- [Chris] Hi everyone, this is Chris
with a special bonus video for you.
This special bonus video is called
"The Ultimate Guide to Task 2 Grammar".
And so lots of you have been asking grammar questions
by email so I decided to make this video
so that hopefully this satisfies everybody
and gets everybody on the right track for grammar.
Just thought that I would make this video
because there are certain really important things
that I wanted to get across to you.
And because the biggest improvements in grammar
that I have found in my classes, in my real classes,
has been when people change their attitude to grammar.
Rather than teaching them specific grammar structures,
like most teachers do, I try to change people's attitudes,
the way they think about grammar
and that normally improves their band dramatically
and quickly and that's what we want to do here.
We want to get you your Band seven, eight or nine
as quickly as possible.
So that's what today's video is all about.
So let's look at what we're gonna do in this video.
So today we're going to look at confusing grammar myths.
So myths, things that people believe
about IELTS grammar that aren't actually true.
We're going to look at how to analyze function of sentences,
not structures.
How to analyze functions,
a three step grammar improvement plan
and the top 10 most common mistakes that I find in essays.
So today we're gonna focus on Task 2.
So one thing that there will be no of
is this v1 plus n plus v2 nonsense in this guide.
In this video, there's going to be no verb plus noun
plus all this thing.
This is not helping you, it's actually stopping you
producing a good essay.
There is no way that a native English speaker
would ever sit down and write an essay and think,
is it v plus or noun plus this and think of it
in a formulaic way.
When I first started teaching in Asia,
so I've taught in Vietnam and China and India,
I couldn't believe that students are taught grammar
in this way.
If you like being taught grammar in this way, that's fine.
If it suits you, that's absolutely fine.
But I don't teach it this way
because I don't think that it helps anybody.
And when I was teaching in Europe,
if you go and learn English in Europe,
they don't teach grammar in this way.
And if you look at the average grammar scores
for IELTS tests, in Europe, they're much, much higher
than average grammar scores than in Asia.
So sorry if you like being taught grammar in this way,
I'm going to try and teach it in a slightly different way.
And I hope that you'll understand the way that I teach it
and it will really, really help you.
When you stop thinking about grammar in this formula way,
like plus noun plus verb plus,
your grammar will really, really improve.
But if you really like that way, please keep doing it.
But I think that I will change your mind
by the end of this video.
So confusing grammar myths.
A myth is something that lots of people believe
that isn't actually true.
So let's look at the six grammar myths.
First is range, not accuracy.
So most people think it is more important
to have a range of structures than for them
to actually be correct.
So in the marking criteria, it says,
students should use a wide range of structures.
And lots of teachers and lots of books have seen this,
and they just tell students, use a wide range of structures.
And they don't actually explain to the students
what this means, what does a range mean?
What structures mean?
So in the rest of this video, I'm gonna show you
that it's a hugely misunderstood area.
And I'm gonna focus on this in the next slide.
So the next one is small mistakes.
There's a big difference between small mistakes
and mistakes that prevent communication.
So lots of students when they see small mistakes,
like when I post students' essays,
I don't do it so much anymore because of this actually.
I would post a really, really good essay,
like a Band eight essay that a student had done for me
and everybody would say,
"Oh, that's a Band five or Band six."
Why is it?
Oh because the person made three small mistakes in there.
Three small grammar mistakes or four small grammar mistakes.
There's a big, big difference between small mistakes
and mistakes that prevent communication.
So the things that you don't want are big mistakes
that prevent communication,
that stop the examiner understanding what you're writing.
Small mistakes should be avoided, of course.
The fewer mistakes you make, the better.
But there is this big, big difference between small mistakes
and mistakes that prevent communication.
Mistakes that prevent communication
are the ones that really, really, really lower your score.
Wide range of tenses.
So structures and tenses do not mean the same thing.
This is related to the first point I was making,
range not accuracy.
Lots of students believe that wide range of structures
means a wide range of tenses.
Structures and tenses do not mean the same thing.
Complex sentences
Complex and simple do not mean what you think they mean.
So a complex sentence, lots of people think
that this means using very high level grammar,
a very long sentence with lots of punctuation
and a simple sentence is using just a really simple sentence
with simple words, simple structures.
They do not mean that.
Wide range of structures.
So again, it should actually state
use of appropriate structures.
It's not about using as many different structures
as possible, it's about using the appropriate structures
for the function that you're trying to use.
And we're gonna look at that again in one minute.
And perfection.
You must get everything correct to get a high score.
This is a myth.
Even Band nine essays have rare slips.
You're all human, you're doing it under exam conditions.
Even the very, very top grade, Band nine,
you don't have to get every single thing perfect.
The examiner, IELTS know
that everybody makes small mistakes.
And so this is related to the small mistakes point
I made above.
To get a Band nine you can make rare slips,
to get a Band eight,
you can make a few small mistakes as well.
To get a Band seven, which is what most of you
are trying to get, you can make quite a few small mistakes.
You can't make any big mistakes,
but you can make quite a few small mistakes.
So these are all the myths that you need to stop believing.
If you believe any of these myths,
they're going to prevent you
from actually getting the score that you need.
And let's go on to the most confusing myth.
So function not structure.
So this is related to the range of structures,
the range of tenses that you use.
Most people think about grammar,
how do I get a good mark for grammar?
I just use a range of structures, I use a range of tenses
and I'll get a really high score and this is the key.
So imagine that each structure and each tense
is one of these kitchen utensils, one of these tools
that we would use in the kitchen.
So a person that thinks that a range of structures
is the way to get a Band seven, eight or nine
is the type of person who would believe
that in order to cook a good meal,
you must use a range of kitchen utensils.
So if they were cooking a meal,
they would try to use every single one of these things
in this picture.
So they might be chopping an onion
and cutting it with a knife,
and then they need to cut another onion
and they think, "Oh, I need to use a range,
"so I'll try to cut this with a spoon."
And then they need to cut a tomato.
So they try and cut it with a pot or something like that.
That's just stupid, that's silly to do that.
What you need to do is use the appropriate structure
at the appropriate time.
So you might need to just to use a very simple structure,
for example, to give your topic sentence.
And let's say that's a knife.
So you use that and then you might use it again.
A person who thinks that using a range of structures
is the type of person who,
like halfway through the essay thinks,
"I haven't used the perfect future tense yet,
"I'll try and put that in there."
And then they get to the conclusion and they think,
"I haven't used the third conditional yet,
"so I'll put that in there."
That is totally inappropriate to do that
and it actually stops you answering the question correctly.
It stops you using the correct structure.
It just stops you clearly communicating
and whenever you try to use
a wide, wide range of structures inappropriately,
you're probably going to get most of them incorrect,
because you're trying to use things
that you don't really know how to use.
So, if we look at this picture,
I don't really, I'm not very good at cooking,
but I don't really know what the thing to the left is for.
And if I tried to use that, I wouldn't be very successful.
I don't know what the multicolored things
on the right are either.
If I tried to use them, I wouldn't be very successful.
But I'm pretty good at using a knife, a bowl, a spoon,
the basic things and if I did that,
I'd be able to cook a pretty good meal.
So let's look at function not structure
in a little bit more detail.
So let's look at a causes paragraph.
Imagine we get a causes and solution essay,
and we're only going to look at the main body paragraph
that deals with causes.
So the overall structure would be topic sentence,
explanation and example.
So we need to write three good sentences or might be four
maybe we might have two sentences for explanation.
But let's just, for this demonstration,
let's just say there are three sentences.
So let's look at the sentences.
So the first sentence is a topic sentence.
The main reason for global warming
is the production of fossil fuels.
So we'll use a very common example.
What's the main reason for global warming?
What is the function of this sentence?
So don't think about structure, don't think about that yet.
Just think about the function.
Why do we use this sentence?
Why do we not use something else?
So the function is to state the main reason for something.
Very, very simple explanation.
That is to say that the release of greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere causes the planets to heat up.
To explain, that's the function very, very simple.
Example, for example, every year millions of tons of CO2
are vented into the air by coal fired power stations
in the U.S.
To give an example, okay?
Very, very simple function.
Let's look at it in a little bit more detail.
The main reason for global warming
is the production of fossil fuels.
If we were to use this for a different essay,
the main reason for obesity
is the consumption of fatty foods.
Let's look at the explanation.
That is to say that the release of greenhouse gases
causes the planet to heat up.
That is to say that the overeating of junk food
causes men and women to become obese.
So if we stop thinking about grammar in terms of structure
and this verb plus noun equals that and all that.
And the stuff that I really don't like
is we stop thinking about it that way
and we start thinking about function.
And some of you might be thinking,
"No, that's going to require me
"to actually do a bit of work."
Well, I'm sorry, but the only way that you're going to write
really good essays, seven, eight, nine essays
is to put in the work and actually analyze it,
and then use it in your own essays.
If you want a system that just gives you some quick tips,
then you're not going get a seven, eight or nine.
So it does require you to do a bit of extra work,
but it will help you get a Band seven, eight or nine,
but it will also help you in the future
with your English writing
or just how you learn English in the future.
Thinking about it this way will really, really help you.
So let's look at a three step grammar improvement plan.
How are you going to improve your grammar?
First step, understand functions.
So there's not that many to learn.
So think about a Task 2 essay
for let's say an opinion essay.
First function is just paraphrasing the question.
Second function, giving your opinion,
third function is outlining your main ideas.
Three simple things to learn.
And then in the main body, first func-- I can't speak,
sorry, first function, that's difficult to say actually,
topic sentence, and then you're gonna explain
and then you're going to give an example, okay?
So it doesn't really take that much to analyze
all the different essays and think about the functions
for each of them.
A lot of them are going to be kinda the same.
Next step is identify and fix common problems.
So we're going to go through
the top 10 most common problems, but for most people,
you will only need to focus on say, two or three or four
of these common problems.
Like, for example, I had one student this morning
who is very bad at articles.
She has a problem with plurals
like countable and uncountable nouns.
And she also has a problem with punctuation
and all the rest of her grammar is absolutely fine.
So what we did was,
we just identified her three most common problems
and then she was able to fix those problems
and 90% of her grammar mistakes were those three problems.
So you might be making only one of them,
you might be making five of them,
but you need to identify what your common problems are.
The next step, practice and produce.
So practicing and producing are two different things.
So practicing is when you say you have difficulty
with punctuation, use of commas,
and there are thousands of websites online
where you can go on and do free practice exercises.
And you just practice, practice, practice using commas,
you're aware of all of the rules.
And then produce.
Produce refers to actually producing essays.
So going and writing a full essay and thinking
about your use of, let's say commas
and producing an error free sentence
after error free sentence.
And then having an error free paragraph
and then hopefully having lots of error free sentences
and an error free essay at the end.
So, very, very simple.
Like everything in IELTS Training Academy, just three steps.
Each of them is easy to understand.
Understand the functions of each sentence,
identify and fix your common problems,
practice those common problems,
and then produce good sentences and good essays.
Next, we're going to go on to the 10 most common problems.
Common problem number one,
probably the most common problem of all.
Fix this and you can raise your grammar score by one band.
So the way that the bands work for grammar,
the more error free sentences you have,
the higher the band is for grammar.
So if you're making really small mistakes,
like articles, for example.
So articles is use of the words 'a', 'an' and 'the'.
Some people make these small mistakes
in nearly every sentence because articles are used
in nearly every sentence before nouns.
So if you're making small mistakes in nearly every sentence,
you're going to really struggle
to get more than a six in grammar.
But if you fix this problem, then you can go up
by at least one band seeing that this is your common problem
so it can really, really help.
Common problem number two, subject-verb agreement.
The subject of your sentence
should always agree with the verb.
Get into the habit of checking these when you write.
So if this is a problem for you, get into the habit
of when you write a sentence, checking the subject
and the verb and making sure
that they agree with each other.
Tenses, of course.
Be aware of the different verb tenses you're using.
So the verb is going to tell you what tense you're using.
Think about the situation you're writing about.
So lots of people in my class,
they make big errors with tenses and I say,
"Did you actually think about what you're writing?"
And they say, "What do you mean?"
I was like, "Did you think about if it's past,
"present or future?"
"No, I didn't."
Well how are you ever going to use the correct tense,
if you don't think about the situation?
And you don't need a wide range of tenses in Task 2.
So most of the tenses are going,
think about the things that you're doing.
Your topic sentence, your explanation, your opinion,
all of these are just going to be present tense.
You don't need to sit and try to use every single tense
in the English language
because that is not going to be appropriate.
Examples are the most common function
that require past tenses or future tenses.
So if you want to use a range of tenses,
your examples are probably going to be
the best place to do that.
So you're not going to be able to use the future tense
when you're giving an opinion.
Or you're not going to be able to use the past tense
when you're giving an opinion.
You can't say, in my opinion, I used to think
or I used to believe, or in my opinion,
I will believe in the future, you're never going to do that.
You're not going to use the future tense
when explaining something.
You won't say in the future or in the past.
But giving examples, you might be able
to talk about something an experience that happened to you
or a story from a newspaper,
or you might speculate about the future in examples.
That's absolutely fine to do that,
but think about the situation
and don't try to use a range of tenses
unless they're appropriate.
Common problem number four is punctuation.
And most common problem is use of commas.
So most people, 99% of people, not 100%,
some people don't do this,
know how to use a full stop at the end of a sentence.
They know how to use a full stop.
The most common problem is the use of commas.
So you have to learn the basic use of commas.
Most people haven't actually looked this up.
If you look up the rules and you think about them
and you practice them, it becomes pretty easy
on the use of commas.
Also, if you have a problem with this when you're reading,
reading and English,
think about why the person used the comma
and why they didn't use a comma.
Don't worry about semi-colons unless you're advanced.
So it's not like you have to use semicolons
or anything like that to get a high grade.
Focus on your weaknesses.
So most people's weaknesses are commas.
Make sure you know how to use them.
Conditional structures.
Most commonly used in problem solution essays.
Learn the main conditional structures
and think about why you would use them in an essay.
And normally use the second conditional
to write about solutions.
You don't have to use the second conditional
to write about solutions, but if you are,
make sure that you're doing it correctly.
Common problem number six, relative clauses.
So examples are 'who', 'that', 'which'.
These words will help with explaining things
and with your cohesion and your coherence.
Simply learn the rules and practice.
I can't say it any more simple than that.
Number seven, plurals.
Countable and uncountable nouns.
So some nouns are countable,
some nouns like water are uncountable.
Simply have to learn these, so there's no trick.
There's nothing I can say which you know,
this group of words is countable,
this group of words is uncountable,
you simply have to learn these.
But if you're not sure, use another noun.
So if this is a big problem for you,
so some people this is a really common problem,
it's a really big problem but they're trying to use nouns
that they aren't really aware of.
So, if this is a big problem,
either you have to work really, really hard
and make sure you learn all the different nouns
or you simply just use another noun
and that you are sure about.
Prepositions.
Like articles, these can lower your score by one band.
So like articles, some people make preposition mistakes
in nearly every sentence.
So because they have made mistakes in every single sentence,
their grade gets lowered from a Band seven or Band eight
to a Band six.
So if you improve these,
you can really, really boost your score.
So find out what your common problems are.
Find out why you're making,
which prepositions mistakes you're making again and again.
As always, it's about finding out
what your personal problems are
not about generally what's happening.
Common problem number nine, verbing or to plus infinitive.
Again, this requires you to learn the appropriate use.
When do you use verbing?
When do you use to plus infinitive?
If not sure, use something else.
And common problem number 10, word order.
Read every sentence after you write it.
So when you get fast at writing essays,
when you have really learned everything
in IELTS Training Academy and you're building up
how quickly you can do the essays,
I would start reading each sentence after you write it
to check for grammar mistakes.
Read each paragraph after you write it then.
So you read each sentence, check for grammar.
When you complete a full paragraph, read it again,
and then read everything at the end.
This might take you a little bit of time,
but it will ensure that you make fewer mistakes.
With word order a little trick is
if something sounds strange, or sounds weird,
there's probably a word order mistake.
So when you're checking your sentences
or when you're checking your paragraphs,
if it just doesn't sound correct,
and this goes for most grammar mistakes,
then you might have a word order mistake,
and you need to think about that.
So fixing your mistakes, how do we do this?
Use a grammar book or online resource to find out the rules.
So grammar means rules, it means law.
Grammar means the rules of the language.
So for each grammar point, there are rules.
So if you don't know the rules,
you're not going to be able to ever fix it.
So a key part of fixing your grammar mistakes
is finding out what the rules are.
Then practice online, as I've said,
and produce it in a real essay.
Remember, first of all, you have to understand the functions
of different sentences.
If you understand them, then you'll be able to understand
what you're doing in your essays.
Identify.
So identify your common mistakes, fix them
and then produce.
Produce real sentences in real essays
that are correct, that have the appropriate structure,
appropriate tense, appropriate function
and have no mistakes in it.
And if you do all of that,
then you're going to get a very high mark for grammar.
(upbeat music)