A sad reminder to my Russian subscribers:

💡 I have a community on VK: https://m.vk.com/iralutse

💌 And here is my profile link:
https://m.vk.com/iraluts

Writing Incubator - where writing skills hatch 🦋

"Writing Incubator" is a series of workshops by stellar professionals who love writing. Please welcome our third workshop of the season!

🦋 "Hedging in C2 Proficiency essays: good or evil?" By Alena Nikitina

Hedging is allegedly familiar to many. (Or is it?) But have you ever found yourself wondering how exactly you should use it? Let's be brutally honest: how many times have you completely forgotten to use hedging in an exam essay?

For CPE candidates, hedging might be a trap. We know we should use "might" or "tend to" , but do we hedge the summary of the input texts? The evaluation? Both? Neither? Get it wrong, and you sound either arrogant or uncertain. Get it right, and you demonstrate C2 precision.

In this 90-minute workshop, we are going to solve the dilemma and practice using this helpful tool in your writing. Stop guessing how to use hedging. Start writing with confidence.

📅 22 March, Sunday, 11:00 am MSK, Zoom

💌 The workshop is free. To join, message me @iraluts with a meaningful ending to this comment, "Wow, I can't miss this one! I'd love to join because ... ."

❗️ Please note that this is a workshop, not a webinar or a lecture. If you join, you have to write. "Ghosts" will be kicked out. We don't record our workshops, so this is a safe space to participate.

#IELTS Writing Task Response mistake ❗️

As usual, before I explain the mistake, I will illustrate it – see if you can notice it.

Topic: “Some people believe that children that commit crimes should be punished. Others think the parents should be punished instead. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.”

I will give short, simplified examples for illustration purposes.

Paragraph 1️⃣: The reasoning behind the view that the punishment must be imposed on parents relies on two arguments. First, the offense might be seen as a direct result of upbringing …

Paragraph 2️⃣: I, however, do not consider these arguments convincing and believe that parents must not face any punishment. The main reason for this is that it is unfair to punish those who did not commit any crimes. More importantly, parents cannot be held accountable for their child’s upbringing because their child might have become susceptible to a negative influence elsewhere – for example, at school. …

Do you see what I did wrong in the second paragraph?

Instead of arguing in favor of the second point of view, I argued against the first point of view; i.e. instead of arguing that children must be punished, I argued that parents must not be punished.

Make sure you argue the actual view in the topic – not the just opposite of another view. ❗️

Lifehack: Look at the actual topic several times as you write.

See my full essay on this topic in a pdf collection of around 100 sample answers:

https://t.me/irinalutsenko/551