceptional addition to the world for better traffic system and easy journey for the people. Moreover, it will be best in terms of saving lives due to negligible chance of accidents. This advancement will thus flourish a wonderful and prosperous world.
Just a quick comment, try to keep your introduction shorter. You don’t get any extra points for having a long introduction and it wastes a lot of time writing it. Just state your position and don’t give details. All details are for the body paragraphs. It is the body paragraphs that will give you the high score. Review my model answer to see how I do it.
I have always been a sensory person and always appreciated the feel of a paperback on my hand and loved the new-book scent. Be that as it may, it is my conviction that I gain more by obtaining digital copies as opposed to indulging my senses.
First and the most important in this time of financial uncertainty, e-books are more economical than their paperback counterpart. As far as pricing is concerned, digital prices are up to twenty five percent cheaper than physical copies. Sometimes, edition updates are included in the pricing. This is not something that can be done with physical copies. Even with minimal changes in a physical book, a new edition would be released, rendering your owned copy non-current.
This inadvertently decreases your carbon foot print and even if you are not an avid environment advocate, every little thing that is an attempt to go paperless matters. This means no more bulky text books that you have to carry around. Although, I have to say that you may need to keep your devices charged, pay for internet services and and in some cases, buy cloud storage to hold your massive library in one place. After all, you are bringing all your books and making it accessible so that it can be shared across all other devices that you own.
This leads me to the accessibility aspect of the e-books. Gone are the days that you will forget, or worse, lose a book that is worth hundreds of dollars. There were times when an entire collection would be destroyed by a natural calamity. Well, no more. You no longer need to travel and bring five paperbacks and take space from your carry-on. You can even pull an all-nighter when the lights are turned-off, next to your snoring spouse, with the convenience of your e-book app from your mobile device. The draw back is the increasing eye strain brought about by increased screen time from e-book reading.
E-books are by far one of the gifts of this digital age that keeps on giving because it gave us an access to knowledge that we can carry anywhere and possibly connect with anything if we have the means and connection to do so. I strongly believe that the advantages far outweighs the disadvantages so much that I am more than willing to give-up the new-book scent, which is, by the way, saying a lot.
If you are preparing for the IELTS test, it is essential that you understand the way to write an essay for IELTS. It is not the same as any other essay. It has specific requirements which you must learn. This includes length of paragraphs, content, language, linking words, style etc. If you fail to learn this, you will struggle to get a high score even if your English is strong because you will struggle with Task Response and Coherence & Cohesion, which together count for 50% of your marks. See all my free model essays to learn the right way. Notice every detail of the essays: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/. And consider my advanced lessons in my store which explain precisely how you should write your essay: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/
In current era, the majority of the folks are preferring to read the e-book instead of the paper books around the
world. Although, due to the reading on the screens can cause the problems in the eye-sight. I believe that the
benefits are far more than the drawbacks because reading the books using laptops, mobiles or tables can be dynamic, and
this is the more portable way.
The online reading is dynamic in nature due to the various reasons. Firstly, it contains the sitelinks that can be open
in the browser. Secondly, the reader can navigate automatically to any part of the book either by using the index or other
bookmarks. Lastly, e-books comes with the sound, one can read listen the part of book in spite of reading. The survey held
online also suggest the same reason that more people are inclining toward the electronic edition of books due to its
dynamic nature.
Moreover, the books are portable. These days due to the efficient storage systems, the books can be stored in the hard drives
and can be taken with someone at any place. In addition to this, the e-books are instantly available in the marketplace. For
instance, normally the publisher first publish the online version.
However, the reading of the e-books can also cause some problems as well. The major problems caused by continuously looking
at the differenct types of screen can create the vision problems. Thus, a reader cannot read continously read the e-book.
For example, the medical report published at University of health, that eye problems are rising due to the online reading.
In conclusion, although the reading caused the certain health problems such as eye vision problem, overall the e-books are
more dynamic, can be taken with someone at any place, bought earlier from any part of the world. For these reasons I believe
that the advanatages can outweigh the disadvantages.
Even after scrolling through the whole comments and replys, still didn’t find clearification for my doubt.
Dear Liz, thanks for this wonderful site. I trust your health is improving ma.
This is my doubt. For the adv outweighs disadv question; even if in my opinion I choose adv, am to write about both the adv and disadv and state clearly the adv as my opinion.
Then for the to what extent do u agree or disagree/ what do u think type of eassy question, Iam to write only about one side of the opinion I choose through out the intro, body paragraphs and conclusion.
Am I right?..Pls I need clarification
When it says “outweigh” it means which is more and which is less. So, if you think the advantages are more, you also think that the disadvantages are less. Understanding this key concept will help you structure your essay.
Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
What types of question is?
Teachers give essay types different names. I call this one example of a direct question essay. It is specifically asking you if you think there are more advantage with less disadvantages or whether you think there are less advantages with more disadvantages – you need to choose one.
“Do you think advantages OUTWEIGH disadvantages”
Is it an advantages and disadvantages essay type OR an opinion essay type? According to some videos, it will be an opinion essay type but according to you, it is an advantages and disadvantages essay type. Which is correct?
Teachers give names to essay types because it helps with classification. Each teacher is different. I classify adv/disadv essays as two kinds. 1) what are the advantages and disadvantages of X” – this type of essay requires you to present both sides. 2) “do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages” – this requires you to choose which is more important and that means you must present your opinion.
An actual opinion essay is one where you are given an opinion in a statement by IELTS and are asked to decide if you agree or not.
By classifying and teaching in this way, people are usually clearer as to what their aims are.
So, don’t get confused with names of essays. You only need to understand what your task is and what your aims are.
Hello Liz, hope all is well.
Please let me know if I understood this;
In the 2nd kind “Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages” one needs to give the opinion on advantage is more important or a disadvantage, although one needs to discuss both of them.
Thank you so much for your time and effort 🙂
Kind Regards!
I want you to think more about the instructions and what the task is.
1) do you think the advantages are more and the disadvantages are less?
2) do you think the disadvantages are more important and the advantages are less important?
Now choose which approach you take. As you see, each approach contains both advantages and disadvantages but with an opinion behind them.
In recent years, more and more people are choosing to read e-books rather than paper books. Do the advantage outweigh disadvantag?
Recently, the majority of people prefer to read e-books instead of paper books. Although there are disadvantages, but in my opinion advantage of reading e-books outweigh disadvantage because of its convenient and availability for acquiring knowledge.
To initiate the benefits of reading electronic books, firstly, reading electronic books are more convenient and portable, now days, due to technological advancement, everything is available anywhere and anytime, and people do not carry any paper-based documents with them. Therefore, we can easily access and read electronic books anywhere. For example, we have access and can read electronic books during a trip like inside a train, airplane, and car or even while we are walking on the beach or relaxing in a park we can access our desired book and start reading it, there is no need to carry a paper base books while going far away from home. This resulting acquiring knowledge easily.
On the other hand, there are also downsides for reading electronic books, as it can cause eyes problems due to light of screen. By looking for a long duration of time on a laptop or smartphone screen our eyes, get tired and light hurts, which it can cause serious problems, like losing sight, headache and other problems. For instance, if I look for more than 6 hours a day continuously at my phone or laptop screen, I will get severe headache that even I will be unable to open my eyes. Another disadvantage is that it does not give the feeling of reading a book like the one paper-based and we are not getting the knowledge the way we get from paper books, because by using a laptop or mobile, we somehow lose concentration while reading and we are not able to focus.
To conclude, besides the downsides of reading electronic books, the benefits are more than the disadvantages because it is accessible and convenient to read anywhere and anytime.
An increasing number of people prefer reading e-books over paper-based books. In my opinion, the advantages of reading on electronic devices instead of paper materials outweigh the disadvantages. I will explore through it the following essay.
To start with, e-book has its convenience in terms of accessibility, taking notes and understanding the content. If I were to buy paper books, I would physically go and get it from a store. On the other hand, we can easily make an access to e-book, getting heled by the internet. Furthermore, e-book helps people to get information and take notes faster. As an illustration, paper-based textbooks are replaced by digital materials in many lectures and courses in the present days, because it is easier and faster to get information we need and write down the contents.
Nevertheless, attention tends to drift while we are reading on digital devices such as phones, laptops. and tablets. There are many latent distractions in the devices, making people lose their focus. For instance, our attention can wander, ending up browsing through our social media account or checking up emails. Although there are concentration issues with e-book, this can be handled by turning off notifications or activate ‘Do not disturb mode’ in our digital devices.
In conclusion, there are more advantages in reading e-book compared to paper book due to high easier access and faster in collecting information and organizing it. Moreover, there are ways to stay focused on the content even if we are using electronic devices to read them.
In the last few years, a growing number of people prefer reading e-books instead of paper-based books. In my opinion, there are more advantages of reading e-books rather than paper books. Also, it is much more convenient.
Even though e-books are the new trending form of reading, there are some things that may cause trouble for some who use this method. For example, one disadvantage can be that reading on a computer through a screen can be tiring, the long exposure of light hurts the eyes of the reader. It also can lead to eyesight loss in the long run if precautions are not taken. Other negative side of e-books is that it doesn´t give the same feeling as holding a book, some may even say that they cannot feel connected to the story and that it takes more to concentrate.
Despite of this, there are several benefits of e-books. The most relevant for me is convenience. For instance, you can download a book or purchase it from an online store and save it in any device you want. In this way, you can take any book you want everywhere you go instead of having to choose for only one because carrying multiple paper books would be too heavy and would take a lot of space.
In addition, e-books cost significantly less than buying paper books. This is because paper books have to be printed while e-books are just an online document. Another important advantage is that e-books are more environmentally friendly than paper books, in this way we are helping the environment by saving tons of trees that are taken down annually in order to use it for printing purposes.
In conclusion, e-books advantages outweigh the disadvantages in numerous ways such as convenience for the reader, variety, costs, and it also helps the environment. We should all move to more sustainable ways of doing what we love the most like reading.
Some people think that everyone has a right to access a university education and that the government should make it free for all students, regardless of their financial situation.
To what extend do you agree or disagree?
A section of society believes that all people have the opportunity to get a higher education at academic institutes, besides the government needs to provide a free tuition fee to every student, regardless of their financial status. In my opinion, I strongly disagree with this statement, and the details with suitable examples will discuss in the following passage.
Embark, the main drawbacks of getting free tuition fees at university for everyone will pave an unclearness of education and no vacancy for jobs. This is because, if the country – authority give access to pursue fee less education to everyone there will be overpopulate of students at collages, and this will create a demand in collages behalf of admission seats, shortage of professors and lack of class rooms. These will affect the education quality of other students by getting poor education. Take for example, countries in middle east, their government provides free collage studies for every people, but it creates huge flaws, that their university do not have enough teaching facility for everyone due to over strength, as a consequence they acquired a low-level degree and most of them were in backlogs.
In addition, come up with free higher studies to every individual by the government will cause huge economic crisis in the country. This is happening because, the budget allotted for the country’s development will mostly be spent on universities and colleges for higher studies, that makes them to rise the price and tax in other commodities and facility. For instance, in India the government have provides a free education to all students, that their major money was spent on education makes them to increases the prices of other public amenities like rise in ticket price of public transport, rise in GST in grocery price and also rate of electrical bill in order to compensate the budget allotted. That negatively impacts the people in economic wise.
To recapitulate, overpopulate of students due to free education makes them to acquire an unqualified degree, further the economic of country in struggle because to balance the finance allotted to universities for plenty of pupil. That illustrates it is not possible to provide fees less collage to everyone.
Please check my writing task 2
New technologies have changed the way children spend their free time. Do you think the advantages of this trend outweigh the disadvantages?
It is commonly found that, latest technology development has paved a great shift in the way how children spend their leisure time. This essay will demonstrate with relevant support that the drawbacks of this trend out shadow the benefits.
PLEASE CHECK MY INTRODUCTION
Many an individual is ambivalent about whether the digital mode of reading holds more precedence over the conventional way of acquiring knowledge. This essay will demonstrate with relevant support that the benefits of electronic books definitely out shadow the associated drawbacks since there is a wide variety of knowledge available readily online than in printed books.
To initiate the benefits of using the digital mode of learning for most individuals, in the current era of modernization. firstly, it is irrefutable that most modern people are becoming conscientious about the perseverance of the environment. Since paper books involve chopping down trees, thus, fewer people prefer taking knowledge from them and choosing electronic types of equipment. Take Kindle, for example, which is widely used by young readers to acquire knowledge. This volume has resulted in lowering the use of wood to make papers in many developed nations.
Another benefit that makes people prefer more of reading more digitally is the cost and maintenance involved. For some, paper books may be good for concentration, it cannot be denied that the same can be there while reading from a device where information is extended along with audio and visuals at a less cost. For example, most of the reading material online does have free referral links to certain video clips which broaden the horizons of knowledge for creative learners. Moreover, electronic media does not require costly maintenance charges to keep them in good condition for long since the downloaded books can be accessed and stored digitally anywhere.
To conclude, it is evident from the aforementioned information that there are compelling reasons for many echelons to reap benefits from reading electronic books, ranging from saving the environment to being cost-effective. It appears that paying an extra amount to own electronic reading devices would surely benefit the readers in the long run.
I think you were supposed to have a body paragraph for the opposing side
In this present world, technology has made our lives faster and easier. Due to improvements in technologies, nowdays a number of people prefer to read books on their mobile phones and laptops rather than choosing physical books. I personally in favour of e-books and Strongly believe that its benefits overpower the drawbacks and in my next few paragraphs, i will discuss about this view.
To Start with, the main advantage of using e books is that we can carry any kind of book conveniently in our smart phones and tablets. In order to read articles or magazines, we do not have to purchase it physically if we may use e-books. For instance, ‘kindle’ a platform provided by Amazon company is famous for its ebook collections. It provides various kind of books with amazing features which can enhance the reading experience. It gives opportunity to Store more than thousand books without lack of any storage and it is not possible for us to store these numbers of book at home.
In addition, there are few more advantages of electronic media. Firstly, we can access it at any time without depending on its availability in shops. Secondly, many applications provide amazing features which can help reader to enjoy the process of reading.And last but not least, we can get a chance to read books without any cost. Various website provide access to free e-books which are not possible to read in shops.
On the other hand, there are few downgrades of e-books. First of all, it will cause serious eyes damages if we use them in long run Constantly without taking breaks. Moreover, Hardware is the most common problem, because of small screens of mobiles, reader has to concentrate more and this will Sometimes result in headache. Further more due to many unethical behaviours it will lead to problems such as piracy of content, which is not good for anyone who is related to making process of book.
In Conclusion, i personally think that it will alway depend on us that how we use the things for our self. If we use the e-books in appropriate manner then its merits are very much as compared to demerits.
Hello teacher Liz, thanks for these excellent materials
Is it ok to write the weaker paragraph, shorter that another one in this type of essay, and spend most of our time writing about what outweigh the other side?
Your main points are supposed to be equally developed. This means body paragraphs are of equal length.
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏💐
If I am asked that “Do the benefits of this situation outweigh the demerits?”, should I mention my opinion?
But if I am asked, “Do you think the benefits of this situation outweigh the demerits?”, I have to mention my opinion such as I think the benefits of this situation outweigh the demerits.
I will wait for your precious feedback.
With regards,
Shahparan Islam
If you are asked – Is pizza healthy or unhealthy? Or do the benefits of eating fast food outweigh the health concerns? Are these questions asking your opinion? Yes, they are. When you are asked to choose or are asked to present your position – these are questions that require a clear opinion.
Hi Liz!
Im taking this saturday my third IELTS academic test (still dont improve writting above 6). And I have found your page very useful!
I have a question: For the type of advantages and disadvantages and outweigh… is it good to end the introduction with something like “…this has brought many benefits but has also created a number of problems” or should I really need to state my opinion on deciding wether there are more advantages than disadvantages? And should I tell which ones in the introduction?
Thank you so much for your response!
I suggest you learn how to write such an essay completely rather than a typed tip. This is about knowing precisely how to write each paragraph. Go to my store, get a lesson and if it’s useful, get more: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/
At present, the number of people is getting more use to reading e-books than paper based books. The e-books have more advantages than paper-based books and one of the main advantage is that we can have any book from all over the world which is just one click away, and it can be done with the help of internet.
As said earlier, electronic book has its own advantages since we need to go physically to buy it or purchase it online and this process takes time and money, while for e-book we can save our time and money because free e-books are also available online, these reduces the efforts involved physically. The mobile phones have the ability to save the e-book and after downloading it from the internet it can be read offline also in train, buses and anywhere you want. These mobile phones are pocket friendly so for instance when your travelling and your bored so you have to go online, download the novel e-book or any book of your choice and enjoy reading it.
In-case of paper based books, it won’t affect your eyes health because in e-book you will be constantly staring at the screen of mobile phone or laptop or computer so this can affect your eyes as you read for long hours. This can be avoided by limiting permissible amount of time to read the e-book. However, the traditional books will a physical space while e-book don’t need it but still many people of older age will prefer the real books over the digital books.
In my opinion, e-books has outweigh advantage when compared to real books as the efforts involved to get an e-book is less and also you can have books from globally. Nevertheless, elderly people will choose paper books because it feels more appealing to them.
Today people spend most of their time working which results in the shortened time for pastime activities. In my opinion, this has more disadvantages than benefits because some people who work long hours can suddenly die from work-related health problems while others can feel guilty for neglecting their family.
One of the main advantages of working long hours is a career-related success. Many career-minded people seek promotion and for which, they need to show that they are working very hard by sacrificing their time for hobbies and other activities. This, indeed, could be effective if a person wants to climb a career ladder and reach his or her professional goal.
It is common that professionals who stay very late at work can suddenly die from a serious work-related illness. One evident example is that in Japan, men work 16 hours a day in the office and according to one study, many Japanese men die from a heart attack before they retire. Moreover, if a person holds a managerial job which means he was stressed most of his time at work, then it is most likely that he won’t reach his 50s and die as a result of a heart-related illness.
Working long hours imply that there will be little time left for family. This can be saddening for workers who miss the most precious time of their growing child. As an illustration, in the US only, many working mothers feel very guilty when leaving their child at daycare from the age zero. Furthermore, these mothers are expected to work as much as regular people who don’t have children.
In conclusion, there are a number of advantages and disadvantages to spending a lot of time at work, however, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages because working long hours can be fatal for some, as well as can be a source of guilt for others who would prefer to spend more time with family.
Nowadays, modern technologies by meaning of gadgets make our life more comfortable. E-book is one of them. I support the point of view when benefits outweigh downsides.
There is number of advantages of using e-book. For example, it is quite light thus there is no necessity to take a heavy book everywhere. Especially it is convenient when you are going to a holiday or a business trip.
Second profit is e-books are cheaper than paper books. For instance, usually e-books are half or even more cheaper than traditional books. There is no need to buy many real books when it is easy to download e-books thus it is cost-effective and do not take a place for shore them afterwards.
Last but not least important plus of e-books is a safety for eye-sight. Specific e-ink do not disturb eyes and do not allow them to get tired as fast as printed books. Additionally, it is simple to regulate a level of light for enjoyable reading.
Meanwhile there are also some drawbacks. Plenty of people can not read e-books because they do not feel the real book so this fact hinders them to percept the book and its content from an aesthetic point of view.
What is more some people believe that e-books effect on a well-memorizing that’s why the prefer reading traditional books.
To conclude, the role of electronic devices will be growing and they provide more freedom. Clearly advantages of e-books outweigh disadvantages. Nevertheless, a plenty of people still choose paper books.
The pros and cons of information technology is a hot topic in every discussion nowadays. With the day to day advancement in the field, people are now able to work and get settled in any place they wish to. Another key factor which supports this development is the improvement of transportation facilities across the globe. This is in fact a positive trend.
To begin with, there are plenty of facilities and online platforms which are designed solely to connect people worldwide. This improved communication systems will nullify the feeling of homesickness and missing loved ones to a lot extent. To name a few, whatsapp, duo etc provides videoconferencing facilities for unlimited time.
Similarly, even if there is an emergency of some sort, there are plenty of transportation facilities that can be used. For instance, if a person has to travel overseas due to demise of a loved one, he or she can immediately book a flight without any further delay.
Besides, many previously unknown places can now be accessed via different transportation means. This has led to development of all faces in those places which resulted in more people choosing to migrate to those countries. As an impact of the development of the Arabian countries, people during 1960’s fled the place in search of jobs and many of them choose to settle there.
To conclude, the improvement in communication and transportation facilities is giving people freedom to choose any place to live and work. The advantages of this development therefore definitely outweigh the disadvantages.
E-books are slowly becoming popular among the younger generation day-by-day as compared to the option of paper books. In my opinion, the benefits of using e-books definitely outweighs the drawbacks of using a physical book.
There are a lot of advantages to using an e-book instead of a paper book, for example, e-books are easier to store as they don’t need any physical space and thus, they have a longer shelf life as compared to paper books. Being in digital format, e-books can be easily carried on any electronic device and can also be accessed conveniently from internet. This also includes sharing it with your loved ones.
There is one more particular benefit, which a paper book can never have and that is features like adjusting the font and brightness of an e-book according to readers comfort or quickly looking for the meaning of any word from dictionary just by tapping on it. Last, but not least, using e-books saves a lot of trees by reducing the demand for paper, thereby contributing to a healthier environment.
Despite of having so many benefits over a physical copy, e-books are not for everyone. For older generations, physical books will always be a preference. To some, the look and feel of a physical book is more appealing than an e-book. Some people also have a hobby of collecting books as a memory. Additionally, physical books can be personalized by making hand-made markings on them or signing them for fans.
As evident from above, clearly the benefits of digital books outweigh the disadvantages of using paper books. Nevertheless, paper books will always be prevalent in future for a particular set of people based on their preference.
It is true that people in the recent times prefer to read books on electronic gadgets such as laptops and mobiles instead of paper books. Although I accept there are some drawbacks of this trend, I believe that there are far more benefits.
In my view, reading of e-books has some negative impacts on individuals’ health. Firstly, continuous studying of books from electronic equipments has bad impacts on reader’s eyes. Rays emitted from screens make the eye sight weak, and as a result, people need to use spectacles while learning. For instance, medical survey conducted by Indian health department reveals that most cases of low vision in the people are due to long time reading of electronic books. Secondly, digital books distract readers while learning as there are a variety of commercials reflect on the screen which not only divert learner ‘mind but also waste their quality time.
However, I would argue that negative impacts are outweighed by positive effects. Reading e-books are cost effective as compared to paper books. One can download a range of digital books from internet, and read them. To illustrate, electronic books are available on different websites, there are various digital books available on one subject written by different authors, which sometimes are very expensive in form of paper books. Moreover, individuals can use digital books on mobiles which made them handy,and they can utilize their free time to go through their favorite subjects and novels at any time.
In conclusion, it seems to me that positives of reading e-book are far more significant than the negatives
A government’s role is only to provide defense capability and urban infrastructures, such as roads, water, and power. All other services, such as education, health, and social security, should be provided by private groups or individuals in the community. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
It is true that protecting national security and maintaining the inviolate territory from other countries as well as furnishing the essential facilities including water and energy are an authority’s responsibility. I, however, completely agree with those who believe that the government should also supply the fields, namely curriculum, the healthcare, and the community welfare system, instead of organizations, individuals in the society.
To begin with, obviously, a state’s role is the macroscopic management, including enacting feasible policies and investing the national budget in the areas that initially serve benefits of the public. The education system that plays an important role in paving the way for the development of a country, would reap certain benefits of such policies, especially the government assists to build new schools and pays the wage for teachers, and forecast the manpower demand of the community. Some studies showed that associations tend to allocate their capital for the services such as vocational schools and language centers rather than for the science-related occupations because of the shorter payback on their investment and the lower the risks. Therefore, letting these companies provide the curriculum, is likely to create more disadvantages than the advantages.
In addition, perhaps, it seems to me that the idea, allowing individuals and personal organizations supply the health and social security area may be impossible for this service requires the great fund with a long-term period and the huge human resources.
Besides, the unequal competitive and exclusiveness also might stem from companies owning the health care and welfare field. In recent researches indicated that the expense of basic medical examination, the expenditure for insurance packages, and the price of medicine in some developed countries in which there are a variety of hospitals operated by private associations are higher than those in developing nations. Consequently, a number of poor cannot afford to pay the medical consultation and treatment expenses, which means the distance among strata in the society could be widened, the community, thus, would fail to thrive.
In conclusion, the concept that organizations and individuals furnishing the social services, education area, and the health-related and welfare filed in particular, is taken into consideration. However, I concur that the government should shoulder this mission.
Try to aim for 300 words or under rather than over 360 words. You won’t get a higher score because your essay is longer. In fact, you open yourself up to more errors and more possibility of a less focused essay. Also ensure that body paragraphs are equally developed.
is the ” do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages” the same as ” discuss the advantages and the disadvantages” ? and thankyou in advance
The discuss instructions ask you to present both. The “outweigh” instructions are asking you to evaluate – too choose. The latter requires an opinion, the former does not.
In last few years, many people have started preferring e-books over paper books. In my opinion, I think there are more advantages of choosing e-books compared to any drawbacks it may cause.
Admittedly, there are some minor disadvantages of using e-books. Firstly, reading books on electronic devices for long hours may affect eyes and as a result, it may cause fatigue or lead to weak eye sights. Normally, people like to complete their books as soon as they start reading them, and focusing on a screen for an extended period of time can put a strain on their eyes. For example, one recent research has found that two in ten people who regularly read on mobile devices wear eyeglasses. Secondly, since mobile phones and tablets have limited battery capacity, they can only be used for a certain number of hours, and as soon as the battery runs out, they need to be recharged in order to be used again. This can be frustrating for those who read books on portable devices while travelling if there is no charging facility nearby.
Nevertheless, despite the disadvantages above, I think people can benefit more from choosing e-books to read. One of the major advantages of using electronic books is the instant access to an online library that contains millions of books, which can be downloaded to electronic devices such as mobile phones in a matter of few minutes. As many people in today’s societies lead a busy life, they hardly get time for themselves, and going to a store to buy books can be time consuming and inefficient, given their busy schedules. Therefore, the majority of them find downloading e-books from the internet convenient. Another benefit of choosing e-books over paper ones is that they do not cover extra space or add additional weight especially when travelling. Generally, a plethora of adults like to read three to four books during travelling long distances and carrying several books around can be tiring and difficult to manage. In contrast, having multiple books in a single portable device will not only save space but it will considerably be easy to manage.
In conclusion, time savings in buying e-books online and convenience while travelling far outweighs any of the drawbacks that may result from using digital books.
Really great essay. I like it. Great.
I found new ideas for my essays. It is really useful. Thanks.
Learning a second language is becoming increasingly prevalent among schoolchildren. Some argue that this process should take place at primary school rather than secondary school. In my opinion, the benefits of introducing language lessons at primary education institutions far outweigh the drawbacks.
It is admittedly true that schoolchildren already have many subjects that need to study when starting their education at school. This is because there are some more important classes, which broaden children’s horizon and help with their development. For example, learning mathematics at an early age may help students with their intellectual growth and improve their problem-solving skills. If a language class was incorporated into the curriculum, pupils might not be able to spend enough time learning essential subjects. As this example shows, adding extra lessons at primary school might be undesirable for a child’s development and growth.
However, I believe that there are many advantages of learning a foreign language at an early age. The reason is that children often possess incredible linguistic and learning skills. In addition, children are proven to have better memory than adults by numerous studies. To illustrate this, unlike many educational institutions, a Danish primary school introduced English lessons for its students. Because they possessed the ability to speak English and have a higher proficiency of the language, pupils that graduated from this school were more likely to secure a job offer in the future than those from other educational institutions. Thus, learning a second language should not be postponed until secondary education because the knowledge of a foreign language can improve a child’s future career prospects significantly.
In conclusion, it is certainly true that adding extra lessons, such as language classes, can take away time that could be spend on other essential subjects. However, in my opinion, the advantages of learning a foreign language far outweigh the disadvantages. This is because studying a second language as early as possible can increase the chance of employment in the future.
wow perfect essay! i bet you scored 9
Over the past few years, more people prefer to read e-books over paper books. In my opinion, this scenario has more demerits than advantages. Excessive indulgence in reading e-books can have detrimental effect on health, and it also reduces Social interaction.
Spending multiple hours reading e-books over electronic devices such as Computers, Mobile phone or Tablets can cause adverse effect on health. The radiation emitted from these devices puts our eyes at immense stress, and it could damage or weaken our vision. Futhermore, incorrect reading posture may create tension at shoulder muscles causing headaches and neck pains. For instance, many individuals spend most of their time over computers either for their work reading emails or e-documents, online materials suffer from above mentioned issues at very early age. Secondly, excessive reading of e-books causes individuals to develop addiction to electronic gadgets and in-turn they tend to aloof themselves from others. Since they spend considerable amount of time over their devices, they develop a feeling of insecurity. Finally, ebooks are difficult to read and comprehend compared to hardcopy. With e-books, we cannot highlight or make notes of any important sections.
Of course, people who choose to read e-book save time in purchasing the book. E-books are cheap and easily available compared to paper books. Most of the e-books can be readily purchased from publisher’s website or any online bookstores. We can have access to e-copy within few minutes of our online purchase. To add, e-books are also cheap since there are no printing and distribution cost. To illustrate, my uncle gifted me a hard copy of famous book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” that costed $24.99. The online version of same book costs $8.99. However, cost and time to acquire the book is not the deciding factors. People who chose paper books have more ease to read them without affecting their health and social relations.
To conclude, there are many negative impacts on people’s health and life, who prefer to read more e-books. We should include more paper books in our reading habits to help mitigate the side-effects.
A growing number of humans have been preferring to read e-books instead of paper books for the past few years. While reading books online have many advantages, it will have some drawbacks as well.
One evident benefit that online books offer is that it saves a lot of time and effort. This means that going into a bookshop and search for the books is always time consuming and doesn’t guarantee the book’s availability. For example, a close relative of mine is a university research student and has completed his past assignments with the help of online books, blogs, and forums. Besides, another plus point is that a substantial amount of space can be saved by storing the books electronically in laptops and in mobile devices Of course, the shelves occupies a lot of space and maintaining the book shelf is also difficult. It is also flexible to carry a mobile to a remote location rather than carrying a paper book.
On the other hand, reading online books can cause health issues. By continuously reading a lengthy book online, the rays emitting from the mobile or laptop can cause harm to human eye. In addition, laptops and mobiles requires continuous charging. Reading rhythm is broken if a mobile device is discharged. Online books has caused a profound impact on the libraries. Aptitude towards libraries has almost come to an end and a majority of people prefer to search their required material on the internet. However, we cannot rule out this fact that we may still find some older people around us who loves to sit in the libraries and read newspapers.
In conclusion, as the Social Media has emerged as a strong alternative to Paper Media within the past decade and it is making its root stronger every day, it is most likely that future will become paper less and Online Culture will predominate.
Brother its a well written essay with a good combination of vocabulary and grammar. I got very useful ideas from it but problem is in conclusion you have not mentioned yours point of view regarding advantages or disadvantages. You have just enclosed it by telling future of the world . I thing it would be better if you add your suggestion also with it.
‘A growing number of humans’ well, it doesn’t seem right to start that in the essay.(in my opinion) However,your essay is great.
Hi Liz! I am confused about the grammer rule of this sentence. Could you please correct me if I am wrong? For instance: ‘’A wide range of people say that…’’ if I use ‘a wide range of ‘ structure, do I need to use verb+s or the just the verb is okay?
I mean which one is correct?
-A wide range of people say that..
-A wide range of people sayS that..
thank you so much!
When you use such a quantifier after a plural noun, the verb will be third person plural – a large number of people say … – a great number of people say …. – a wide range of people say …
Hi liz,
when we face this type of advantage/disadvantage task (do the advantages outweigh the dis advantages?) could we bring two reasons for opposite stance in main paragraph 1 and two reasons for our stance in main paragraph 2 and mention that the advantages/disadvantages behind our stance are more important or vital so they outweigh the opposite side?
In other words, is it wrong to mention same number of advantages/disadvantages for our stance and the opposite stance in this type of question?
Thanks in advance,
Saman
It’s completely fine to do that.
Hy Liz
Please write a model essay on this type too
It will be helpful
Thanks in Advance❤
Hi liz, this is Smruthi from kochi, India. Am giving test on 26th this month.
These days, increasingly people prefer to use electronic books instead of printed books, for reading. In my opinion, this tendency has more advantages when compared to the disadvantages.
Decline of the print media, is a serious disadvantage related to the reduced usage of paper books. Hence, this would result in the closure of libraries, which has been one the most significant part of human life during many phases. Libraries, contain precious and valuable records of numerous domains such as, historical, cultural, religious, scientific, literary, mathematical and so on, which would be lost if not used and managed properly.
However, there are several advantages for the growing trend of reading and studying through e-books rather than the paper books. Firstly, it is the most convenient method of reading as electronic books are easy to carry while travelling and do not have much weight which are some of the highlights of this advanced technology.
Secondly, easy access to any topics under the earth at any time with the help of internet and the inexpensive purchase of any books online, are some other advantages of great paramount. Any books to be read can be downloaded within seconds and also be shared among friends, which is a great positivity about the new trend among people. Apart from that, it is not required to carry heavy books like the earlier days, specially which is an inconvenience while travelling, and whole content of a book may be viewed in a small device such as, the mobile or the tablet.
In conclusion, it is the advantages that outweigh the disadvantages when the growing trend of reading e-books, instead of printed books, is taken into consideration. In my opinion, eventhough reduced access to libraries might lead to decline of the print media, but the advanced technology is highly advantegous that it has become the current trend among many.
Words 297
Please somebody comment on this.. Liz, cud u pls advice how much i wud get for this writing
Sorry I do not comment on writing and I don’t offer a marking service.
This is awesome , very useful thanks
Hi Liz,
Thank you for supporting us with IELT. I purchased your advanced lessons. they are of great benefit for me. they open my eyes on very critical points. I have one question so far and hope you find the time and patience to answer it.
Regarding the adv outweigh disadvantages alternative model.
your sample mentions in the first paragraph ‘despite the drawbacks below I believe the benefits from children doing work experience are extremely useful for their future.
in the second paragraph, you write about the few drawbacks that might appear.
However, my question is, when we agree the adv outweigh the disadvantages can we organise our essay as follows, ???
Introduction with a clear opinion that adv outweigh the disadvantages
Body paragraph one discuss some drawbacks that might appear, ‘ Admittedly, there are some drawbacks’
Body paragraph two, with the advantages ‘ despite the drawbacks above I believe the benefits are extremely useful’
Conclusion.
As if we reverse the two paragraphs.
Thank you very much for your extreme efforts in helping us. I did the test many times in the past my last attempt was L7 R8 S8 W6 still trying to improve my writing and looking forward to hearing your valuable advice.
Thanks,
It’s up to you how you organise your essay. Just make sure it’s logical and not confusing. For example, stick to the order you present in your introduction. Think about what the reader is expecting. However, having clear signposts such as those you suggest is a great way to make things really clear – it all helps towards your score for Coherence & Cohesion.
Hi liz, i just took my ielts today. My question is outweigh.
I have a question, i stated in my intro that the benefits does not outweigh the drawbacks. However, in the conclusion, i wasnt able to restate it, but i explained 1 benefit and 2 disadvantages on my conclusion making it clear that i am more on the disadvantage side but i did not literally restate outweigh. Would that be okay?
You don’t need to use the word “outweigh”. No essay requires any particular word. If you showed which side you leaned towards that is enough.
Thank you so much Liz. I hope i get at least a 6.5.
Hi ms liz, im cycy from the philippines and i would like to ask a favor if you could check my task 2 essay if it is enough to get a good score. Thank you so much and God bless.
Books are considered as one of our sources of information. Recently, most individuals prefer to acquire information through the use of e-books rather than paperbound.
There are broad of array of reasons why the use of internet-based books becomes more trendy than traditional ones. One of them is accessibility. Thanks to the internet, we can easily obtain all the books that we need without having a single sweat. E-books has become much available that it can easily bring forth all the latest editions from news to educational books in an upmost comfort. With this growing trend, people can do more things without the need to visit any libraries. People can now have more available time to do other things and it comes in handy especially to those men and women who have limited time because of work. It also opens great opportunity to writers both professionals and aspiring authors who publish and share their works so that other people would enjoy reading and also to gain avid readers and followers around the globe.
The drawbacks of using this growing trend is that people become too lazy since searching for wanted books is as easy as preparing a cup of tea. Moreover, there are malicious individuals whos main reason of using e-books is to steal especially to unprotected internet site by means of illegal hacking and frauds. Plagiarism is also one of the major concerns of our recent authors that are quite hard to irradicate due to easy access of these available books in the internet world.
Despite of the these disadvantages, there are still more people, both readers and writers prefer of using internet based books. Nowadays, work and personal demands has given us time almost nothing to spare and so, using e-books gives more advantages. Furthermore, there are internet sites that protects the rights of authors and purchasers from the dangers of internet frauds ang crackers.
In conclusion, people become more practical and much wiser of using internet based books. And so, the advantages of using this trend outweighs the disadvatages.
Er.. i see some typo errors.. sorry about that in advance..
And grammar.. ugh! Frustrating..
Hi Liz,
I’m from India. I want to purchase your Advanced Learning Videos but the payment Amount is in Dollars. I need to know, if i can subscribe to your paid lectures?
Paypal will change the currency when you choose the country.
Hello liz,
How tougy will i be marked if an essay questions says go you agree with adv being more than dis adv and i answered with an dis adv out weigh dis adv rather than an opinion essay structure?
I do not understand your question. This is not an opinion essay. It is an adv outweigh disadv essay which requires you to give your opinion. I teach each essay type separately because they are not completely the same.
I hope you can comment on this different essay
Essay Question:
More People decided to have children in their later age than in the past. Why?
Do advantages this outweigh disadvantages?
Essay:
Nowadays, newly married couples prefer to have children after many years of their marriage which is completely different than people in the past. Moreover, parents in the past prefer to have many children compared to recent ones. So, I will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of having babies in later age and, Do parents aware that disadvantages is more than benefits.
Recently, People think that having children in later age will give parents high advantages for many reasons. Firstly, people in late thirtieth have more life experience than of younger age. So, they can give this life knowledge to their toddlers. Secondly, It thought that children of of older parents always have higher economical life than of younger ones, as a result these children can start their life with less problems.
Beside the benefits, there are drawbacks affect the relation between parent and children because of the age difference. Today, life style changes very fast compared to past which lead to difference in mentality. Although, older people can give larger experience to their children, they see life in older fashion not like their children which in turn can’t handle every problem faces his child. As well as, older parents are less energetic than younger ones, children need highly active parent to can play and tech them sports they are like.
In conclusion, Having children in later age can positively affect the children and increase their life patterns and negatively affect them by different way of thinking. So, having children in earlier age is much more better than older age for both children and parents.
*writing a title for the essay & subtitle for body paragraphs *
Is it essential?
As you can see, I have not done that with any of my model essays. If it was necessary, I would have done it.
Hi Liz!
Thanks for all the excellent webpage!
I have a question too. The essay question is the following: Both governments and individuals are spending vast amounts of money on protecting animals and their habitat. This money could be better spent dealing with fundamental issues in society as poverty and health care. To what extent do you agree?
I prefer to write one-sided essay as it is easier to my mind. But the question is: is it ok to write 2 body paragraphs of reasons why animals and their habitats should be protected and not mention the poverty and health care part at all or is it a mistake and I should add a 3rd paragraph which discusses why additional money should not be diverted to poverty and health care?
Thanks for you answer
Anne-Liis
You can’t ignore part of the essay question. This is a two issue question. Your opinion must relate to both issues. If you believe that money should be spent on animals and their habitat, you also do not believe this money should be re-directed to health care and poverty. That is your full opinion and it is one sided.
hi liz ,
Mam, I do have the same doubt, as you say that we need to accept a view and reject another view, so let’s take the above example. so mb1 will be the reason why it should be spent on protecting animals, so will our mb2 be about that I do not believe this money should be redirected to health care [won’t it be a discussion essay ] .
can you please kindly elaborate with the above example.
A discussion essay would ask you to discuss both sides without bias: why people agree with protecting animals and why people agree with funding health care. Two sides, both explained why people support them. You are not supporting both sides. You are saying I agree with A and I don’t agree with B. It is your opinion. One you have a positive opinion for and the other you hold a negative opinion. If you are unable to see the difference, there is nothing more I can do to help you.
if i was not able to understand the question correctly,what they are expecting then at that time what could i do ???
how can i write that task??
i am not that much good in english so according to my english how can i get good band in writing ???any tips???
IELTS is an English language test. You get a good score if your English is a good level. Addressing the task in writing task 2 is only 25% of your marks. The rest is about paragraphing, linking, vocab and grammar.
Hi Liz
I have a confusion in giving solutions to cause solution essays.. shall i write “these steps should be taken” or “we should take these steps” im actually confused in using “we” “us” “our” or shall i give solution generally?
Please help i have exam tomorrow
Some teachers say not to use “we” or “us”, others say it’s ok. I choose the middle ground – use other phrases:
One possible step towards solving this is ….
The best solution is …
One effective answer is to …
Hii Liz! I have a doubt. May I use “a good garden may have some weeds” when starting paragraph related to disadvantages.
Do not use idioms – they are informal and the essay must be formal. See this page for all tips: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/
Few experts believe that it is better for to learn a foreign language at primary schooling rather than high school
Do advantages outweigh disadvantages
My answer to to this question has
2 advantages and 1 strong disadvantages
Which side should be my opinion?
Advantages are
1. Easy for child to learn a language at early age and makes him easier to learn communication skills
2. As learning non native language makes individual to use more brain leading to improving his problem solving skills
Demerits are
Foreign language often harm mother tongue of individual when he learn this nonnative language at early age
As child tend to mix and add loan words of other language into his native language when he speaks his mother tongue
The aim of this essay is to present your opinion. You MUST decide if the advantages are more important than the disadvantages or vice versa.
I am disappointed that you didn’t give me a feedback, although you already gave feedback for others who submitted after me.
But thanks God, I have passed the exam with the score I want
Thanks anyway!
Unfortunately, I can’t answer everyone due to the hundreds and thousands of students who contact me. Well done with your results 🙂
Hi,
I am Belinda from Ghana. I have my ielts exams next month(7th April). I’d appreciate it if i can get feedback on my essay below on the above topic.
These days, a lot more people are are often using e-books rather than the traditional textbooks. This essay will outline why the use of internet based books is more beneficial compared to paper books.
Over the years, paper books such as textbooks, journals, etc have been the source of information. Long hours are spent in libraries searching for books to complete assignments or to get term papers done. This can be very tedious and tiring. There are instances when there are limited numbers of a particular book. Hence, usage depends largely on its availability. This can cause delays and sometimes frustrations if deadlines are to to met. Another aspect of paper books is that, some of them tend to be big and very heavy. Thus, there is no ease of carrying them around.
On the other hand,the internet has made e-books easily accessible. Internet based books can be safely downloaded anytime, anywhere by so many people at the same time without having to worry about library closing times or when the last user is returning the book. This can either be free or at a fee. Portable technological devices like laptops, tablets or mobile phones can be used to accommodate e-books conveniently. E-book users have the additional benefit of easily carrying it around. Again, e-books can be kept for as long as the user wants and sharing of information from internet based books is easily done. For instance, if there is a group assignment to be done, an e-book version of a textbook can be downloaded and circulated among members without physically meeting each other.
In conclusion, i would like to say the benefits of e-books outweighs that of paper books. This is because e-books are readily available, easily accessible and convenient to carry about.
Nowadays, larger number of people are preferring e-books instead of paper books. In my opinion, I agree because our preferences change with time, and technology is everywhere now.
Due to the cheap prices of e-books, they might be absolutely the best choice for readers. Additionally, it is simply few clicks in no time and you can find the book you want from internet. Furthermore, keeping environment safe and clean require us to eliminate our usage of plastic covers, packaging, and non-recycled materials. Navigation, zooming, adding bookmarks, and highlighting favorite words, are so easy in electronic books.
On the other hand, no one can deny how physical books are comfortable for eyes. for some people searching for books in libraries and bookstores, are fun. some books are treasure and worth thousands of dollars if founded. many readers love the touch, smell of old paper books, they even remember some events in their lives when reading their private books.
Moreover, e-books may cause eye illness, especially when reading from tablets or mobiles with high brightness and with lights off. the darkness outside the screen causes eye to make extra efforts in order to see words. Additionally, non-licensed e-books are illegal and waste authors copyrights
To sum up, reading paper books will never be obsolete but e-books readers will continue growing. As we are technology addicts, we will always look for less efforts and free ways to get the books we need.
Good
Thanks
Hi Liz, may i ask, if my answer is the advantages outweigh the disadvantage, which side should i write first on the body paragraph? The side that i didn’t choose (disadvantages) or the side that i chose (advantages)?
Kindly reply. Thanks and have a great day!
Follow the same order you presented in your introduction. The examiner is checking your logical order of information. Keep topics sentences written clearly so the reader knows which paragraph is which.
Hi Liz,
Please solve my confusion, the topic asked “are there more advantages than disadvantages of living in a house compared with living in an apartment?”
What should be my strategy?
adv of living in a house – BP1
disadv of living in a house – BP2
Please suggest .
This is not asking you to discuss. It is asking for your opinion. Are there more advs and less disadv or are there more disadv and less advs.
Hi Liz,
Thanks for all your tips and advices . I’d like to ask you if it’s alright to list just ONE disadvantage, eventhough the question clearly states disadvantageS (ie plural form).
To illutrate :
(in this case I’d like to say that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, therefore I’m implying that by putting TWO Advantages and only ONE Disadvantage):
Intro
BP 1- Advantage 1 + Explanation
BP 2- Advantage 2 + Explanation
BP 3- Disadvantage + Explanation
Conclusion
Would it be okay? Thank you in advance Liz 🙂
Sure it’s fine.
Thank you :))
Hi Liz, in your course you suggested three body paragraphs Incase there are one adv and two disadvantages. What if I write the one long advantage in one paragraph and combine two short disadvantages into one paragraph. Is it ok? Thank you!
There is no right or wrong. As long as your paragraphs are logical, it’s fine. But it does mean that one idea will be very developed and two will not be equally developed. Each idea should be equally developed in writing task 2.
Thank you Liz and happy new year!
Happy 2018 🙂
I am struggling with this question and tmr is the due date pls help me
I suggest you get my advanced lesson which explains this type of essay in depth: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/
Thank You Very Much Mrs.Liz
Can someone please comment on my essay. I be really greatful as I’m aiming for band 7.
Recently, majority of individuals are preferring to read books online rather than custom hand books. In my opinion, there are several advantage to reading books online as they are easily available as well as one can always look for the latest versions easily.
There are few disadvantages to reading e-books instead of paper books. Firstly, many readers find it difficult to read for a long time on screen whereas, reading a book is more pleasurable experience as it is tangible and involves fligging through the pages which many readers find amusing. Moreover, they are portable and a person can easily carry them along anywhere.
On the other hand, more and more people are opting to read books online due the many advantagess that out weight the disadvantages. To begin with, e-books are easily available anytime no matter how long ago they were published. As a result of advancement in the modern technologies, a mere touch can open up thousands of varieties to choose from and therefore lessened human efforts in search for the particular book.
Furthermore, latest version of books can be viewed online easily anywhere in the world, unlike the paper books that require multiple months in publication and even more to get distributed. E- books don’t loose quality of the script over the period of time hence their material is everlasting.
In conclusion, majority of pepole are opting to read e-books instead of paper books due to several advantages that outweigh the disadvantages of reading online including easy accessibility of books online along with the availability of latest modified versions at doorstep.
Hi, I cannot find any major errors in your essay. However, you could improve on paraphrasing the statement “advantages that outweigh the disadvantages”. I think you could use, “there are more benefits than its drawbacks” or ‘there are more good things to consider than the negative ones it brings”. 🙂 Good luck on your exam
I really appreciate your correction and indeed I find it difficult to paraphrase…hope I would improve. Many thanks for your time:)
Hi Liz,
Would it be alright to add questions in your essay to prove your point? For example, with regards to nuclear technology maintaning world peace.
I would really like to argue “How long could it maintain world peace before it destroys the world?”
Thank you!
Your task is not to present questions but to present supporting arguments “It certainly would not be able to maintain world peace for long before it destroyed the world…”
Hey Liz,
What’s the difference between an outweigh type of essay and a disadvan/advan type of essay ?
Thanks in advance .
One requires an opinion and the other does not.
Hey LIZ I made a big mistake today. I forgot to put the disadvantages in the “do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?” Essay . I just kept discussing the advantages in the body paragraphs. How bad did I goof ?
It will affect your score for one of the four marking criteria which is called Task Response. TR counts for 25% of your writing task 2 marks. you’ll score lower in that area but you can hopefully pull your score up in the other criteria and in task 1. Fingers crossed 🙂
Thanks a lot Liz. I passed. You’re the best. Your website is awesome
Well done 🙂
Hi Kaine. How was your score in this particular writing test? Did you manage to get above 7? pls reply
Hey! Yes I passed. I got 7 on the dot. Was really lucky. Maybe my paper 1 made up. Thanks. Goodluck with yours
I did that today as well.. I wrote three paragraphs on advantages ☹️☹️ Did you manage to get a 7?
Hey Natasha. Yes I got a 7 on the dot. I’m sure you’lo be fine *fingers crossed* . Please let me know how it goes. Goodluck
I am very thankful to you. Your website is very helpful to me. Thank you so much.
Hi Liz,
Just a quick question, if I completely agree that the disadvantages outweighs the advantages, do I still need to write the advantages or I could stay on one idea, which all about disadvantages?
Thank you in advance!
You need to explain why one is more important than the other. This means you will refer to both.
Copy that, thanks again! 😀
Hi Liz,
Thanks for all your help. You have be amazing. I have my test tomorrow but i just came across this “outweigh” question.
Kindly clarify how i should go about it. After my Introduction, do i give advantages of e-copy, which i think is more advantageous, then proceed to give disadvantages of paper copies?
Help! I have a feeling it might just come up tomorrow.
Thanks in advance.
You express your opinion – which are more important? If you think the ads are more important than the disadvs, then you explain this in your essay.
Good Day!
Regarding the question: “Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages”
If, for example, my answer is that there are more advantages to this. Do I write the advantages in the body paragraph as an opinion format? Or do i just write my opinion statement on both the introduction and conclusion instead?
Your entire essay will show and explain why you think that the advantages are more important than the disadvantages.
Hi Liz,
First of all,thankyou for your feedback.I took IELTS today and I didn’t much practice of writing.I just went through your tips about writing.Thankyou for that.
My essay was “Some people believe that young students should be taught to put more effort and do better than others while some argue that everyone should work together for each other’s benefit”.
Do the disadvantages of competition among students outweigh the advantages of working together?.
I had no idea abot this type of question but I took it as opinon asking essay.
I wrote in my introduction” I completely concur that pros of working in group are more than cons of it” (A thesis statement).Not exactly but it was something like that.
Is it fine ?
Then in 1st body paragraph I wrote the advantages of working together and gave two reasons with an example.After this,I wrote second paragraph with disadvantages of competition and working alone to excel than others and in the end I gave conclusion.Is it okay?
I didn’t put the adv/disadv of both arguments but adv. of one and disadv. of other just to support my point of view in two separate paragraphs.
Please reply briefly this is my first comment here and I am bit worried regarding this.
I think you’ve done very well if you hadn’t prepared for this question. Yes, it is asking for your opinion. It sounds like you’ve handled it just fine. Now try to relax and wait for your results. Let me know what happens – I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you 🙂
For sure!
There is another thing with respect to reading and listening.I wrote some answers like: “The pronghorns”,”attitude” and in other “The Royal Antelope”.
Different answers with different capital letters.
Is it fine? Thankyou Mam,once again.
Capital letters are not marked so don’t worry for listening and reading.
Capital letters are not marked so don’t worry for listening and reading.
Hi Liz, quick question!
If the question asks: “adv outweigh the disadv.”. Should I start the first BP with advantages (following the same order as it is in the statement) or should I always start with the opposite side of my opinion (regardless of the statement order)?
Yes, keep the same order. It’s easier for the reader.
Hi Liz! I’ll be taking my academic next week and this was a practice I did timing 40min for task2. I’d love to hear your opinion on weather I explored the disadvantages enough and how I did overall! [* I kept the typos for a real assessment ]
“Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary school rather than secondary school. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?”
Essay: It is expected in these days that by the end of secondary education years, students are familiar, wife not fluent, in another language. It is believed by many specialists in education that having an early start in learning can have a more positive outcome. By my own experience, I believe that being exposed to a second language from early childhood is essential.
By starting e second language at first grade, children will get used, since day one, to having the subject and will know that it is as important as all the other subjects. Also, many agree that the earlier a person is exposed to new languages the easier it is to comprehend and speak. A clear example of that is children with parentes that come from different countries, they grow up in a bilingual environment, so they learn effortlessly.
Nevertheless, these kids might not be interested in this language, which can be a challenge for teachers, who must create a inovative* and fun lessons. Another problem may be that parents also don’t have the knowledge to help with homework assingments*.
On the other hand, if we think about students only getting in touch with this language later in life, this may result in slower process of learning and the scenario of less time throughout the years in school to get at least aqquainted* with the basics of the language.
In conclusion, living in the 21st Century means having global connections. And the likelyhood* of using another language that is not your primary one is huge, especially for work and/or terciary* studies. Therefore, learning this skill as early as possible in school certainly has more benefits and facilitates ones possibilities.
Thanks in advance!
I generally don’t give free feedback on essays. However, I’ll make a couple of points:
1. “By my own experience” is not appropriate for an IELTS essay. It is informal. If you want to express your opinion, do it clearly – In my opinion.
2. “kids” is informal vocabulary and not appropriate for IELTS. See this page: https://ieltsliz.com/kids-or-children-teens-or-teenagers-which-is-best-to-use-in-ielts/
3. Your conclusion is about 50 words – much too long.
You’ve got the potential to do well if you learn the right techniques and understand more about what is required and what is acceptable for an IELTS essay.
Thank you very much for the response and observations! Trying reeeally hard to learn all I can until Saturday! Your videos and blog are helping imensily!!!
Good luck!!
Heyy lizz i want to ask u , you said previously that we shoud write in the body paragrapgh (1 para) explaining the oppsite side : actually am a little bit confused because it’s really like the advantages and disadvantages essay , can u tell me the diffrence between them so i can be aware while am writing.
The advantages and disadvantages does not require an opinion – you present both sides equally. The outweigh essay requires an opinion – which one is more important – you explain your view why A if more important than B
Hello Liz,
It seems that ”do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages” essay is exactly similar to the Advantage-Disadvantage essay seeking an opinion. Plz, guide me if I am wrong.
Thanks in advance 🙂
The instructions are asking for your opinion/ It is asking you to choose which is more important than the other.
Hello. Do we always have to put 2 main points for the opposite view and 3 on our side? Or is it fine to just give 1 for the former and 2 for the latter? Thank you so much,Liz.
Yes, it’s fine to do as you suggest.
Thank you for this free wonderful opportunity Liz.
Hi Liz; here’s my essay to the above question about e-books
There is an increasing number of people who prefer reading e-books over traditional paper copies. In my opinion, although there are some drawbacks to e-books, I believe that the advantages are far more significant than these disadvantages.
Some people consider e-books to lack the traditional essence of an actual paper book. Owning a book is different to having a digital copy as some say that it gives the book more value. For instance, a book can be kept for life and borrowed to friends whereas an e-book could be accidentally deleted in seconds. Others argue against e-books as it is thought that reading on a bright screen for long periods of time can have damaging effects on the eyes, however paper books do not cause problems in the same way.
In contrast e-books are believed to be far better than paper books according to some. They are easily accessible on many devices such as laptops, tablets and mobile phones which the majority of people own nowadays. In addition to this reference points within a particular book are found much more easily compared to flicking through pages of a paper copy which can be time-consuming and difficult. Furthermore, e-books saves people’s time by the lack of need to go to a library or book shop and can be accessed from home.
It is a lot cheaper to buy an e-book than a traditional book, especially compared to the hardback versions which can be very expensive. Money is saved once more as there are no travel costs to gain access to an e-book, but there is a paper book as mentioned before. As well as this, most e-books offer the first chapter for free to give the buyer a chance to see if the book is worth their money. On the other hand when buying traditional copies this option is not available and the reader must judge the book by it’s cover. Admittedly, there is a blurb on the back of paper books but this is not enough to see whether a book is worth the buy. Not to mention that the blurb is also available on all e-books too.
In conclusion, I think that in regards to e-books there are more significant and numerous advantages compared to the fewer disadvantages. E-books are more efficient for today’s busy lifestlyle and moreover encourages reading in this modern setting, which I believe to be very important.
Isn’t it longer than it is supposed to be ?
Great essay.. Well done
i think this is a great essay. 🙂
It sounds great.
People now have the freedom to work and live anywhere in the world due to the development of communication technology and transportation.
Do the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages?
The advancements in communication and modes of transport have resulted to more job opportunites abroad,which claimed by many to have more positive effects.However, others say that residing and working in other locations have only resulted in more negative effects.I believe that there are more benefits than drawbacks, if people start to accept work and live abroad.
On the one hand, one major drawback of having a job in another country, is being away from the family members. To illustrate this, in the Philippines, the father of the family is sometimes forced to work overseas in order to provide better for his growing family.Eventhough, there are modernized applications like Skype, which let him see his relatives in the Philippines more often, still there is no physical contact between them. As a result, once the father goes home to his family, his children are sometimes less affectionate and behave awkwardly when he is around.
On the other hand, one advantage why it is better to apply for an occupation abroad is for the reason that companies in other countries offer higher salaries. Let us take the nurses’ job as an example, in the Philippines, nurses working in non-government hospitals have a mere 200 USD wage per month, as compared to a 1200 USD monthly salary in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, more nurses take this opportunity to be employed in another country, to supply better for their family’s everyday needs.
Another compelling reason why people move to abroad for work is because it gives them the opportunity to experience another culture. For instance, when people from Asia go to the West or Middle East for work, then this enriches their lives as they get to learn another languages, customs, and traditions. Thus, raising their cultural awareness and becoming less judgemental.
In conclusion, although living and working abroad have some drawbacks, I believe that its advantages outweigh its disadvantages for the reasons that jobs overseas pay higher and enrich people’s lives.
Dear Liz, i have got serious misunderstanding about structure of opinion essays. For example topic : More and more students choose to go to another country for their higher education . do you think the benefits outweigh the problems associated with it.
So, at first i have to write introduction, then positive side and of cource negative one. After it comes to opinion right? what i have to write in opinion if i agree that advantages outnumber it’s disadvantages. So, please can you explain me the structure fully and more clearly about oinion part of this essay. Thanks in advance
It takes time to explain the structure fully. I can’t do it in a few sentences. I think about purchasing my advanced writing task 2 lesson which covers this type of essay: http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore
Dear Liz,
Can I use academic vocabolary for general essay task 2?
Yes, it’s fine.
Previous was wrong
Introduction^
Cutting-edge technologies have altered human’s activities entirely including reading book habit.Hence, it is common nowadays to see people reading books by means of electronical devices accordingly reading less by using tangible books. Nevertheless, I believe that popularising of e-books will have relatively more benefits than traditional paper books for several broad reasons.
I’m not quite certain about thesis. What do you think Liz?
Dear NICK,
You have put your idea/argument in the Intro para. Your opinion should go to the Body paras. Here, in intro para, you should not add or omit what is given by the IELTS test. You are required to paraphrase the statement first and then answer the question by reflecting on your opinions.
Hi Liz,
Just finished my official IELTS writing in the Philippines hours ago with a task 2 question:
People now buy more consumer goods because of cheaper price tags.
Do you think the advantages outweigh the Disadvantages?
My point of attack was I wrote the introduction with my opinion that it does outweigh the drawbacks
For body 1, I stated it enabled families to provide the needs of its members in terms of food and medicine + placed 1 disadvantage which was Quality which i pointed out as negligible.
For body 2 I wrote diversity of products to choose from. Brings in good competition for the manufacturers, further decreasing the prices, resulting to more work opportunities. + stated a negative which was biases by the masses for products leading to downfall of smaller companies.
Then i concluded with a brief summary of advantageous points as well as the negatives then reaffirmed that indeed the advantages are more important than the drawbacks
Was my attack acceptable? i just read from this article that i shouldve written both sides in two separate body paragraphs.
*people now live more and more in societies with plenty of cheap consumer goods
Do you think the advantage overweigh the disadvantages
whats your score for u approach?
Unfortunately i got a 6.5 for it. After reflecting i found out I need to have 2 body for adv and 1 for disad for it to answer the question more
exactly. Having your advantages in 1 paragraph and disadvantages in another paragraph make your the essay more orderly, thus, you will have a better score in your cohesion and coherence. 🙂
*make your essay more orderly 🙂
Dear Sir/Madam,
I would like to request you please could you post one more video for how to write body paragraph for writing task 2 ? is it not possible please tell me how i got your more video?
thank you. salim
See my advanced writing task 2 lessons for detailed training in IELTS essay writing for a high score: http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore
All the best
Liz
Hi liz.Am from KSA and I want to purchase your advanced writing lessons but I dont have a paypal account ,is it possible to purchase them using visa card?!
Sorry for the delay in replying. There are two payment options. The first option is through a paypal account. The second option is using your credit or debit card. You can see the two payment options on the payment page: http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore
All the best
Liz
People now use more and more internet to do tasks (eg. Shopping, paying bills, buy movie tickets) rather then in person.
Do the advantages outweigh disadvantages?
= i have written all the advantages y people prefer internet and includes 4 examples and some disadvantages in 2nd body paragraph.. Let me know the correct answer please. M very upset…. (correct if any mistake is in the topic line)
https://ieltsliz.com/liz-notice-2015-2016/
Hi, Liz. I’ll be waiting for your response when you come back. My doubt concerns eletronic media language. The word ‘app’ is very common in everyday conversation about technology. Should I use the word ‘application’ or ‘computer software’ if I ever need to use the word ‘app’, or can I use the abbreviated form (app) in my essay?
For example, in the sentence “Nowadays people are resorting to apps on their smart phones as a means of increasing access to daily services (…)” do you think the abbreviation rather than the word ‘applications’ would be inappropriate?
Thanks in advance. 🙂
https://ieltsliz.com/liz-notice-2015-2016/
Hi Liz mam you are doing very good job.
Actually I have a problem in reading module please could you help me
https://ieltsliz.com/liz-notice-2015-2016/
Hi Liz. What are the advantages and disadvantages? and Do the advantages outweigh disadvantages? these 2 questions are same right? responses to these 2 questions are almost same paragraphical order?
https://ieltsliz.com/liz-notice-2015-2016/
The first one (Advantages and Disadvantages asking to say about both) body paragraph 1 Advantage and body paragraph 2 Disadvantage . But the second one you need to say your opinion, that is the difference.
In the first question (what are the advantages and disadvantages)? you should discuss the advantage in the first body paragraph and the disadvantage in the second body paragraph. possibly in equilibrium. However, in the second question (do the advantage outweigh)? you must have a positional statement in your introduction for which you will devote two body paragraphs discussing it and utilize only one body paragraph for the opposite idea. This means your response is not in equilibrium, (say 80% and 20% or 70% and 30%). the position you choose in your introduction carries the higher percentage.
Dear Liz, you are great teacher
Rising a number of electronic book causes the decrease in paper books. However, some people think it is positive to go ahead, where as others contradict it. This essay will discuss its both sides.
On one hand ,there are several benefits of electronic books. First, the group of people using this book can access to wide range of information, which means they can read unlimited informations that are available in e- books. Second, people do not have to carry bundles of paper book everytime beacause e-books are portable and less heavy that can be carried in pocket or in a small bag. Therefore, people can use them in public places, for example, while travelling in trains, buses , or even in aeroplanes and also in parks, supermarkets as well as at work and universities. Third, as e-books are small so, it do not require spacial space at home, where as paper books need more area and it creates more waste.
On the other hand, this has some drawbacks too. One problem is it make people more lazy. This is because of the minimal hand movement required in e-book , where only a button click is needed to get all information. Another issue is the uncertanity of electronic machine, which means it can stop working any time. Inaddition, long period of using e -book may create some health problems such as vision problem and headache. And finally, every consumer can not afford to buy it because these books are expensive in market.
In conclusion, although e-books can cause some problems and are expensive, overall it is positive because it do not create pollution and does not require special space and also it is necessary to step forward in this technololical era.
Sorry I don’t comment on writing.
All the best
Liz
“this essay will discuss both sides” is the one of the 10 sentences that are not useful and lower your score according to Liz anyway
Hi Liz,
we are so grateful that you help so many students around the world especially those who can’t afford to pay for school fees like me.
would you please explain a bit more about the tip you gave us above, “” have one body paragraph which gives details about the opposite side to your opinion”
-Do i still need to follow that even if i chose one sided opinion?
-Please correct if i am wrong : One sided opinion = introduction + 1st Body P which supports one side A + 2nd body P which supports the same side A (+ 3rd body P which supports the same side A) + conclusion? So i don’t talk or support the other side B.
Please help, I am confused.
Thank you.
Hi Liz..
I am taking coaching for GT Ielts but confused on one matter..My teacher suggested that if you give only one side view with strong and comprehensible ideas then the chances of getting high marks is more..and if you will write partial view means some for agree and disagree both..then there will be less marks..
Can you please suggest that how it should be??I am targeting for 8 bands in writing section so this clarity is essential to me.
Thanks a lot.
You don’t get more marks because you have chosen a different position. You get marked on your ability to present a position and support your position. It is easier to support a one sided approach and it is more difficult to present a balanced view. For that reason, teachers recommend students to aim for the one sided approach to avoid such mistakes. I also think that students who have not received professional training in the balanced view should not attempt it.
All the best
Liz
Thanks for your reply Liz..actually according to my teacher, I am good at writing on both aspects but she opines that I should write with single view approach..
That’s why I got confused..
If question is- to what extent do you agree or disagree..then if I am having vivid points on both aspects then is it good to write on both or only one view?
Thanks!!
It is difficult to write a balanced view because it does NOT mean you agree with both sides at all. I suggest you follow your teacher’s advice. If you wish to get professional training in writing the one sided and also the balanced approach, see my advanced lesson: http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore
All the best
Liz
Hello, please take a look at my essay, it is not 250words, i just want to know if i have written correctly. i think i got off-topic and don’t knnow exactly how i can improve my writting. Thank you in advance.
Recently, increasing number of people prefer reading e-books instead of paper books. In my opinion, drawbacks of this trend overweigh its advantages.
E-books are convinient, because of their size and memory. people can dawnload many of their favorite books in one technology and carry it with themselves. Another good side of electroic books is their screenlights which make us able to read even at dark. I always use my e-book during exams, because i do not want to put 4-5 books in my bag.
In contrast, as all electronic devices e-books are bad for eyes. To illustrate 60% of e-book users suffer from eye-related problems and complain that they see everything in blur. However, higher percentage of population tend to buy e=books, thatswhy demand for paper books countiniously decline by directly leading to increased unemployment rate. Book-publishing companies go to bankrupcy or merge with others, because of low sales and high competition. For example, in late twentieth century the number of books published exceeds current figures.
In coclusion, disadvantages of e-books are more serios and long-lasting than advantages.
Sorry I don’t give feedback on writing.
Liz
U have to write 1 intro . 2 advantages 30 % 3 disadvantages 70 % and then ur opinion paragragh and then conclusion total 5 para
Hi Dear Liz,
If I write
BP1= advantages of using e-books rather than paper books
BP2= disadvantages of using e-books instead of paper books
conclusion= there are more uses in using e books over paper books.
Please advice me is this the correct way or in BP2 do I have to write,the disadvantages of paper books,i’m confused of that
You present your opinion in the introduction, not conclusion. There is only one question to answer so answer it at the start of your essay not the end. Please see my coming paid video for training.
Liz
when are you releasing the advantages and disadvantages video?
I have just a few more clips to film. Then I need to edit the film. So, hopefully it’ll be ready within two weeks. Fingers crossed.
Liz
Thank you so much miss.
Hello,
I have a question …. When I write the inntroduction of any essay I must paraphrase the sentence given at the beginning, but when I write my conclusion I must restate the ideas that I paraphrased it in the itroduction, this means can I restate it using the same words given in the sentence? Because I been in told that words that I used in introduction and in conclusion mustn’t be the same.
Thx ,,,,
Yes your conclusion contains the main ideas paraphrased.
Liz
answer the essay Q in the conclusion
use paraphrasing
summarize your ideas from the intro and body paras in the conclusion and never share new ideas
two sentences can be adequate
Hello ms.liz,
I wonder what type of essay I should practice, because I don’t really know what type they may ask us in ielts writing task 2? Is it discussion text, information text, description…..etc?
Thx anyway,
Yassmin
WAtch the free information video on this page to learn about the types of essay in writing task 2: http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore
Liz
Hi Liz
I need your advice please
Is it ok to use this sentence as theise statement “This essay will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of such a measure.” Or is it overused
Thank u in advance for your help 🙂
Don’t use learned phrases. That is a whole sentence which you have learned and copied. The examiner has seen it used many, many times. Don’t use it.
All the best
Liz
Hi Liz!
Which is the correct order? To develop the opposite site and then the two body paragraphs with my opinion, the reverse or it doesn’t mind?
Thanks in advance!
Put the advantages in one BP and the disadvantages in the other BP. Make sure you clearly show which outweighs which.
Liz
Thank you for your response!
Liz,
I’m interested in Constantinos’ question too. In your post you said put one body for the position you don’t support and one or two paragraphs for the position you support. So I have some questions:
1) It’s better to put the position you don’t support in your first body paragraph right – end with the stronger position in the subsequent body paragraphs?
2) You suggested in response to constantinos just one paragraph of each. But you can do it one paragraph for weaker position and two for stronger position right – as you recommended is possible in your post.
3) It’s ok to mention just one point for the weaker position even though the question says “advantages” or “disadvantages” – i.e. “s” plural. Thank you
You put adv in the first BP and disadvantages in the 2nd BP. Keep it simple and clear. However, it is possible to have just one adv and two disadv in separate paragraphs if you wish to support disad. If you can’t think of plural advs then that’s fine.
Liz
Just few years back, plenty of people are selecting to read e-books instead of than paper books in my opinion, i concur reading papers books rather than reading e books because e-books need to charge a battery and handle with care, but sometimes e-books are most helpful in traveling i could download the number of books in on e-book system i dont have to carry number of books.
dear mam,
is this correct in information.
Sorry but I don’t comment on writing. Please see my notice at the top of my blog.
All the best
Liz
How can i paraphrase “advantages & disadvantages”?
Can i use this symble & in ielts?
Never use language symbols instead of common words. The only accepted symbols are percentage and currency symbols.
Liz
Dear Liz,
I’m confused about planning the structure for the advantages disadvantages essay? Can you do me a favour by point out what the possible structure are for advantages and disadvantages?
Regards,
Julie
Great acknowledgement!
This is not an “advantage and disadvantage essay”, this is an “adv outweigh disadv” essay. However, got both, you will usually have two body paragraphs – one for each.
Liz
Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
It is a one side essay or two side?
I mean to say
Intro
Body 1 for merits
Body 2 for merits
Body 3 for demerits
Conclusion
75% pros
25% cons
OR
One side essay
Intro= I think merits are morethan demerits?
Body 1 adv
Body 2 adv
Conclusion
It is a direct question which you must answer. Do you think the advantages are more important than the disadvantages? You give your answer in the introduction and explain it in the body.
Liz
excellent explanation. thanks
Hello miss Liz ,
Could you please give me an example about “memorized phrase” that we should not use it ??
Regards,
Here’s an example “it is a highly controversial issue” or “in this essay I will discuss both sides and give my opinion”.
Liz
okay , it is fine
Thanks