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How to Generate Ideas for IELTS Writing Task 2 Many IELTS students struggle with generating ideas for Writing Task 2. If you've ever found yourself staring at a blank page, unsure of what to write, you’re not alone. In this article, we’ll explore practical strategies to develop strong essay ideas and improve your IELTS writing score.
Why Do Students Struggle with Idea Generation? As discussed in a recent IELTS Podcast episode, many students, particularly from educational systems that focus on right and wrong answers, find it challenging to develop creative or critical responses. In some cultures, education is structured around memorisation rather than independent thinking, making it difficult to brainstorm ideas in open-ended writing tasks.
Strategies to Develop Essay Ideas 1. Expand Your Knowledge Base One of the best ways to generate ideas is to build your general knowledge. Read about common IELTS topics such as technology, education, and the environment. The more you know, the easier it will be to recall relevant ideas during the exam.
Check out our IELTS Writing Task 2 resources to get started.
2. Use the ‘Why, What, How’ Method For any given essay question, break it down into these three components:
Why? – Why is this issue important? What? – What are the key arguments? How? – How can we solve this problem or support an argument? This simple framework helps you create well-structured responses quickly.
3. Consider Different Perspectives Many students struggle because they only consider one viewpoint. Instead, think of how different groups (governments, businesses, individuals) might respond to an issue. This will give you a wider range of ideas to use in your essays.
4. Practise Brainstorming Under Timed Conditions Time pressure can make it difficult to think clearly. Practise brainstorming for 5 minutes before writing a full essay. Try our online IELTS course for structured practice exercises.
Overcoming ‘Blank Mind’ Syndrome Many students freeze when faced with an unfamiliar topic. To combat this:
Practise writing about a variety of IELTS topics. Use mind maps to visually organise ideas. Memorise key vocabulary and phrases to help structure your response. If you need feedback on your writing, consider our IELTS essay correction service.
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0:00
[Laughter]
0:03
hello there I students welcome to I
0:07
podcast you no longer have to worry
0:09
threat or Panic about I because we are
0:12
here to guide you through this test
0:16
jungle enjoy these IELTS tutorials and
0:19
if you need more help want to access the
0:22
fous online course you can visit us at
0:25
ieltspodcast.com
0:28
how to get ideas for ielt writing task
0:33
two hi there my name is Ben Worthington
0:37
and in this tutorial we've got a very
0:40
special guest um she's an English uh
0:43
lady the teacher who is now who's
0:46
brought up in the West in London to be
0:49
specific and is now teaching over in
0:52
Hong Kong and we were chatting earlier
0:56
because she's also a teacher and she was
0:59
sh sharing some really interesting
1:03
valuable information as to why some
1:06
students have
1:09
difficulties um thinking of ideas and
1:12
generating ideas so uh welcome to the
1:16
show Sophie how are you doing thank you
1:20
Ben thank you for having me I'm very
1:21
well thank you how are you I'm good I'm
1:23
good and good so before we jump into
1:26
this Sophie um if it's okay with you
1:29
could you just give give us like a brief
1:31
overview of like you know how you
1:34
managed to get into how you managed to
1:37
find yourself in Hong
1:39
Kong yeah sure so um as you said I was
1:43
born in the UK but I'm ethnically
1:46
Chinese and Vietnamese um and I was I
1:50
was actually teaching uh design and
1:53
visual arts or Art and Design in England
1:56
for about 3 years specializing in GC and
1:59
levels and then I decided that I
2:02
actually wanted to teach abroad and I
2:04
wanted to explore Asia because that's
2:06
ethnically where I'm actually from so in
2:08
order to learn more about my Chinese and
2:11
Asian background I decided to apply for
2:14
an international job in Hong Kong and
2:16
I've been in Hong Kong for about nine
2:18
years now teaching um Art and Design um
2:23
in various curriculum such as uh GSC I
2:25
GSC and the IB um and I've t in three
2:30
different international schools wow
2:33
excellent that Sophie's got a similar
2:36
issue to not issue but a similar
2:38
situation to me uh regarding her accent
2:41
Sophie do you think you modify your
2:45
accent I'm just out of
2:48
curiosity can I modify my accent this is
2:52
a very interesting question then because
2:53
I've been in Asia for nine consecutive
2:57
years almost um and and um when I go
3:01
back to the UK where I was Bor up I I I
3:06
can tell there's a distinct difference
3:07
in the way I speak English in comparison
3:11
to my friends and my family so um I was
3:15
brought up predominantly in London and
3:18
the accent that is usually referred to
3:21
is a cockney accent so you're a cockney
3:25
sorry bit bit of a cockney accent
3:29
but I've been since being in Asia since
3:31
being in in Hong Kong it's more of a a
3:34
more of a an international accent or
3:37
it's more of a polished spoken English
3:39
compared to a cotney accent right so
3:43
basically you've um you've how would you
3:48
say this you've um abandoned your cotney
3:52
Origins I I don't know if I abandoned my
3:55
cotney Origins but I I do realize um I
3:58
remember the experience I had in my
4:01
first year teaching in Hong Kong when I
4:03
pronounced specific words and a lot of
4:06
the students didn't know what I was
4:08
saying
4:09
so and I think what it is is especially
4:13
in um a city city like Hong Kong
4:17
students watch things like Netflix or
4:21
more Americanized TV serieses or films
4:25
so their accents are more Americanized
4:27
and I will say English m unless they're
4:30
specifically watching something very
4:34
English so in even speaking in a very as
4:37
English as possible or using a specific
4:40
terminology they just wouldn't
4:41
understand for instance I know the word
4:43
pants in the US is known as trousers in
4:47
in its equivalence in in England so yeah
4:50
it's been an interesting
4:52
experience gotcha Goa yeah well I I've
4:55
said this a few times on the show that
4:57
I've I've modified my accent as well
5:00
just um just so I could be understood
5:03
and also I think I said this just a few
5:06
weeks ago but also I I didn't feel sort
5:09
of like so comfortable teaching students
5:12
uh the Yorkshire pronunciation of
5:15
certain terms because they're learning
5:17
the accent H sorry they're learning the
5:19
language and when you're speaking
5:21
another language your goal is to be is
5:24
to communicate so when I taught I tried
5:28
to basically
5:30
neutralize my accent a little bit
5:32
because like you certain words they just
5:36
stared at me blank you know and I had to
5:39
really and I had to modify them and then
5:42
I only when the student got it and they
5:44
were like oh he's saying bass and I'm
5:48
like yeah okay it's bass not boss you
5:52
know only then I'd realized that okay
5:55
this is the way they've been taught so
5:57
I'm going to use this termin terminology
6:00
is this accent as well um but yeah I
6:04
think it's all just part and parcel of
6:06
being a
6:08
teacher yes I think it's just one of
6:11
those things I think depending on the
6:13
environment that you're in and the
6:16
audience that you're communicating with
6:18
I think it's quite a natural thing to
6:21
alter the way you communicate in order
6:24
to have clearer better communication MH
6:27
yeah totally totally agree
6:30
there and in Hong Kong and I think you
6:34
said as well in Asia in general uh you
6:38
said that well I know as well from
6:40
personal experience with with students
6:42
and you um basically yeah you agreed
6:45
with me but we were talking about that
6:48
it's quite common for students to come
6:51
with this problem of they're finding it
6:53
difficult to get ideas and sometimes
6:56
maybe the brain goes blank the Mind goes
6:58
blank and they can't think of the ideas
7:02
um in your opinion why do you think this
7:07
happens um so being a teacher that tries
7:13
to cultivate creativity
7:15
specifically um what i realiz is that
7:18
there's quite a distinct difference with
7:20
students um born and taught and cultured
7:24
in Western culture and those with an
7:27
Eastern background just from my personal
7:29
experience having taught in London um
7:32
students were able to use their own
7:35
initiative they weren't frightened of
7:37
trying new ideas and testing and
7:40
exploring things that they could find
7:43
that that don't actually work through
7:45
Tri and error they they basically moved
7:48
on from ideas very quickly they were
7:50
very resilient and um they had a growth
7:53
mindset I would say a very positive
7:56
forward way of thinking in terms of
7:59
learning through um making mistakes and
8:03
and and and and in a positive way the
8:05
idea of a mistake is kind of seen as a
8:10
negative thing in Asia in a sense that
8:14
um most students from a very young age
8:17
are taught that there is either a right
8:20
or wrong answer rather than looking at
8:24
the at the idea that there may be great
8:26
areas and different ways of seeing
8:28
things it's usually evil or wrong um I
8:31
see this a lot with with subjects of
8:33
like for instance like math when you
8:36
know there's formulas that you follow or
8:39
there is um a way you do things a
8:41
structure and you follow that and you'll
8:44
get a right answer so in subjects of
8:48
creativity or or subjects that need you
8:51
to use your initiative to think out of
8:53
the box that doesn't follow a follow a
8:55
formula it usually is a bit of a
8:58
challenge especially with students from
9:01
a background in Asia when they've been
9:04
told from a very young age that there's
9:07
a specific way of doing things so the
9:10
there's a an idea of idealistic
9:13
perfectionism as well when you know if
9:15
you try something and it doesn't work
9:18
then it's wrong while in in the in the
9:22
west that's seen as a good thing because
9:24
that's a process of thinking so in terms
9:28
of the differences of the East and the
9:31
West I tend to find soft skills such as
9:34
critical thinking creative thinking
9:36
skills and transfer skills are probably
9:39
a little bit more behind in the East
9:41
compared to the west and conversely like
9:45
the in the East they Excel where there
9:49
is a right and wrong answer such as like
9:51
the the science subjects especially
9:53
mathematics no yes absolutely so more
9:57
academic subjects like like you said
10:00
Math and Science when there is usually
10:02
just a right or wrong answer or one
10:04
answer um students in
10:09
Asia because been basically taught from
10:13
a young age from even the age of five
10:15
they've been tested before they've been
10:18
accepted in the school of their choice
10:20
um when I first moved to Asia my first
10:22
experience was to sit on an academic
10:25
panel interviewing fivey olds for um
10:30
for school positions and I distincly
10:33
remember there was I think I interviewed
10:36
35-year olds wow and there were only 30
10:40
positions
10:41
30 um seats in the school and these
10:46
students were interviewed not in just
10:49
English but in Chinese they were tested
10:51
in math and um other other tests as well
10:56
so even from that age they're taught
10:58
look you got to get the right answer so
10:59
don't get the wrong answer otherwise
11:01
there'll be consequences wow that's
11:03
incredible yeah and then if we try and
11:06
apply that mindset to a situation like I
11:11
El's writing task 2 where we've got
11:14
these typical questions where there is
11:17
no right or wrong answer absolutely it
11:21
could be I can totally understand now
11:23
why they find because at first when I
11:25
got into this I was like what's the
11:27
issue why does it so difficult to find
11:29
answers I can uh get ideas I can think
11:32
of ideas and you know until the cows
11:34
come home this is this isn't the
11:36
difficult part for me but time and time
11:39
and time again I got emails from
11:41
students my mind goes blank I can't
11:43
think of ideas you know and yeah it's
11:46
just all com what you were saying now
11:50
just puts it all in perspective and I
11:52
think it would be the equivalent would
11:55
be maybe a Western student getting
11:56
thrown at horrifically difficult alge
12:00
algebra problem by Western standards but
12:02
was probably by Asian standards just
12:04
Child's Play I
12:07
imagine yeah
12:09
absolutely yes I mean um students in
12:13
Asia especially if if they're in the
12:17
traditional schools are they're not
12:19
actually from an international school
12:22
they they sit through rigorous tests
12:26
they get tested literally all the time
12:29
time their their test scores is
12:32
basically what gives them value in terms
12:34
of how well they're doing um so it's
12:38
more of the results and when you think
12:39
of results it's usually to do with an
12:42
answer or right wrong answer rather than
12:44
the actual process of learning through
12:46
trial and error so basically they can't
12:49
afford to make any mistakes so their
12:51
mindset is there is only a right or
12:53
wrong answer so when they're being asked
12:56
well can you come up with something else
12:58
they aut atically assume there's a right
13:00
answer to something rather than oh
13:02
there's different possibilities there's
13:04
multiple Alternatives um and they can
13:08
possibly try something that seems quite
13:10
unlikely or an unusual connection to
13:14
ideas and Shedd in their own unique
13:17
unique way of thinking because they
13:20
they've been uniformed to think and
13:22
perform in such a specific way yeah I
13:26
totally agree with you there and also
13:29
it's like there's as I said before
13:31
there's like multiple answers but it's
13:34
the as you said the process of getting
13:36
to that answer and if you can prove your
13:40
process with sort of with related to I
13:42
if you can prove that your argument is
13:46
is correct if you can prove it by
13:48
examples by opinions and by persuasive
13:51
writing then it is correct and it is
13:55
kind of weird now that you think about
13:56
it there's like probably I don't 3,000
14:00
5,000 there's an infinite number of
14:02
right answers all you have to do is
14:04
prove that it's a right answer and then
14:07
coming from in an in an infinite range
14:12
of
14:13
solutions and then approaching that from
14:15
a black and white um approach you know
14:19
from a black and white base where you've
14:21
all your life you've been' been shown uh
14:23
you've been learning it's right wrong
14:25
it's correct it's incorrect and now you
14:27
get thrust into this infinite
14:30
opportunity but you've just got to prove
14:32
your case it's yeah I can now totally
14:35
see why it's um it's ridiculously uh
14:39
difficult
14:40
basically you know the teaching
14:43
experience and The Learning Experience
14:45
is very different so um what I realized
14:49
in more Local Schools especially it's
14:52
very instructural so it's very much the
14:54
teacher is standing that font and the
14:55
delivery information is received by the
14:58
students so so it's basically taking the
15:00
knowledge from the teacher and
15:02
transplanting it to students like this
15:05
is quite common in in countries like
15:07
China as well when you know sometimes
15:09
the class sizes are 50 or 60 students
15:13
and there's only one teacher so is kind
15:15
of a dictation way of learning but um
15:20
more International ways of thinking or
15:22
even in the western way of thinking it's
15:25
very much of explore find out experiment
15:29
um and and find out your your own
15:32
thoughts opinions and ways of doing
15:35
things or learning things I think the
15:37
the biggest thing I would say is like
15:40
you said it's U make up your own
15:42
opinions students in a local system or
15:45
in a very traditional um Chinese or
15:48
Asian way of teaching they're not
15:51
they've not given the time or space to
15:53
formulate their own opinions yeah
15:56
totally there's there's no time for that
15:58
basically so it's if the teacher dishing
16:00
out the information you receive the
16:03
information and you apply that
16:04
information down there is no scope for
16:06
individuality there yeah absolutely and
16:11
wow it is interesting and how can a
16:14
student then start developing these
16:18
these ideas I mean one way that I put
16:20
forward to students is to basically fill
16:24
their head up with information like if
16:26
their mind goes blank and they get a
16:28
question
16:30
climate change and there's there to sort
16:34
of like even forming an opinion I just
16:36
say look learn about that topic learn
16:39
about the reasons learn about the
16:40
country specifics or each country like
16:43
which countries are pro envi uh
16:46
proclimate change which ones are
16:47
environmentally friendly and learn about
16:50
all this the history that's like one
16:52
technique that I share with students I
16:55
mean in your field or from your
16:57
experience how have you
16:59
really taught to improve a student's
17:03
creativity how have you developed that
17:05
subject I think sometimes it's also
17:08
developing the right environment um to
17:11
allow students to feel safe to share
17:14
their individual ideas so if if a
17:17
student is isn't used to come up with
17:20
their ideas they kind of need to be um
17:23
cultured and nurtured into thinking it's
17:26
okay to a have different ideas and
17:29
different potential ways of seeing
17:31
things um that are different that hasn't
17:35
hasn't actually been explored and to
17:38
teach them that you know through this
17:41
exploration that it's a different way of
17:45
learning is not about the right and
17:46
wrong it's more about the
17:49
exploring um and for them to feel safe
17:52
enough to express communicate that
17:57
and cuz they're they're from the um a
18:00
mindset that's quite boxed in in a sense
18:03
that if the answer is in a box and it's
18:06
correct if it's out of the box then it's
18:08
it's not but if you're trying to
18:11
encourage them to think more out of the
18:12
box he almost trying to answer them well
18:15
what do you think you could even
18:17
actually reverse it and say what do you
18:19
think the wrong answers would be and why
18:21
do you think that might be so it's
18:23
almost reverse learning and challenging
18:26
them to think a little bit more deeply
18:28
more critical at the potential
18:32
possibilities I love that I love that I
18:35
think especially developing the
18:38
environment and that yeah almost
18:42
coincidentally it's like one of the
18:44
modules we've got on the online course
18:46
where we challenge the students to
18:48
develop ideas for a whole range of
18:50
questions and topics and we've got like
18:54
basically the one of the teachers who
18:57
just replies and say to look and because
19:00
some of the students are worried about
19:01
this right and wrong so this is why we
19:03
got the whole whole module about just
19:05
developing ideas and the the whole sort
19:09
of like objective behind that exercise
19:13
is to say look any idea is probably
19:16
valid as long as it's not ridiculous you
19:19
know any idea is valid if you can prove
19:21
and argue that it's valid you know I
19:24
mean with the case to essay writing but
19:27
it goes back to what you said it's
19:28
creating that environment that allows
19:31
for them to like explore without
19:35
consequences explore without failing the
19:38
exam and just to test the water so to
19:40
speak absolutely yeah yeah and just one
19:44
other thing that I'd like you to to
19:46
mention is um before when we were
19:48
talking you mentioned the thing about
19:50
tiger mums and how that oh yeah I found
19:53
that fascinating could you tell us like
19:55
how that impacts the the students as
19:57
well okay so education in Asia is a very
20:03
competitive field like I mentioned when
20:06
I first turn up to Asia I was Interview
20:09
interviewing students in the hundreds
20:11
and we're only five years old and I was
20:14
to getting to a mid it was actually a
20:16
mid-range School in terms of performance
20:18
and achievement so you could imagine how
20:20
competitive it actually is to get into
20:23
some of the top performing schools in
20:25
Asia so students here I mean they go to
20:29
a school they have normal school hours
20:31
but on top of that as soon as they
20:32
finish they have extra private tuition
20:35
after school and during the weekends as
20:38
well so they take education very
20:41
seriously and these students have been
20:44
engrained in them by their parents just
20:48
how important education is and just how
20:51
important it is to do really well in
20:54
your tests and get the results yeah and
20:57
the other thing I so sorry yes oh so I
21:01
guess that that already um imprints a
21:06
fear to to get everything right to be be
21:10
a perfectionist in some sense to do
21:14
things as it should be according to
21:17
their parents and their
21:19
expectations absolutely and the other
21:21
point um I remember distinctly is like
21:24
when you said not only at school are
21:27
they getting this right wrong culture um
21:31
black and white culture so to speak and
21:33
then at home in the curriculum uh after
21:36
school it's right or wrong answers and
21:40
then they've got to basically face the
21:43
parents who have been brought up with
21:45
exactly the same culture of right or
21:48
wrong it's black or white and
21:52
then so it's it's basically from till
21:55
they open their eyes until they go to
21:57
sleep at
21:59
Night from from even before
22:02
Consciousness
22:04
starts until and all through their
22:07
academic life until they sort of like
22:09
face they get faced with a certain
22:12
aspect of Western culture that's very
22:15
different and so yeah putting that and
22:18
then you've got to explain as well to
22:20
your parents okay the maybe you have to
22:23
explain I don't know but even that task
22:25
of saying to the parents look there's no
22:28
right or wrong answer here that's as
22:30
well is going to be horrendously
22:32
difficult if they've been brought up for
22:35
the last 50 60 years with the mentality
22:37
of it's right or wrong absolutely I mean
22:41
there there is a a um a an a a cultural
22:46
joke here in Asia where you know if you
22:49
get an A minus that's a bad raade and
22:53
you know in the schools that I've taught
22:55
that is a bad grade wow so yeah your
22:59
your aim is to get at least an a wow and
23:03
your a at least an A and and this is the
23:07
thing should be getting a Stars wow
23:12
so that's insane frame of mind and
23:15
that's the challenge as well that's the
23:17
challenge that that you know as teachers
23:20
Educators you have to sort of break down
23:23
in order to allow creativity and
23:27
possibilities of doing differently to
23:30
enter so I guess it's almost that
23:33
ability to allow a sense of
23:35
vulnerability too but in such a
23:37
competitive environment vulnerability
23:40
isn't necessarily seen as a strength but
23:43
but actually a weakness but in order for
23:46
creativity to be cultivated there needs
23:49
to be a degree of vulnerability and the
23:52
the allowance of making potential
23:55
mistakes in order for richer and improve
23:58
improved learning to take place yeah
24:01
absolutely and the the funny thing is is
24:03
like in the west well I think this can
24:06
be like um it can really be embodied in
24:09
the west by the fact that for example in
24:12
the US having a bankruptcy where you're
24:14
just financially in ruin isn't seen as a
24:17
bad thing it's seen as almost a good
24:19
thing in the fact that you at least
24:21
attempted and you tried to succeed fair
24:24
enough it didn't happen but it's not
24:27
seen as a bad thing whereas in Europe
24:31
especially especially in Continental
24:33
Europe it's it's labeled as a failure
24:35
but in the UK it seems well it does have
24:38
some negative connotations but in the US
24:41
it's like okay you had a bankruptcy pick
24:44
yourself up and get going well done for
24:46
trying keep on trying you know and I
24:49
don't know do you have any experience
24:52
like is bankruptcy seen as a failure in
24:55
in Asia just out of
24:57
curiosity well you think that getting an
24:59
A minus is a fair what you thinky is
25:03
going to do you know because there is um
25:06
in Asian culture sadly enough it's
25:08
almost like if you don't do well in
25:09
school you're going to be sweeping the
25:10
roads right that is a very very common
25:14
fear spoken um projection that parents
25:18
actually communicate to their students
25:21
wow so whenever you ask a student you
25:24
know why do you think it's good why is
25:26
it important to get good grades they
25:27
will say you need to get good grades if
25:29
you don't want to be a road sweeper
25:31
that's their response right wow gotcha
25:35
right so if you say bankruptcy well
25:37
I that's in the same direction as the as
25:40
as that that that um that phrase
25:44
basically even though it's not not a
25:46
true phrase it's something that's been
25:48
ingrained and told to them at such a
25:50
young age they think it's a true thing
25:52
it's is a a conditioned mindset
25:55
absolutely it's become a belief isn't it
25:57
now AB absolutely yeah yeah right well
26:00
thank you uh do you have anything that
26:03
you would like to say sopie it's been a
26:06
pleasure actually to have this open
26:08
conversation and I I hope your audience
26:11
members both students and and parents
26:15
are able to listen to this podcast and
26:18
probably take something away from it and
26:19
reflect and probably think a little bit
26:21
differently with more of a positive
26:24
growth mindset that you know if they try
26:26
something it's only a positive thing to
26:29
the learning
26:30
process excellent words thank you very
26:33
much there Sophie
26:35
[Music]
26:53
cheers thanks for listening to IP
26:56
podcast.com
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