My name is Emma and in today's video we're going to talk about the test known as the IELTS.

So if you are going to be writing the IELTS, this video is for you.

Now, in this video we're talking specifically about if you're writing the academic IELTS.

If you're, you know, just here for general interest, you can still learn quite a bit

from this video because we will be talking about different vocabulary and grammar.

So this video can also help you if you're not taking the IELTS also.

Okay, so what are we going to be talking about specifically in this video?

Well, if you're taking the IELTS you probably know that there's a writing part of the IELTS.

The writing part has two sections, we call them Writing Task 1 and Writing Task 2.

In this video I'm going to cover a small bit of Writing Task 1.

So, in Writing Task 1, you're going to be given some sort of visual image.

Okay?

So you might see something like this, this, or this.

It might be a chart, it might be a table, but you're going to see some sort of visual

and you need to describe what you're seeing.

So this video...

I've covered different types of Writing Task 1 and I'll talk about the links to some of

these other videos at the end, but in this specific video we're going to be talking about

bar graphs.

Okay?

So, first of all: What is a bar graph?

Well, so I have here three different types of charts or graphs.

We have this one, this one, and this one.

This is called a pie chart. Okay?

I've covered this in another video, so if you're interested in learning how to write

about pie charts, you can check out that video.

But you'll notice with a pie chart it looks kind of like a pizza or a pie.

It's in a circle and it's...

Has different colours representing different percents.

We have here, this is called a line graph.

So you'll notice that there's a line and, you know, sometimes this represents time,

sometimes it represents other things, but with a line graph you'll notice, like, increases

and decreases, but it's one connected line.

We're not covering either of these in this video.

What we're going to be covering is another thing you might see on the IELTS, which is

you might be given a picture like this.

This is called a bar graph or a bar chart.

So we have here these rectangular-shaped things that are each a different colour.

These are known as bars. Okay?

So, I know a bar is a place you go to buy beer, but in this case a bar is not that,

it's actually this kind of rectangle on the chart.

So, on the IELTS you may get a picture of something like this.

You might actually get a picture of two things together, or you might get a picture of something

a lot more complicated than this.

In this case we're going to talk about: What would you do and say, and what are some tips

if you get a picture of a bar graph or a bar chart?

Okay, so what are you going to have to do?

Specifically they're going to ask you...

After you get a picture like this, they're going to ask you to describe what you see.

Okay? So you're describing the main information.

You're also going to have to maybe make comparisons, say how things are similar or how things are

different, which is contrast.

So, for example, if this is, you know, different activities, maybe you might say that the red

is shopping and the blue is golfing.

In this case, shopping is less popular than golfing. Okay?

So pretty much you need to compare the different bars and say: What are the same about them?

Which ones are similar and which ones are different?

You're also going to have to report any main features or trends.

Okay?

So maybe you'll see a pattern and you're going to have to write about, you know, some of

these main points you see when you look at the visualization.

You do not write your opinion.

Okay? So if this is a graph on education, maybe this is elementary school, secondary school,

university, master's, and like a doctorate or something - you do not write what you think

about it. Okay?

All you do is in this type of question, you're just writing what you see and what it means.

You're not writing your opinion on anything.

So you should not write the words: "I think" or "In my opinion", you'll actually lose marks

for this.

So in task 1, no opinion; that's for task 2.

Okay, so for something like this, and we will look at an example question, you have about

20 minutes.

You know, you're responsible for your timing, but something like this should take you about

20 minutes and you need to write at least 150 words.

If you write less, you lose marks.

So it's very important to write at least 150 words.

There is such a thing as too many words, so you don't have to write 800, that would be

very bad.

You know, writing 500 would be very bad.

You're aiming for around 150 words.

You know, maybe 170 is fine, but you don't want to write way too much either.

Okay, so now we're going to look at an example of a question for this and some more tips

on how to...

How to write when you look at a bar graph.

Okay, so I have here an example of an IELTS question.

So, here's the chart and here is the question itself.

It says: "The chart shows information about changes in the average housing prices

in three different cities between 1990 and 2000.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features

and making comparisons where relevant."

So, for a question like this you will again have about 20 minutes, and you'll also have...

You have to write about 150 words.

So, what do a lot of students do when they see this?

They go: "Oh my gosh. I... I don't know what to do. I panic."

Right? A lot of students get really stressed out, but this is something you can do.

So, the number one thing you need to do is take a breath, first thing, and then think

about: What are you seeing?

Don't just start writing.

Think about: What can you actually see?

What is happening here?

Okay?

So, for example, here we have on this side...

This is called the Y axis.

We have the percentage of change in housing prices.

Okay, so I see here the word "percent" and I see the numbers 10, 5, -5, and -10.

So this is showing percent.

Okay?

And what kind of percent is it showing?

Housing prices, so the cost of buying a house.

How has it changed over time?

And then I can also look here and here.

Okay, so we're looking at the year 1990 and we're comparing it to 2000.

Usually the graph would also have a title.

I didn't have enough space to write the title, but in terms of the visual you might see something

like this.

There are different types of bar graphs.

So sometimes you'll just have, you know, maybe one part of it, sometimes you'll have multiple

bar graphs you need to interpret, sometimes you'll have a pie graph and a bar graph, so

key here is take your time to really think about what you're seeing.

So in this case we have three different colours: blue, green, and red; and we have three different

cities: Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

So, I made up this, by the way.

This is not actually reflective of housing prices in these cities.

I have no idea what housing prices are right now, so you know, don't take this as fact

because it's made up numbers.

So when you look at this, what can we see right away?

Well, we can find Toronto.

This is Toronto in 1990 and this is Toronto in 2000.

Okay?

If I look here this is about 5% and here it's 10%.

I can also look at Montreal.

Montreal here is in the negatives.

It's -5%, compared to here in 2000 which is 5%, so it's a positive number.

And then we can look at red which represents Vancouver, this is the same as Toronto, it's

5%, and this is, again, the same as Toronto, 5%.

So, you can start by asking yourself some questions.

Okay?

What are you looking at?

You can look at the bars and think about: Which is the tallest bar?

So in this case the tallest bar in 1990 are both Toronto and Vancouver.

In 2000, the tallest bars are also Toronto and Vancouver.

You can look at the shortest bar.

Well, in this case, in terms of negative, we see Montreal.

Okay?

In this case, again, it's Montreal.

So looking at which is the tallest and which is the shortest are some questions you want

to ask yourself right off the bat.

You also want to look at change over time.

Okay?

You know: How is this graph changing?

Is something increasing?

Is something decreasing?

In this case we see Toronto increased, Montreal increased, and Vancouver increased.

Everything has increased over time.

You also want to compare: How are these bars the same and how are they different?

So I'll look: Okay, you know, in this case Toronto and Vancouver are the same,

Montreal is different.

Toronto and Vancouver have both increased, Montreal has decreased.

In this case all three have increased, but Toronto and Vancouver are greater.

You know, they show greater increase than Montreal.

So noticing these types of patterns and just really analyzing: "What are you seeing?" will

really help you in terms of your answer.

So key point here: Don't just write.

Take a minute to actually understand what you are looking at.

Okay, now let's look at some other tips on how to do...

How to analyze a bar graph.

Okay, so you've now understood what you're looking at.

You've read the question carefully and you've also looked at the visual, in this case, a

bar graph.

So what do you do next?

Well, it's a good idea to have a plan on how to do these questions.

So, for example, what I would recommend is first write an introduction.

Your introduction should not be long. Okay?

A lot of students, they start the introduction and then they run out of time because they

spent too much time on the introduction.

For this, you only really need to write maybe two sentences for your introduction.

What your sentences should say in your introduction is it should pretty much say all of this,

so you need to talk about what kind of chart it is.

In this case it's a bar chart or a bar graph, and you can pretty much say all of this information.

Now here's the tricky thing: You can't just copy what you see here.

Okay? So in your answer, your answer should not be, you know:

"The chart shows information about changes in the average housing prices

in three different cities between 1990 and 2000."

If you copy the question you will lose marks.

Okay? It does not show what you're capable of, so do not copy the words in the question.

You need to use your own words to say all of this information, but use your own words.

Okay? So one way to do this: Instead of saying...

If they say: "chart" here, you can change that to "bar graph".

Okay?

Instead of using the word "show", maybe you can use the word "demonstrate" or "indicate"

or, you know, "represents", "illustrates".

So there's a lot of great words you can use instead of "show".

In terms of the three different cities, you can actually name the cities.

In this case we looked at Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver.

You know, you'll also have to include details about the dates, but you can change some of

these words around.

Instead of: "average housing prices", maybe you could change that to: "the price of housing".

You know, so there's different things you can do.

The main point here is change the wording and change the sentence structure if you can.

So that's key in your introduction.

Again, you are not giving your opinion here.

Okay?

So whether you think: "Oh, it's great that, you know, all these Canadian cities, you know,

their housing prices are going down",

you don't give your opinion about it.

Okay, the next thing you should do...

So, your introduction is, again, about maybe two sentences.

You can now give a sentence or two about the main trend you see.