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Some people believe that governments should protect the lesser-known languages, to what extent do you agree or disagree?

It is true that some minority languages are dying and being replaced by a few major languages such as English, Chinese and Spanish. When the debate comes to whether or not should we protect these less spoken languages, there are always enough advocators who enthusiastically support preserving these languages. However, I disagree with them.

What is frequently mentioned by the supporters of language protection is that those languages carry stories, culture and wisdom of a group of people. They believe those languages are treasure and heritage of humanity, losing any of them would be a great loss of the diversity of the world. Another reason why some ethnic groups are trying to protect their languages is that they want to keep the identity of their societies. They see the use of other languages is a threat to their unique culture and traditions.

However, in spite of the sound reasons aforementioned, I would argue that fewer languages would be more beneficial to the world. To begin with, the principal purpose of a language is for communication. Thus, too many languages would create communication barriers between different groups of people. The modern world has become a small village nowadays and people are no longer isolated geographically. Speaking the same language could bring great convenience to all people; otherwise we would have to learn a secondary language which could be costly in terms of money and time. Furthermore, although I accept that languages carry wisdom and culture, it can be written in books and be translated to other languages. By that I mean, saving a language is not the only way to save a culture or tradition.

To conclude, for the sake of efficiency and convenience of communication, I do not believe that it is necessary to protect endangered languages. Just let them die if they are going to die.

.

HI Johnson,
Yes, I am a native Chinese in Shenzhen.
Generally, I saw some sample essays written by native speakers, in which they say that they disagree with some idea and then go to say about another side. I don't see it as a major problem. I feel more comfortable to write on both sides - easier to write longer essays.
What you feel about this essay on other aspects like grammar, vocabulary..?

Best regards,
Allen

Some online teacher gave me a 8 on this essay.
I think it's totally ridiculous.

Evaluation Report

Word count 308

Comments
The candidate has addressed all the main requirements of the task. The ideas and information are relevant to the task and there is a clear overall progression. Paragraphing has been handled in an appropriate manner. The range of vocabulary allows the writer to communicate the exact meanings. A wide range of sentence structures have been used. Overall, the task response is meritorious.

Estimated Band Score 8.0

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I wrote this piece yesterday in 38 minutes and I didn't use a dict.
I made three mistakes in spelling "enthusiastically" ,"loss"( I wrote lose ) and "village" (I wrote vellage).

In the real test I will use "strongly" to replace "enthusiastically" because I know I can't spell it correctly.

.

If you know about Chinese students' score in IELTS, you wouldn't say so.

We don't have much chance to speak, that's why it is quite difficult to get 7 on speaking, but I manged to get it at least once.
For listening, 7.5 is a pretty high score for students in China.

In fact, I agree with your understanding about the "discussion" and "argument".

There is a guy in this forum just achieved 7 for each section on the same day of my test.
you know what? His highest score is 7.5 but he still managed to get 7 for each.

.

allen_zhang wrote:Some people believe that governments should protect the lesser-known languages, to what extent do you agree or disagree?

It is true that some minority languages are dying and being replaced by a few major languages such as English, Chinese and Spanish. When the debate comes to whether or not should we protect these less spoken languages, there are always enough advocates who enthusiastically support preserving these languages. However, I disagree with them.

What is frequently mentioned by the supporters of language protection is that those languages carry the stories, culture and wisdom of a group of people. They believe those languages are a treasure and heritage of humanity; losing any of them would be a great loss to the diversity of the world. Another reason why some ethnic groups are trying to protect their languages is that they want to keep the identity of their societies. They see the use of other languages as a threat to their unique culture and traditions.

However, in spite of the sound reasons aforementioned, I would argue that fewer languages would be more beneficial to the world. To begin with, the principal purpose of a language is for communication. Thus, too many languages would create communication barriers between different groups of people. The modern world has become a small village nowadays and people are no longer isolated geographically. Speaking the same language could bring great convenience to all people; otherwise we would have to learn a secondary language which could be costly in terms of money and time. Furthermore, although I accept that languages carry wisdom and culture, this can be recorded in books and translated into other languages. By that I mean saving a language is not the only way to save a culture or tradition.

To conclude, for the sake of efficiency and convenience of communication, I do not believe that it is necessary to protect endangered languages. Just let them die if they are going to die.

Hi Allen,

Well written, as always. You discuss the reasons for preserving a language or adopting a universal language, and clearly state your opinion.
I'm impressed that you wrote this in 38 minutes without a dictionary. Well done! You should be very happy with this essay.

Thanks,
Flick

Hi Flick,
Thanks a lot!
It is impossible for me to commit such an essay in the real test.. I get panic and often make spelling mistakes.
I can only do good job when I have a deep understanding about a topic.
Anyway, I'll keep practice.

Allen

Hi Allen,

I would say this essay is band 8 worth.

Because when I check with band descriptors, I cannot go below band 8 in any areas because of your grammar control and good choice of vocabulary.

Well done...

Keep producing like the same...

If time is problematic, then keep producing a good essay without time limit, after improving step by step and clear areas one by one....

Once you attain confident in Grammar and word choice,in which I got recently, no one will stop you getting band 7+

Durai

allen_zhang wrote:Some people believe that governments should protect the lesser-known languages, to what extent do you agree or disagree?

It is true that some minority languages are dying and being replaced by few of the major languages such as English, Chinese and Spanish. When the debate comes to whether or not we should protect these less spoken languages, ( better way is to say - whether we should protect these languages or not )there are always enough advocates who enthusiastically support preserving these languages. (Better say - There is a considerable number of advocates of preserving these languages).However, I disagree with them.

What is frequently mentioned by the supporters of language protection is that those languages carry stories, culture and wisdom of a group of people. They believe those languages are treasure and are the heritage of humanity, and losing any of them would be a great loss of the diversity of the world. Another reason why some ethnic groups are trying to protect their languages is that they want to keep the identity of their societies intact. They see the use of other languages as a threat to their own culture and traditions.

However, in spite of the sound reasons aforementioned, I would argue that fewer languages would be more beneficial to the world. To begin with, the principal purpose of a language is for communication. Thus, too many languages would create communication barriers between different groups of people. The modern world has become a small village nowadays and people are no longer isolated geographically. Speaking the same language could bring great convenience to all people; otherwise we would have to learn a secondary language which could be costly in terms of money and time. Furthermore, although I accept that languages carry wisdom and culture, it can be written in books and be translated to other languages. By that I mean, saving a language is not the only way to save a culture or tradition.

To conclude, for the sake of efficiency and convenience of communication, I do not believe that it is necessary to protect endangered languages. Just let them die if they are going to die.

Very well written essay! The main improvement you can undertakeis by bring some academic flavor to your essay. At many points it seems like you are personally invested in the given issue. It would be better if you learn to say the same thing without using personal pronouns. Example -

"I disagree with them"

Improvement 1 - I disagree with this point of view. (i.e don't agree disagree with people. Do it with their views. Sounds more academic and less personal.

Improvement 2 (final) - This point of view is thoroughly disagreeable as it overlooks many of issues created by languages. The essay seeks to establish that there are more disadvantages to this than advantages.

I have no experience in Band scoring. If I had to give a band , it will be either 6.5 or 7.

@Inidaharry,
What's your score on writing?
I saw your essays which are really good. Vocabulary is something that a person cannot learn in a short time.
If you didn't get a high score, I will be frustrated. You know, I just cannot write essays like yours.

allen_zhang wrote:@Inidaharry,
What's your score on writing?
I saw your essays which are really good. Vocabulary is something that a person cannot learn in a short time.
If you didn't get a high score, I will be frustrated. You know, I just cannot write essays like yours.

I will appear for IELTS test for the first time on July 10.

About band score, Ryan was kind enough to check the very first essay that I posted on this forum. He gave it Band 7 and suggested a few improvements. I think I have integrated his suggestions , so I am hoping that my writing is close to band 8 now. But only time will tell.

Here - http://www.ieltsnetwork.com/viewtopic.php?t=1302

allen_zhang wrote:Hi Flick,
Thanks a lot!
It is impossible for me to commit such an essay in the real test.. I get panic and often make spelling mistakes.
I can only do good job when I have a deep understanding about a topic.
Anyway, I'll keep practice.

Allen

You're doing a great job. It is ok to feel nervous in the test. Remember to take a deep breath, think about what you want to say, and try your best.
Keep up the good work!

Flick