Shadowing Practice: IELTS Writing task 1: Bar chart lesson - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello!
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It's IELTS Upwriting tutorial
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and in this lesson I will explain you how to deal with bar charts in IELTS Writing Task 1.
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So, in this lesson you will see an example of a bar chart question in IELTS Writing,
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learn a band 9 answer structure,
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write each paragraph of the ideal answer together and learn some useful vocabulary.
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So, here's an example of writing task 1 question with a bar chart.
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You have a bar chart and you have a question card with some basic information about your chart.
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The first thing you need to do is to read this information attentively.
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Let's do it together.
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The bar chart shows the divorce rates in two European countries from 2011 to 2015.
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Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.
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Now let's look at the bar chart.
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What we can see?
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The name of our chart is Divorce rates in Finland and Sweden.
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Down the vertical axis we have the percentages and along the horizontal axis we have the years.
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Also, we can see that the information is provided for two countries.
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We've got Finland in blue and Sweden in red.
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That is our bar chart.
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And when you have familiarized yourself with the bar chart, it's time to start writing the answer, following the band 9 answer structure.
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And here is the band 9 answer structure for IELTS writing task 1.
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By following this answer structure, you can easily get band 9 for your answer.
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So let's study it together.
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Your first paragraph is an introduction.
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In this paragraph, you should introduce your chart to the readers in one or two sentences.
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Then you should write an overview paragraph.
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In this paragraph, you should describe some general trends and features of your chart.
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Next you should write about specific features of your chart in two or three separate paragraphs.
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And don't forget that your goal in IELTS writing task 1 is to describe the presented information in a very clear way,
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not to give your personal opinion.
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So don't write a conclusion in task 1.
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Now you know the answering strategy, so let's start writing our band 9 answer.
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And our first paragraph is an introduction.
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The introduction is one or two sentences where you simply paraphrase the information from your question.
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You should mention two things in your introduction – what your graph shows and for what period of time.
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So, instead of writing the bar chart shows the divorce rates into European countries from 2011 to 2015,
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we should write a paraphrased version of this information by using synonyms.
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And here is how I wrote it.
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The bar chart provides information about the percentages of divorces in Finland and Sweden between 2011 and 2015.
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You can notice that I did not change the name of the chart.
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And you should never change the name of your graph too.
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Remember, table is a table, bar chart is a bar chart, and line graph is a line graph, so I kept the bar chart.
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Next we have the verb shows, and verbs can always be paraphrased.
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In our case, the verb shows was replaced by provides information about.
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We could also use I use such synonyms as represents or illustrates.
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Instead of the phrase divorce rates, I use the phrase percentages of divorces.
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After that comes the phrase in two European countries.
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Since it's always good to be specific in your introduction, you should try to grasp some extra information from your chart.
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What are those two European countries?
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Do we know?
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In fact, we do!
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Those are Finland and Sweden.
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So we'll use this information in our introduction by writing in Finland and Sweden.
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Then we have the time period.
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We have paraphrased from 2011 to 2015 and written between 2011 and 2015.
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And that's all with our introduction.
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It is clear and specific and it says what our graph shows and for what period of time.
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So when the examiner starts reading our essay, he will quickly get familiar with the bar chart.
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Now we move on to the second paragraph and our second paragraph is a general overview.
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It is a very important paragraph
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and you must provide the overview to achieve a band 6 or more for your task 1.
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In the overview paragraph, you should briefly describe major trends on your chart.
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Ideally, you should describe from 2 to 4 key features.
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Never write numbers, percentages, or dates in the overview.
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Remember, the overview paragraph should contain only general information.
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So, let's look at our bar chart and identify some key features.
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Firstly, let's look at each country separately.
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We've got Finland in blue.
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Does Finland's rate go up or down throughout the period?
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Does it have fluctuations?
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It is clear that overall Finland's rate goes up, but shows some fluctuations.
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So, I'll write down these key features.
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Also, we have Sweden in red.
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We can see that Sweden's rate goes down throughout the period and also shows some fluctuations.
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Let's write this information to our list of key features.
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Now let's look at two countries together.
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How do their rates compare during this time period?
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To answer this question, we have to look at the country's rates at the beginning and at the end of the period.
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We can see that initially Finland's rate was lower than Sweden's rate,
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but at the end of the period Finland's rate became higher or outraced Sweden's rate.
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So let's write down this information.
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Now let's use the key features that we've gathered to write an overview paragraph.
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Here is how I wrote it.
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Overall, Sweden experienced a downward trend while Finland showed an upward trend throughout the period.
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Both countries divorce rates had some fluctuations.
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Although Finland initially had a lower rate, it outraged Sweden at the end of the period.
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You can see that the first word I use is the word overall.
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Always start the overview paragraph with the word overall.
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This word serves as a pointer indicating the examiner that you start writing the overview paragraph.
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Next I wrote a phrase Sweden experienced a downward trend.
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This is just a nice way of saying that Sweden's rate went down.
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And I wrote that Finland showed an upward trend.
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Likewise, this means that Finland's rate rent up.
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Note how I used the linking word while to contrast the opposite trends.
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It is a very good technique, so keep that in mind.
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Then I use word both to say that two countries had the same feature.
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In our case, both countries had some fluctuations.
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And finally, I compare rates of Finland and Sweden throughout the period.
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Since initially Finland's rate was lower than Sweden's rate, but then it changed, I used Lincoln word ALTHOUGH.
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Although Finland initially had a lower rate, it outraced Sweden at the end of the period.
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And that's always the general overview paragraph.
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Now we have to provide specific details of our bar chart.
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Remember that you should group the specific features of your bar chart into separate paragraphs.
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This way your writing will be coherent and you won't lose points for the marking criterion called coherence and cohesion.
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You can organize your specific details.
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In many ways, the most important thing is that your organization is logical.
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Ideally, you should write two or three separate paragraphs.
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Let's look at how I grouped the specific details.
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We have two countries, so the simplest way of grouping our data is to describe each country strand in a separate paragraph.
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So in paragraph 1 we will describe the details about Sweden and in paragraph 2 we will describe the details about Finland.
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When you are given specific features you have to write numbers and percentages and include as much details as you can.
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And here is how I organized the paragraph with Sweden's specific details.
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divorce rate was about 45% in 2011, being higher than Finland's rate by approximately 8%.
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Then, it rose to almost 50% in 2012.
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However, the figure showed a gradual decrease to about 47% percent in 2013
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and continued to decline steadily to the end of the period,
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reaching around 45% in 2014 and hitting a low point of about 37% in 2015.
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You can see that I simply listed all the changes that sequentially happened to Sweden's divorce rate during the given time period.
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I started with describing Sweden's divorce rate in 2011 when I wrote Sweden's divorce rate was about 45% in 2011.
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Pay attention to the word about that I used.
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Look at the bar chart.
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We can see that Sweden's divorce rate was somewhere between 40% and 50%.
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But since the rate falls between the lines, we cannot see the exact number.
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So I picked 45% and used the word about to indicate that this number is not exact.
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It would be incorrect to write Sweden's divorce rate was 45% in 2011.
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So do not throw away the word about.
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Then I compare Sweden's rate to Finland's rate by writing Sweden's divorce rate was about 45% in 2011,
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being higher than Finland's rate by approximately 8%.
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Again I use the word approximately, because we don't know the exact percentage of difference.
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In the next sentence, I describe Sweden's rate in 2012.
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You can see from the graph that in 2012 Sweden's rate became higher,
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so I wrote Then it rose to almost 50% in 2012.
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Look at how I use the word almost.
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The rate was very very close to 50%, but it did not reach this number,
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so I wrote almost 50 percent it is a very nice technique
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and the last sentence in this paragraph is dedicated to Sweden's decreasing trend at the end of the period.
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We can see that during the last three successive years Sweden's rate had been decreasing.
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So I combined this information in the last sentence by writing.
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However, the figure showed a gradual decrease to about 47% in 2013
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and continued to decline steadily to the end of the period,
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reaching around 35% in 2014 and hitting a low point of about 37% in 2015.
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The linking word, however, is used to emphasize that Sweden's rate changed in opposite direction from increasing to decreasing.
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Also you can see that all the percentages I indicated are not exact,
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so I used words around and about.
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And finally, pay attention to the expression that I used, hitting a low point of about 37%.
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When graph hits a low point of x percent, it means that the graph reaches its lowest number.
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And this phrase is a great way of indicating what was the graph's minimum and in what year.
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That's all with our first paragraph with specific features.
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And now we move on to the second paragraph with Finland's specific features.
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And here is how I wrote it.
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Percentage of divorces in Finland was less than 40% in 2011, and it decreased in 2012,
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when about one-third of marriages in Finland ended with a divorce, as opposed to almost a half in Sweden.
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However, the figure experienced a steady growth during the next two years.
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It rose to approximately 39% in 2013,
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then increased by around 3% in 2014 and remained steady for the next year,
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outracing the rate of Sweden.
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Just as well as in the paragraph with Sweden's specific features,
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I organized this paragraph by listing changes that happened to Finland's rate from 2011 to 2015.
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So in the first sentence I described Finland's rate in 2011 and 2012, when it was decreasing.
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from 2013 Finland's rate changes in opposite direction it starts increasing
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so I start the next sentence with the word however
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and say however the figure experienced a steady growth during the
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next two years in my last sentence I I describe the changes
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that happened to Finland's rate from 2013 to 2015 in detail.
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You can see that I use words approximately and around to show
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that I describe percentages which cannot be told exactly from the graph.
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Great!
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That's always our second paragraph with specific features.
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So we have finished our band 9 answer.
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Now you can look at the whole answer with all paragraphs put together.
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Thank you very much!
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I hope you enjoyed this lesson and see you soon in another IELTS upwriting tutorial.
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Thank you.
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Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección
Esta lección de conversación de nivel B2 se basa en el vídeo “IELTS Writing task 1: Bar chart lesson”. Las palabras que más se repiten: rate, paragraph, chart, bar, divorce. Este vídeo tiene 173 frases y 1988 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 17:23. El hablante mantiene un ritmo constante de unas 114 palabras por minuto, cómodo para el shadowing. El 82 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés; conviene repasar el resto antes de empezar.
Vocabulario clave de este vídeo
Las 15 palabras más avanzadas del vídeo, con su pronunciación y significado:
| Palabra | Pronunciación | Significado |
|---|---|---|
| paragraph sustantivo | /ˈpæɹəɡɹæf/ | párrafo, parágrafo |
| overview sustantivo | /ˈoʊ.vɚˌvjuː/ | resumen, visión de conjunto |
| graph sustantivo | /ɡɹæf/ | gráfico, gráfica |
| decrease verbo | /dɪˈkɹiːs/ | mermar[se], descrecer |
| fluctuation sustantivo | /flʌkt͡ʃuːˈeɪʃən/ | fluctuación |
| paraphrase verbo | /ˈpæɹəfɹeɪz/ | parafrasear |
| verb sustantivo | /vɝb/ | verbo |
| organize verbo | /ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/ | organizar |
| synonym sustantivo | /ˈsɪn.əˌnɪm/ | sinónimo |
| examiner sustantivo | /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/ | examinador |
| gradual adjetivo | /ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuəl/ | gradual, paulatino |
| downward adverbio | /ˈdaʊnwɚd/ | hacia abajo |
| ideally adverbio | /aɪˈdi.ə.li/ | idealmente |
| tutorial sustantivo | /ˌtjuːˈtɔːɹɪəl/ | tutoría, tutorial |
| axis sustantivo | /ˈæksɪs/ | eje |
Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar
| Palabra | Significado |
|---|---|
| go up verbo | subir |
| write down verbo | apuntar, anotar |
| put together verbo | construir, elaborar |
| throw away verbo | tirar, echar |
Frases que vale la pena repetir
Frases cortas y completas del vídeo que puedes reutilizar en la conversación diaria:
- What we can see?
- Firstly, let's look at each country separately.
- Let's look at how I grouped the specific details.
- That's all with our first paragraph with specific features.
- That's always our second paragraph with specific features.
Gramática en este vídeo
Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:
| Estructura | En el vídeo |
|---|---|
| Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace | is provided · be paraphrased · was replaced |
| Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahora | have familiarized · have paraphrased · we've gathered |
Pronunciación a tener en cuenta
El hablante usa 9 contracciones y formas reducidas, como don't, we've, I'll. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.
- Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: fluctuation /flʌkt͡ʃuːˈeɪʃən/, cohesion /kəʊˈhiː.ʒən/
- Palabras largas — cuida el acento: fluctuation /flʌkt͡ʃuːˈeɪʃən/, examiner /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/, ideally /aɪˈdi.ə.li/, criterion /kɹaɪˈtɪɹ.i.ən/, familiarize /fəˈmɪliəɹaɪ̯z/
Sonidos difíciles para hispanohablantes:
- s + consonante al inicio — sin añadir una “e” delante: steadily /ˈstɛdɪli/, strand /ˈstɹænd/
- /v/ — no es /b/: los dientes tocan el labio inferior: overview /ˈoʊ.vɚˌvjuː/, verb /vɝb/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, successive /səkˈsɛsɪv/, vertical /ˈvɝ.tɪ.kəl/
- /z/ — sonora, no /s/: paraphrase /ˈpæɹəfɹeɪz/, organize /ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/, examiner /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/, familiarize /fəˈmɪliəɹaɪ̯z/, summarize /ˈsʌməˌɹaɪz/
Cómo practicar con este vídeo
- Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
- Haz shadowing frase por frase a velocidad normal, repitiendo cada una hasta que tu ritmo coincida con el del hablante.
- Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como paragraph, overview, graph.
¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?
Shadowing es una técnica de aprendizaje de idiomas respaldada por la ciencia, desarrollada originalmente para la formación de intérpretes profesionales y popularizada por el políglota Dr. Alexander Arguelles. El método es simple pero poderoso: escuchas audio en inglés nativo y lo repites en voz alta de inmediato, como una sombra que sigue al hablante con solo 1-2 segundos de retraso. A diferencia de la escucha pasiva o los ejercicios de gramática, el shadowing obliga a tu cerebro y músculos de la boca a procesar y reproducir simultáneamente patrones de habla reales. Las investigaciones muestran que mejora significativamente la precisión de la pronunciación, la entonación, el ritmo, el habla conectada, la comprensión auditiva y la fluidez al hablar, convirtiéndola en una de las metodologías más efectivas para la preparación del IELTS Speaking y la comunicación en inglés en el mundo real.