Hattingh - IELTS-7-Writing

Tian Hattingh

Copyright 2018 Tian Hattingh

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ISBN 978 1789017 243

ISBN (e-book) 978 1789013 047

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Design, Typeset, and Cover by Scribe Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

Dedicated to my father:

Charel Dawid Naud Hattingh

(19292003)

And to my mother:

Margaret Dagmar Hattingh (ne Botha),

who spoke English to me.

Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back.

Chinese saying

Education is the best provision for old age.

Aristotle

Intelligence plus character: that is the goal of true education.

Martin Luther King Jr.

I am still learning.

Michelangelo

The candidate has a fully operational command of the language. In other words, the language is appropriate, accurate, and fluent and accompanied by complete understanding.

The candidate has an operational command of the language with only occasional unsystematic inaccuracies. Misunderstandings do occur in unfamiliar situations. The candidate is able to handle complex, detailed argumentation as well.

The candidate has an operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriacies, and misunderstandings in some situations. The candidate generally handles complex language well and understands detailed reasoning.

The candidate has a generally effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriacies, and misunderstandings. The candidate is able to use and understand fairly complex language, particularly in familiar situations.

The candidate has a partial command of the language, coping with overall meaning in most situations, though he or she is likely to make many mistakes. The candidate should be able to handle basic communication in his or her own field.

The candidate has a basic competence that is limited to familiar situations. He or she has frequent problems in understanding and expression. The candidate is not able to use complex language.

The candidate is able to convey and understand only general meanings in very familiar situations, but frequent breakdowns in communication will occur.

No real communication is possible except for the most basic information using isolated words or short formulae in familiar situations and to meet immediate needs. The candidate has great difficulty understanding spoken and written English.

The candidate essentially has no ability to use the language beyond possibly a few isolated words.

The candidate did not attempt the test, and no assessable information was provided.

The International English Language Testing System, or IELTS, is an international standardized test of English-language proficiency for nonnative English language speakers. It is jointly managed by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia, and Cambridge English Language Assessment and was established in 1989. IELTS is one of the major English-language tests in the world. In 2016, three million tests were taken in more than 140 countries.

IELTS is accepted by most Australian, British, Canadian, and New Zealand academic institutions, by more than three thousand academic institutions in the United States, and by various professional organizations across the world.

IELTS is the only secure English language test approved by UK Visas and Immigration for visa customers applying both outside and inside the UK. It is also a requirement for immigration to Australia and New Zealand. In Canada, IELTS is accepted by the immigration authority.

No minimum score is required to pass the test. An IELTS result or Test Report Form is issued to all test takers. Test takers receive a score for each test component: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. The individual scores are then averaged and rounded to produce an overall band score.

Institutions are advised not to consider a report older than two years to be valid unless the user proves that he or she has worked to maintain that level.

The IELTS test has four parts: Listening, thirty minutes (plus ten minutes transfer time); Reading, sixty minutes; Writing, sixty minutes; and Speaking, eleven to fourteen minutes. The total test time is therefore two hours and fifty-five minutes.

Listening, Reading, and Writing are completed in one sitting. The Speaking test may be taken on the same day or up to seven days before or after the other tests.

All test takers take the same Listening and Speaking tests, while the Reading and Writing tests differ depending on whether the test taker is taking the Academic or General Training versions of the test.

On Friday afternoon, October 25, 2002, I stepped off a plane at the Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai. Before accepting a job offer in the Peoples Republic of China, I had only a vague idea of where China was. Until then, I had never been to a Chinese restaurant and had only heard of chopsticks. I had never noticed a Chinese character before and had certainly never heard someone speak Mandarin and/or Cantonese.