Improve your IELTS speaking skills 10 tips

The aim of this lesson is to give you different practice activities for the speaking test. While most of the activities are based on IELTS speaking questions, the idea is to improve your skills and not just practise answering questions. The reason for this is that practice tests are not enough by themselves; if you want to get better, you need to improve how you speak and that means thinking about speaking as a skill.

1. Record yourself and then write down your answer

This is something everyone should try. It is almost certainly a bad idea to write your answer first and then speak it. This is because we speak and write in very different ways and it is a mistake to try and train yourself to speak in the way you write. But you can learn a lot from recording what you say and then writing that down word for word. Things you can learn are: Do you say enough? Do you give very short answers? In parts 1 and 3, you should say at least a couple of sentences in answer to every question. Is what you say organised? Can you see a structure to your answer? Is it possible to put in sentences and paragraph breaks? Do you have some organisation language like The first point is.. Do you speak too slowly or too quickly? Try counting the words in your part 2 answer. Most of my answers as a native speaker are about 240 words long. You should probably aim for around 200 or so. Less than that and you are speaking too slowly, but if you have more than that, it may be that you are speaking too quickly. How long are your pauses? You can pause, but your pauses should generally come between sentences/paragraphs and they shouldnt be more than 2/3 of seconds Did you answer the question? Is your pronunciation okay? If you cant immediately understand what you say, the examiner wont either!

Are there some words you repeat a lot? You probably shouldnt worry too much about content words such as television native speakers will repeat those a lot when speaking. Rather you should look at more functional words/phrases such as I think. Its very easy to repeat these a lot and it is also quite simple to train yourself to use more variety. This is an exercise I use a lot in my own classroom and I find that most everyone has a telephone that records and the quality on that is just fine.

2. Do it first in your own language

This is perhaps an unusual piece of advice. In the speaking, you should aim to be thinking and speaking in English as much as possible and not translating from your language to English. It can, however, sometimes help to practise the long turn part 2 in your own language first: some people struggle to speak in their own language for 2 minutes: they prefer short/concise answers and not longer more discussion type answers. So before you try it in English, make sure you can do it in your first language. it helps you understand how long 2 minutes is and how much you need to say to fill that time if you record and listen to yourself in your first language, you will probably find yourself using quite a lot of structure language such as As I mentioned before. This is a lot of the language you need for part 2.

3. Dont practise the whole part 2, do it bit by bit

Some people find part 2 frightening because they are worried they cant speak for 2 minutes. Relax. You dont have to. Its much easier than that, you need to speak for 20 seconds 20 seconds 20 seconds I minute This is because there are always 4 points for you to talk about on the cue card. You want to try practising talking about the first 3 points on the cue card for about 20 seconds each (the who, where, what type questions). Make sure you dont say last year, but you extend that a little (see describing a wedding for an example). Then all you need to do is talk for 1 minute on the longer question at the end that is almost always about explaining something.

4. Practise by describing photographs

In the exam of course you dont get any photograph to help you. It would probably be easier if you did because when you have a photograph, you can see what you need to talk about. The

idea is here that if you learn to see pictures as you are speaking, you find more things to say. I suggest: find a picture about an IELTS topic e.g. a picture of a wedding describe what you see then try talking about the same topic without the picture in the exam itself, all you need to do is imagine a picture in your head What I strongly suggest is that you look at your own photographs, as what you will need to speak about are your own memories.

5. Read then speak

It helps to practise reading and speaking together because reading gives you words and sometimes ideas. This idea is a very simple one. When you read a passage in English, you should then try and summarise what it says speaking. The ways this works is: to summarise a reading text, you are going to need to use some of the words used in it if you say the word aloud, you have learnt that word better and are more likely to us fit for yourself in the future if the text is longer, you should find yourself having to list the different points it contains. This should help the coherence of your speaking as you will need to use language like Firstlythen next etc Two extremely good sources for this type of reading is 6 minute English and my favourite Words in the News. It sometimes helps to choose 5 words from the text you are reading that you want to use when you speak.

6. Improve your memory write your life history

Parts 1 and 2 of the speaking test are personal questions about who you are (part 1) and what you have done (part 2). One reason why some candidates have problems is not the language, but that they cant think of things to say. The solution is simple refresh your memory about important events in your life before the test. The idea is not so much to practise exam questions (its hard to predict those), but to practise speaking about your memories of people, events, places and things. Do that and the exam should be simpler as you have memories you can use. Write down some personal memories and then try speaking about them. Some ideas here are: think of important/interesting people in your life: Ask yourself: When did you meet them? How long have you known them? Why are they important/interesting? Can you remember something you did together? What about a conversation you had with them?

think of important events in your life: Ask yourself: What it was? Where did it happen? Who were you with at the time? What else was happening in your life then? What one thing stands out in your memory about it? How well do you remember it?

think of places you have been to: Ask yourself: Where it was? How did you get there? In what detail can you describe the place? Can you describe the general area it is in? Would you want to go back there?

think of your possessions: Ask yourself: How long have you owned it? Where did you get it? Is it special or something normal? How often do you use it? Do you associate with someone else?

7. Practise saying I dont know

Another reason why some candidates go wrong in the exam is that they feel they have to give a complete answer to very question and they think of IELTS as some academic test. It isnt. Its simply a test of your language. In parts 1 and 3, you may well be asked questions that you have very little to say about. Thats not a problem, theres always another question coming. The big mistake is to try and give a full answer when you have nothing to say. What happens is that your language becomes confused and so do you, with the result that things get and worse and worse. All you need to do is say you dont know and explain why and then wait for the next question. This may take a little practice. You want to build a set of phrases such as:

Q. What colour is your favourite room and why did you choose that colour? A. Im not sure what to say about that. Its not a question Ive ever thought about before. I suppose yellow is just my favourite colour and so I painted my room yellow?
You can find some useful language for this on vocabulary for harder questions and if you are looking for some harder questions, take a look at this list of difficult job interview questions.

8. Talk to a mirror
This is another strange sounding piece of advice, but it can be very practical especially if you dont have a speaking partner. The idea is that when you practise speaking, you should sit in front of a mirror and speak to yourself. It can work because: eye contact is extremely important in all parts of the test. As a former speaking examiner for other exams, I can promise you that examiners are influenced by candidates who make eye contact - even though they may not be aware of this. Typically, the candidate who makes good eye contact gets a more generous mark because they seem to be communicating better as body language is around 70% of all communication.

the other point is that, for most people, sitting and looking at themselves in a mirror is an uncomfortable experience. After that, the exam will seem easy!

9. Write your own questions

This is another activity that I suggest everyone should try at least once. You should of course practise with real exam questions too, but there is a lot to be learnt from writing the questions first and then trying to answer them. The way it works is that if you write the question yourself,: you are more likely to try and answer it properly and give a full answer because you understand what the question is asking good practice you learn to add details to your answers by thinking of more question words. So when you answer the question Are you a student or do you have a job?, you are more likely to say Im a student at Wuhan University and I have been studying there for the last 3 years adding information by thinking of the question How long even though you werent asked it. All you need to do this is look at general IELTS topics from my speaking page and making up your own questions.

10. Improve your coherence and fluency easy as 1-2-3 0r 32-1

This is another of my favourite classroom speaking activities. Ideally, you need one or two more people to practise this with, but you can do it by yourself. The idea is that you dont just practise speaking for 2 minutes. Rather, you start off by speaking for 3 minutes about that topic, then you do the same thing for 2 minutes, then for 1 minute. In the perfect world, you would also speak to a different person each time. How does it work? The first time your answer is probably slightly incoherent and lacks fluency. The next time you speak though, you know what you want to say and, if you have listened to someone else speak, you now have more ideas. The result is that when you speak, you answer becomes more fluent and coherent. Then when you do it for 1 minute, your answer needs to become even more coherent because you now have lots of things to say but not very much time to say it. I should add that this activity works best if you have different people to speak to. It works because each time you speak to someone different, it becomes a different conversation even if you are talking about the same thing.

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Understanding IELTS speaking think real life situations

This lesson is an overview of the speaking test and looks at two ways of understanding it. One idea is that there is/should be a sense of progression throughout the test. The other is that IELTS speaking is not necessarily a special skill, but (perhaps with the exception of part 2) reflects real life spoken communication and one of the best ways of approaching the test is to try to use natural speaking skills as opposed to learn particular exam skills. Indeed, many of the strongest candidates do just this.

Overview understand the rhythm of the test

IELTS, like many other speaking tests, has a particular rhythm. What I mean by this is that each part of the test is different and tests your speaking in a slightly different way. The candidates who are most likely to succeed are those that understand that rhythm and adapt their speaking as the test goes on. This means that they may approach each part of the test differently. In outline, the rhythm is this: lots of short simple questions to make sure that you can communicate about basic social topics

an extended talk on a social topic and your views/memories on it an interview with tougher questions to test how well you can think and speak at the same time One point to note is that the tasks get more complex as the test goes on. You dont want to waste all your mental energy on part 1. It helps if you build into the test.

Part 1
The real life situation youre meeting someone for the first time
This is the introduction part of the test and one way to think of it is that you are meeting someone for the first time in real life. What happens is that they ask you some questions about you to see what sort of a person you are. Are you their sort of person? Typically in real life is: 1. You dont give very short yes/no type answers thats rude. What you do is add some detail so that they understand a little more about you. 2. You dont give long answers either. Thats plain boring (and slightly anti-social) and no one likes a bore. So you dont try to tell everything you know that may come later in the relationship 3. If you dont have very much to say you dont say very much. You wait for a question where you have something to say If you follow those real life guidelines, you shouldnt go very far wrong in the exam.

Points to note
This is probably the point in the test when you are most tense. Its also the easiest part of all IELTS. All that is happening is that you are being asked some simple questions about yourself. So RELAX get a simple question with a simple answer give the simple answer. Now is not the time to try and show off with learned language. Theres plenty of time for that later. Rather, feel pleased that you have one question done one down 17 to go! Practise answering the questions (they are very predictable), but please do not learn answers. Trying to remember a learned answer does you no good it will make you more tense and the examiner is unlikely to be impressed. Remember eye contact matters in all parts of the test. In this part, you want to make as much eye contact as you feel comfortable with there is a real benefit if you can look at the examiner as a friend you are talking to.

Dont relax too much. First impressions count and the examiner is probably going to give you a ballpark score in part 1 this means that when you do get a good question for you, then you need to show the examiner what you can do.

Part 2
The real life situation youre telling a story to a friend
This is the least natural part of the test and perhaps the one that has least contact with real life. There is one possible way to think of it if you are a story-teller. You are with a friend and describing something that happened to you. The unusual part is that you need to talk for 2 minutes longer than you would do in life. However, thinking of it like this can help you in the exam because: the questions are always framed in terms of you the task is to talk about what you know about just as you would with a friend this is not really a formal speech/presentation task where the examiner wants prepared language

Points to note
Fluency and coherence, pronunciation, grammar and vocab are measured throughout the test. In this part, however, the key skills is almost certainly fluency and coherence. Try thinking of it as a story that maks sense and is interesting/relevant and you wont go far wrong. It really helps to maintain a comfortable level of eye contact here. The more you look away and/or look at your notes, the less natural your language is likely to become. Dont speak at the examiner, speaker to him/her.

Part 3
Real life situation the interview
This is the tough part of the test. The situation is that the examiner asks you questions that should make you think. In part 1, you should need no thinking time, in part 2 you get a minute to prepare yourself. Here you need to think on your feet just like in an interview. The good news is this: you have been warming up for about 10 minutes before you get here by practising your speaking skills in parts 1 and 2. A few general interview skills that can help you in this part are: good interviewees normally dont rush into an answer they will often discuss the question first before giving their answer. This gives you time to think and make your answer coherent.

good interviewees will tend to summarise their answer when it is more complex/longer good interviewees are unafraid of saying they dont the answer they will normally say why they dont know, but they wont tie themselves in knots by talking about something they have no idea about.

Points to note
At this stage, it really helps to remember that this is a language test and not an intelligence test. What you need to do is give a coherent answer in good English. Listening to and focussing on the question are really important in this part. The question often gives you key words and structures such as tenses. The question can help you form an answer.

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Eye contact and IELTS interview technique

This lesson focusses on one slightly unusual speaking skill, but for me an important one. The idea is that almost invariably the best speakers are speakers who make an appropriate amount of eye contact. There are no rules here not least because cultures vary but my own experience is that speakers who fail to make eye contact are poor speakers. That does not mean that they have poor English, it means that they use their English poorly and could use it much better eye contact is a skill and skills can be learned.

Eye contact and communication

Examiners are people too

A very large part of communication is non-verbal using no words at all. If you want to communicate well therefore, it only make sense to pay attention to your non-verbal skills and that includes eye contact. Id add that typically, we think better of people who make eye contact. Id add after that that examiners are people too and (subconsciously) are likely to be more impressed by candidates who do the eye contact thing well. You do want to impress the examiner dont you?

What if I come from somewhere where we make less eye contact?

No problem. its important that you use eye contact in a way that makes you feel comfortable. If you do it in an unnatural way, then the chances are you will feel worse and speak worse. What I would say though is that we all make eye contact its just a question of how much and who with. My best suggestion is that you make a similar amount of eye contact with the examiner as you do with your friends.

Eye contact is not staring

To make eye contact is not to keep looking at someone in the eye. How long you look for will depend on where you come from, but 3 seconds is about normal. You may also find that eye contact may mean looking at someones face and not directly into their eyes. A simple practice suggestion here is to practise making eye contact with people you know without telling them what you are doing. You will soon find out what is an appropriate level of eye contact!

Why you should treat the examiner like a friend

Generally speaking, we use more eye contact with people we are close to. You are more likely to look a friend in the eye than a total stranger. This matters most in cultures such as China where very little eye contact is used by people talking to someone a rank above them e.g. younger people talking to older people.My suggestion is that in IELTS you should try and see the examiner as your friend, not as some godlike being who has your fate and future career in her hands. Its a good way to think for two reasons: 1. typically you speak more confidently with people who are your friends and there is a strong connection between confidence and fluency

2. both parts 1 and 2 of the speaking are really modelled on conversations between friends, rather than a formal interview. Part 1 is when you meet someone for the first time and part 2 is when you are talking at length about you and your experiences to someone you already know

Two ways eye contact can help your speaking skills

1. Fluency and pausing
Fluency does not mean speak, speak, speak with no pauses. Instead, a fluent speaker is a speaker who knows when and how often to pause. Indeed, pausing is a key part of fluency and using eye contact can help you here. Very typically when we make eye contact with someone we pause. You say something. You pause a little. You read their eyes. You check they understand. Then you carry on speaking and after a little while you look away. If you can follow this pattern, then your speaking should become more rhythmical. The tip here is to make some form of eye contact and pause when you complete a thought. Thoughts are sentences and paragraphs and this helps you to speak in sentences and paragraphs and gives you and your listener a little pause before you begin the next thought.

2. Checking meaning
One way we often use eye contact is when we want to check people have understood what we have just said. Its surprising how much information you can get by reading someones eyes very typically much more than by asking them if they have understood. In IELTS this matters because the examiners will not use words to tell you whether you are talking nonsense (or complete sense) subconsciously their eyes may help you though. If you see question marks in their eyes, this is the time you might want to try some rephrasing language such as

So my main point is. As I was saying.

Eye contact in the different parts of the exam

Each stage of the speaking test is slightly different asking you to speak in different ways. This means you need to think about how you apply your speaking skills

Part 1 the introduce yourself in 12 questions stage

In part 1 the examiner has around 12 questions to ask you in 4 minutes. Part of the skill you need here is to give answers of an appropriate length. Here eye contact can help you. If you maintain some eye contact with the examiner, you are likely to see when you have said enough and the examiner wants to ask you another question. This makes it easier for both you and the examiner.

Part 2 and eye contact

In many ways this is the big one. Parts 1 and 3 are quite natural speaking tasks and the chances are that you will behave naturally in them and make a normal amount of eye contact. Part 2 is much less natural. You need to speak for around 2 minutes on a topic you would chat to a friend about an experience in your life. Heres my suggestion: Use your notes and the cue card and make eye contact: For almost all candidates, it is sensible advice to use the cue card to help you organise your talk, to make sure you cover the right points and to remind yourself of words. My advice is that every time you look down at your notes, you should then look up and make some eye contact however brief. I say this because you are much more likely to speak well if you are feel that you are speaking with someone, rather than making a presentation.

Part 3 the interview

This is the one part of the test that is really like an interview: you get questions that require you to think. Can you think and speak in English at the same time? It is quite likely that you will pause more often at this stage, the questions need a little time to digest. You should find that you get more thinking time if you also look at the examiner when you are thinking. She can see what you are doing and will likely give you more to think just because she can see in your eyes that you are pausing for thought.

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How to use your one minute preparation time

Part 2 of the speaking is different because the examiner gives you 1 minute to prepare before you start speaking. What should you do in that time? This is an important question to ask as very often that 1 minute gets wasted and you lose the opportunity to improve your talk.

What do I suggest?
There is no one right answer here. There are different possibilities all of which can work.What is best for you depends on you as a person: how you like to speak and how your brain works. Here are some suggestions for you try. Experiment and see what works best for you. It may well be that you will try a combination of ideas. You will find some practice questions at the end. Use them. Experiment and see.

Write a sentence
The idea
You use your time to try and write 1 or maybe 2 sentences so that your ideas are clear and you have some words in your head before you start speaking.

Does it work?
For some people, yes. It makes you focus on the question and it gets you thinking. It also helps that you have something positive to do. A danger in the 1 minute is that you sit and look at the piece of paper and you get no words or ideas. Your mind is less likely to go blank if you need to write a sentence.

Any problems?
Writing and speaking are 2 different skills. You dont need writtten language, you need spoken language. (Some of the worst advice I have seen says that you should try and use one instead

of you.) It just seems wrong to spend time writing a sentence, when you are planning to speak.

Write down words to use

The idea
Vocabulary is obviously important in IELTS and so one thing to do is write down some words you want to use.

Does it work?
Dont just think words. Think phrases and spoken language It can do. If you get the right sort of topic, you can sometimes brainstorm some good vocabulary. So if you get Describe a musician you could write play an instrument go to a concert concert hall be a virtuoso piece of music orchestra etc. If you are going to do this, its probably best for a familiar topic for which you know you have lots of words/phrases.

Any problems?
Sadly, yes. How many words can you think of in a minute? When I do this with students in class, they often only get 2 or 3 words. Time wasted. Another very practical problem is that I find students often dont use the words they have written down they start talking and then forget those words/phrases. Again, time wasted.

Close your eyes and see a picture

The idea
A picture is worth 1000 words This one sounds unusual but can work beautifully. The idea is you dont write down many notes but you close your eyes, think of the question and try and see a picture. You look at the picture in your head carefully, seeing the details (eg the musician playing in the background) and then note down words and ideas for when you speak.

Does it work?
If you are a visual thinker, it can be superb. If you look at a picture, you see far more details and these details will give you interesting language to use. More words, perhaps, than if you just look at a blank piece of paper.

Any problems?
Not everyone likes it. It seems wrong to close your eyes in an exam. It also works best for experience type questions where you can see a memory. Some questions have no obvious picture that goes with them.

Example
See my lesson on Describing a house where you can listen to a sample part 2 based on a picture

Write down ideas The idea

This time you dont write down words you want to use but ideas you want to talk about. These are notes so that you dont forget what to say.

Does it work?
Undoubtedly. All you need to do is practise what types of notes you need and what types of notes are practical when you are speaking. This will depend from person to person. For some people, it is enough to write down a name James, others need to write more James and the bicycle on his birthday

Any problems?
Really the only problem is finding out what notes work for you in practice. In my experience, some of the most useful notes are to do with examples and not the main points.

Structure or story
The idea
Depending slightly on the cue card you get, you have 2 basic options for organising your talk. You can use a very structured approach (First I am going to talk about.. etc) or you can try a story telling approach. Both can work equally well.

Does it work?
Think about how you are going to speak not just what you are going to say Very much so. It really does help to decide how you are going to speak and how much you have to say about each point. It isnt always enough just to think about what you are going to say (words and ideas).

Any problems?
Yup. In my (considerable!) experience, some people are simply uncomfortable trying to tell a story and some are very uncomfortable giving a structured talk. This means that they have fewer possible options.

Practice questions
Take a look at these part 2 questions. Practise different ways of using your minute. Dont just use 1 minute now you are training yourself first, remember. I suggest you start with 2/3 minutes and then try and do it more quickly each time until you can do it in 1 minute.

A childhood friend
Describe a friend you had when you were a child You should say: how you first met how long you were friends what you used to do together and explain why you liked this person.

A garden
Describe a garden you remember visiting. You should say: where it is what it looks like what people do there and explain why you remember it.

Clothes Describe your favourite item of clothing. You should say: what it is when you bought it why you bought it and say why you like it so much.

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Making your answers personal in long turn speaking

The idea behind this lesson is to make you think about how you approach task 2 the long turn in speaking. The question invariably asks you to be personal and the idea is that you learn to speak about your own experiences. If you can learn to do this, then 1. you answer the question directly thats a good thing! 2. you should find you have more things to say even about some harder topics a common problem 3. you get to use a wider range of vocabulary spoken vocabulary In each case the idea is to make it personal. You will also find a great online resource and two practice suggestions below.

Understanding the personal element

One way in which it is possible to go wrong on this task is to treat it too much like a speech/presentation or even a lecture. While it is possible to give a structured answer rather than just tell a story, the general idea is that you are talking to someone (the examiner) about things/places experiences you know and about how you feel about them. Look at these sample

tasks below. They are some of the harder tasks I could find. A point to note though is that they all have something in common they all ask you to talk about things you liked, experienced or are interested in etc

Some harder tasks

Describe a foreign culture that you are interested in. You should say:
what this culture is what you know about this culture how you learned about this culture

and explain why you feel this culture is interesting. Describe an unforgettable advertisement. You should say:
where you saw or heard it what kind of advertisement it was what product or service was advertised

and explain why you liked it Describe a wild animal from your country. You should say:
what it looks like where you can see it how often you see it

and explain how you feel about this animal.

Being personal thinking about the detail questions asking yourself more questions
If you examine all the questions above, they have something in common: they all ask you to talk about detail the what, when, where type questions on the cue card. It would be possible to answer these questions very briefly: eg

I saw it on the television It earned about it in school

This is a missed opportunity. These detail questions should allow you to say more. What you need to do is practise adding detail that is not asked for on the card but relates to the question. In the speaking task, you have much more freedom in adding in this kind of detail that is not explicitly asked for in the question. So you could say:

I cant exactly remember but I guess I first saw it on television about 3 months ago. It was one of those ads that got shown all the time and it seemed to be on whenever you turned the tv on.
By adding detail and adding my own thoughts and memories I get to use some excellent vocab. The words I have highlighted in blue may seem simple, but this is the sort of language that makes for good spoken communication. Its not always the case that it is topic words like commercial break that impress most. The tip to do this is to ask yourself more questions and to make those questions personal to you.So in the example above I simply added How often did I see it? and I find I have more to say.

Being personal the reason why question and being interesting

Nearly all task 2 speaking questions have a final question at the end that says something similar to Explain why you. Most of the time this is your chance to expand your answer and give an interesting answer. The idea is that you give personal opinions here about what you think/believe. Something to think about here is that the more personal you make your reasons and the more you explain your reasons, the more interesting your answer becomes.If, for instance, I start with a general impersonal statement, its quite hard to carry on and I dont say anything interesting:

The Giant Panda is a symbol of China and so it is very important

If, though, I concentrate on the personal opinion part then there are more things to say:

I know that the Giant Panda is a symbol of China, but its not that relevant to me. As Ive said Ive only ever seen one in a zoo and that was through a crowd of people and I didnt see that much. In fact, I felt rather sad when I saw it. It was just sitting there chomping some bamboo leaves and it didnt really feel right. In my heart, I would like for it to be returned to the wild into its natural habitat. Though I suppose if that happened it may die out and become extinct
What you should see about the bits Ive highlighted in blue is that: 1. how much I use I thats quite normal in speech 2. I change my opinion vocab a common problem is to go I think I think 3. I use detail to explain why I think in particular I use examples to expand what I say -examples give you good vocab and are normally easier to say in real time than more complex explanations

The tip here is when you explain why you say what you personally think, you vary your language and you give examples to help explain why

Practice suggestion 1 check your camera or just look around you

This can take time to get right. What I do not suggest you do is go off and try and find model speaking answers or even model vocab to learn. That for me does not work. If you do that, you may well end up not being personal. If you do look at model answers, see how they use personal experiences to expand what they say. Then find your own experiences. What do I suggest? Go to your iPhone or wherever you keep your photos. Dont describe the pictures (though that may help), rather try to remember:

where you were when the pictures were taken, what was the weather like, who was with you, why did you take that photo
The idea is that task 2 long turn speaking asks you to talk about memories and experiences. If you give yourself some help by looking at pictures when you are training, then it is much easier in the exam itself. Id add that it does help in the exam to try and see pictures in your head.

Practice suggestion 2 make your own questions understand how they work
To understand how the questions work, it can make sense to write out your own cue cards. This makes you think about the detail questions and the opinion questions. The idea here is that if you have made the question yourself, you are more likely to answer it! The model is roughly

Talk about _________________ you _____. You should say when where who

what And you should also explain why

Where to go next the best IELTS speaking resource on the net

For me, easily the best IELTS speaking is to be found at

ielts-yasi.englishlab.net it is one of

those sites run by an ex- IELTS examiner and can he can give you areal insight in how to approach all parts of the speaking. There are a lot of good things to find there in addition to the sample questions he is particularly good on how to approach the different parts of the test something that tricks many.

Read more: Giving personal answers in IELTS long turn speaking http://www.dcielts.com/ieltsspeaking/making-your-answers-personal-in-long-turn-speaking/#ixzz22OL7l4xZ Unde

r Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

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How To Speak in Part 2 (Page 2)

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What Skills is Part 2 Testing?

Summary: All the skills (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency and coherence) are tested. But Part 2 especially tests your fluency and coherence skills. ------------------------------------------------------The IELTS Speaking Test is divided into three parts because each part is focusing on different speaking skills, although all the skills are being tested all the time. Part 2 focuses on your ability to narrate, i.e., to tell a story. And within the skill of narrating, the most important skills are: a) Your fluency (i.e., your ability to 'continue talking' at a natural speed) and, b) Your ability to speak coherently, that is, your ability to speak in a way that is easy to follow because what you say is: i) complete, ii) logically arranged and iii) all connected so as to form a 'whole'. Examiners are mostly listening to hear if your ideas and information are often linked by introductory expressions or phrases this is what gives your story a sense of wholeness. Of course, your vocabulary and grammar are also very important in Part 2. You should consider Part 2 as an opportunity to show the examiner what you know in vocabulary and in grammatical structures. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Fluency in More Detail: Avoiding Unnaturally Long Pauses in Your Speaking Speaking continuously is the biggest challenge for most candidates. You will lose points for fluency if you stop talking too much. Therefore, your first aim in Part 2 is to speak continuously. That is, you should try very hard to avoid unnaturally long pauses in your 'little story'. Below are some suggestions that will help you speak more continuously in Part 2. a) How to Improve Your Fluency In The Months Before The Test

This first group of suggestions concerns how to train yourself to be a more fluent English speaker in the months before the actual IELTS test. These suggestions have already been explained in the page, 'How to Study for Part 2'. i. You will increase your fluency greatly by spending time (many hours, actually), talking in a natural way with a speaking partner. In this activity you should just chat about small, everyday things, ask and answer questions, discuss topics and tell little stories. The emphasis should be on communicating naturally. The main thing is to exchange information. Remember, talking about your feelings and likes and dislikes is an example of giving information. You should practice doing examples of typical Part 2 questions under real test conditions, i.e., by strictly giving yourself only 1 minute to read and think about a topic you have never seen before and then speaking for between 1 and 2 minutes. The more you do this, the more this exercise will increase your ability to brainstorm ideas in 1 minute and your ability to speak continuously for up to 2 minutes. You should read out aloud a few 'model Part 2 answers' from IELTS books to give yourself some ideas on how to speak. But you should understand that some of these answers, the ones in poor quality books available in China, are not ideal answers because some of them are more like short speeches rather than naturally spoken short little stories. Be careful of your choice of 'model' answers to read.

ii.

iii.

b) Fluency In The Test Itself Having Enough Things to Say. In the test itself, one of the main reasons why people stop talking (or finish the story too quickly) is that they don't have enough ideas. These 'ideas' are the 4 points that you say to answer the 4 main questions on the card as well as extra details to say about these 4 main points and other suitable points that the card does not specifically ask you to say. The number of ideas you can think of in your one minute of thinking time (and while you are speaking) will be much greater if you have practiced a few Part 2 topics under test conditions in your study. Also see, 'How to Best Use Your 1 Minute of Thinking Time' for more on this. One reason why some people find it difficult to speak continuously is that these people speak impersonally, even formally. This way of speaking, avoiding mentioning yourself, makes it much more difficult to give suitable details because the Part 2 topics are almost always connected to you your personal experience, someone you

know, some aspect of your everyday life, some plan or idea you have, etc. By speaking personally, you will find it much easier to think of things to say and, as a result, much easier to speak continuously. So, don't be afraid to use the words "I", "me", "my", "Personally, I ..." etc. A key idea for speaking continuously is to look for opportunities to add information to your story about how you feel about something or your opinion about something, plus a reason or two why you feel or think this way. You don't have to wait for the task card to first tell you to add these details; just look for suitable opportunities to add this information into your story. In other words, to some extent speak like a person who loves to tell others his or her opinions, and his or her likes, dislikes and feelings about things. This is very valid information and it will definitely help you keep talking. Just be careful not to change the whole topic of your story. You can keep these pieces of information connected to your main story by the skillful use of connecting phrases such as, "By the way, ..."; "Actually, ...", "You know, ..." and similar expressions that are used to introduce a related piece of information. Speaking Your Thoughts When You Have to Pause Basically, your Part 2 answer should be similar to the way you speak when telling a little story in your own language, Chinese. When we tell a little story in our own language, there are times when we need to pause and think about something such as a word, a name, a fact and more details to add. This is quite natural and you should not be afraid of this situation. However, when we speak our own language, we don't suddenly become silent when we need to pause to think of something. Instead, we say certain words or short expressions to communicate to the listener what is happening in your mind. You should try to do the same when speaking in English. The key is to speak your thoughts instead of keeping your thoughts in your head. These thoughts are not just the points in your story but are the thoughts you have about how to tell the story. You don't have to speak these thoughts when everything is going well but when you have problems in speaking continuously, you should 'think aloud'. By doing this, you will be keeping the words flowing from your mouth this is fluency! Below are some examples of the things people say when 'thinking aloud' when they need to pause while telling a story. These are not questions that you speak as if asking the examiner a question but rather, questions that you are asking yourself. Um, let me see. What else can I tell you?

Mmm, what else is there? What else can I tell you about old Mr. Wang? (For example, if you are describing an old person.) What have I forgotten to tell you? ... Oh yes, ... Even while you are speaking these things, your brain is still working on trying to find that something to say. If you have practiced speaking these and similar sentences in natural conversation with your speaking partners, these sentences will come naturally to you if and when you need them in the test. Ask Yourself the 'Question Words' If you can't think of many things to say during the 1 minute of thinking time or while you are talking, a good idea is to ask (or say to) yourself the key 'questions words' that are used in English. These words are, "How?", "When?", "Where?", "Why?", "Who?" and "What .... (+ a noun)?" These words are in addition to the four question words in the four key points that the card asks you to talk about. You don't need to ask yourself anything more than these single words. Just say these words to yourself and see if any information come to your mind that is suitable to include in your story. For example, maybe the card is like this: "You should say: where you went who you went there with what you did there and explain how you felt about that place." Let's look at just one of the points here, 'where you went'. Maybe your answer to this is, "I went to the beach at Qingdao". That's your basic answer but it's too short. So, you ask yourself the one word, "How?" This will bring to mind the question, "How did you go there?" Then you can add the fact that you went to Qingdao by plane or the fact that you went to the beach from your hotel on foot. The question word, "When?"

can be answered by adding the detail that you and your friends went there about 10 o'clock in the morning. Or, maybe you could think of "When?" as meaning what day or what time of the year and you can say that it was in the last week of July and it was very hot then. You can still ask yourself the question word, "Where?" even though you plan to say Qingdao because the question might come to your mind, "Where is Qingdao?" and you can say that it's on the coast of Shandong province, not too far from South Korea and a few hundred kilometers east of your hometown, Beijing. The question word, "Why?" can bring to mind the facts that you went to the beach to, a) cool off in the sea water, b) to lie in the sun, c) to play some ball games on the sand and, d) to look at the beautiful view of the wide, blue ocean. Or maybe you can think of saying why you chose to go a beach at Qingdao and not a beach at, say, Dalian or some other place that has beaches. Do you see how easily extra ideas come to your mind once you simply ask these question words? If you do this, you should have no problems in quickly thinking of extra details to add to you story. Going Back Into the Story if You Finish Too Quickly Some candidates don't give enough details when they talk about the four points on the task card and they find that they have finished their little story too quickly. If they have only spoken for, say, 45 seconds, the examiner will be reluctant to say anything and reluctant to accept that the story is finished because it is still much less than 1 minute. In this situation, the candidate usually sits there silently, trying to think of more to say while his or her fluency score starts to drop to a lower level. If you find yourself in a similar situation, (even if you have spoken for a little more than 1 minute but you still feel your story was too short), the thing to do is to return to something that you said previously in your story and add more details. Many people are afraid to do this because they think the Part 2 answer should resemble a very short written story or a speech but this is a mistaken idea. The Part 2 answer should be similar to a naturally spoken little story and a naturally spoken little story can be a little 'untidy', compared to a speech or written story. For example, it is natural to say "Um" a few times as you think and it is natural to use the 'thinking aloud' language that is shown above. If you decide to 'go back into your story' to add some details, it can be done quite easily and naturally by first telling the listener what you are doing so the listener doesn't become lost or confused by what you are saying. This is showing good coherence. You can do this by saying something such as, "Oh, when I told you about ..., I forgot to say that ...." or, "As I mentioned before, ..." or, "As I was saying, ..." or some similar phrases. Instead of, "I forgot to say" you can say, "I forgot to mention"

or, "I forgot to add", or, "I forgot to tell you". This is the way people sometimes talk when they tell a natural story in real life and it is quite acceptable in the Speaking test! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Coherence in More Detail Overall, your aim should be to tell a little story that is easy to follow and has a sense of 'wholeness' to it. This is 'coherence'. 1. As mentioned previously, staying on the topic, as it is written in the first line of the task card, is an important part of your coherence. This includes paying attention to the key adjective (or adverb) that is usually in the first line of the task card. For example, if the first line says, "Describe an interesting animal", make sure your story emphasizes that the animal was interesting not just cute or some other adjective. 2. One key idea for making your story easy to follow is to summarize the main point of your story at the beginning of the story. Then, the rest of your story is just a matter of supplying more details. In other words, you summarize your answer to the last line of the task card in your first sentence! Here is an example of this. Topic: Describe some useful advice you received (from a friend or family member). You should say: what the advice was about who gave you the advice what the advice was and explain why this advice was useful.

First sentence: "Three years ago, my father gave me some advice about my choice of career, which was really useful because it saved me from making a big mistake." This is a powerful beginning. Notice the following points:

You have already answered two points on the card, i.e., who gave you the advice and what the advice was about in general. (Of course, you should add more details about these two points but simply saying these two points is good in this summary sentence.) You established when it happened, even though the card did not tell you to say that. This is important whenever you use the past tense. You have already answered the last point on the card, in a summarized form. If, for some reason, you don't have time to give more details about the last point, the examiner can never say that you didn't answer the last point. You used a complex sentence, using the two connecting words, 'which' and 'because'.

The most suitable next sentence would be to give some background to the situation, i.e., why you were making a decision about your career at that time. But you should make this statement quite short because the listener to your story (the examiner) is anxious to know what the advice was and how you were just about to make a mistake. For example: "It was one night just before my College Entrance Exam, when I was filling out the form to choose what university and what faculty I would like to attend." This model, i.e., an opening summary sentence that includes a summary of the last point, followed by a short statement about the background to the situation is an ideal model to use for many Part 2 stories. 3. Most importantly for coherence, if you want to get a score of 6 or more for Fluency and Coherence, you need to frequently show the examiner that you know how to link your ideas. Basically, 'linking your ideas' means beginning very many (but not all) of your sentences with a short phrase or word that either: a. connects what you are going to say in that sentence with something you have already said or, b. introduces what you are going to say in that sentence, in order to make that sentence easier to understand or,

c. both a) and b). These words or short phrases that you use are called 'discourse markers' and many examples of these can be found, here, although there are many more than what is shown on that page. Here are three examples: "As I mentioned before, ......."; "As a matter of fact, ...." and, "Luckily, ....". You should train yourself to use ( = practice using) a wide variety of discourse markers in your study and use them a lot in Part 2, even if you feel they are not really necessary. The idea here is to show the examiner that you have knowledge of these discourse markers and that you can use them suitably. 4. One specific aspect of coherence in Part 2 that you should keep in mind is to clearly show the different 'parts' or different main points of your story. This is one of the main usages of the discourse markers. Don't announce that you are moving on to the next point on the card and especially don't read out the next point on the card. You should try to tell your story in such a way that someone listening to a recording of your test would not know that you are basing your story on a cue card. In the story about your father's advice, the next most logical point would be to say what faculty (i.e., what career preparation) you were initially going to choose, and why. Then say how your father pointed out that that choice was not a very good one and that studying accountancy was more practical and suited to you. Spend most of the time, i.e., several sentences, repeating the ideas that your father explained to you because, after all, the card asks you to describe some advice. Then finish by repeating how true and therefore, how useful the advice turned out to be and how glad you are now that your father gave you that advice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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How To Speak in Part 2 (Page 3)

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Is Part 2 like a Speech?

Summary: No, Part 2 is definitely not like a speech in a 'Speech Contest'. It is like giving a short story in any natural conversation situation. So don't memorize an answer, word-for-word. If the examiner realizes your answer is memorized, you will lose points! ------------------------------------------------------You should not think that your Part 2 answer is similar to those memorized speeches that students give in high school Speech Contests or the memorized speeches that you have seen in Speech Contests on TV. Instead, your Part 2 answer should be more like a 'little story' that is spoken naturally. This 'little story' is the kind of story you might tell someone while you are having a conversation with that person. For example, imagine you are having a chat with someone (you can even imagine the chat is in Chinese with another Chinese person) and the topic of "advice" comes up in the conversation. Your friend might say, "Tell me about some really useful advice that you received once" and you spend about 1.5 minutes telling your friend about some advice your father gave you. That's what your Part 2 answer should be like. Not only that, if you were having a chat with someone and your friend asked you to give an example of some advice you had received, you would not begin by announcing, "I'd like to tell you about some advice I received ...." or, "I'm going to tell you about some advice I received ..." etc. To begin your Part 2 like that is not an enormous error but the best candidates don't begin that way. Examiners very much dislike an answer that sounds like a 'speech' because: a) A speech is prepared and memorized beforehand but you are not supposed to know beforehand what the topic is in the IELTS Speaking test! Don't forget, all of the

IELTS Speaking test is supposed to simulate a natural conversation between two people (of more or less equal status). and, b) A speech is usually written and spoken in a more formal tone, and with more formal language than a naturally spoken 'little story'. If your Part 2 answer sounds like a prepared 'speech' that you had memorized before the test, then the examiner quite possibly will ignore your answer completely when he or she is considering your score. Not only that, you will lose some respect from the examiner and he or she might decide to ask you questions in Part 3 that are more difficult than they usually ask, just to teach you a lesson! Similarly, you should try to avoid using the style of language seen in written stories when you speak your 'little story' and avoid the formal style of language used in 'Business English' letters. A written story is often written in a more cultured and formal style than a naturally spoken story. You should try to use the everyday spoken language that well-educated people use when having a conversation, not the style of language used in business letters or in great works of literature! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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How To Speak in Part 2 (Page 4)

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Understanding the Instructions on the Card

Summary: a) Make sure your answer includes any key adjective or adverb that is in the first line. b) The words, "You should say" really mean, "You should include these points but also include other suitable points".

------------------------------------------------------It's very important for you to understand what the instructions on the task card really mean and how to follow these instructions. 1. The first line, "Describe ...." tells you the topic of your little story. For example, "Describe some useful advice you received." Think of the word "describe" as meaning, "talk about". As well as that, it is important to talk about the words that follow, "Describe", not talk about something else. In other words, stay on the topic. For example, if the topic is, "Describe a teacher who greatly influenced you in your education" then to mainly talk about how old Mr. Wang, your maths teacher in junior high school, was such a 'nice man' is not really describing the influence he had on you. Of course, it is natural to include the information that Mr. Wang was a nice man but you should not change the topic of your story to mainly describing Mr. Wang's personality if what you say is not related to the influence he had on you. 2. Usually the task card includes a key adjective (or adverb) in the first line, following the word, "Describe". For example, "Describe some useful advice you have received" or, "Describe an interesting animal that you have seen". These adjectives mean 'useful to you' or 'interesting to you'. Right from the beginning of your story, you should make sure that what you talk about fits that adjective. If you describe some advice that you didn't follow (because you thought it was not very useful) or if you mainly describe an animal as 'cute' rather than interesting, then the coherence of your story will be damaged. Usually, the last line of the task card, beginning with the words 'and explain', asks you to give details on how or why this adjective applied to you. But you don't have to wait until the end of your story to give these details it is much better to start giving these details at the beginning of your story and to continue giving these details throughout the story. This key adjective + noun (e.g., 'useful advice' or 'interesting animal') should be the theme or the central idea of your whole story. 3. The words, "You should say" really mean, "You should include". In other words, you should include those three points that follow the words, "You should say" but you should also include other points. If you only talk about those three points, you will find it much more difficult to continue talking for the required 1 to 2 minutes. As well as that, when you talk about those three points, you should not just give the most basic answer to each of the three points. Instead, you should also give (lots of)

extra details when you answer those three points. If you only give the most basic information about those three points and give no extra detail, you will find it difficult to keep talking for the required 1 to 2 minutes. To recap: In order to help you speak continuously for 1 to 2 minutes, a) speak about more than just the three points on the card and, b) whenever you speak about any point, add details. Many people (including some examiners!) think that "You should say" means, "You must say", but this is a mistake. In fact, these words are just a (strong) suggestion or a recommendation. However, I think it is best to assume that the words do really mean, "must say" because if you don't address those three points, you will probably not give a very complete coverage of the task specified in the first line on the task card, following the word, "Describe". It is not necessary to talk about the three points in the same order as they are written. Just blend those points into you story in a natural way so that a listener would not feel that you were answering points on a task card. 4. The words following, "and explain" are very important. If you don't adequately address this point on the task card, your coherence will be damaged. That is, if you don't talk about this last point, your little story will not "make sense" ( ) because your story will not adequately cover what the topic says. For example, the 'advice' topic asks you to describe not just some advice you received but some useful advice you received and the last line of the task says, "and explain how this advice was useful". You should understand that this adjective, "useful" (or "important" or whatever adjective is used), means "useful to you" (or "important to you") you should speak personally here. What is useful, important or interesting to you might not seem so useful, important or interesting to someone else but that is not important; just explain how it was useful, important or interesting to you. Basically, "explain" means "communicate to the listener (the examiner) how or why you felt it was useful" (or whatever adjective is used). 5. When you talk about the three points and the last (the fourth) point, you should try to just blend these points into your story in a natural way don't make your answer sound like you are addressing points on a task card, one by one. If you suddenly jump to a new piece of information four times in order to answer the 4 points on the card, it will make your story less easy to follow. Instead, use discourse markers to introduce these points and to link them to what you have already said. This is the main thing that examiners are looking for when

assessing your coherence. Definitely do not read out the words of the task card in order to introduce the three points on the card! The end result should be that someone listening to a recording of your Part 2 answer should not be able to detect that you are answering 4 main points from a task card but should, instead, feel that you are just telling a short story that included those 4 points (as well as other information). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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How To Speak in Part 2 (Page 5)

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How to Best Use Your 1 Minute of Thinking Time

Summary: This is brainstorming time. a. Mentally note the verb tense for each point on the card. b. Check your first idea to see if it really is the best idea. c. Divide the paper into four parts and write a key word or two to address each of the four points. Then write a few key words (at least one) to represent extra details. d. Don't write full sentences. Spend most of the time imagining as many ideas (details) as possible. ------------------------------------------------------Different people have different styles of thinking so you should consider the points below to be suggestions for you to try, to see if they are effective for you. The best way to discover and refine your own method of handling the thinking time is to do several Part 2 questions under strict exam conditions during your study at home. See: How to Study for Part 2.

There are three main things to do in your thinking time: a) Read the topic, b) Decide on what you will speak about and, c) Think of the points you will say. Of course, the third thing should be what takes up most of your 1-minute of preparation time.

a) Reading the Card (Suggested time usage: 5 to 15 seconds)

First, read the whole topic quickly to get an understanding of the topic as a whole. Then, go back and pay attention to the details in the first line, followed by the details in the other lines. Every detail is important! The whole process of reading the card should be done in just a few seconds. What should you pay attention to? Let's look at the 'Teacher' topic as an example.

Describe a teacher who has greatly influenced you in your education. You should say: where you met them what subject they taught what was special about them and explain why this person influenced you so much.

1. Notice that you are asked to give one and only one example, 'a teacher', not two or three teachers or speak in general about the kinds of teachers who have influenced you. This is typical of Part 2 topics. 2. Notice that there is a key word, 'greatly'. Therefore, you should not talk about a teacher who only influenced you a little. Understand this: Influence and change

go together; Every change has a cause (an influence) and every 'influence' results in a change; If there is no change, there is no influence; If there was a great influence, there was also a great change. 3. Pay attention to any other words such as, 'in your education'. This means it is unsuitable to talk about a teacher who influenced you in your choice of career, in your choice of clothes or from whom you learned how to tell good jokes. 4. Very importantly, notice the verb tense. In the first line of the 'Teacher' example, the verb tense is the Present Perfect tense ('has influenced'), which is used to talk about a past experience. However, this tense is just used to talk about 'before now', without specifying when. This tense is used in the first line in order to introduce the topic, that is, to give you a general idea of the topic. The verb tense used in the "Describe" line is not as important as the verb tenses used in the other lines of the task card. 5. Then, pay close attention to the verb tense (or the verb form) of the remaining four points on the card. When Part 2 is in the past tense, usually all the points on the card are also past tense, but this is not always the case! So pay attention to the tense of each point and remind yourself what tense to use when you speak. We see that, in this example, every point is past tense. This is the tense you should use in your story when you answer these 4 points, not the Present Perfect tense. See Grammar in Part 2 for more on this topic. 6. If there is anything that you don't understand in the words on the card, you should ask the examiner for help. Sometimes it's not necessary to do this if you think you can make an 'intelligent guess' about the meaning. But if you seriously don't understand something written on the card, you should let the examiner know that you have a problem understanding the words. Why do I say you 'should' do this? The reason is this: If you seriously misunderstand what the card asks you to say and, as a result, your answer does not fit the question,most examiners in China, most of the time, will assume that you are speaking a rehearsed, memorized answer. They will think that you had an answer prepared that seemed to be 'close enough' to fit this question and that you decided to speak this answer. If the examiner thinks that, you might lose a lot of points because examiners dislike obviously rehearsed answers. So, it's a dangerous situation if you seriously don't understand something on the task card.

Even if you make an honest mistake in what you say in Part 2, as a result of a misunderstanding, many examiners often don't realize that it was an honest mistake they usually assume you spoke a memorized answer. If you ask the examiner for help, do it in your 1 minute of thinking time, not when the examiner says, "Could you start speaking now, please." This is because the examiner has just written down the starting time for your two minutes of talking and if you ask a question at that time, he or she will have to make a note of the time again, which is troublesome and irritating for examiners. If you ask a question in your 1 minute of thinking time, most fair-minded examiners will give you a few extra seconds of thinking time, (but probably not quite as much as the time you use to ask the question and receive the answer.) If you have to ask a question about the meaning of a word, it is much better to ask it this way, "Does ____ mean something like ____?" than to simply ask, "What does ____ mean?" Examiners are allowed to give you help but they are not supposed to give a 'dictionary definition'. Instead, they will give you an example or say "It's similar to _____". As well as that, if your guess is close to correct, the examiner will think your vocabulary is better than if you just ask, "What does ____ mean?" 7. Quite often (but not always), the meaning of the first line (the "Describe ..." line) is repeated in the last line (the "and explain ..." line) but using different words. This can be useful if you don't understand a word in the last or the first line. If you don't understand something in either the first or last line and if different words are used in the first and last lines, try comparing those two lines to see if the meaning becomes clearer for you. For example, although the 'Teacher' example uses the word, 'influenced' in both the first and last line, the topic could have been written with the last line saying this: "and explain why this teacher had such a big effect on you". If you don't know the meaning of "influence" but you do know the meaning of "effect", this could help you understand what "influence" means. 8. There are two words in this 'Teacher' example that might confuse you, two words that are often used in Part 2 topics. Firstly, the word, "they" here means, "him or her", not . English doesn't have a simple word to express, "him or her" and to use "him or her", especially to use it repeatedly, is cumbersome. That's why "they" is used this way. Secondly, the word, "why" in the last line can usually also be interpreted to mean, "how". Explaining why something happened and explaining how something happened

are more or less the same. For some people, it might be easier to think of the word, "why" and for other people, it might be easier to think of the word, "how". Here's an example of "why" Miss Li, my Chinese teacher influenced me so much. "When I first met Miss Li, I had already decided that I wanted to be a journalist and, if possible, an author of novels and short stories. So, when I heard that Miss Li had previously worked as a journalist and had also written a successful book of short stories, I was absolutely thrilled! I could see that she had excellent writing skills but after I learned about her background I was really motivated to pay attention to everything she said and to try to copy her style of writing." Here, you have explained the reason why you were so willing to allow Miss Li to influence you; you are explaining why you were so susceptible to being influenced by her. Now let's look at an example that explains more "how" Mr. Wang, my maths teacher, influenced me. That is, it explains how the process of change took place but in reality, it also explains, 'why'. "Before I had Mr. Wang as my maths teacher, I found maths quite difficult and, in fact, I didn't like it at all. So I couldn't believe it when I saw how enthusiastic Mr. Wang was about maths and how he actually loved it! After two years of having him as my maths teacher I too had grown to love it and I guess the main reason was because his enthusiasm was so contagious. As well as being so enthusiastic about his subject, he was also a great teacher because whenever I didn't understand something, he would sit with me and very patiently explain it, using easy-tounderstand examples. The end result was that, after three years of studying maths with Mr. Wang, I was getting near 100% grades in every maths test and I had grown to really like maths, as well. Yes, I'm so glad I had him as my maths teacher. You know, if I had never met Mr. Wang, I really doubt that I'd be studying engineering right now."

b) Deciding on What to Talk about (Suggested time usage: 5 to 10 seconds)

After spending just a few seconds to remind yourself about the key words and the verb tenses, you have to now decide on what example you will talk about. As mentioned above, almost every Part 2 asks you to talk about one example of something, something from your life or that you know about. Some candidates spend far too much time agonizing over what to talk about. If you do that, you won't have enough ideas to keep talking and you'll get a low score.

Probably the main reason why these candidates can't make a decision is that they can't think of a suitable true example from their lives. If this happens, just make up a story, i.e., a story that is not true! See: Do I Have to Tell the Truth? If you consider the 'Teacher' example, which comes from the IELTS Handbook, you'll see that the writers of the Handbook are actually telling us that completely untrue, or greatly exaggerated stories are acceptable. Why do I say that? Because I think only a lucky minority of people can think of a teacher who has greatly influenced them. Most of us can only think of one or two teachers who influenced us a little, not greatly. However, although untrue examples are allowed, I think it is better, if possible, to choose a real example because you'll find it easier to talk about a real example from your life and you will speak more convincingly. I suggest that you use the first idea, i.e., the first example that comes into you mind because this is usually the best. But don't automatically accept that as your example. First, spend just 2 or 3 seconds asking yourself if this really is the best example you could use. What makes an example a good one? The following are a few points about what makes an example a good one: a. A good example is something that you know about. If you choose an example that seems good at first but is a topic that you really don't know much about, then you'll find it difficult to keep talking. For instance, Part 2 topic #150 says, "Describe a (big) organization that you know about." The United Nations seems like a good choice but do you really know enough facts about the United Nations to keep talking fluently? b. A good example is something which you have enough vocabulary to talk about. This is similar to a) but not exactly the same. When you think of an example, ask yourself if you have enough vocabulary about that topic to keep talking fluently. If you know you have a good vocabulary in one particular area, for example, pop music or sport, look for opportunities to choose a topic (an example) from the area of pop music or sport. c. A good example is not too simple.

Some people have the mistaken idea that a very simple example is easy to talk about. Yes, it's true that something simple is easy to talk about for a single question, such as in Part 1. But in Part 2, if it's too simple, it will be hard to think of many details and, as a result, it will be hard to speak continuously about for almost two minutes. A little complexity will give you extra things to talk about and explain. d. A good example involves your feelings, if possible. It is not always possible or suitable to choose an example that includes expressing your feelings but if you can, try to choose an example that does include some mention of your feelings because that will help you speak better. If you can get hold of the IELTS Specimen tests and listen to the Korean girl talking with great pride and emotion about how her President won the Nobel Peace Prize, you'll see how genuine emotion can make your story easier to talk about, and make it more interesting to the listener. (Her topic was, "A Recent News Event".) To speak withgenuine emotion, the topic needs to be true but if you are a good actor or actress, you might be able to do the same with an untrue story. Right now, there is a topic, (#172), "A Famous Person". If you get that topic, try to talk about someone who genuinely moves you, not simply a famous person who you have no feelings about. e. A good example has something different or unusual. If possible, try to make your story different to other people's answers. This will be much more interesting for the listener (the examiner) and it will help you get a better score. Examiners (and everyone, in fact), love to hear stories that are imaginative! f. A good example adds to the listener's knowledge. This might not be possible for all topics but if the examiner can learn something new about China, for example, he or she will then think it's a better story than one from which he or she learned nothing new. I've listed several ways that can make an example to talk about a good one. There's no need to go through that complete list to check the first example that comes to your mind that would use far too much time. Instead, I suggest you plant the six ideas above into your brain and in the real test, just quickly check to see if the example you choose satisfies the first three points and perhaps 1 or 2 of the other points.

c) Thinking of what points to say (Suggested time usage: 35 - 50 seconds)

This step should use most of your 1-minute of thinking time. It is also the time when you need to make a few notes. But you should not write full sentences on your piece of paper because this will use up too much time. And, if you use up too much time writing sentences, you won't have enough time to think of things to say. The idea is to just write key words that remind you of what to say. Many people don't make any notes at all in the test and they are able to speak quite well. But with the stress of the situation, you might become nervous and end up forgetting some key points. So it is a good idea to write a few keywords. Not only that, writing a few keywords helps your mind to focus on those points and think of more details about them. Obviously, as a bare minimum, there are four points on the cue card that you need to answer. You should also aim to say at least one extra piece of detail about each of those four points, which totals eight points to say. However, the more points or details you can say, the better. The last point, the "explain" point, should be answered in a little more detail than the other three and therefore you should try to think of at least two things to say for that point. Let's look at the teacher example. Here are the four points: 1) where you met them 2) what subject they taught 3) what was special about them 4) explain why this person influenced you so much. A good idea is to divide your piece of paper into four parts and first write in one word (or a very short combination of words) to answer the basic points. Below is an example of a piece of paper divided into four parts with some key words written in. These are the basic answers to the cue card points, without extra details. You will try to add extra points a few seconds after you write these key words. Let's say you are going to talk about Mr. Wang, your maths teacher in junior high school.

For Point 1, you don't need to actually say the exact place where you first met; "at school" is good enough. Notice that by saying you met him in your first year of junior high school you are also establishing when, which is important when using the past tense. For Point 2, the subject, there's nothing much else to say except the basic answer, "maths". For Point 3, what was special about Mr. Wang, you are lucky because you can immediately think of have six points to say about how he was special, three points about him as a maths teacher and three points about him as a person. As a teacher, he loved his subject and was very enthusiastic both about the subject and about teaching it. He was also very patient when he explained new concepts to the class and to you personally. As a person, he had a good sense of humour, he played ping pong with the class during breaks and even after school sometimes and everyone thought of him as a friend. For Point 4, why/how he influenced you, you need to first focus on the idea of change because without change, there is no influence. You're going to say that after three years of studying with Mr. Wang, your attitude towards maths changed drastically from hating it to having great respect for it. This is because Mr. Wang pointed out to the class how powerful mathematics is as a tool for analyzing and explaining the physical world. You are not sure how this change took place and you can only say that

Mr. Wang's enthusiasm and love for maths "rubbed off on you". ( ) Notice that there are many more points for # 3 and # 4 because, after all, the topic was describe a teacher. After writing these basic ideas, try to imagine a few more details. If you have time, quickly add them to your piece of paper. If you don't have time (i.e., the examiner asks you to start talking), just keep the ideas in your head. For example, you might have time to add the three extra points that are shown below. These points are: you had Mr. Wang for three years as your maths teacher; you hated maths and you found it hard before you met Mr. Wang; maybe the reason why Mr. Wang's positive attitudes rubbed off on you is because you really wanted to be a good student; and you're glad that he caused you to love maths now and that, if you had never met Mr. Wang, you doubt that you would be studying engineering right now.

Ask Yourself the 'Question Words' If you can't think of many things to say during the 1 minute of thinking time or while you are talking, a good idea is to ask say to yourself the key 'questions words' that are used in English. These words are, "How?", "When?", "Where?", "Why?", "Who?" and

"What .... (+ a noun)?" These words are in addition to the four question words in the four key points that the card asks you to talk about. You don't even need to ask yourself anything more than these single words. Just say these words to yourself and see if any information come to your mind that is suitable to include in your story. For example, maybe the card is like this: "You should say: where you went who you went there with what you did there and explain how you felt about that place." Let's look at just one of the points here, 'where you went'. Maybe your answer to this is, "I went to the beach at Qingdao". That's your basic answer but it's too short. So, you ask yourself the one word, "How?" This will bring to mind the question, "How did you go there?" Then you can add the fact that you went to Qingdao by plane or the fact that you went to the beach from your hotel on foot. The question word, "When?" can be answered by adding the detail that you and your friends went there about 10 o'clock in the morning. Or, maybe you could think of "When?" as meaning what day or what time of the year and you can say that it was in the last week of July and it was very hot then. You can still ask yourself the question word, "Where?" even though you plan to say Qingdao because the question might come to your mind, "Where is Qingdao?" and you can say that it's on the coast of Shandong province, not too far from South Korea and a few hundred kilometers east of your hometown, Beijing. The question word, "Why?" can bring to mind the facts that you went to the beach to, a) cool off in the sea water, b) to lie in the sun, c) to play some ball games on the sand and, d) to look at the beautiful view of the wide, blue ocean. Or maybe you can think of saying why you chose to go a beach at Qingdao and not a beach at, say, Dalian or some other place that has beaches. Do you see how easily extra ideas come to your mind once you simply ask these question words? If you do this, you should have no problems in quickly thinking of extra details to add to you story.

You are now ready to start telling your little story but, if you still have a few seconds remaining, you can think about your first sentence. If you don't have time, you can do this next step in about two or three seconds after the examiner asks you to start speaking. Your aim is to create a first sentence that, a) jumps straight into the story, b) summarizes point #4 and, c) uses a relative pronoun to make the first sentence a complex sentence. Here's an example of a good first sentence: "When I was in first year of junior high school, I met a teacher named Mr. Wang who completely changed my attitudes towards mathematics." See here for more about how to begin talking in Part 2. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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How to Begin Talking

Summary: A formal-sounding introduction is unnecessary. Instead, 'jump straight into the story'. A particularly strong first sentence includes a relative pronoun (such as 'which' or 'who') and a summary of your answer to the last line of the card. ------------------------------------------------------Many candidates are not sure how to begin talking in Part 2. As mentioned previously, it is not a good idea to begin with words such as, "I'd like to tell you about ..." because that beginning doesn't seem suitable for a 'conversation situation', which is what the Speaking test represents. In other words, it is not necessary to give a formal-sounding introduction to your Part 2 'story'.

Not only that, so many candidates begin by saying, "I'd like to tell you about ..." that it's boring for examiners to hear. Although I say it's not a good idea to begin with those words, it's not really 'wrong' or a mistake. I mean there are better ways to begin, that are more suitable and more interesting to hear. So what is the best way to begin? In general, I suggest just 'jumping straight into the story', in a way that seems natural in a conversational situation. I think there is no one way to speak your first sentence for every Part 2 it depends on the type of topic question and I think there are some logical ways to begin these different 'types' of Part 2 topics. For example, many Part 2 topics ask you to talk about an experience you have had. For these, the logical beginning is to mention the time of this experience in your first sentence. If the topic is, "Describe some useful advice that you have received" a suitable way to 'jump into the story' is to begin by saying, "About three years ago I was discussing my future career with my parents and my father gave me some really useful advice. He said ..." That's quite a good beginning, for the following reasons: a. You indicated the time of the experience. Whenever you use the past tense, the listener (or reader) must know when it happened. It is incorrect in English to use the past tense if the listener does not know that. This time can be rather general, for example, "One day, .." or "A long time ago ..." etc. but it must be known by the listener. [Many people make this past tense mistake because they use the past tense when they really mean to use the Present Perfect tense, such as, "I've eaten food from several different countries." It's not necessary to indicate the time when using the Present Perfect tense because this tense is used to talk about an experience "before now". But the Part 2 topics never ask you to use the present perfect tense in your answers, although the first line might introduce the topic by using the Present Perfect tense for example: "Describe some useful advice you have received." Part 2 doesn't ask you to use the Present Perfect tense when you answer the 4 points on the card because these points are specific details about this past experience and we always use the past tense when speaking about specific points in the past, not simply stating that you have had a certain experience.]

b. It is also a good beginning because it indicates the situation (having a discussion with your parents) when you received the advice. However, although that is a good beginning, it could be even better. A key idea for beginning your Part 2 story, whatever the topic, is to summarize the point of the last line on the task card in your first sentence. Here's an example: "About three years ago I was discussing my future career with my parents and my father gave me some advice, which was really useful because it saved me from making a big mistake in my choice of career. He said ..." Summarizing the last point in your first sentence is a very useful thing to do because: a. This point is the key idea to your whole story. By mentioning this point at the very beginning you make the whole story much easier to follow. It helps to make your story strongly coherent. b. You use a complex sentence to say this, using the linking word (the relative pronoun), 'which'. When the examiner hears you say that, he or she will immediately think, "Maybe a 6 or more for grammar." c. If you don't manage your speaking time well and the examiner tells you to stop talking after two minutes, before you have spoken about the last point on the card, you will lose points for coherence. That is, you didn't complete the task. But if you use this key idea and mention the last point first and still don't have time to say any more about the last point later in your story, the examiner will think, "Well, you didn't say much about the last point but you did explain it in a summarized form in your first sentence" and you will not lose points for coherence. In general, the models are these: ".... noun, relative pronoun + verb + key adjective + because ...." or, ".... noun, relative pronoun + verb + because" Some examples:

" .... a dog called a Shar-pie, which was very interesting to me because I had never before seen a dog with so much loose skin." "... a restaurant, which I especially like because ... " " When I was in junior high school I had a maths teacher Mr. Wang, who really influenced me a lot because he completely changed my attitude towards mathematics." Of course, variations of these models are possible. For example: "... Mr. Wang, who really influenced me a lot by completely changing my attitude towards mathematics." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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How to Finish Talking

Summary: If you have finished but the examiner does not say, "Thank you" immediately, tell the examiner you have finished. Two other possible ways to more clearly finish are, a) byrepeating the topic or, b) by repeating the main point, especially your main feeling in your story. ------------------------------------------------------Many candidates speak for about 1.5 minutes, they address all four points on the task card and add a detail or two to each point and then they think, "Well, I've finished now." and they suddenly stop talking. These candidates might have done a reasonably good job in telling their story but to suddenly stop talking without indicating in some way that this is the end of the story is showing poor communication skills.

The reason why the candidate suddenly stops talking is because he or she doesn't know what to do they don't realize that they are in control of the test at this point. This candidate sits there silently thinking, "What do I do now?" but the examiner also sits there silently for a few seconds, waiting for you to continue speaking! This is a dangerous situation because long periods of silence will reduce your fluency sub-score. Why does the examiner not say, "Thank you" and bring Part 2 to an end when these candidates have finished their story? The reason is, the examiner doesn't know the candidate has finished. He or she thinks they are still telling their story and they are silent because they are thinking of something else to say. If there is still quite a lot of time remaining, such as 20 to 40 seconds, the examiner wants to give these candidates a chance to say more. So, if you finish your story and you know you have answered the four points on the card adequately and you also know that you have spoken for a decent length of time (i.e., more than 1 minute 20 seconds) but if the examiner doesn't seem to realize you have finished, you should immediately tell the examiner that you have finished. Just say something short and quick such as, "I've finished now", "That's it", "That's all", "That's the end", "That's all I have to say" or something similar to those. Then the examiner will say, "Thank you" and Part 2 will come to an end. (Possibly you will be asked one or two quick 'follow-up' questions before Part 2 is completely finished.) As much as you can, you must avoid long periods of silence in the Speaking test! (Except for the 1-minute of thinking time, of course.) However, as mentioned above, if you have to actually tell the examiner that it is the end in one of those ways, it means that your story-telling skill is a little weak. It's like telling a joke to someone and, when they don't laugh, you have to explain why it was funny. There are probably many different ways to finish a story so that the listener doesn't think (or ask), "Is that the end?" Different styles of stories have different styles of ending. One common way to finish a story is to say something like, "Well, that's my story about XYZ " where, 'XYZ' is the topic of the story, as shown in the first line of the task card, beginning with the word, "Describe". For example, "Well, that's my story about an interesting animal I saw at the zoo." or, "So, that's the interesting animal I saw last year" or, "Well, that's my story about old Mr. Wang" (after describing an old person who you admire). Of course, you don't have to say the word, "Well" or "So" but it does sound more natural to begin this sentence that way. And you don't have to include the word "story" you could say something such as, "So, that's what happened on my trip to Qingdao" (after telling a story about a place with lots of

water that you visited). Notice that you need to say the word, "that" and you basically summarize or repeat the topic, as outlined in the first line of the card. Another way to finish, which is similar to repeating the topic, is to repeat your main feeling or the main point of your story. For example, let's say you told a story about a teacher who greatly influenced you in your education. To end, you could say, "Yes, he really did influence me a lot." and say it in a reflective sort of way, possibly nodding your head as you say it. Or, after telling a story about a success you had, "Yeah, I was quite proud of myself for reaching that goal. It wasn't easy at all!" Or, after telling a story about some good advice you received, "Yes, I'm so glad he gave me that advice. It really did help me." The idea here is to repeat something you have already said, (preferably using slightly different words). If it is the first time that you express this idea in your story, it might not sound like the end. The most natural way to say these sentences is to begin with the word, "Yes" or "Yeah" or some similar word, such as , "Really", as in , "Really, I'm so glad he gave me that advice." This repetition of your main point or feeling can be made even stronger, i.e., can be emphasized, by adding one more sentence an, "If not" sentence. For example, "Yes, he really did influence me a lot. If I had never met Mr. Li, I doubt that I would be an engineer today." Or, "Yeah, I was quite proud of myself for reaching that goal. It wasn't easy at all! I think if I had given up, I would never have forgiven myself." Or, "Yes, I'm so glad he gave me that advice. It really did help me. If he hadn't given me that advice, I'm sure I would have made a big mistake in my choice of career." Those sentences are excellent endings but the grammar is not easy for someone who is below a Band 6.5 level. But if you can correctly make such a sentence, it will really help your grammar sub-score. For those of you who are serious enough about the test to buy 'Side by Side', you'll find good exercises for speaking this kind of sentence in 'Side by Side' Book 4, Chapter 7. The grammar is, 'The Past Unreal Conditional sentence' () When you use either of these two methods to finish, you should look directly at the examiner as you say it. (You should be looking directly at the examiner most of the time in Part 2, anyway.) With these kinds of endings, the examiner almost certainly will immediately say, "Thank you". If he or she doesn't say that immediately, it means the tone of your sentence (i.e., the intonation you used) was not the tone that a native English speaker would use, and the examiner still doesn't realize you have finished. In this case, if the examiner doesn't immediately say thank you, you have no other choice but to say something like, "That's all".

Don't use the word "conclude" or "conclusion" to finish Part 2. These are suitable for Task 2 in the Writing test but not in Part 2 of the Speaking test. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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How to Answer the One or Two Follow-up Questions

Summary: a) Not every candidate as asked a follow-up question. b) Most follow-up questions are 'Yes/No' questions. c) Give a somewhat short answer but not just a simple, "Yes" or "No". ------------------------------------------------------The examiner does not always ask a follow-up question after the candidate has finished his or her 'little story', usually because there is not enough time left in the four minutes of Part 2. You should understand that these follow-up questions are not really trying to test your English, although if you make an English mistake, the examiner will notice. The main purpose of the one or two follow-up questions is to make you feel good! Imagine a situation where you spoke from your heart in Part 2 but the examiner only said, "Thank you" after you finished, and said nothing more before moving on to Part 3. Some candidates might lose confidence because they might think that the examiner was not interested in their story or didn't like it. So the examiner sometimes asks a short question to 'follow up' your story and this question (or two) seems to show that the examiner was interested in your story. Follow-up questions are also used when the candidate gives a very short Part 2 answer. Since Part 2 must be between 3 and 4 minutes, the examiner cannot finish

Part 2 at, say, 2 minutes 45 seconds so the follow-up question or questions are used to fill in the time. Most follow-up questions are 'Yes/No' questions. If you watch the video of the Portuguese girl, Zara, doing her Part 2, you'll see that the examiner asked her, "Do your friends also have i-pods?" Zara just answered, "Yeah", which is too short. The best answer for the follow-up question is short, but not that short. It is better to say, "Yes, they do" and then follow with another very short statement but it's also ok to say, "Yeah" followed by a very short statement. The short statement can be an extra piece of information such as, "Yeah. Some of friends even have two i-pods" or, "Yes, they do. If you don't have an i-pod, people will think you're not cool." or you can just repeat or confirm your, "Yes" or "No" answer using different words such as, "Yes, they do. Everyone's got one." or, "Yes, everyone's got one." or, "Yeah, they've all got one." Just keep your answers quite short and don't think too long before answering or speak too slowly. Part 2 is probably around the 3 minutes 50 seconds point at this time and the examiner is anxious not to go longer than 4 minutes for Part 2. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Grammar in Part 2
There are six main grammar points that are especially important in Part 2:

1. Verb tense or verb form 2. The first, complex sentence 3. Being consistent when using, "he", "him", "his", "she" and, "her". 4. Reported Speech () 5. Perfect Modals () 6. Looking for opportunities to show conditional sentences ()

1. Verb tense or verb form The most common verb tenses that are written in the four points on the task card are, a) the past tense, b) the present tense (e.g., talking about your habits), c) the future tense and d) the 'would' form of verb (which is not called a tense). You should be very strict with yourself and address the points on the card using the same verb tense (or verb form) as is written on the card. The Past Tense Here are two important points to remember about using the past tense: a) Whenever you use the past tense, the listener or the reader must know when the action took place. (The first time you use the past tense in a story can also be the time when you say when it happened.) You should not use the past tense if the listener or reader does not already know or is not also told 'when' as you use the past tense. This 'when' does not always need to be very specific. For example, you can just say, "One day, I met a man who had no shoes"; "Many years ago, I went on a trip to Shanghai"; or, "When I was much younger, I wanted to be a famous movie star" etc. The task card does not always tell you to say 'when'. If the card doesn't tell you to say when, you must include this yourself, without being told. b) Many candidates correctly use the past tense to answer the 4 points written on the card but when they talk about other points that are not written on the card, they forget to use the past tense. Remember this: Almost every verb you use when answering a past tense Part 2 will be in the past tense or past perfect tense ( ). Ofcourse, this is not 100% true but it's a good hint to remember. For example, you

might want to say something that is a general truth, which requires you to use the Present Simple Tense, such as, "... and I like maths teachers who always write clear examples on the blackboard." The Present Tense Avoid saying "will" when answering a present tense question. It is sometimes used but usually with the word, "if" or when the meaning of "if" is implied in what you are saying. The best idea is to just avoid using "will" when answering a present tense question or when speaking in general, unless you do use "if" in the same sentence. For example, "If I've finished my homework, I'll usually play a computer game before I go to bed." is an acceptable sentence, which can also be spoken as, "If I've finished my homework, I usually play a computer game before I go to bed." However, simply saying, "I'll play a play a computer game before I go to bed" sounds unnatural to many examiners. On the other hand, if you include the word, "sometimes" it implies there there is some condition ( = some or one, "if" situation), which makes this sentence also acceptable, "Sometimes I'll play a computer game before I go to bed." The 'Would' form of Verb This is usually used when talking about something that is hypothetical (). People who are less than Band 6.0 often make mistakes with this verb form because they don't really understand it. The examiner might give you a task card with this verb form included in some (or all) of the points because the he or she thinks that maybe you are be a Band 6.0 or above and how correctly you answer this Part 2 will give the examiner a more accurate idea of your real level. I have already written about how to use 'would' in several different places on this website. (One day I will write some exercises and a full explanation of this word.) You can read about 'would' on this page, this page, at several places on this page, and on this page. The topics that include (or included in the past) the word 'would' are: 5, 96, 102, 112, 115, 120, 154 and 172. Read any notes that go with those topics. The main mistakes that people make are: a. Saying "will" instead of "would" b. Saying "want to" when "would like" is more suitable c. Saying "can" and "must" when speaking hypothetically instead of correctly saying "could" (= would be able to) or "would have to". For

example: "If I had a lot of money, I would buy a house near the beach. Then I can go swimming every day." That should be, "Then I could go swimming every day." 2. The first, complex sentence See here. In addition to this first sentence, you should, of course, try to show several other examples of complex sentences in Part 2. 3. Being consistent when using, "he", "him", "his", "she" and, "her" Some people at around the Band 5.0 level, when speaking about a female in Part 2 sometimes use, "him", "he" or "his". This is quite a serious mistake because the listener (the examiner) can become very confused about what you are saying, that is, communication is broken. 4. Reported Speech (Side by Side Book 4, Chapter 8) If possible, try to find opportunities in your Part 2 story to show the examiner that you know how to do the grammar of 'reported speech'. This will score a few points for you. And remember, this grammar is not just used to report what someone said but is also used to report (=express) what someone or you thought or felt. For example, "I wrote to him because I thought he would be pleased to hear that I had found such a good job." (At the time you wrote to him, you said to yourself, "I think he will be pleased to hear that I have found such a good job.") 5. Perfect Modals (Side by Side Book 4, Chapter 2) The 'perfect modals' are "should have", "might have" = "may have", "could have" and "must have". If you can find ways to display your knowledge of this more advanced grammar, you will get more points for grammar. For example, "It was quite dangerous being lost in that snowstorm. In fact, I could have frozen to death." 6. Looking for opportunities to show conditional sentences (Side by Side Book 4 Chapters 5-7) This grammar is especially useful when finishing your Part 2 story (see here) but you might also be able to find other places to use it in your story.

Some of the suggestions on this page are really only applicable to candidates who are at or near the Band 6.5 level, (or above that level.) The point is, Part 2 allows you to show the best grammar you know because you have a lot of freedom to choose what to say in this part of the test. If you really know the more difficult grammar and can make these sentences quickly with just a few or no errors, Part 2 is a good opportunity to get extra points for your grammar sub-score. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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ielts-yasi.englishlab.net Written Nov. 5, 2008

How To Speak in Part 2 (Page 10)

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Do I Have to Tell the Truth?

No, you don't have to tell the truth in your Part 2 answer! (In fact, you don't have to tell the truth in the whole Speaking test, except for the first 4, introductory questions.) Examiners know that there are times when candidates cannot think of a real story from their lives that fits a Part 2 topic. It is much better to make up a story that is not true than to sit there silently because you can't think of an example for the Part 2 question from your own life. There are some advantages and disadvantages to making up a story that is completely untrue. For example, for a true story, you don't have to think too much about details; you only need to think about expressing them in English. But for a fictional story, you have to both think of ideas and how to express these ideas in English. Doing two things instead of one might slow you down. As well as that, people who are poor actors or people who are not used to 'telling lies' sometimes can't hide the fact that the story is not true and, sitting there grinning because what you say is untrue can damage the effectiveness of your story.

I suggest you think about this issue of how truthful your story should be and test yourself to see how well you really can speak, and how comfortable you feel when you tell a completely fictional story but pretending it is true. An example of a topic where I think most people would need to tell a fictional story is the Part 2 example from the IELTS Handbook. This topic is, "Describe a teacher who has greatly influenced you in your education." Personally, I cannot think of any real teachers who greatly influenced me in my education; I can think of two or three who influenced me a little bit but that is not the same as 'greatly' and I think I am probably typical. (Great influence means there was great change; small influence results in small change and no influence means no change. The IELTS test loves the twin, related topics of 'influence' and 'change'.) Therefore, if I were an IELTS candidate and if I got that topic, I would have to make up a fictional teacher, probably partly based on some of the best teachers I had and partly based on teachers from films, TV shows or just my imagination. It is significant that the IELTS people chose that particular example for the IELTS Handbook. I think they are trying to show us that Part 2 answers don't have to be 100% true. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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ielts-yasi.englishlab.net Written Sept. 6, 2008

How To Speak in Part 2 (Page 11)

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Try to make your story interesting!

Remember, you are communicating with another human being, not an examining machine. What makes a story interesting? A story is more interesting if it is full of details and facts that the listener didn't know before. Examiners are especially interested in learning something new about China so, whenever suitable, give the examiner some new information about your country. As well as that, the examiner is interested in learning something about you. So, try to speak personally, not in an

impersonal, formal way. And try to be original, which means say things that are from you, that stress your uniqueness and difference from others. Those candidates who repeat too much of what they have read in model answers in IELTS textbooks usually sound very unoriginal and quite boring, partly because the examiners have heard the same things before from many other candidates who have studied the same books. If a story is extremely interesting to an examiner, he or she might not notice some of your grammar and vocabulary errors or weaknesses because they are so fascinated by the contents of your story! In this way, a story that captivates or fascinates the examiner gives the examiner the impression that you have excellent communication skills and the examiner will tend to judge you more kindly for the coherence sub-score (actually, the fluency/coherence sub-score.) Candidates who speak with strong feelings about something tend to sound more interesting and, in fact tend to speak at their best. So, if you can tell a story that has some genuine emotion from you, it will help you. (But don't cry in the test if you are speaking about something sad that will ruin your ability to talk!) For example, I remember a young man in one of my classes who I thought had just average English speaking ability. Then the class practiced the topic, "Describe an old person you know" and I heard this young man talk about how his grandfather cried when the family gave him a birthday party. What I noticed was this young man seemed to be speaking about something true and he spoke very convincingly and much more fluently than he had when answering Part 1 questions. Similarly, if you listen to the Korean girl in the Specimen Tests speaking with pride and emotion about how the President of her country won the Nobel Peace Prize, you'll see that she spoke both convincingly and quite effortlessly. But be careful of pretending to have strong feelings when you really don't have strong feelings because you have to be an excellent actor or actress to speak convincingly and fluently about something that you don't really have genuine feelings about. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ielts-yasi.englishlab.net Written Sept. 6, 2008

How To Speak in Part 2 (Page 11)

Back to the start page

Try to make your story interesting!

Remember, you are communicating with another human being, not an examining machine. What makes a story interesting? A story is more interesting if it is full of details and facts that the listener didn't know before. Examiners are especially interested in learning something new about China so, whenever suitable, give the examiner some new information about your country. As well as that, the examiner is interested in learning something about you. So, try to speak personally, not in an impersonal, formal way. And try to be original, which means say things that are from you, that stress your uniqueness and difference from others. Those candidates who repeat too much of what they have read in model answers in IELTS textbooks usually sound very unoriginal and quite boring, partly because the examiners have heard the same things before from many other candidates who have studied the same books. If a story is extremely interesting to an examiner, he or she might not notice some of your grammar and vocabulary errors or weaknesses because they are so fascinated by the contents of your story! In this way, a story that captivates or fascinates the examiner gives the examiner the impression that you have excellent communication skills and the examiner will tend to judge you more kindly for the coherence sub-score (actually, the fluency/coherence sub-score.) Candidates who speak with strong feelings about something tend to sound more interesting and, in fact tend to speak at their best. So, if you can tell a story that has some genuine emotion from you, it will help you. (But don't cry in the test if you are speaking about something sad that will ruin your ability to talk!) For example, I remember a young man in one of my classes who I thought had just average English speaking ability. Then the class practiced the topic, "Describe an old person you know" and I heard this young man talk about how his grandfather cried when the family gave him a birthday party. What I noticed was this young man seemed to be speaking about something true and he spoke very convincingly and much more fluently than he had when answering Part 1 questions. Similarly, if you listen to the Korean girl in the Specimen Tests speaking with pride and emotion about how the President of her country won the Nobel Peace Prize, you'll see that she spoke both convincingly and quite effortlessly.

But be careful of pretending to have strong feelings when you really don't have strong feelings because you have to be an excellent actor or actress to speak convincingly and fluently about something that you don't really have genuine feelings about. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------