Teachers often tell their students that
introductions are very important because it's
the first
thing the examiner will read. And indeed, they
are important, but they don't have to
be complicated. In this video, we're going to
look at a simple structure for writing
task 1 introductions. Coming up.
Welcome, my name is Eli and today we're looking
at how to write a task 1 introduction. Let's
have a look at the slides. Okay, so here we have
a typical task 1. It says, "The graph
below shows the favourite sport of people from
the US between 1985 and 2015." So we
have 5 different categories. American football,
baseball, basketball, hockey, and other sports.
Now, when we write the introduction, we need to
look at the rubric, which is here at the
top. So, our introduction should do 3 things. We
should use different words, these are synonyms.
We should use different grammatical structures,
if possible, and we should change the
description
of the time period. Let's have a look at a
sample introduction from one of our students.
The introduction says, "The line graph gives a
comparison of the favourite sport of US
citizens from 1985 to 2015." This is a simple
but effective introduction. Now, let's have
a look at the changes that they've made. Well,
the rubric says, "The graph below." And in
the student's introduction, they have said, "The
line graph." So, a small change, but
an effective change to show their own writing.
In the rubric, it says, "The graph below shows."
And in this introduction, it says, "The line
graph gives a comparison." So, again, a small
change in the words used. Here, another change,
"People from the US has been changed to US
citizens and between 1985 and 2015," which is
the time period, "has been changed to from
1985 to 2015." Now, this is an ideal
introduction. It's short and it makes the
necessary changes
to the rubric. Remember, you do not need to
spend a long time on a task 1 introduction.
It should be very brief, one to two sentences.
You need to write it, but the important thing
is that you move on quickly to writing your
overview and your main body paragraphs. Some
teachers tell their students that you need to
write what is in the X and Y axis. However,
this is not true. You do not need to write the Y
axis shows the percentage of people,
the X axis shows the year. This student's
introduction is all that you need to write,
one sentence, and then plenty of time for the
overview and body paragraphs. Let's have
a look at another example. So, this time we have
a bar graph. This is a stacked bar graph
and it shows the different stores that are in a
shopping center or shopping centers in
a European city between 2000 and 2015. Let's
have a look. So, we have the rubric and we
know we need to do three things. Use different
words, use different grammatical structures
if possible, and change the description of the
time period. Let's have a look at another
student answer. The bar graph shows the quantity
of stores in shopping centers in a European
city from 2000 to 2015. Again, small changes but
effective. The rubric has the chart and
the student has written the bar graph. One good
tip is to, at the very beginning, to
explain what kind of graphic it is. Usually in
the IELTS rubric it will say the graph
or the chart. In order to change this, you can
specify what kind of graphic it is. So,
this student has said the bar graph, but you
could also say the stacked bar graph or the
bar chart or stacked bar chart. These are all
acceptable. What other changes has the
student made? Well, in the rubric it says gives
information and this student has written
shows. So, they've changed the verb. Again, here
it says about the number of stores and
the student has written the quantity of stores.
And finally, this student has also changed
the description of the time period. In the rub
ric it says between 2000 and 2015 and the
student has written from 2000 to 2015. Again,
these small changes mean that you can write
your own introduction quickly and efficiently,
giving you more time for the overview and
the body paragraphs of your answer. Let's have a
look at another example. Here's the
rubric. The table below shows the number of
students who went abroad for further education.
That means studying in a foreign, an
undergraduate degree or a master's degree in a
foreign university
from eight countries in 2005 and 2015 and the
percentage change between 2005 and 2015.
Now, our introduction again should do three
things, use different words, use different
grammatical structures and change the
description of the time period. Let's have a
look at another
student answer. The table presents the
differences in the quantity of students studying
abroad
from eight nations in 2005 and 2015 as well as
the percentage difference in these two
dates. So, in the rubric it says the table below
shows. The student has written the table
presents, so they've changed the reporting verb.
The number has been changed to the differences
in the quantity and who went has been changed to
students studying abroad, so they've changed
the grammar slightly. Eight countries has been
changed to eight nations and has also
been changed to as well as. So, again, small
changes in word choice but an effective
introduction.
Now here we have a process diagram which is
another graphic type that can appear in Academic
Task 1. This is the process of producing one
bottle of wine. Let's have a look at the student
's
introduction. Again, very short, simple, but
effective. The process diagram gives the eight
steps to make a single bottle of wine. So,
instead of saying the diagram, they've changed
it to the process diagram. Instead of saying
shows, they've used a different verb. They
have gives and stages. They've changed to eight
steps and producing has been changed
to to make and finally one has been changed to a
single. So, another good introduction.
Now, we do need to be careful with synonyms.
Have a look at this introduction. The process
diagram gives the eight steps to make a single
bottle of alcohol. Now, alcohol is not a perfect
synonym for wine. So, this student has attempted
to change the word wine and they've used alcohol
instead, but because these are not perfect syn
onyms, there's a bit of confusion. Ultimately,
it's better not to use a synonym if you're not
sure if it's a perfect synonym. So, don't
change the word unless you're sure that the
other word is a synonym. Let's look at a simple
structure for writing introductions. Here, we
have three parts. We have the graphic type,
the verb, and the description. Now, this is a
simple structure that you can use in more
or less any task one introduction. We start with
the graphic type, which is the table,
the line graph, the bar graph. You just need to
identify it. We then move on to the verb,
shows, presents, gives, illustrates, and then
finally the description, a comparison of the
differences, the changes. And here is an example
at the bottom. We can say the table, the graphic
type, shows a comparison, so verb, and then
description. This is a simple structure that
you can use in your practice and become familiar
with before you go into the IELTS writing
test so that you can write your answers or your
introductions as quickly as possible,
giving you more time for your overview and body
paragraphs. Let's look at a summary of
today's lesson. First of all, write the
introduction quickly. You want to be spending
maximum three
minutes on this. Ultimately, one or two minutes
is much better because you do not have long
to write your task one answer. You should change
the words, grammar, and description
of the time period. Remember, sometimes it's not
easy to change the grammar without changing
the meaning, so only change the grammar if
possible. And again, sometimes there won't
be a time period, for example, with a process
diagram. So ultimately, we can't change that
all the time. Don't write what is on the X and Y
axis. This is just wasting time. If
you are unsure that a word is a synonym, don't
use it. It's better to be safe than sorry.
And finally, practice writing introductions with
a simple structure that you can replicate
during the writing exam. So have a look at our
simple structure and see if it works for
you. Good luck with your test. Bye-bye then.
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able to do that.