Shadowing Practice: IELTS Writing task 1: Bar chart lesson - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hello!

It's IELTS Upwriting tutorial

and in this lesson I will explain you how to deal with bar charts in IELTS Writing Task 1.

So, in this lesson you will see an example of a bar chart question in IELTS Writing,

learn a band 9 answer structure,

write each paragraph of the ideal answer together and learn some useful vocabulary.

So, here's an example of writing task 1 question with a bar chart.

You have a bar chart and you have a question card with some basic information about your chart.

The first thing you need to do is to read this information attentively.

Let's do it together.

The bar chart shows the divorce rates in two European countries from 2011 to 2015.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Now let's look at the bar chart.

What we can see?

The name of our chart is Divorce rates in Finland and Sweden.

Down the vertical axis we have the percentages and along the horizontal axis we have the years.

Also, we can see that the information is provided for two countries.

We've got Finland in blue and Sweden in red.

That is our bar chart.

And when you have familiarized yourself with the bar chart, it's time to start writing the answer, following the band 9 answer structure.

And here is the band 9 answer structure for IELTS writing task 1.

By following this answer structure, you can easily get band 9 for your answer.

So let's study it together.

Your first paragraph is an introduction.

In this paragraph, you should introduce your chart to the readers in one or two sentences.

Then you should write an overview paragraph.

In this paragraph, you should describe some general trends and features of your chart.

Next you should write about specific features of your chart in two or three separate paragraphs.

And don't forget that your goal in IELTS writing task 1 is to describe the presented information in a very clear way,

not to give your personal opinion.

So don't write a conclusion in task 1.

Now you know the answering strategy, so let's start writing our band 9 answer.

And our first paragraph is an introduction.

The introduction is one or two sentences where you simply paraphrase the information from your question.

You should mention two things in your introduction – what your graph shows and for what period of time.

So, instead of writing the bar chart shows the divorce rates into European countries from 2011 to 2015,

we should write a paraphrased version of this information by using synonyms.

And here is how I wrote it.

The bar chart provides information about the percentages of divorces in Finland and Sweden between 2011 and 2015.

You can notice that I did not change the name of the chart.

And you should never change the name of your graph too.

Remember, table is a table, bar chart is a bar chart, and line graph is a line graph, so I kept the bar chart.

Next we have the verb shows, and verbs can always be paraphrased.

In our case, the verb shows was replaced by provides information about.

We could also use I use such synonyms as represents or illustrates.

Instead of the phrase divorce rates, I use the phrase percentages of divorces.

After that comes the phrase in two European countries.

Since it's always good to be specific in your introduction, you should try to grasp some extra information from your chart.

What are those two European countries?

Do we know?

In fact, we do!

Those are Finland and Sweden.

So we'll use this information in our introduction by writing in Finland and Sweden.

Then we have the time period.

We have paraphrased from 2011 to 2015 and written between 2011 and 2015.

And that's all with our introduction.

It is clear and specific and it says what our graph shows and for what period of time.

So when the examiner starts reading our essay, he will quickly get familiar with the bar chart.

Now we move on to the second paragraph and our second paragraph is a general overview.

It is a very important paragraph

and you must provide the overview to achieve a band 6 or more for your task 1.

In the overview paragraph, you should briefly describe major trends on your chart.

Ideally, you should describe from 2 to 4 key features.

Never write numbers, percentages, or dates in the overview.

Remember, the overview paragraph should contain only general information.

So, let's look at our bar chart and identify some key features.

Firstly, let's look at each country separately.

We've got Finland in blue.

Does Finland's rate go up or down throughout the period?

Does it have fluctuations?

It is clear that overall Finland's rate goes up, but shows some fluctuations.

So, I'll write down these key features.

Also, we have Sweden in red.

We can see that Sweden's rate goes down throughout the period and also shows some fluctuations.

Let's write this information to our list of key features.

Now let's look at two countries together.

How do their rates compare during this time period?

To answer this question, we have to look at the country's rates at the beginning and at the end of the period.

We can see that initially Finland's rate was lower than Sweden's rate,

but at the end of the period Finland's rate became higher or outraced Sweden's rate.

So let's write down this information.

Now let's use the key features that we've gathered to write an overview paragraph.

Here is how I wrote it.

Overall, Sweden experienced a downward trend while Finland showed an upward trend throughout the period.

Both countries divorce rates had some fluctuations.

Although Finland initially had a lower rate, it outraged Sweden at the end of the period.

You can see that the first word I use is the word overall.

Always start the overview paragraph with the word overall.

This word serves as a pointer indicating the examiner that you start writing the overview paragraph.

Next I wrote a phrase Sweden experienced a downward trend.

This is just a nice way of saying that Sweden's rate went down.

And I wrote that Finland showed an upward trend.

Likewise, this means that Finland's rate rent up.

Note how I used the linking word while to contrast the opposite trends.

It is a very good technique, so keep that in mind.

Then I use word both to say that two countries had the same feature.

In our case, both countries had some fluctuations.

And finally, I compare rates of Finland and Sweden throughout the period.

Since initially Finland's rate was lower than Sweden's rate, but then it changed, I used Lincoln word ALTHOUGH.

100

Although Finland initially had a lower rate, it outraced Sweden at the end of the period.

101

And that's always the general overview paragraph.

102

Now we have to provide specific details of our bar chart.

103

Remember that you should group the specific features of your bar chart into separate paragraphs.

104

This way your writing will be coherent and you won't lose points for the marking criterion called coherence and cohesion.

105

You can organize your specific details.

106

In many ways, the most important thing is that your organization is logical.

107

Ideally, you should write two or three separate paragraphs.

108

Let's look at how I grouped the specific details.

109

We have two countries, so the simplest way of grouping our data is to describe each country strand in a separate paragraph.

110

So in paragraph 1 we will describe the details about Sweden and in paragraph 2 we will describe the details about Finland.

111

When you are given specific features you have to write numbers and percentages and include as much details as you can.

112

And here is how I organized the paragraph with Sweden's specific details.

113

divorce rate was about 45% in 2011, being higher than Finland's rate by approximately 8%.

114

Then, it rose to almost 50% in 2012.

115

However, the figure showed a gradual decrease to about 47% percent in 2013

116

and continued to decline steadily to the end of the period,

117

reaching around 45% in 2014 and hitting a low point of about 37% in 2015.

118

You can see that I simply listed all the changes that sequentially happened to Sweden's divorce rate during the given time period.

119

I started with describing Sweden's divorce rate in 2011 when I wrote Sweden's divorce rate was about 45% in 2011.

120

Pay attention to the word about that I used.

121

Look at the bar chart.

122

We can see that Sweden's divorce rate was somewhere between 40% and 50%.

123

But since the rate falls between the lines, we cannot see the exact number.

124

So I picked 45% and used the word about to indicate that this number is not exact.

125

It would be incorrect to write Sweden's divorce rate was 45% in 2011.

126

So do not throw away the word about.

127

Then I compare Sweden's rate to Finland's rate by writing Sweden's divorce rate was about 45% in 2011,

128

being higher than Finland's rate by approximately 8%.

129

Again I use the word approximately, because we don't know the exact percentage of difference.

130

In the next sentence, I describe Sweden's rate in 2012.

131

You can see from the graph that in 2012 Sweden's rate became higher,

132

so I wrote Then it rose to almost 50% in 2012.

133

Look at how I use the word almost.

134

The rate was very very close to 50%, but it did not reach this number,

135

so I wrote almost 50 percent it is a very nice technique

136

and the last sentence in this paragraph is dedicated to Sweden's decreasing trend at the end of the period.

137

We can see that during the last three successive years Sweden's rate had been decreasing.

138

So I combined this information in the last sentence by writing.

139

However, the figure showed a gradual decrease to about 47% in 2013

140

and continued to decline steadily to the end of the period,

141

reaching around 35% in 2014 and hitting a low point of about 37% in 2015.

142

The linking word, however, is used to emphasize that Sweden's rate changed in opposite direction from increasing to decreasing.

143

Also you can see that all the percentages I indicated are not exact,

144

so I used words around and about.

145

And finally, pay attention to the expression that I used, hitting a low point of about 37%.

146

When graph hits a low point of x percent, it means that the graph reaches its lowest number.

147

And this phrase is a great way of indicating what was the graph's minimum and in what year.

148

That's all with our first paragraph with specific features.

149

And now we move on to the second paragraph with Finland's specific features.

150

And here is how I wrote it.

151

Percentage of divorces in Finland was less than 40% in 2011, and it decreased in 2012,

152

when about one-third of marriages in Finland ended with a divorce, as opposed to almost a half in Sweden.

153

However, the figure experienced a steady growth during the next two years.

154

It rose to approximately 39% in 2013,

155

then increased by around 3% in 2014 and remained steady for the next year,

156

outracing the rate of Sweden.

157

Just as well as in the paragraph with Sweden's specific features,

158

I organized this paragraph by listing changes that happened to Finland's rate from 2011 to 2015.

159

So in the first sentence I described Finland's rate in 2011 and 2012, when it was decreasing.

160

from 2013 Finland's rate changes in opposite direction it starts increasing

161

so I start the next sentence with the word however

162

and say however the figure experienced a steady growth during the

163

next two years in my last sentence I I describe the changes

164

that happened to Finland's rate from 2013 to 2015 in detail.

165

You can see that I use words approximately and around to show

166

that I describe percentages which cannot be told exactly from the graph.

167

Great!

168

That's always our second paragraph with specific features.

169

So we have finished our band 9 answer.

170

Now you can look at the whole answer with all paragraphs put together.

171

Thank you very much!

172

I hope you enjoyed this lesson and see you soon in another IELTS upwriting tutorial.

173

Thank you.

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Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les

Deze spreekles op niveau B2 is gebaseerd op de video “IELTS Writing task 1: Bar chart lesson”. Deze woorden komen het vaakst terug: rate, paragraph, chart, bar, divorce. Deze video bevat 173 zinnen en 1988 woorden om na te spreken. Het gesproken deel duurt 17:23. De spreker praat in een gelijkmatig tempo van ongeveer 114 woorden per minuut, prettig om te shadowen. 82% van de woorden hoort bij de 3.000 meest gebruikte Engelse woorden; de rest kun je beter vooraf bekijken.

Belangrijke woorden in deze video

De 15 moeilijkste woorden uit de video, met uitspraak en betekenis:

Woord	Uitspraak	Betekenis
paragraph zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈpæɹəɡɹæf/	alinea, paragraaf
overview zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈoʊ.vɚˌvjuː/	overzicht
graph zelfstandig naamwoord	/ɡɹæf/	grafiek
decrease werkwoord	/dɪˈkɹiːs/	afnemen, verminderen
fluctuation zelfstandig naamwoord	/flʌkt͡ʃuːˈeɪʃən/	schommeling
verb zelfstandig naamwoord	/vɝb/	werkwoord
organize werkwoord	/ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/	organiseren
synonym zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈsɪn.əˌnɪm/	synoniem, evenwoord
gradual bijvoeglijk naamwoord	/ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuəl/	geleidelijk, gestaag
tutorial zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˌtjuːˈtɔːɹɪəl/	snelcursus, tutorial
axis zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈæksɪs/	as
attentively bijwoord		oplettend
cohesion zelfstandig naamwoord	/kəʊˈhiː.ʒən/	cohesie, samenhang
criterion zelfstandig naamwoord	/kɹaɪˈtɪɹ.i.ən/	criterium
sequentially bijwoord	/səˈkwɛntʃəli/	op volgorde

Phrasal verbs die je zult horen

Woord	Betekenis
go down werkwoord	afdalen
write down werkwoord	opschrijven, neerschrijven
throw away werkwoord	weggooien

Zinnen om te herhalen

Korte, volledige zinnen uit de video die je in alledaagse gesprekken kunt gebruiken:

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.

Grammatica in deze video

De structuren die de spreker het meest gebruikt, met de exacte woorden uit de video:

Structuur	In de video
Lijdende vorm be + voltooid deelwoord — het gaat om wat er gebeurt, niet om wie het doet	is provided · be paraphrased · was replaced
Present perfect have/has + voltooid deelwoord — iets uit het verleden dat nu nog telt	have familiarized · have paraphrased · we've gathered

Uitspraak om op te letten

De spreker gebruikt 9 samentrekkingen en verkorte vormen, zoals don't, we've, I'll. Spreek ze kort uit, zoals je ze hoort.

De klanken “sh” en “zh”: fluctuation /flʌkt͡ʃuːˈeɪʃən/, cohesion /kəʊˈhiː.ʒən/
Lange woorden — let op de klemtoon: fluctuation /flʌkt͡ʃuːˈeɪʃən/, examiner /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/, ideally /aɪˈdi.ə.li/, criterion /kɹaɪˈtɪɹ.i.ən/, familiarize /fəˈmɪliəɹaɪ̯z/

Klanken die Nederlandstaligen lastig vinden:

Stemhebbende eindmedeklinker — /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /v/ niet verscherpen: bind /ˈbaɪ̯nd/, paraphrase /ˈpæɹəfɹeɪz/, verb /vɝb/, organize /ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/, upward /ˈʌpwɚd/
/æ/ — opener dan de Nederlandse “e”: paragraph /ˈpæɹəɡɹæf/, graph /ɡɹæf/, paraphrase /ˈpæɹəfɹeɪz/, examiner /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/, gradual /ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuəl/
/g/ — een harde plofklank, geen Nederlandse “g”: paragraph /ˈpæɹəɡɹæf/, graph /ɡɹæf/, organize /ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/, examiner /əɡˈzæmɪnɚ/, gradual /ˈɡɹæd͡ʒuəl/

Zo oefen je met deze video

Luister de hele video één keer zonder te spreken en noteer de woorden die je niet kent.
Spreek zin voor zin na op normale snelheid en herhaal elke zin tot je ritme gelijk is aan dat van de spreker.
Neem jezelf op en vergelijk met het origineel; let daarbij op woorden als paragraph, overview, graph.

Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?

Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.

Shadowing-techniek: lees de volledige stap-voor-stap-gids →

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Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les

Belangrijke woorden in deze video

Phrasal verbs die je zult horen

Zinnen om te herhalen

Grammatica in deze video

Uitspraak om op te letten

Zo oefen je met deze video

Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?