IELTS Essay - How to Write an Introduction (Using Paraphrasing) IELTS Essay - Comment écrire une introduction (en utilisant la paraphrase) IELTSエッセイ-序文の書き方（パラフレーズを使う） IELTS Essay - Een inleiding schrijven (parafraseren) Ensaio IELTS - Como escrever uma introdução (usando paráfrases) IELTS Kompozisyonu - Giriş Nasıl Yazılır (Paraphrasing Kullanarak) IELTS Essay - Як написати вступ (використовуючи перефразування) 雅思作文 - 如何撰写引言（使用释义）

Hi, I'm Daniel.

Welcome to Oxford Online English!

In this lesson, you can learn about paraphrasing in IELTS essays.

First question: what's paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing means saying the same thing in a different way.

But, I'm guessing you already knew that.

Probably, you're watching this video because you think you need to paraphrase the question

in your IELTS essay introduction, and you aren't sure how to do it.

We're making this video because there's a lot of bad or inaccurate advice about paraphrasing Wir machen dieses Video, weil es viele schlechte oder ungenaue Ratschläge zum Paraphrasieren gibt

around, and many IELTS students have the wrong idea about what paraphrasing is and how they herum, und viele IELTS-Studenten haben eine falsche Vorstellung davon, was Paraphrasieren ist und wie es funktioniert

should use it in their IELTS essay.

With our IELTS students, we often have to spend time breaking down bad habits and bad

ideas which students have about this.

So, in this lesson, you can learn the truth about paraphrasing in your IELTS essay.

You'll see the number one mistake that IELTS students make with paraphrasing, and you'll Sie werden den Fehler Nummer eins sehen, den IELTS-Studenten beim Paraphrasieren machen, und Sie werden

learn how to use paraphrase effectively in your IELTS writing exam.

Let's start with something that might surprise you:

What?

But wait, I saw this video, and it said I should paraphrase the question in my introduction. Aber warten Sie, ich habe dieses Video gesehen, und es sagte, ich solle die Frage in meiner Einleitung umschreiben.

But wait, I read this article, and it said I should paraphrase the question in my introduction. Aber warten Sie, ich habe diesen Artikel gelesen, und er sagte, ich solle die Frage in meiner Einleitung umschreiben.

But wait, my teacher told me I should paraphrase the question in my introduction.

Okay, we know.

There's a lot of IELTS advice out there that says, ‘paraphrase the question in your

introduction.'

Why should you listen when we say you don't need to? Warum sollten Sie zuhören, wenn wir sagen, dass Sie es nicht müssen?

Don't pay attention to us; pay attention to the official IELTS scoring scheme. Achten Sie nicht auf uns; achten Sie auf das offizielle IELTS-Bewertungsschema.

To save you time, we've added links to the official scoring scheme under the video. Um Ihnen Zeit zu sparen, haben wir unter dem Video Links zum offiziellen Bewertungsschema hinzugefügt.

You can read it right now! Sie können es gleich lesen!

Go ahead; read the scoring scheme and find the word ‘paraphrase'. Fortfahren; Lesen Sie das Bewertungsschema und finden Sie das Wort „Paraphrase“.

We can save you some time: it isn't there. Wir können Ihnen etwas Zeit sparen: Es ist nicht da.

Remember, this is the official scoring system, which the examiners use to mark your IELTS

writing exam.

The writing mark scheme does not talk about paraphrase AT ALL.

Why not?

Because you don't have to paraphrase the question in your introduction. Weil Sie die Frage in Ihrer Einleitung nicht umschreiben müssen.

Okay, you think, so how do I start my essay? Okay, denkst du, also wie fange ich meinen Aufsatz an?

Surely paraphrasing the question is better than nothing?

I don't know what else to do…

Here's how a lot of students approach paraphrasing. So nähern sich viele Studenten dem Paraphrasieren.

See if this looks familiar to you. Sehen Sie, ob Ihnen das bekannt vorkommt.

Let's take a question:

Robots, computers, and machines are becoming more advanced, and can perform many jobs which

used to be done by people.

What problems does this cause, and how can these problems be solved?

So, let's practice bad paraphrasing!

Let's see now, we need to change the words.

Let's find some synonyms:

robot = automaton advanced = cutting-edge robot = Automat Advanced = Schneide

machine = apparatus job = assignment Maschine = Apparat Job = Auftrag

people = folks Leute = Leute

Wow, great synonyms, right?

Let's plug them into our sentence to create a bad paraphrase: Stecken wir sie in unseren Satz, um eine schlechte Paraphrase zu erstellen:

Automata, computers, and apparatus are becoming more cutting-edge, and can perform many assignments Automaten, Computer und Apparate werden immer moderner und können viele Aufgaben erfüllen

which used to be done by folks.

Let's change a couple of small things so it's not so close to the original:

Automata, computers, and apparatus are more and more cutting-edge, and can do many assignments Automaten, Computer und Apparate werden immer moderner und können viele Aufgaben erledigen

which were done by folks in the past. die in der Vergangenheit von Leuten gemacht wurden.

Finished!

What a great paraphrase! Was für eine tolle Paraphrase!

No, no, no!

This is terrible, and it will only hurt your IELTS score. Das ist schrecklich und schadet nur Ihrem IELTS-Ergebnis.

Don't do this!

This is what many IELTS students do, but it's a bad idea.

Let's see why this doesn't work.

First, a question: what's a synonym?

You probably said something like, “a word with the same meaning as another word.”

That's more or less true.

However, a true synonym is a word which can replace another word in any sentence. Ein echtes Synonym ist jedoch ein Wort, das ein anderes Wort in einem beliebigen Satz ersetzen kann.

So, imagine you have two words: A and B.

If word A can be replaced with word B in any sentence, they're synonyms. Wenn Wort A in irgendeinem Satz durch Wort B ersetzt werden kann, handelt es sich um Synonyme.

If word A can be replaced with word B sometimes, but not always, they're not true synonyms. Wenn Wort A manchmal durch Wort B ersetzt werden kann, aber nicht immer, sind sie keine echten Synonyme.

Maybe they have a similar meaning, but they aren't the same.

What's the point of all this? Was soll das alles?

The point is that there are very few true synonyms in English, or any language. Der Punkt ist, dass es im Englischen oder in anderen Sprachen nur sehr wenige echte Synonyme gibt.

Just because two words have the same meaning does not mean they can be used in the same

way.

The words people and folks have the same basic meaning, but that doesn't mean that you

can say folks any time you say people.

They aren't true synonyms.

Why not?

Because vocabulary usage depends on more than just meaning. Weil der Wortschatzgebrauch von mehr als nur der Bedeutung abhängt.

Register and collocation are equally important. Register und Kollokation sind gleichermaßen wichtig.

Also, many words which have a similar meaning don't have exactly the same meaning.

Machine and apparatus are similar, but they aren't the same.

Job and assignment are similar, but they aren't the same.

So, that's problem number one.

When you use words that you think are synonyms, they probably aren't true synonyms.

That means you're changing the meaning—which is dangerous—and also making language mistakes, Das bedeutet, dass Sie die Bedeutung ändern – was gefährlich ist – und auch sprachliche Fehler machen,

which can hurt your vocabulary score.

There's a second problem: this is a really weird and unnatural thing to do.

Imagine someone asks you a question.

What do you do?

Do you repeat the question back, using different words? Wiederholen Sie die Frage mit anderen Worten?

Hey!

How was your weekend?

Ah…

You wish to enquire about my recent non-working days? Sie möchten sich nach meinen letzten arbeitsfreien Tagen erkundigen?

How's the weather in the US?

So…

You want to know about the climatic conditions in North America?

No!

This is weird! Das ist seltsam!

When someone asks you a question, you answer the question. Wenn dir jemand eine Frage stellt, beantwortest du die Frage.

Your IELTS essay is the same.

The task asks you a question. Die Aufgabe stellt Ihnen eine Frage.

Your essay should answer the question.

Your answer starts from your first sentence.

Bad paraphrase adds nothing to your answer. Eine schlechte Paraphrase fügt Ihrer Antwort nichts hinzu.

No paraphrase is better than bad paraphrase. Keine Paraphrase ist besser als eine schlechte Paraphrase.

A bad paraphrase is only an empty sentence with language mistakes. Eine schlechte Paraphrase ist nur ein leerer Satz mit Sprachfehlern.

That's all the examiner will see.

For your IELTS score, this is only negative.

Ok, you think, so how do I start my essay?

You have two options, and it depends on your target score. Sie haben zwei Möglichkeiten, und es hängt von Ihrer Zielpunktzahl ab.

Let's look.

This is going to be a short section.

If your target score is 6 or maybe 6.5, and you don't know how to start your essay, Wenn Ihre Zielpunktzahl 6 oder vielleicht 6,5 beträgt und Sie nicht wissen, wie Sie Ihren Aufsatz beginnen sollen,

here's what you do:

Write an introduction which is one sentence.

Write a thesis statement. Schreiben Sie eine Abschlussarbeit.

That means you explain what you're going to talk about and what you're trying to

prove with your essay. beweise es mit deinem Aufsatz.

For example:

In this essay, I will discuss possible solutions to the problems caused by robots and computers In diesem Aufsatz werde ich mögliche Lösungen für die Probleme diskutieren, die durch Roboter und Computer verursacht werden

taking people's jobs.

Or: I intend to show that the problems caused by robots and computers taking people's Oder: Ich beabsichtige zu zeigen, dass die Probleme, die Roboter und Computer verursachen, die des Menschen übernehmen

jobs are serious, but also possible to solve. Aufgaben sind ernst, aber auch lösbar.

Or even: Robots and computers are replacing people at work. Oder gar: Roboter und Computer ersetzen Menschen bei der Arbeit.

This is a serious problem, and I will discuss how we can solve it.

That's all you need. Das ist alles, was Sie brauchen.

But, you say, isn't that too short?

No—not at all.

First of all, your introduction can be any length.

Your introduction can be one sentence.

Here's an important point: your introduction is the least important part of your IELTS

essay.

Are the example introductions you saw above great?

No.

They're not great, but they are easily good enough. Sie sind nicht großartig, aber sie sind locker gut genug.

Your conclusion is super-important. Ihre Schlussfolgerung ist super wichtig.

How you organise your ideas into paragraphs is very important.

How you support and connect your ideas is extremely important. Wie Sie Ihre Ideen unterstützen und verbinden, ist äußerst wichtig.

Your introduction is not that important. Deine Vorstellung ist nicht so wichtig.

You can get a high score with a very basic introduction. Sie können eine hohe Punktzahl mit einer sehr einfachen Einführung erreichen.

So, here's a simple solution: if you don't know what to write in your IELTS essay introduction,

don't write much at all. gar nicht viel schreiben.

Write a short thesis statement, and then start the body of your essay.

This is good advice if your target is 6 or 6.5, but what if you're aiming for a higher

score?

So, what does effective paraphrase look like? Wie sieht also eine effektive Paraphrase aus?

Remember, you're thinking about writing a strong IELTS essay here.

That means an essay which scores between seven and nine.

Here's the thing: when you write a strong essay, you can't think about it as lots

of separate things.

Lots of IELTS students write essays in this way: “Ok, first I have to paraphrase the Viele IELTS-Studenten schreiben Aufsätze auf diese Weise: „Ok, zuerst muss ich das paraphrasieren

question, then I need to write a thesis statement. Frage, dann muss ich eine Abschlussarbeit schreiben.

Ok, first body paragraph: I need a topic sentence, then a supporting example, then a linking Ok, erster Hauptabsatz: Ich brauche einen Themensatz, dann ein unterstützendes Beispiel, dann eine Verlinkung

phrase, then a second supporting example… et cetera.”

That can work for intermediate IELTS scores: 5.5 to 6.5, but it's not a good approach Das kann für IELTS-Zwischenergebnisse funktionieren: 5,5 bis 6,5, aber es ist kein guter Ansatz

for higher scores.

For higher scores, your essay needs to be one coherent, connected piece.

What does that mean, practically?

And what does it have to do with paraphrasing?

First point: your first sentence should be connected to everything else in your essay.

That means you need to know exactly where your essay is going before you start writing.

Before you put one word on the page, you need to know all the important things you want

to say.

Practically, that means you need to know what your conclusion is going to be before you

start writing.

You also need to know exactly how many body paragraphs you're going to have, and what

you're going to put in each one.

To be clear, that means when you write your first sentence, you aren't just thinking,

“How can I find a synonym for this word?”

Good paraphrasing isn't about that.

You already know the conclusion you want to reach, and you know the ideas you want to

discuss.

Effective paraphrasing includes this.

It shows your reader—the examiners—where your essay is going. Es zeigt Ihren Lesern – den Prüfern – wohin Ihr Essay geht.

Effective paraphrasing shows how you understand the key ideas in the question, and what conclusion Eine effektive Paraphrasierung zeigt, wie Sie die Schlüsselideen in der Frage verstehen und welche Schlussfolgerung

your essay is trying to reach.

So, the main point: paraphrasing depends on planning. Also, der Hauptpunkt: Paraphrasieren hängt von der Planung ab.

It's not a simple thing; it's not just taking some words and replacing them with

other words—it's connected to other parts of your essay.

It's connected to your ideas and opinions.

If you don't know the conclusion of your essay, you can't write a good introduction. Wenn du den Schluss deines Essays nicht kennst, kannst du keine gute Einleitung schreiben.

To write a good introduction, you need to know exactly where you're trying to go. Um eine gute Einleitung zu schreiben, müssen Sie genau wissen, wohin Sie wollen.

Let's see how this can work in practice.

To paraphrase effectively, you need to take the ideas in the question and add your own

interpretation.

Here's the question you saw before: Some questions:

The question talks about robots, computers, and machines. In der Frage geht es um Roboter, Computer und Maschinen.

What do these words mean in this context? Was bedeuten diese Wörter in diesem Zusammenhang?

Can you think of specific examples?

What exactly does advanced mean?

Advanced in what way?

The question mentions jobs which used to be done by people. Die Frage bezieht sich auf Arbeiten, die früher von Menschen erledigt wurden.

Like what? Wie was?

The question asks: what problems does this cause? Die Frage lautet: Welche Probleme verursacht das?

Are these problems serious, or not? Sind diese Probleme ernst oder nicht?

Why or why not?

Pause the video and think about these.

If you want to write a good introduction, you need to have clear answers to all of these

questions!

Now, let's see how you could effectively paraphrase this question: Lassen Sie uns nun sehen, wie Sie diese Frage effektiv umschreiben könnten:

Advances in technology have led to the automation of many jobs, especially low-level or manual

positions.

This has led to many serious problems, including unemployment and increasing rates of poverty Dies hat zu vielen ernsthaften Problemen geführt, darunter Arbeitslosigkeit und steigende Armutsraten

and inequality.

This is what a good paraphrase looks like. So sieht eine gute Paraphrase aus.

Here's a question: which way do you think this essay is going?

Do you think the writer will be positive, negative or neutral about the effects of automation?

It sounds negative.

You can guess that the essay will conclude that automation causes serious problems which

are not easy to solve.

Someone who reads the first sentence of your introduction should be able to do the same

thing; they should be able to guess where your essay is going.

Remember: this starts in your head. Denken Sie daran: Das beginnt in Ihrem Kopf.

Everything needs to be clear in your head before you write anything.

Another point to notice: our paraphrase doesn't have the same sentence structure as the task.

The paraphrase is two sentences, while the task is just one. Die Paraphrase besteht aus zwei Sätzen, während die Aufgabe nur aus einem besteht.

The task asks a question: “What problems does this cause?” Die Aufgabe stellt eine Frage: „Welche Probleme verursacht das?“

Our paraphrase replaces this with a statement: “This has led to many serious problems.” Unsere Paraphrase ersetzt dies durch eine Aussage: „Dies hat zu vielen ernsthaften Problemen geführt.“

Also, our paraphrase replaces general ideas in the question with more specific ideas.

The question mentions “many jobs,” but our paraphrase talks about “low-level or

manual positions.”

The question mentions “problems,” but our paraphrase talks about “serious problems,

including unemployment and inequality.” einschließlich Arbeitslosigkeit und Ungleichheit.“

To review, to write an effective paraphrase, you need to do three things: Um eine effektive Paraphrase zu schreiben, müssen Sie drei Dinge tun:

One: have a clear plan in your head, with a clear conclusion, which should be obvious Erstens: Habe einen klaren Plan im Kopf, mit einer klaren Schlussfolgerung, die offensichtlich sein sollte

to your reader from the first sentence of your essay.

Two: don't try to stick too closely to the sentence structure in the question.

Paraphrasing is about ideas, not just words. Beim Paraphrasieren geht es um Ideen, nicht nur um Worte.

Three: interpret and develop the ideas in the task, so that you replace general ideas

in the task with your own more specific ones.

Now, you should understand more about how to paraphrase in your IELTS essay.

Good luck if you have an IELTS exam coming up soon! Viel Glück, wenn Sie bald eine IELTS-Prüfung haben!

You can find more free English lessons, including IELTS preparation lessons, on our website:

Oxford Online English dot com.

Thanks for watching!

See you next time!