Irina Lutsenko

Writing helps people process events and feelings. Written by a student who wanted to remain anonymous, this piece helped them process some of their memories. I loved it so much I thought it deserved a much wider readership than just me.   ✽✽✽ The image of that graveyard is hard to forget – the parched knee-high grass, the scorching August sun, the rusty metal crosses and memorial plates with Russian names (some illegible, some with bullet traces). I can still remember that acute feeling of nonbelonging. The thought “I gotta get out of this city” was pulsing in my head. The mountainous Chechen Republic, so advertised in our local travel agencies, has indeed a lot to offer, especially for those who are brave enough to go off the beaten track and face its grim history. It was my first visit to Grozny, the name that translates as “fearsome” into Russian. The city used to be my mother’s home, and I was curious to see it with my own eyes. My suitcase was filled with humble long sk...

How can teachers make the most of IELTS writing sample answers? Here are some suggestions from the wonderful  Natalya Skachkova , my former IELTS student, a passionate writing teacher, and my first VK Donut subscriber - my subscription service with IELTS writing sample answers. Speaking of which... you will find links to some IELTS answers by both me and my students at the bottom of the post. ✽✽✽ Providing the example of strong performance While doing the course «Prepare your students for IELTS» with Norwich Institute for Language Education , not once were we reminded about the importance of providing sample answers, both strong and weak. However, it is the former that gives a clearer understanding of what is expected of your writing. All the criteria should be exemplified by an actual work; otherwise, they will just remain elusive notions that can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Teaching writing sub-skills In order to direct students’ attention to specific features of a samp...

Some people think that in IELTS essays there is the "right" opinion, that is either the opinion the test makers have in mind (which you are supposed to somehow divine) or the socially accepted opinion that sounds righteous (e.g. we need to prevent climate change). This is not true. Any opinion works as long as it's argued well.  I want to share an essay that argues a very counterintuitive point of view - that too much time and resources are spent on protecting wild animals. The essay is written by my student Nastya. "You came up with very convincing arguments on the point of view I didn’t want to be convinced in," was my comment on the essay. She probably doesn't even support this point of view herself, but this is irrelevant. All that matters is it's a very logical essay that would get a very high score. ✽✽✽ "Some people say that too much time and resources are spent on the protection of wild animals and birds. To what extent do you agree or disagr...

  In this post I want to share an idea and a story you can use with Outcomes Advanced p.105-107 (and with many other text books if you adapt it). Both are aimed at practicing similes. Your students will first work with my story and then write their own. I will tell you what we did, but you feel free to adapt the activity as you see fit. 1.  I was quite inspired by the photo and the task on p.104-105, but the discussion in ex.2 didn’t seem to be enough. So I asked my students to write that story. To make it easier and trigger their imagination even further, I gave them the following questions to think about: - Start from the content. Imagine the character and his motives. Why did he do it? Was he decisive or indecisive about it? What happened after - did it ruin his career or did it help him become a politician? What lessons does he want to teach us? - Choose your form. Do you want to tell it in the first person or third person? If it's a third-person story, who is telling it?...

If there is a surefire way to annoy a vegetarian, it's to ask them, "Why did you become a vegetarian?" I am no exception. I become annoyed when asked but for a different reason - I don't have a "why." I do have a "how," but my “how” is as unromantic as it is unfathomable. So here goes nothing. In December 2012, I was at a huge family dinner party celebrating my father's birthday. Everyone but my uncle was served the same meal. As my uncle was being served his meal, my father mysteriously remarked, "Look, Kostya, I remembered." This piqued my curiosity. "Why is your meal different? Remembered what?" I enquired, eyebrows aloft. "I have stopped eating meat," my uncle replied. This piqued my curiosity even more, so I spent the rest of the evening talking to him about this. I wish I could tell you that he told me a story of unimaginable inspiration, so I emerged a new person. I don’t remember what he told me. I remained...

I want to share a piercing piece written by Timur Khamzin in my Creative Writing Club , which is a free project for people who share my passion for writing. Plain yet powerful, this story pierces my heart every time I read it. Enjoy! ✽✽✽ "Fixing Starts With the Tap" “Today. I will fix that tap today,” was my first thought this morning. How many times did I ask him to do that? He’d ignore it, as he did with most things I asked him to do, but this tap - it’s a constant reminder of him now that he’s gone. I also need to play it safe and change the lock - he still has the key. I could still see the bruise he gave me in the ceiling mirror above our bed. My bed. It’ll be a while till I like my reflection again, but the bruise has nothing to do with it. Why did I not finish it earlier? Why would I ever let anyone treat me like a doormat? I was lingering in the bed, slow to get out as has become my habit, looking blankly at my own reflection as if looking for an answer and knowing...

Coherence and cohesion Coherence is the logical unity of ideas. Cohesion is the linguistic ways of achieving that. I’ll give a couple of absurd examples to illustrate the concepts: Pure cohesion : "I like apples. This leads to my passion for writing. Additionally, hedgehogs are cute." The cohesion is there - this leads to and additionally . But the coherence isn’t - there is zero connection between ideas. Pure coherence : "I like apples. I find pears delicious." The ideas are connected - I talk about two types of food I like. But there is no linguistic marker to unite them, so they look isolated. Ideally, coherence and cohesion must work together: "I like apples. I also find pears delicious." Cohesion is easy because it’s noticeable - you have an actual word or phrase that will unite your ideas into one whole. But cohesion must support coherence, not substitute it. If your ideas are not logically connected on the level of ideas, no cohesion will save them...