The topic below was just reported in the IELTS academic writing task 2 last week. Take a look at the topic and see some ideas and vocabulary below to help you.
Some people think that the government should spend more money on public service rather than wasting money on the arts. To what extent do you agree.
Public Services: Schools, Health Care, Public Transportation etc
The Arts: Museums, Galleries, Theatre etc
One Side Essay Structure:
Introduction: Direct Answer: I disagree that money should be taken from the arts for public services. (this approach gives a clear position on one side and therefore the essay can only give information supporting that side)
Body Paragraph 1: Art is important because all societies need to express their culture through art.
Body Paragraph 2: The arts are often poorly funded and therefore if money were directed away from the arts for any reason, even for public services, it would likely fail entirely.
Body Paragraph 3: Public services do not require more funding because…
Conclusion: restate your opinion and summarise main points.
Balanced Approach Essay Structure
Introduction: Direct Answer: I agree that public services such as health care and transportation need more funding but not at the cost of the arts which are still very important. (this approach gives a clear position and allows you to write about both sides.)
Body Paragraph 1: Health care system – give reasons why this needs more funding.
Body Paragraph 2: Public transport – give reasons why this should be improved.
Body Paragraph 3: Explain that the arts are still important and why money should not be diverted away.
Conclusion – restate your opinion and summarise main points.
Steve, thanks for letting us know about the topic. Good luck with your results!
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Hi, Liz! Can we say we disagree with this statement because both sectors are equally important, and arts should not be sacrificed for public services? Or should we say we partially agree with it? Thank you!
Your aim isn’t to use any particular words. The actual words “disagree”, “agree” or “partial” are not needed. All you need to do is give a clear opinion, such as ” I believe that the funding for the arts and public services should be equally divided because they both play roles of equal and differing importance in society.”
Dear Liz,
I hope you are in good health now. I must express my gratitude to you that I have been greatly benefited by your web site. I want to buy ‘E-book: Ideas For IELTS Essay Topics’ but was unable to do so because I don’t have a Pay Pal account. But I have a VISA and Mastercard issued by my bank. Can I use it to pay purchase the book online? Write me how can I solve the payment issue? Couldn’t find alternative payment mode other than paypal while attempted purchasing online. Besides, I am from Bangladesh, and I don’t see it’s name in country list when tried to create an account for purchase.
I’m so sorry about this. I had to stop card payments because there were so many fraudulent purchases. I hope one day to offer card payments again but I just don’t have the time for checking each individual payment to avoid this issue. Meanwhile, all I can use is Paypal. If your country doesn’t have paypal, you could ask a friend to make the payment for you. I wish I had another option but I can’t find one at the moment. Sorry.
Hi Liz,
Thank you for all the support you are providing us to achieve our targets. This site is really useful. I have a small clarification regarding this topic. Can we relate Art as music, dancing and painting?
It’s a good question. You need to differentiate between art and the arts. The arts refer to the collection of subjects that are arts based rather than science based. In the arts, you’ll find: performing arts such as drama and theatre, you’ll also find visual arts such as film making and photography, you’ll also find literary arts such as literature and poetry, you’ll also find other things listed under this broad heading such as fashion, cooking and architecture. If you refer to an Arts Degree at university, such as a BA degree (Bachelor of Arts), you’ll find subjects which are non-science based, such as history, sociology and literature. However, if you are referring only to the subject art – this refers only to painting, drawing, sculpture and other things that you would learn in a class about art.
Hi Liz,
I just purchased your grammar book, I have a question, could you please answer it?
Whether a person is rich or poor will determine how much they spend on holidays.
Is that possible I revised as to “how much he or she spends on holiday”?
a person, means any person?
I am so confused about it.
Did you check the chapter on Pronouns & Referencing? This is explained clearly in that chapter 🙂
Hi dear Liz,
I’ve purchased your book about essay ideas and on page 11 there’s a sentence with the phrase “at the home” and is it correct to use article here?
Did you read the instructions for that exercise? Your aim is to spot the word that is wrong in the sentence. That is the reason for the exercise. If you look at the answer key, it will show you what the mistake is. Please always read the instructions with each exercise.
Dear Ma’am
Your blog posts about IELTS are amazing. It helped me a lot. Ma’am, I have this doubt. What is the difference between a balanced essay approach and one-sided essay approach? It will be of great help if you could explain that. I know that there are 5 different essay questions.
A balanced essay approach and a one-sided approach are different approaches to an Opinion Essay. The balanced approach is a partial agreement – you should only use that if you have been trained properly.
thanks a lot Liz for your selfless teachings.. I want to ask you about the above topic.if I totally agree about diverting money on public services and give reason why without talking about art being a waste of money will it have any effect on my writing score.
You can’t ignore half of the essay question. It would have a seriously negatively impact on your score.
Hi Liz,
It would be great to receive your feedback on below balanced approach introduction for this essay:
Government spending on arts is ought to be a wastage by some and, therefore, they suggest to allocate that money to other areas. In my opinion, spending money on arts is affordable and practical for developed nations, however, under-developed and developing countries ought to focus on their growth through investment in public sectors, such as education and healthcare.
Hi Liz,
Not sure if I’m writing on the correct page. Could you please help me deciding the structure for the below essay:
Most students do part time job while studying in universities. Is is a good or bad idea?
Is it just an opinion essay or discuss both sides and give your opinion?
Really appreciate your support.
Regards,
Geetika
The instructions are asking for you to choose – X or Y
Thanks for your guidance, Liz.
Really appreciate!
Hi liz
I need a help
If i write : the child should be responsible toward ( their or his / her ) studies
What is the correct form
It is best to write “Children should be responsible for their studies”. Your ideas will be referring to children (plural) in general, rather than one child.
Dear Liz,
I was in peace and I thought I understand opinion essay finally, until I saw the one sided opinion provided above.
It seems to me like we are neglecting part of the question,
I thought that we should write a paragraph about the other issue which is public transport
Like
Bp1. Why we should spent money on arts
Bp2 . Why we should not spend money on public transport
( or the reverse)
Sorry I didn’t realise this page was still visible to the public. Yes, you are right and you have understood the techniques fully – check the page now.
😍😊
Thank you.
Everything makes sense now.
I know very well that you are certainly a busy person.but if you correction any 5 essay of comments may be it will be helpful for every one.lots of things we can learn by these corrections.. thank you for your benevolent step.
Hey, don’t follow blindly. Be skeptic! 😉
It is a known fact that the government is spending a large sum of money on different sectors. Arts is of no exception. Although i agree that, it is important to spend more amount on public services, it did not mean that spending on art is a waste of money.
There are several reasons to spend a significant amount of money on public sectors. First and foremost, the government should allocate the funds according to the priority, where the public services are the prime focus. That includes hospitals, schools and roads. Attributing the budget in these field will strengthen the health, education and transportation of the people which in turn will escalate the standard of a country. For instance, through more governmental hospitals the health of the citizens will increase. Similarly, proper education can be delivered to children through additional educational institutions.
However, this does not mean that the arts should be neglected. To begin with, it is the responsibility of a government to preserve the culture and heritage of a country, which exist through the field of arts. Furthermore, many arts institutions are facing many hurdles to generate much profit. So without some help from the government many theaters and other such places cannot withstand. Moreover, arts also have an important impact in our quality of life. Many people get pleasure in going to see music and theater performance. So it is the duty of the government to assist such institutions that can continue providing entertainment to the public. Finally, arts brings economic benefits to a nation in the form of tourism , where arts play a key role.
To sum up, spending on public service ensure a large amount of benefits to the society. But i do not believe utilizing money on arts is a waste of money as this too have great impact on the society.
Hi Liz…… can you please correct the essay and give me the feedback and score.
Sorry I don’t comment on writing.
lol liz sometimes you really grill a persom
I have to be strict or I would be flooded with essays 🙂
Hello Liz. Firstly thanks for your wonderful-helping videos.
Can you explain to me how the band score for listening is calculated?
For example, if my overall score in listening was 34 out of 40. what will be the listening band score? Thanks.
See this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-band-scores/
It is suggested by many people that government authorities ought to utilize more money on public services instead of misusing money on arts. In my opinion, although I agree that public services such as health care system and transportation need more funding but not at the cost of arts which are still very important.
Could you please verify whether my background statement is correct or not?
Sorry I don’t comment on writing.
Hello Liz,
I want to ask about Task 1 and 2! Can we write them just on Capital letter, they will accept it?
thank you
Yes, you can use just capital letters if you want.
Hi Liz
Could you please comment on this introduction. I’ve taken points from your suggestions
It is considered by some that more money should be utilised on public sectors, for instance healthcare or transport system, instead of supporting arts with large sum of money. In my opinion, I agree that public sector (transport and aneeds more funding as it is the determining factors of a nation’s development but not at the cost of arts which are still very important
Sorry I don’t comment on writing.
Hi
Liz,
I have a doubt in my opinion essay, if I agree in one side, is it ok i can write However paragraph mentioning other side and ending with my agree statement. Then conclusion paragraph please give a feedback
thanks alot.
Hi Liz
I know, you are on vacation sorry for the disturbance
if i write my answers(listening and reading)in capital letters , if there is in the answers (eg. multiple question answers if any lower case letters what shall i write, capital letter or lower? ) Please if Liz not available, any one can replay please
Thanks.
Liz, what if I get a question like “Some people think that the government is wasting money on the arts and that this money could be better spent elsewhere. To what extent do you agree?”, I want to know if I could mention only public services as other areas? Or I must talk about something else than public services?
It is your choice how you interpret “other areas”. However, personally, I would think of two minimum. For example, education and health care. Public Services is still good as it includes many facilities and services.
Liz
Dear Liz,
I have read all of the tips on how to excel in the second part of the IELTS writing exam. You make it a point to always give a link that you don’t comment on essay writings as of the moment. I just want to ask if you correct/ and give comments on essays which are of band 7 caliber?
In addition, I just want to ask if you have any tips on how to write faster. I think my worst enemy in this writing exam is time. No matter how I plan and construct my ideas, it takes me a lot of time to erase and edit my work for it to be worth of a good score.
I hope you can enlighten me as well such as the countless students you’ve helped.
Warm regards,
Filipino RN
Sorry but I don’t comment on any writing now because I don’t have time. For writing faster, I can only suggest practice. To avoid errors, which take time to correct, you need to develop better English and plan each sentence. You only need to write about 13 sentences in the essay so plan each one.
Liz
Dear Liz,
Thank you for spending precious time answering back to my query. I think I will just try planning the 13 sentences that I need to construct for me to be successful in landing a passing score in my upcoming IELTS exam this 24th of October.
I just have a question not only for myself, but also for all of your avid fans, which are predominantly students.
Does the UKVI IELTS exam have the same test structure, guidelines and rules compared with the regular IELTS exam?
I have big plans in applying for a nurse position in your country. Given a chance to get there (UK) through success in my UKVI IELTS exams, I will certainly go to one of your seminars, lectures and thank you in person or even get your autograph. ^_^
Warm regards,
Filipino RN
Yes, the UKVI IELTS test is the same but held at a different location.
All the best
Liz
hello liz!
Just last point before exam 😛
Is it ok if i write in favour of the statement and also support the opposing argument as well?
thanks!
as u have mentioned Balanced appproach! But an IELTS teacher here puts stress on one sided approach only!
please clarify me so that i would do my best tomorrow!
thanks
A balanced approach does not mean agreeing with both sides, it means have a specific opinion with a clear position. You can choose a one-sided approach or a balanced approach – both approaches can get band 9. It is all about how you present your ideas and support them.
All the best
Liz
If you only agree with one side then your essay contains only that. The idea is that you give an opinion in the introduction and explain it in the body paragraphs. It does not ask you to discuss both sides or present other people’s views. I know this can be confusing. If you need detailed training please watch my opinion essay tutorial: http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore
All the best
Liz