Hey friends,
Many of you might know about this concept of creating an “Idea Bank” for the IELTS exam.
For those who do not have any idea about an “Idea Bank” , here is a nice video that explains everything about “Idea Bank” and “How to Create an Idea Bank” :
What is an "Idea Bank" ?
An “Idea Bank” is simply a list of useful words, phrases and collocations for a particular topic.
For instance, a frequently asked topic in the IELTS Writing test is “Environment and Climate Change”. For this particular topic, you need to know certain words such as “Global Warming”, “Greenhouse gases”, “fossil fuels”, “carbon sink”, “emissions”, etc.
When you are asked to write an essay on this topic, then these words help you to write a detailed essay that contains vocabulary related to this particular topic.
Likewise there are other topics such as “Education”, “Science & Technology”, “Travel”, “Art & Literature”, etc.
Each topic, say, “Travel”, has its own vocabulary that you need to master in order to compose a beautiful essay or make a speech about.
How to create an "Idea Bank" ?
The one and only way to create an “Idea Bank” for your IELTS test is to read as many blogs, essays, and online articles related to different topics as possible.
Each time you read an article ( or an essay), you need to write down some new words and phrases you come across while reading that article.
Make a habit of reading at least 2-3 articles from English newspapers like The Guardian everyday.
You can also read essays and blogs from online sources.
If you do this for at least a month, then at the end of the month you will have a comprehensive list of words, phrases and collocations for topics like “Environment”, “Art”, “Science & Technology”, “Books & Literature” and so on.
After that whenever you want to write or speak about some topic then you only need to refer to your “Idea Bank” and have a quick glance at the list of useful vocabulary for that particular topic. You will never find yourself at a loss for words again.
An example of creating an "Idea Bank"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/18/results-u-turn-education
From this article, we will make a list of useful words, phrases and collocations for the topic “Education”
Education
- private schools
- gain a place at Oxford
- missing out on a place at Oxbridge ( see the meaning of “miss out” here
- online learning
- Education at its best is a chance to access a new world
(( In this article you will also come across some interesting words that are not exclusively related to the topic “Education”.
Still, you should note them down in your diary so that you can memorize them and use them at appropriate places. ))
Miscellaneous
- It does little to address the underlying issue.
( Here, the word "issue" has been used with the verb "address" .
“To address the issue” means to start working on an issue.
“issue” is a noun, but you see here it is used with the adjective “underlying” .
So , for the noun “issue”, two collocations are used in this sentence : “address” is the verb, and “underlying” is the adjective.)
- debacle
- penalise
- overseeing
- a headline-grabbing scandal ( Here “scandal” is a noun, but it is used with the adjective “headline-grabbing”)
- The exam fiasco is a shameful mess for which the government must make amends.
