In some parts of the world it is becoming popular to research the history of one’s own family. Why might people want to do this? Is it a positive or negative development?
Exploring one’s family background and history is becoming increasingly popular in numerous countries around the world. In my opinion, through research and knowing more about one’s family, people can see common trends passed through generations and useful information which can only be seen as beneficial for people’s future.
Firstly, some people look into their family history in order to discover any common trends with family members of a previous generation. This can be especially so with people who have particular skills, gifts or interests in uncommon fields. In other words, as some gifts and skills are hereditary, it can be interesting for people to learn how many others in their family shared these talents from previous generations.
Another reason for the popularity of finding out about one’s family history is often due to general curiosity of one’s geographical origins. That is to say, some families moved abroad, away from their own country, generations ago which resulted in them losing their original culture and adopting the culture of the country they moved to. Therefore, through research, people can learn more about their country of origin and understand more about the culture that their family originally came from.
Finally, the trend of researching family history is certainly beneficial and can help people find their place in the world. Some people feel a lack of direction in life or are dislocated from others but by learning more about their past family history, it can help them relate to the world and feel more comfortable about who they are. Take, for example, a person who feels nervous about making a certain choice in life, they may feel comforted by knowing that others in their family made the same choice many generations ago.
In conclusion, it can be advantageous for people to learn more about the family’s background and origins. It would be useful for children to learn about their own family history, if this was incorporated into the school curriculum.
Comments
There are two questions to this essay. Make sure you answer each question clearly and explain your ideas sufficiently if you want to get band score 6 or above.
I am confused bout why the word “curriculum” was mentioned in the conclusion. May you please clarify is it is alright to introduce a new idea in the conclusion?
The last sentence in the conclusion in this essay is a final comment. It is not a new point. You should not write final comments in such a way unless you have been trained by a professional how to do that. There is a big difference between a final comment and a new idea.
Hi Liz,
I hope you are doing well!
I purchased your Grammar E-book. I am going through the book and have a few doubts. Can you please share your email address so that I can ask my doubts there?
Best regards,
Suryash
Sorry, I don’t provide additional tuition or private support for e-books. It is not possible for my to provide such services.
Studying one person’s own family history is gaining traction these days. This essay will discuss the main reason persuading people to do this and explain why it is a positive development in general.
The major driving force behind this phenomenon is that more and more families migrate to new places and their offsprings want to know their family’s origin. The populations of countries such as America and Australia are largely formed by immigrants from all over the world. As a result, children from a migrant family have the common urge to discover their parents’ or grandparents’ lives since they lived in a different world. For example, there was an influx of Italian migrants in the U.S. after the WWII and their second generation looked into their family lineages and realize how different the life was for their parents and relatives. In sum, researching the family history is largely propelled by the offsprings of immigrants.
In terms of the impact of this trend, people overall receive positive outcome as they develop researching skills. Uncovering the past history of a family is not an easy job since there is few first hand materials. A learner has to resort to various ways such as checking history documents from a library and interviewing relatives. The process of collecting information, raising questions, and applying knowledge to solve problems will greatly train one person’s researching skill. I personally studied my family history as part of a research study and the experience assisted my college study later on. Therefore, this positive learning outcome means that family history studying is worth the effort.
In conclusion, the popularity of understanding family history is strongly boosted by the people who want to know more about their families coming from the foreign lands. As people gain valuable researching skill during the process, this phenomenon should be treated positively.
Oh my God, I hope I won’t get any topic like that on the exam, it seems so difficult to discuss it properly in just 40 mins 🙁
Nevertheless, thank you very much for this wonderful web-site, Liz! Especially for Writing Task 2 section. The most important thing here is that you help to understand the logic of the writing task, so now I feel more confident. Even if I get an unusual topic or question, I know now how to tackle it!
I’m glad my website is helping you. If you struggle with topics and ideas, make sure you get my Ideas for Essay Topics E-book which you can purchase on this page: http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore
This sounds great
Hello Liz,
This essay appears to be more than 300 words. I’ve heard that there will be penalties if someone exceed more than 10% of the word limit (27-280). I’m from Sri Lanka, but I’m willing to know whether the marking regulations are different to different parts of the world.
Cheers,
Ayodya Karunanayake
There are no upper word limits for IELTS – not in any part of the world. It is advisable to keep your essay under 300 words to avoid too many language errors and to keep the essay more focused with less irrelevant information. However, it is possible to write over 300 words and get band 9. But I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have flawless English and you are 100% familiar with the marking criteria and band score requirements.
Hello Ma’am,
Words cannot actually describe my appreciation for your immense contribution towards my IELTS prep. May God continue to strengthen your efforts and bless your family.
Pls ma’am, can I write my introduction as below, and is it allowed to have 3 full stops, I mean 3 sentences in the introduction.
“Research on the history of a person’s own background is becoming more common in some regions around the globe. In my opinion, people do this in order to keep track of their family lineage, as well as to safeguard it, and it is certainly a positive development that can help reduce some communal clashes. ”
Thanks.
There are no rules about how many sentences an introduction can contain. However, it should be short and concise without too much detail. When you have two questions to answer, it is possible to have to sentences to create the thesis (the answer). Most other essay types have only one sentence for the thesis.
Ma’am you are just superb, thanks infinite and I believe, I have grasped the concept.
Dear Liz,
Your book ‘Ideas For IELTS Essay Topics’ is a great help. It’s concise and very useful to get familiar with the language appropriate for each topic.
I have a question about that book: Are all the words and phrases in the book appropriate to be used in IELTS writing task 2? I’ve faced some phrasal verbs and idiomatic language such as “They get off very lightly. On the beat. Foot the bill.” in the book. Is it ok if I use them in my essay?
Regards,
Mojtaba
All phrases that are found in the book are suitable for formal essays.
I Just took the computer-based ielts today. This is exactly the question I received for Task 2.
I hope your test went well 🙂
The result came out yesterday. I got 7 in writing and 8 overall. Your blog is a big help.
That’s great. It isn’t easy to get band 7 in writing 🙂
Hi Liz,
Your blog is indeed a big help for those who are sincere but need direction. Great work.
I would like to ask a generic question. For writing task 2, is it okay to write ‘his/her’ for referring to the people/person in general, or is it not recommended?
Thank you!
It is best to refer to people in general and write about “they” or “them”. You definitely never write “his/her” it would be considered grammatically incorrect to write in such a way.
Thanks a lot!
Hi Liz,
Is it possible to answer this question type with a less strong position?
For example, can I say “whereas this may have some benefits, I think that, overall, it is a negative development”
In this case, can I plan to write the first paragraph about the positives and a second one that explains why I think it is a negative development?
Thanks
Be more precise – in what way is it positive and in what way negative? Be exact, not vague. Try the thesis again.
Thanks for the essay.
My question is that you mentioned that it is not recommended to use “Firstly,Secondly,thirdly” in the beginning of paragraphs.
is that true also in the same paragraph ? because I thought that it is good thing to use them in one paragraph when I ‘m listing the reasons or the causes for example ??
It is fine to use them inside one paragraph to highlight each supporting point.
There has been a tendency among people to conduct numerous researches on their family backgrounds. This trend has caught on of late, and more and more people are trying to follow suit. I believe that searching in family history will be to the benefit of the whole family and one can benefit from the outcomes in varieties of fields, such as decision-making and medics.
One reason to explain why people are inclined to learn about the history of their families is that they are curious to know the people of their acquaintances and examine how they were like and what they did. There is even a chance, though a little, to find ancestors who are still alive. Numerous stories have been told in which a family chanced upon the father or mother of their grandparents via their determined searches in history. Furthermore, with the growth of genetics-based knowledge, people tend to perceive of the origins of their behaviors and understand how their grandparents have formed their demeanor and habits. A man, for instance, can search for his family history and unexpectedly realize that his unpleasant habit of being untidy around house comes from his father’s attitude, who always had uncluttered room.
Even though some people believe that searching in history is futile, there can be numerous benefits in it. For one, by searching in the history of their families, people can learn about their families’ decisions and opinions about life and events. They can pick up how to react to current issues and tackle problems by carrying out a simple search in the history and weigh up the pros and cons of each course of action. Secondly, doctors can benefit greatly from the history and origin of diseases in people who have conducted researches on their forefathers. For example, if a person finds out that his grandfather has been suffering from diabetes for quite a long time in the past, he will keep a wary eye on his own health and take safety measures into consideration in order to avoid being infected.
All summed up, people are believed to be enthusiastic in finding about their history due to their curiosity and their own good in rooting out their habits and attributing them to their relatives. I think this is a worthwhile and beneficial approach and should be encouraged.
A perfect essay
I would appreciate you if you could provide me some tips for effective writing.
Excellent answer. I wish i would write exactly like this .
” take safety measures into consideration in order to avoid being infected”
being infected is wrong usage i believe, as diabetes is a non communicable diseaase; one cannot be infected with diabetes. i think it would be more appropriate to say “in order to avoid developing diabetes”
In many parts of the world ,children have more freedom than in the past. Is this positive or negative development
Hi Liz,
Your tips and model essays are really good and useful. Thanks a ton.
In the model essay, you have mentioned ‘previous generation’ twice in the second paragraph. Similarly, in paragraph 3, you have used the word origin in different forms (geographical origins, original culture, country of origin, originally) and in paragraph 4, family history has been used twice. Is it okay to repeat words within a paragraph and also in an essay or do we need to paraphrase them?
There is a limit to paraphrasing. If you try to paraphrase all words, all the time, you will produce more errors and lower your score.
Mam,This essay does not mention about negative developments of such research like inferiority complex development,increase in disparity and like- heritage groupism.Will it be better if this is added with
opinion a positive development,however a word caution that we as human beings stand together.
In conclusion,proud heritage,satisfaction of curiosity and formation of a subgroup for coherence are attractive developments everyone must cherish this research.
You don’t get better marks because you add more ideas. Brainstorm ideas, choose your opinion and then select your best ideas. Don’t flood your essay with lots of ideas – choose two or three and no more.
Thanks.
Hi Liz,
I have gained enoug knowledge from your tips and models.
Thank you
Thank you
Hello Liz,
Can I use the term “genealogy” in this essay ?
Regards,
Sadia.
Yes – it’s great! Good choice of vocabulary.
hi
in conclousin could i write (from what we has been discussed above might we can draw the conclousion )
conclusion sorry
No, just write “In conclusion, …”.
Dear mam,
thank you for providing the great knowledge related IELTS
I have a doubt to clear that in the case of task 2 positive or negative development essay,1st person and second person(I and we) can be used?
We avoid using “we” is all IELTS essays.
Good afternoon Liz! Thank you very much for your help!
I have a question. In IELTS book 7, in the third test, in writing task 2 (direct questions essay) where prompt asks “How realistic is the expectation of job satisfaction for all workers?”, do they ask for our opinion?
Thank you in advance!
Yes, it’s your opinion. Do you think job satisfaction is realistic or do you think it is unrealistic? Always try to rephrase the essay question so that you answer it fully.
Miss, are we allowed to add extra words to the introduction, while paraphrasing it, so to get the our introduction more precise for example; adding (People think or people believe etc ) ” when it’s not available in the question itself ?
Yes. This is normal in paraphrasing as long as you don’t change the meaning of the sentence.
hello Liz,
This is the first time i m writing to u. You r my only IELTS teacher as I m not admitted to any other IELTS couching. I have a question to ask.
Often I don’t get time to write 5 para in task 2 as above mentioned.Is this important to write 5 para (including “Finally”) for getting above 7?
and how much I need to write for getting band score 7 to 8?
You can have either four or five paragraphs for writing task 2. See how the band scores are marked here: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2-band-scores-5-to-8/. For advanced writing task 2 lessons, see this page: http://subscriptions.viddler.com/IELTSLizStore
Hi Liz
I am gratitude to thank for your posts ,
I have seen several videos in the blog and task 2 essay written samples
One of the video you are suggested to avoid to use this kind of words ” Firstly” &” Finally”, but i noticed that the same word used in the name of essay “The history of one’s own family” is that correct way to wrote academic language.
Usually we avoid “Firstly, Secondly, Finally” being used together to start paragraphs in one essay because they don’t show flexibility. But you can certainly use one or two of them – just not all three together.
Amazing stuff. One query though , wouldn’t it be better to write “This can be especially true with people … ” rather than ““This can be especially so with people … ” . Use of word ‘so’ seems unnatural to me. Please comment. Thanks
Both ways are fine. It’s certainly good to use “true”.
All the best
Liz
I feel glad to read your easy model.. Your blog/tips/ideas are really helpful.
I hope it will help me in my upcoming G test after 10 days
My bad, I visited your site lately. Hence, I am keep reading comments etc now. Hope it will help me.
Thanks
Sandy
How to plan your essay effectively before you start writing it ?
In other words, how to choose your topic sentence (idea) in your body paragraph ?
Thank you
All best
See this link: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2-essay-planning-tips/. The topic sentence is the main idea.
All the best
Liz
Hey Liz
Are all the essays shown in the “Model essays” have 9 band score ? I estimated that it is but when I read this essay’s comment , I felt that it is not true ? I will be glad if you give information about this situation. Thank you.
Sure, they are estimated at band 9.
Liz
Hello
Thanks a lot for usefull information
Sometimes it is difficult or hard to find some ideas about the topic in writting task 2, especially in uninteresting one , which leads to waste a lot of time during the exam
Do you suggest any hepfull way or tip for this problem ?
Thank you.
It is part of your preparation. You need to prepare a lot of ideas that cover the main topics. If you look at the 100 essay questions, it is useful to plan ideas rather than only writing full essays.
Liz
Thank you so much for your advice
Hi Liz,
Hope you are well. Firstly thanks a bunch for your massive effort in making all these videos and model essays. I really appreciate your help.
I was wondering if you could clarify me on something.
Can I use ” To recapitulate, ………” instead of ” To conclude or To summarize ..”?
If I can, can you please let me know the correct syntax for this.
Yes, it’s fine to use that.
All the best
Liz