video we will talk about the basic plan you need to follow for Academic Writing task 1.

Ok, so in a previous video we talked about the strategy you need to follow by reading

the information and the details given to you by the topic, so if you haven't watched that

video yet you might want to check this out first in this link over here. Now, all you

need for this task is just a simple plan of 3-4 paragraphs because mainly all you need

to do is to write a basic summary of the data that you are given in the diagram. Please

remember that because lots of my students have the tendency to make this task a little

bit more difficult than it actually is. So, in your first paragraph which is your introduction,

all you need to do is to just paraphrase the topic, that is, use your own words in order

to say the same thing by stating the main points. For example, So, if you remember the

writing task that we used the previous time, it looked like that and let's read the topic

a little bit to remember it "the chart below shows the annual profit made by four major international companies

in 2011-12-13-14" and then we have the names of the companies which are represented here with colours.

Ok so, the first thing we do we read the topic as we said the previous time. So, every time we ask

"What does the chart show?" "What are the main points?" 1.) the annual profit made by

what? 2.) by four major international companies 3.) in the course of four years. So,

here is our small plan we can see here our introduction we always ask ourselves "what does the chart

show?" and our notes, just the main points briefly, -the annual profit-of four companies-four

years, ok? So, in order to paraphrase the previous topic a little bit here's what we

can do in just 3 lines or so. "This chart/diagram follows the performance of four major international

companies in terms of their annual income over the course of four years: 2011- 2014."

So, as you can see, I am just stating the main points and I have actually paraphrased

a little bit the topic given. Ok? This is what you need to do in your introduction.

Ok, that's it! Our introduction will be ready in no time especially if you familiarise yourself

with paraphrasing introductions. Now, about your next paragraph all you need to do here

is to state the most important points and information you can see in the diagram, I

know that this can be a little bit overwhelming at first, but just start from the most obvious

information you see. For example, start from the highest values and then from the lowest

values and then you can move on with stable performances and things like that, for example,

So then in our summary we start by noting all this information that stands out, for

example we can see that in 2011 over here the annual profit of Grow&Flow was the lowest,

the yellow colour over here. However, what else can we see that really really stands

out? It's that in 2014 ABC10 company's profits skyrocketed in 2014, MegaMarket was the most

profitable in 2011, it has a big difference from the rest but then, it dropped a little

bit and then went up again, these are the things that you first notice and these are

the things that you are going to put in your summary. So, for the next paragraph, over

here the first actual paragraph that we're going to write, it is about our observations

about what we can see about the information that we see in the diagram. So, our notes

briefly could be -the annual profit of Grow&Flow was the lowest in 2011- the profits of ABC10

skyrocketed in 2014 - over here- and MegaMarket was the most profitable in 2011 but then...-

and we continue by stating what we see. These are just examples of notes just to give you

an idea what you can write in this paragraph and how you can phrase what you actually see

in the picture. This is what you do, you include the summary of the diagram in this paragraph.

In this case, in our example, you just describe each company and the performance over the

years by starting from the most exceptional data, the most exceptional information in

order to help you, ok? Now, in the next paragraph you start making comparisons, you don't have

to state each and every thing NO by no means no, don't do that! Just the most important

points that you think that should be mentioned. Just be clear and specific and choose the

most important obvious correlations according to your own opinion. So, your plan notes for

the next paragraph could look like that: So, you can say that Grow&Flow, the profits of

Grow&Flow and TodayGlobal's have been decreased in 2014, you can also say that from 2012-2014

MegaMarket and Grow&Flow are closely aligned, as you can see, not much of a difference and

of course you can also say that with the exception of ABC10 over here, that steadily increases

reaching each peak in 2014 all the rest have significantly dropped in terms of profit,

ok? In your next paragraph, second paragraph you can start with comparisons, so mainly

these are just examples, -the profits of Grow&Flow and TodayGlobal decreased in 2014 -from 2011

to 2014 the profits of MegaMarket and Grow&Flow are closely aligned and- with the exception

of ABC10, all the rest have significantly dropped in terms of profit. Ok, so these are

just notes of just stating what you can see by comparing the information, just that, ok?

you do not have to write everything, just what you consider important. Always be simple,

you have no idea what you can gain with that. I mean, lots of students think that if their

phrasing is too simple they are going to lose marks for it but really the only way that

you can lose marks is convoluted phrasing, complex phrasing that is, that leads to grammatical

and syntactical mistakes. So, what I like to say, "Better be simple, than sorry". And

lastly, you have your conclusion, mainly what you can state in your conclusion, actually

you wrap-up all the most important information, the most important points in a single paragraph.

Now, if you know a reason, if you believe that something is the cause for increased

values or dropped values or anything like that, now is the time to actually state your

opinion but only if this opinion is based on the information that you see in the diagram

not something you just think it could be from your own personal experience or something

like that, ok? You always base your opinion on the data that you see in the diagram. So,

here's what your notes could be for the conclusion: Now, so your notes could be -global financial

crisis results in dropping profits -only one company steadily increased. So, basically

you just conclude all your main points, for example you could say in your conclusion:

"To sum-up, the diagram shows that the international financial crisis has affected the majority

of the companies as/because.." and you move on by stating your own opinion. And now you're

ready to go and write that essay. Ideally, with enough practice this plan will be written

in no time you would be able to write it on the spot with some notes of yours, especially

if you practice enough. However, if you're just starting out it will prove very helpful

to actually fill that in, in more detail, before you write your essay. Ok, that's it

for today! Ask me your questions here or in Fb, T, G+ I've added all three links down

below in the description box, thank you very much for watching, good luck with your exam!