IELTS Task 2: Learning about the past - It is often said that there is no point in studying history

Topic:

Learning about the past has no value for those of us living in the present.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Essay:
It is often said that there is no point in studying history as it often seems incompatible with modern life. Personally, I completely disagree with this view.

In my view, individuals should make it a point to study history in depth. Obviously, learning this subject requires the use of a range of methods and analytical tools in order to reconstruct and uncover the past. In this way, we can gain a variety of transferable skills, from informed citizenship and critical thinking, to research and general awareness, which are relevant and applicable to many different disciplines. Furthermore, building knowledge and understanding of historical events and trends, especially national ones, can build important moral and spiritual values amongst individuals. For instance, being taught about how their ancestors defended themselves against foreign invaders, young generations will develop a sense of patriotism and national pride, and therefore, are motivated to work towards the betterment of their country.

The study of history is also essential for humanity as a whole for several reasons. Firstly, history has the power to reveal how people and societies have actually functioned, which can serve as an almost endless source of materials for visual arts and literature. Secondly, there are a number of events in the past that repeated themselves, just in some other ways, it would help to ensure negative outcomes won't happen again. To take World War II as an example, many of the causes of it were similar to those of World War I, so if we would have identified the actions that led to World War I, we might have been able to prevent the outbreak of World War II. Finally, through historical pattern analysis, we may be able to predict what sort of things will most likely happen and determine how to approach the future appropriately.

In conclusion, I would argue that lessons from the past have advanced humans, both individually and collectively, and thus, we should not dismiss history as worthless or irrelevant.

You only need up to 290 words to discuss this essay. Never forget that you have to write a perfect essay, not just a long essay. Use most of the time to clean up your work, rather than just type away, assume that it is perfect, then submit for a grade. That cockiness is what has proven to be the undoing of the students who do not listen to me, and would rather listen you their ego stroking friends and members at this forum who believe they are better than the actual educational consultant.

Your paraphrase uses the term "incompatible" rather than "useless", which is the more appropriate term to use as an alternate word for "no value". The topic reasoning changed because of your improper use of English vocabulary. You failed to outline the 2 topics for your complete disagreement with this point of view. So there are no summarized reasons for your opinion, which also serves as the discussion outline for the presentation.

Use topic sentences instead of sentence fillers in your essay. You are not being scored on the number of English words that you know, which create an unnecessarily long presentation, but senseless paragraph. Get to the point immediately. The score is based upon how well you can present your English discussion, using comprehensive statements, not long winded vocabulary exercises.