IELTS Writing for Japanese speakers
Japanese-speaking candidates often need targeted practice on articles, plurals and clear subject use.
Why this group needs its own plan: Japanese has no articles, omits subjects when context is clear, and does not mark plural, so these are easy to drop in English.
A strength to build on: Careful, accurate reading habits help with proofreading.
Planning note: Short daily proofreading drills give steady gains.
Fix these first
- An unclear position in Task 2
State your position in the introduction in one plain sentence, repeat it in the conclusion, and make every body paragraph support it.
- Mistakes with a, an and the
Check each noun: is it countable, singular, specific or general?
- Unclear pronouns and reference words
Make sure each 'this', 'it' or 'they' points to one clear noun.
- Subject-verb agreement mistakes
Find the real subject of each verb and make the verb match it in number.
- Unnatural word combinations
Learn words in natural pairs such as 'make a decision', 'raise awareness' and 'heavy traffic', not as single words.
Every guide for Japanese speakers, by scoring criterion
Task Achievement and Task Response
- An unclear position in Task 2
- Ideas that are listed but not developed
- Memorised paragraphs that do not match the question
- Answering only one part of a two-part question
- Examples that are too general to prove the point
- A conclusion that only repeats the introduction
- Essays that finish under the minimum word count
- Running out of time in the Writing paper
- Writing scores that go up and down between attempts
- The gap between Band 6 and Band 7 in Writing
- A missing or weak overview in Task 1
- Choosing the wrong features to describe in Task 1
- Misreading or misreporting data in Task 1
- Task 1 reports that are too long or too detailed
- The wrong tone in a General Training letter
- Missing or thin bullet points in a General Training letter
Coherence and Cohesion
Lexical Resource
Questions and answers
What do Japanese speakers need to know about IELTS Writing targets?
Japanese-speaking candidates often need targeted practice on articles, plurals and clear subject use.
What should Japanese speakers fix first in IELTS Writing?
Start with an unclear position in task 2, mistakes with a, an and the, unclear pronouns and reference words. Careful, accurate reading habits help with proofreading.
How should Japanese speakers organise IELTS Writing practice?
Short daily proofreading drills give steady gains.
Which IELTS test should Japanese speakers take?
Check whether the organisation that will read your result asks for Academic or General Training, because Task 1 differs: a chart, map or process for Academic, and a letter for General Training. Task 2 is an essay in both.
Check your own essay
Find which of these problems is holding back your own Writing score before you decide what to practise.
Feedback is a practice estimate, not an official IELTS score. Last reviewed 2026-11-11. Score requirements change, so confirm them with the organisation that will read your result.