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2020

IELTS essay, topic: Some think that young people should be free to choose any career they like, while others say that they should think more realistically about their future (opinion)

Some think that young people should be free to choose any career they like, while others say that they should think more realistically about their future. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Sample Band 8 Essay

Choosing a future career requires careful consideration. While some people claim that adolescents should be able to pursue a career they would enjoy, others oppose to that, arguing that teenagers should aim for a high-paying job in order to secure a livelihood when they grow up. Given that our life consists of more than just physiological needs, I strongly believe that it is vital to fulfill one’s potential in the career fields that are most compatible with their interests.

The youth who choose highly skilled jobs may find it easier to have a fruitful future in a materialistic sense. It is true that some professions, such as engineers or doctors, are well paid and offer more stability compared to work in other, non-professional fields. For example, psychologists usually have higher starting salaries compared to artists; they also rarely lose their jobs in recessions. People who prioritise earning a living might agree that a reliable job is a must for their future and by no means will they take risks to gain employment in a field they are passionate about, that doesn’t pay well.

However, it is worth remembering that we are living in a rapidly changing world and the concept of a ‘guaranteed future’ is unrealistic. Even the smartest of us aren’t prophets and it is impossible to foresee many changes in job markets in the future; some high-salaried jobs of today may no longer exist by the time our young people become adults. Therefore, people may choose to pursue their dreams and follow career paths according to their passions and interests now, to avoid having regrets later in life.

Having considered the reasons to prefer monetary remuneration over one’s interests, I am convinced that it would be a pity for youths to limit their career choices to highly paid jobs of today. Unforeseen changes in the jobs markets may affect salaries but won’t change the pleasure one derives from doing something they love.

Teacher’s comment: The writer discussed both sides of the argument, expressed his/her opinion and presented relevant arguments to support it. This essay has good structure, main ideas are organized well and conveyed coherently. The writer has a good range of vocabulary, and most sentences are free from grammatical errors. Overall, this is a very good essay and seems worthy of Band 8

Click here to see more IELTS essays of Band 8

IELTS grammar: how to use quantifiers in IELTS for optimal results

You probably know some quantifiers, even if the word ‘quantifiers’ doesn’t mean much to you.

Quantifiers are words that go before nouns and show the quantity. But quantifiers are NOT numbers – they are used INSTEAD of numbers.

Here are a few examples of quantifiers:

All – all students, all water
A lot of – a lot of men, a lot of research
Plenty of – plenty of resources, plenty of information
Some – some apples, some coffee

Quantifiers can be countable, uncountable or both – it means some of them can only be used with either countable or uncountable nouns, and others can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. They can also be formal or informal. You should know that, to choose the right one!

Quantifiers need to be memorised. Yep, there’s no way around it. But hey, your time investment in remembering them will produce a better IELTS score!

In today’s lesson video Adam, the ex-IELTS examiner with 10 years of experience that we partnered with, tells you everything you should know about quantifiers and gives you plenty of examples.

Click here to start the lesson and do a quick quiz

In the lesson click “Watch” to watch the lesson and then click “Think” to answer 5 questions on it.

If you make a mistake, the lesson will take you to the correct answer in the video. Video hints work on desktop computers, on mobile devices you will just see the correct/incorrect answers.

IELTS Grammar Lesson 3

Quantifiers are important for reading and listening – quantifiers and their synonyms can be found in the Reading texts and also in the Listening recordings or questions.

In the IELTS Speaking and Writing using them earns you extra points for Lexical Resource. Go here to check YOUR own Speaking score.

The IELTS Writing Task 1 Academic is where they really help you get a higher score. They are also useful for Writing Task 2 because inevitably you will need to talk about the majority of people, or how much something affects a particular group, etc. A range of synonyms-quantifiers will drive your score up.

We often include the entire list of words from the video here, on the blog, but for this lesson we won’t. Why? Because your vocabulary will benefit from watching the entire video, pausing it and writing the quantifiers down. When you write words down, it helps you remember them, and you need to memorise the quantifiers – so this exercise will help you.

Enjoy the lesson, and by the time you’ve finished watching it, you should have a list of quantifiers. To make this list even more useful, add a note next to each quantifier whether it is countable or uncountable, formal or informal.