₦airaland Forum

KenBen217:
but how many people are independent at age 20

That is the problem of humans! Man is the only animal that depends on his parents imagine till age 20!Go and ask every animal.

bamidelee:
Are you educated at all?

Don't blame the poor guy, some don't place any value on their lives simply because there has been no investment whatsoever into it.

nairalandbeast1:
Now that is a country that works people have rights

You don't have the right to hit anyone

People have to learn

You can't go about slapping a young man because you re his father

That is child abuse

But you have the right to pay the school fees?

obicoolnino:
The boy definately had a poor foundation in his academics but there's still room for improvement. Beating the kid won't open his brain but it's sad to see all the money spent on him go to waste.

Beg to disagree. Some kind beating not even from my dad, but my mum that will reset your brain!

Have you ever heard of somebody without head suffering from headache? I have spent over 50 years in this country and I can tell you that dont worry about the message of economic doom/depression being propagated by the economists.Nigeria doesnt have any economy in the first place!We have been in economic depression all our lives,so that if any one comes,we wont even know!

MadeBoy:
I don't like anybody listening my prayers not even my family members. I have not been praying since she came and the first time this year I miss church service.

Frankly I don't understand people. What kind of prayer? Are you so ignorant not to understand that you can't be indulging in sin (sleeping with a woman you are not married to legally ) and still be expecting answered prayers? Who are you praying to please? The same God?

Decibel:
Lies, na today, watch as he runs to Abuja immediately he gets intimated that Chadian forces have gone home or left Lake Chad basin

Buhari and Buratai have reduced one of the most Powerful military in Africa to an INSTAGRAM army

NO BE ONLY INSTAGRAM ARMY,NA NAIRALAND ARMY!

hisexcellency34:
Better late than never. The news from Lagos is terrible. I hear about 50 boys will enter a street in broad daylight robbing, raiping people. Residents are now doing vigil

Quite unbelievable but true because I was part of a street vigilante for the first time in my life yesterday, evening!

tuzle:
It is ignorance that will finish us in this country, I am sure some people still take these pandemic for a joke. it is when people start dying on the street before we will fully obey the sit at home instruction

Nobody go die for street! If people go die, you for don dey see am!

Jestin:
With all due respect, I stand with peak milk

No be Peak dey produce Three Crowns?

One agonizing experience always difficult to erase from my mind during my stint as an examiner is a situation where a candidate has written proficiently and in your mind, you are already envisaging a band 8 essay. Then something happens; something so minute and such a candidate is brought from a lofty height to band 6 or even 5! It is so sad, but there is nothing one can do as we have to follow the rules in the mark scheme. I will be discussing some of those ‘foxes’ in this article.

THE RIGHT FORMAT- This is has to do with the basic rules guiding a particular kind of writing. In a letter it could be referred to as the tone, but it goes beyond this. The candidate must get the right tone or format and be consistent about it throughout a letter for example. You should for example not be overly familiar in a formal letter, while also not being so too serious or officious in an informal letter. When a informal letter for instance ends with Your faithfully, the crime is nothing but that the format is inappropriate. There are other details such as use of chatty language, slangs, contractions which fall under informal letters.

APPROPRIATE PARAGRAPHING-Ordinarily, this a simple rule which an average writer should know and understand that when one wants to start a fresh point in a paragraph, a margin is left on the left side of the line or an entire line left free. As simple as it is, it is distinguishing feature between band 6 and 7.This is even taken more seriously in Task 2 questions. So, as a candidate make your paragraph margins are very distinct such that no examiner would miss it!

INAPPROPRIATE ADDITION- At times, it is not what is missing in an essay that causes a problem, but what is inappropriately added. One unforgettable experience was a script (Task 2 essay ) that was almost impeccably written, but the candidate ended with ‘Thanks!’. Expectedly, this was penalized under wrong format,which means that the score is brought from 8 to 6!

INCOMPLETE ANSWER- Most IELTS Writing questions have 2 or more angles to it. However, there is a tendency for a candidate to overlook one of the components. If for instance, a question requires you to suggest a solution in addition to a cause, that is exactly what is required. A question may also require you to suggest two solutions, so if you give just one, then there is a penalty. What is required here is for one to be painstaking in looking at the requirements of a question, especially whether it is in plural or singular form. When a question looks familiar or like a past one, be careful, because it may actually be repeated, but a little adjustment has probably been made to it, so watch out!

OVERSIMPLIFICATION-It is actually good to be simple, but there is a clause to that. You may write an essay with little or no grammatical error, which makes it highly readable, but this oversimplification may be the problem. When your language lacks some level of sophistication which is required of essays within band 7-9 range, then expectedly such a candidate may be consigned to band 6.There is a level of maturity in writing which can only be expressed using sophisticated vocabulary for instance. This is why I always recommend candidates harming themselves with appropriate collocations and even idiomatic expressions, but the caveat here is to ensure it is used suitably and appropriately. Also note that there is nothing like a word or phrase being a ‘big word’. What is salient is appropriateness.

TIME MANAGEMENT- Many candidates may be so fixated on answering the questions set in the test forgetting that other variables too are being tested and one of such is time-management. I always state that ideally the time set for all tasks are never enough, but there is nothing you can do about it! The simple trick is that before the exam ,you would have been writing within a stipulated time, which should give you your personal speed in consonance with the set tasks. Having settled this, ensure you begin with Task 2 in the exam as this earns more marks than the Task 1.Where time management is even more imperative is in having enough time left to read over your essays. If you were able to finish your tasks without any time spared to edit or read over, it would only take the sheer grace of God for you to pass!

HANDWRITING-This is another factor that is often not discussed but equally very important. Many candidates would have earned band 7- 9 if not because of their illegible handwriting. The simple truth is that if your writing is not legible, you wont be physically present to tell the examiner exactly what you are trying to convey. Good handwriting is even more important now, considering the fact that your scripts are scanned to be sent abroad for assessment. The simple rule of good handwriting is for you to make your letters as big as possible and there is even an option of CBT(Computer Based Test) if your handwriting is irredeemably terrible.

Kunle Abrahams
(A former IELTS Writing Examiner with British Council,Lagos)
081783333447

ignis:
I am a geologist but I disagree with the prof on this.

You a Nairaland geologist disagreeing with a Prof!

NwaforIgbo:
As shared on their Facebook page, UNIZIK starts commercial production of hand sanitizers to help people stay protected from coronavirus.

https://www.facebook.com/927988290566435/posts/3107628952602347/

Surprised, none of the students or workers wearing any glove!

OYINBO YA WERE GAN.

Waytolife:
Pls I have a question, am not trying to be rude but just inquisitive, if I decide not to join in prostrating, what will happen? Will i be arrested or cursed?

It simply means that you have got another job!

akpoguma1989:
I travelled to imo state where I stayed at any hotel, I asked the receptionist to get a girl for me to spend the night, during the night we engaged in sex and used condom throughout after sex I discovered that I had a small boil that has burst on my abdomen.

My issue is that vagina fluid came in contact with my boil that has burst on my abdomen, is there any risk of having hiv, I am presently taking truvada but the side effects are much, note that the condom did not burst, am I at risk or just unnecessary worried

Frankly dont understand this generation-You picked up a girl you dont know from Adam without considering the health or spiritual implication! No wonder so much untimely death in our time!

akpoguma1989:
I travelled to imo state where I stayed at any hotel, I asked the receptionist to get a girl for me to spend the night, during the night we engaged in sex and used condom throughout after sex I discovered that I had a small boil that has burst on my abdomen.

My issue is that vagina fluid came in contact with my boil that has burst on my abdomen, is there any risk of having hiv, I am presently taking truvada but the side effects are much, note that the condom did not burst, am I at risk or just unnecessary worried

A lot of things I read on this platform that I find rather ridiculous-You are on a trip,saw a prostitute and just slept with her without considering the health and spiritual implication.No wonder,so many untimely death in our generation!

Kallmerb:
This virus is scary but why are all this dangerous viruses always from China... It seems lab practical gone wrong

If you see the kind of shit they feed on, in the name of eating delicacies, you won't say that.

seniormallam:
Watch people you relate with..............see how bubu has scattered Femi's life.

p

Please tell me how Bubu has scattered his life. A matter of your perception.

Witchersunited:
Maybe it's me or somtin

Do people bother to check things

The crisis affects the north more, they kill their own people more than Christians


I'm not a Muslim but Christians over do things


False alarm and panic everywhere, see south west that nothing happens to talking about regional Police, how many people died in South West? Look at the case well and u will see that the vigilante group is a tribal affair, benue that has suffered alot aren't even talking about policing, it's Lagos with only 5 deaths

Don't know where you come from but different regions attach different importance to human life, just as countries also do internationally. Sorry to say, but when 100 lives are lost in the north, it doesn't appear to mean much to them, but when a life is lost in the S W for instance, it is a different ball game,so nobody is making any false claim.

mjbaba:
If the Ondo people know what is good for them, they shouldn't touch those cows.

Just allow the Fulani people come and claim them and leave peacefully.

Those guys are very unforgiving and ruthless if anything happens to their cattle.

You are saying this because you are not from the state.Ijare is a town notorious for fetish and jazz.It was so bad that many parents would not allow their children from the area.

lebron7:
O.P, it's still early go and do an amniocentesis test to know if the child has sickle cell
It's about 150k I think

Money wasting don start even before the child is born. I don't just understand why some people are just plain stubborn and stupid!

Iamgrey5:
How is Oni not an oba?

Why allowed yourself to be dragged to his puerile level by dignifying his comment with your response?

nzeobi:
You vandalised a boy and all you get is suspension instead of prosecution or damage

Can't you understand simple English? Pending investigations.

Joshua has beaten Ruiz!

If he had managed to survive the first 1 year,he would have probably saved the marriage- Somebody had lived selfishly all by himself,for himself for over 40 years and you expect him to suddenly adjust within 3 months!

[quote author= post=84576815]Fake Professors.[/quote]Audio professors!

nedekid:
No be Fred ajudua de there soo

That is Fred Ajudua-His son is Davido's Financial Advisor-the connection!

Eyeness:
the reason you wrote this is because you don't have much. if she is a good person despite this, then marry her. Actually, you are the provider in the family. How come i never see rich men complain of stingy women?

I don't know your age, but if you are probably in your 40s or 50s you will realise that rich people do go broke at times. Just the way this life IS-INSIDE LIFE!

IS IT FAIR?

Pontious Pilate!

I have had the privilege of marking thousands of scripts both as an examiner and also as a tutor and I could say with all confidence that I have come to know why many candidates sitting for the IELTS may not go beyond band 6 except a miracle happens. I won’t be sharing the common writing criteria, but my own practical insights which I hope would be an eye-opener for everyone.

1.UNDERSTANDING THE STRUCTURE- The structure I mean is the basic knowledge of how a writing is done. These things are really basic such as understanding what an introduction, body and conclusion looks like. How are the introduction, an individual paragraph and even the conclusion crafted? There is a pattern to this. One must understand that a piece of writing is made of many components and you don’t know this, it would be difficult to write an essay that would fetch you at least a band 7.

2. STILL ON STRUCTURE-Another dimension is that many have blindly copied a lot of online formats whose intricacy they don’t understand. Confusion could set in here, in the manner a question is approached. A lot of candidates have devised some level of difficulty in the manner they approach questions such that at times, I could not help shouting-‘Where is this implied in the question?’-Most questions are pretty straightforward and that is exactly what most questions mostly require.


2.UNDERSTANDING THE STRUCTURE OF A SENTENCE- This is more or less the lowest basic ingredients you would need to write. It is like somebody attempting to build a house without blocks! You must understand what a simple sentence looks like. You must also understand what a complex sentence looks like. It is not just about writing whatever makes sense to you only, but for you to understand and know when you have written a structurally defective sentence. A common error in some essays is writing a subordinate clause and qualifying it as a full sentence. Many also write a long, convoluted sentence without knowing where to put the right punctuation. As a matter of rule, when a sentence is pretty too long, punctuation becomes difficult and ultimately the meaning is lost or confused.

3. THE WAY I HAVE BEEN DOING IT SYNDROME-I am not exaggerating ,but I have realized that it is far easier to teach somebody who had never written the exam before than someone who had written it a couple of times. The simple reason is that one has to spend a couple of days trying to make the candidate unlearn a lot of junks, apart from sessions of arguments on ‘oh, this is the way I have been doing’. Why is it like this? In addition, somebody who is coming fresh into the exam has a high boost of confidence which really helps in the exam hall. For those in the malaise of having written the exam many times, effort must be to first of all unclog your mind and approach the next exam with a new and fresh-mindset.


4.NOT GETTING INTO THE WRITING MODE- The reason many would perform better in Speaking module than in others is because it is an activity they do on a daily basis. Unfortunately, this is not the situation with Writing. Many have not written anything tangible since they wrote their university Long Essay. So what is the way forward? Ensure you write at least a paragraph everyday and show it so somebody to assess for you. If you want to be a better speaker, speak and if you want to be a better writer, write!

5. NOT HAVING A RESERVOIR OF CONTENT TO DRAW FROM- Content is key in passing your IELTS. Nobody writes out of nothing, so for you to be a good writer, you must be an average reader. If for instance you have a month or two to prepare, nothing stops you from reading materials from areas questions are to be asked. There is no rocket science about this. Questions are often drawn from current realities of our everyday life such as technology, education, environment, adjusting to the 21st century world etc. So, go online and get materials from these areas. Also make it a habit of reading this everyday!

6. OTHER LITTLE DETAILS-This makes a lot of difference. There are some basic rules of writing such as punctuation (especially comma, full-stop.), indication of paragraphing, appropriate format etc. All these can only be effectively applied when you have enough time to read over your work in the exam hall!

Kunle Abrahams
(08178333447)
Former IELTS Writing examiner lives in Lagos
For more: www.marklearn.com