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Please assess my Task 2 essay, thanks

Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2017 2:30 pm
by Gamal
Modern communications mean that it’s no longer necessary to write letters.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
(source: w w w . ielts-exam.net/ielts_writing_samples_task_2/977/ )

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Respect to this theme, it's necessary to distinguish between situations wich modern media is convenient -or even mandatory- and the ones that is clearly unpractical.
There are ocassions such as recording a videoletter or taking a picture, that are more practical if you are in middle of a street. They take less time in elaborating them than writting a text letter. They also are more accessible fore the average public, as it requires only of having a smartphone or similar device (like a camera, video/audio recorder, etc), that nowadays can be acquired at a reasonable cost. Besides, in comparison with having to do long hours (even years) to dominate the grammar rules, semantical contexts and broad lexicon in order to express correctly feelings, ideas and opinions, a 5 to 10 years old child can learn to operate more quickly an iPhone, and just start to record his or her videos in a few hours.
On the other hand, it can certainly be taken for sure than almost every "ultimate" gadget for videoblogging or photography is based on electronic technology, therefore, it needs of electrical power for working. In critical emergency situations like earthquakes, or people having lost in a forest for weeks, anything that works with a battery will not be useful in the long term, leaving the reliable paper and pen as the only resources for writing a last message. In the same way, technological resources are less likely to work (specially the ones which need a network connection) in less developed countries.
To summarise, basic means like writing on paper will always have a place in a world with more and more sophisticated gizmos, because the're simple and reliable, even though it takes more time to master the art of writing.

Re: Please assess my Task 2 essay, thanks

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2017 2:52 am
by David.IELTS.Examiner
Hello!

WITH respect to...

Regardless of your opinion, this essay requires you to look at letter writing in some detail - and you have not!

The second paragraph, if I'm lost in a forest, a letter isn't going to help - I'm lost!

In the conclusion, you refer to 'writing on paper' which is definitely not the same as writing a letter (e.g. shopping list).

You've missed the obvious arguments here - writing with pen/pencil/ink as a skill, more personal, more useful in isolated areas.

Grammatical range and accuracy are quite good, but vocabulary is weak as it is not used to effectively answer the question.

All the best,
David