IELTS Triumph: IELTS What to do if you don't understand

Hopefully you know that when you take your IELTS writing test, you should start with task 2. It is worth more points, but what do you do if you get a question with words you don’t understand.

“Some people think that universities should provide graduates with the knowledge and skills needed in the workplace. Others think that the true funknotion of a university should be to give access to knowledge for its own sake, regardless of whether the course is useful to an employer.

What in your opinion, should be the main funknotion of a university?”

IELTS what to do if you don't understand

While I am sure you understand 95% of the question. There is one word that you do not know ‘funknotion’, that is because it is not a real word. The point is though, what if this was your real test, and there was a word you didn’t know. Here are some tips for when you find a word you don’t know.

1. Use what you do understand

Look at the question again; you should know the question is about what a university should be for. You can make an educated guess, that it is about if a university is for giving students knowledge or for giving them the skills for university. Remember it is asking for your opinion, so do not write a problem/solution or cause/effect essay, make sure you are agreeing or disagreeing.

2. Explain what your understanding of the essay title is

To get the highest score possible, you need to be on topic. If you don’t completely understand what the topic is, then in your introduction make it clear to the examiner what you are writing about. Then you will not lose points for not sticking to the question completely, the examiner will give your score based on what you said the question was in your introduction.

3. Don’t waste time trying to ask anyone

The people invigilating the exam won’t help you, you can’t ask anyone else. You have to write what you can, so just get on with it. It’s important that you do not panic, if you follow tip one and tip two, you could still get a 7.0 or higher.