2 words boosted 1 band in IELTS Writing.

We shifted our mindset in class last week.

Student text: Overall, there was a gradual increase in the figures of families possessing one, two and three or more computers; meanwhile a considerable decrease was seen in the percentage of households having no computers.

The original essay’s band score was 6.

Students yawned, as I was about to fix the essay on the board . They thought I would rewrite everything. But, I only added gradual and considerable. Ran through GPT, the essay band score is now 7.

Then, we stopped learning and had a deep talk.

I convinced them to chase effective communication, not flamboyant.

The kid sighed.

Elaborated marketing scheme is flooding social media with “teachers” kungfu-ing their flowery vocabulary. This combined with endless social comparisons are racing to demoralized kids.

The standard is funny. While Ong Tay (Vietnamese for white foreigners) only spoke “apple” in Vietnamese, we cheered. Yet, Vietnamese ESL learners have to chase native-like standard to be considered as “good” Vietnamese English speakers.