Nowadays many people prefer to study or live in foreign countries. While studying and living abroad brings many benefits to individuals, it also has a number of disadvantages. What are the advantages and disadvantages of leaving your country to live or study abroad?
Sample Response
Many people emigrate from their native countries nowadays. It has been a gradually increasing trend, as plenty of perspective students as well as ordinary workers leave their homelands hoping to become more successful. However, they usually have to separate from families and leave their places of residence. In this essay will be discussed the advantages and disadvantages of living and studying abroad.
To begin with, there are some considerable pros. Firstly, the youth can study in foreign universities in order to become prosperous specialists, which is not a trivial goal to achieve in the native country. For instance, some of the best Lithuanian pupils choose to study at University of Cambridge because it is considered to be one of the top universities in the world in terms of the quality of education. Secondly, adults also migrate abroad if they want to earn more money and to have better career opportunities. For example, the minimum salary in the UK is around 1000 pounds, while in Lithuania it is 300 Euros. Therefore, people can afford to satisfy their needs better living in wealthy foreign countries.
By contrast, there some cons too. To begin with, leaving the homeland usually means damaging relationships with other people. In my personal experience, after my cousins left the country they have not been socialising so much with their parents, although they have kept in touch with them. Additionally, when a person owns a flat or a house, he should continue to pay taxes even if he leaves the place of residence and lives abroad. Thus, noteworthy is the fact that one can miss relatives, and leaving home can be unpleasant sometimes.
In conclusion, it can be seen that something should be sacrificed due to the seeking of a better life. However, it is generally advantageous to take the challenge of living in a foreign country to become a successful person, being it education or work. It is hoped that all countries in the future will be able to provide its citizens equal opportunities to achieve their life goals.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Wrong word Original: perspective students Suggested revision: prospective students Why it matters: Prospective means intending or likely to study.
- 2. Missing subject Original: In this essay will be discussed Suggested revision: This essay will discuss Why it matters: The active clause needs a clear subject before the verb.
- 3. Formal term Original: considerable pros Suggested revision: significant advantages Why it matters: Advantages is more appropriate for an academic response.
- 4. Natural group noun Original: the youth Suggested revision: young people Why it matters: The youth sounds collective and awkward in this context.
- 5. Precise career term Original: prosperous specialists Suggested revision: successful professionals Why it matters: Prosperous does not naturally describe specialist competence.
- 6. Possessive reference Original: in the native country Suggested revision: in their home country Why it matters: The possessive reference must match the plural subject.
- 7. Institution article Original: at University of Cambridge Suggested revision: at the University of Cambridge Why it matters: The official institution name requires the definite article.
- 8. Correct labour term Original: minimum salary Suggested revision: minimum wage Why it matters: Minimum wage is the standard term for a legally set pay floor.
- 9. Natural collocation Original: satisfy their needs better Suggested revision: meet their needs more easily Why it matters: People meet needs rather than satisfy them better.
- 10. Missing verb Original: there some cons too Suggested revision: there are also some disadvantages Why it matters: The existential construction requires are.
- 11. Balanced claim Original: damaging relationships Suggested revision: weakening close relationships Why it matters: Living abroad may reduce contact without necessarily damaging every relationship.
- 12. Time reference Original: they have not been socialising Suggested revision: they have socialised less Why it matters: The comparison concerns reduced frequency since the move.
Suggested Rewrites
- perspective students prospective students
- In this essay will be discussed This essay will discuss
- considerable pros significant advantages
- the youth young people
- prosperous specialists successful professionals
- in the native country in their home country
Why this response received Band 6.5
The essay addresses both advantages and disadvantages, uses relevant examples, and maintains a clear overall view that living abroad is generally beneficial. Development is uneven, however: the advantages are stronger than the disadvantages, and the property-tax point is only weakly connected to the central issue. Strengthen the response by explaining two substantial drawbacks in depth and by correcting recurring collocation and sentence-structure errors.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Response
The task is addressed with relevant ideas, though development and precision are uneven.
Develop each main point with a specific explanation or consequence.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is generally organized, though some progression and paragraph focus need improvement.
Give each paragraph one clear controlling purpose.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is sufficient for the task, but inaccurate collocations and word choices recur.
Prefer precise, natural topic vocabulary.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning remains clear overall, but recurring sentence-level errors reduce accuracy.
Proofread agreement, articles, prepositions, and clause structure.