Academic writing task 2

In the past,many people had skills such as making their own clothes and doing repairs to things in the house.In many countries nowadays the skills like these are disappearing.
Why do you think this change is happening?
How far is this situation true to your country?


How to  organize your essay ?

Introduction
state your position regarding the argument in the question.Do you also agree that in the past there had been a situation as  it is mentioned . Whatever  your position may be you should state that in the first paragraph.

Second  and third paragraphs you can reason out why this change is happening.

One reason may be viewed as people have busy schedules so they do not have enough time.
When you take such an idea as the main idea of your second paragraph.you must supply ample evidences to prove your case.

You can develop another paragraph with the main idea that the change occurs with the advancement of science and technology for that too you should provide ample examples.

In the fourth paragraph you can describe the situation in your country .It may differ or it may be the same.
Finally write your conclusion .This is writing your position once again in different wordings.

Write an essay according to above guidelines and send it for free checking.

Speaking test part 1: questions

Let’s talk about your home town or village:

·         what kind of place is it?

·         what’s the most interesting part of your town/village?

·         what kind of jobs do the people in your town/village do?

·         would you say it’s a good place to live? (why?)

Let’s move on to talk about accommodation:

·         tell me about the kind of accommodation you live in?

·         how long have you lived there?

·         what do you like about living there?

·         what sort of accommodation would you most like to live in?

·         Examiner: Now, in this first part, I’d like to ask you some more questions about yourself, OK?

·         Let’s talk about your home town or village. What kind of place is it?

·         Candidate: It’s quite a small village, about 20km from Zurich. And it’s very quiet. And we have only little ... two little shops because most of the people work in Zurich or are orientated to the city.

·         Examiner: What’s the most interesting part of this place ... village?

·         Candidate: On the top of a hill we have a little castle which is very old and quite well known in Switzerland.

·         Examiner: What kind of jobs do people in the village do?

·         Candidate: We have some farmers in the village as well as people who work in Zurich as bankers or journalists or there are also teachers and some doctors, some medicines.

·         Examiner: Would you say it’s a good place to live?

·         Candidate: Yes. Although it is very quiet, it is … people are friendly and I would say it is a good place to live there, yes.

·         Examiner: Let’s move on to talk about accommodation. Tell me about the kind of accommodation you live in ...

Speaking test part 2: candidate task card

Describe something you own which is very important to you. 

You should say:

·         where you got it from

·         how long you have had it

·         what you use it for; and 

·         explain why it is important to you.

You will have to talk about the topic for 1 to 2 minutes.

You have one minute to think about what you're going to say.

You can make some notes to help you if you wish.

Rounding off questions

Tell me

·         is it valuable in terms of money?

·         would it be easy to replace?

·         Examiner: Alright? Remember you have one to two minutes for this, so don’t worry if I stop you. I’ll tell you when the time is up. 

·         Candidate: OK

·         Examiner: Can you start speaking now, please?

·         Candidate: Yes. One of the most important things I have is my piano because I like playing the piano. I got it from my parents to my twelve birthday, so I have it for about nine years, and the reason why it is so important for me is that I can go into another world when I’m playing piano. I can forget what’s around me and what ... I can forget my problems and this is sometimes quite good for a few minutes. Or I can play to relax or just, yes to … to relax and to think of something completely different. 

·         Examiner: Thank you. Would it be easy to replace this, this piano?

·         Candidate: Yes, I think it wouldn’t be that big problem but I like my piano as it is because I have it from my parents, it’s some kind unique for me. 

Let’s consider first of all how people’s values have changed. 

·         What kind of things give status to people in your country? 

·         Have things changed since your parents’ time? 

Finally, let’s talk about the role of advertising. 

·         Do you think advertising influences what people buy?

·         Examiner: We’ve been talking about things we own. I’d like to discuss with you one or two more general questions relating to this topic. First, let’s consider values and the way they can change. In Switzerland, what kind of possessions do you think give status to people?

·         Candidate: The first thing which comes in my mind is the car. Yes, because lots of people like to have posh cars or expensive cars to show their status, their place in the society.

·         Examiner: Is that a new development?

·         Candidate: No, I think it isn’t.

·         Examiner: People have thought like that for quite a long time?

·         Candidate: Yes. Another thing is probably the clothing. It starts already when you are young. When the children go to school they want to have posh labels on their jumpers or good shoes.

·         Examiner: What do you think of this way of thinking, that I need to have a car or certain clothes to show my status?

·         Candidate: Probably it’s sometimes a replacement for something you don’t have, so if your wife has left you or your girlfriend, you just buy some new, I don’t know, new watches or new clothes to make you satisfied again.

·         Examiner: You don’t think of it as a healthy way of thinking?

·         Candidate: It’s probably not honest to yourself. You can understand what I mean?

·         Examiner: Yes. And do you think this will change? In the future, will cars and designer clothes be status symbols in the same way?

·         Candidate: I’m sure that clothes will be ... that the thing with the clothes will be the same. I’m not so sure about the cars because cars cause lots of environmental problems and probably in some years, a few years, this will change because it’s not reasonable to drive a car anymore