1.

Learn how IELTS speaking is scored

This only makes sense. IELTS speaking is scored according to strict grading criteria and if you
want to impress the examiner, you need to know what the examiner wants! In brief,
pronunciation, fluency and coherence, grammar and vocabulary all count for 25%. To get more
details about what each of these criteria mean, visit my page on this:
Speaking scores explained

2. Before the exam practice and listen

Following on from the previous advice, you need to practice before the exam to make sure that
the appropriate skills are automatic. The very best practice is to listen and then speak language
learning is about repetition. If you dont have anyone to practise with try here:
Get online speaking practice sorry this is out of service and will be returning soon

3. Understand what you will be asked about everyday ideas

Typically, you will be asked to talk about everyday topics and ideas. As the test goes on though
the questions do become harder and more theoretical. One simple suggestion is to just to look at
the types of questions you will get. You may be surprised at how easy the questions are! IELTS
speaking is not an academic test at all its just a test go your language. Sometimes people can
go wrong because they treat it like an intelligence test and forget to use good English.

4. Use natural spoken English

The best form of English to use in the test is natural spoken English. This will help you to speak
more fluently and improve your pronunciation. Here are some examples of what works:
short forms like its and not it is
words like quite that we use a lot in speaking
common spoken phrases like I guess and I suppose
The best way to learn this type of language is often to listen to native speakers. If you dont have
a native speaker to listen to, I suggest you visit my collection of sample questions where you will
find recording and transcripts of my answers. Look at the sort of language I use and try and
borrow it for yourself. To help you I have highlighted the sort of language you need:
model questions with answers and highlighted language

5. Extend your answer

If there is one key piece of advice, it is to extend your answer appropriately. For example, this is
inappropriate:
Question: How many languages do you speak?
Answer: Two. Chinese and English.
Better would be:
Answer: I speak two languages. My first language is Chinese and I speak English too. Ive
been learning English since I was 10. I started learning it when I was in primary school.
Be aware, however, that very long answers are not always a good idea. It is possible that you will
go off topic and lose coherence.

6. Sometimes give short answers too!

Not all IELTS speaking questions are equal. For some you may have more to say about and some
less. That is only natural. If you get a question that you dont know very much about do NOT try
and talk and talk about it. If you do you will probably become incoherent. Much much better is
just to give a short answer saying that you dont know very much about that and then wait for the
next question theres always another question.
Naturally you cant do this all the time and in part 2 you do need to keep speaking for at least
one and a half minutes.

7. Give yourself time to think repeat/reformulate the question

In parts 1 and 3 you are not given any thinking time: you are supposed to start speaking
immediately. This does not mean, however, that you need to start answering the question straight
away. What you can do is start by repeating/reformulating or commenting on the question:
What did I enjoy doing as a child? Let me see
Thats not something Ive thought about before. Its an interesting question.
This has several benefits. It is good communication. It allows you a little time to think. It should
also make you answer the question and not the general topic.
A lesson with a list of helpful vocabulary to answer harder questions

8. Correct yourself if you can do it immediately

If you make a mistake and you can correct it immediately, do so. This will show the examiner
that you have control over the language. If, however, you are unsure how to correct yourself,
move on: the examiner may not have noticed the mistake in the first place and if you try
unsuccessfully to correct it, a small mistake may become a much bigger one.

9. If you dont understand the question ask

This is a speaking test and not a listening test. If you dont understand the question, ask the
examiner to repeat or explain it you should not be penalised for this. If you try to answer a
question you do not understand, you will almost certainly become incoherent.

10. Learn to use a range of functional vocabulary such as opinion language

One thing that you will do a lot in the test is give opinions and talk about what you like and
dislike. The examiner will be listening to see whether you can say I think and I like in different
ways. This can be a tough skill to learn as you may need to learn new speaking habits.
helpful language for opinions

11. Discover the best way to use your preparation time in part 2
The one scary part of the test is likely to be part 2 where you need to speak for up to 2 minutes.
This is a slightly unusual task and you want to use your preparation time well to help you spek
enough. There are a variety of different ways you can use this time and the best advice is to find
one that suits you. Try some of these ideas and work out which one or ones work best for you:
5 different ways to use your preparation time

12. Listen to the grammar in the question

The best advice for IELTS speaking is very simply to listen to the question and answer it. The
reason for this is for this is the one time you are face to face with the examiner and nerves are a
sigificant problem. If you are trying to remember complex advice, you are likely to become more
nervous and not perform to your best. Keep it simple.
One example here is in part 1. If you here a question in the past tense:
What sports did you play as a child?
A good answer will use the past tense the examiner will be listening for this.

13. Dont worry too much about using clever language think fluency
When we speak a language we dont have much time to choose our words and that means that
we often use far fewer words when we speak than when we write. In IELTS speaking candidates
sometimes go wrong because they try and use clever words that they think will impress the
examiner. This can be a mistake for a couple of reasons:
the words may in fact be wrong!
if you spend too much time trying to think of words your fluency may suffer

14. Dont be afraid to repeat yourself think coherence the as I was saying
trick
Part of your score in speaking is fluency and coherence. One way to make yourself more
coherent is in fact to repeat yourself. This is something professional speakers do a lot. They say
something once and then they say it again. The one trick is not use the sam words both times!. A
practical suggestion is to think about finishing your speech by referring back to something you
have already said. A key phrase here may be
As I was saying/As I said before

If you use this it helps show the examiner that you are linking your ideas together and that in fact
is what coherence is!
Get a full lesson on coherence

15. Speak about what you know and what you think
This perhaps should be point number one. One of the best ways to impress an examiner is to talk
personally about what you think and what you know. Examiners just HATE answers that they
think are learnt. In contrast, if you talk about something that you know about then they will be
much more interested in what you say.

16. Give examples

If you are the sort of person who finds it difficult to explain things or tends to give short answers,
then it may help you to try and give examples. Examples are great for explaining ideas and it is
much easier to say for example than because. If you give an example, you are just describing
something you know about and that takes very little mental effort. If though you say because that
is much harder as you now need to think! Be easy on yourself.

17. Think about detail thats interesting and good for your vocabulary
Another way to learn to say more is just to add detail. You should remember that this is a
language test and there more language you use the better. That means if you are asked a question
such as
When did you first start to learn English?
The smart thing to do is give detail about when.
I first started to learn English when I was in primary school. We had around 4 classes a week
with our form teacher and sometimes a native speaker came to help her out and talk to us in
English. It was quite funny because we didnt understand a word he said. At first I hated
it because my teacher was very strict and forced us to write in English every day.
Why does this work? Well if you can give an answer like that you get to use interesting language
such as native speaker help out. You can only do this if you add detail.

18. Make eye contact

A large part of communication is non-verbal. You are marked by the examiner in the room and
you should do everything you can to show that person that you are a good communicator. If you
do not make eye contact with the examiner, s/he is probably going to be less impressed with your
performance.

19. Immediately before the exam speak English

The problem for many people is not speaking English, rather it is moving from their own
language into English. The advice here is plain: make certain that you are already speaking
English before you go into the exam.

20. Do not relax too much its not a conversation

This is an exam and you need to show the best side of your spoken English. If you relax too
much and become too conversational, your English may suffer. You need to recognise that this is
not a true dialogue between two people: it is more of an interview with one person speaking and
the other listening.
In a conversation the speaking conventions are quite different: you expect the other person to
share 50% of the talk time and to react to your comments, typically one person will not speak for
any length of time.

Part 1 - Warm-up
The questions are easy, so the examiner cannot be sure of your level from only Part 1. You
can give very easy answers, but this is a chance to make a good impression. If you give easy
answers, the examiner will not know if you are Band 4 or maybe Band 5. If you give good,
specific answers with explanations, the examiner will think you could be Band 6 or Band 7!
You can use this time to practice making good sentences. If you wait until Part 2 and Part 3 to
give longer answers, you might not do so well. Athletes and musicians always take time to warm
up. You should too!
Part 2 - the "Long Turn"
The biggest mistake students make is to not take notes. The examiner will give you a piece of
paper and a pencil to take notes because speaking for two minutes without stopping is not easy.
Even native English speakers will have trouble speaking for two minutes! Students who don't
take notes often say, "Uh, I think maybe, um.... Um..., well... It seems to me...". "Uh" and "Um"
are Band ZERO! Use notes to help you remember what you want to say. If not, you WILL get a
low score.
Use the P.R.E.P. method. Start with "P" - make one sentence about your main Point. Then
give two or three sentences to provide "R", a Reason. Next give "E", an Example. Describe the
example using two or three sentences. Finish by repeating "P", your main Point, but use a
different sentence. If you have extra time, give a second example.
You must practice! Use a watch and give yourself one minute to take notes on a topic, then
two minutes to make four or five sentences using the PREP method. You should practice one or
two topics every day before the test.
Do not worry about the time. That is the examiner's job. He or she will tell you when to stop.

Part 3 - General Questions

Part 3 is the hardest part of the Speaking Test and it comes very fast. Most students aren't
ready. When you hear the examiner say "And now I'd like to ask you some more GENERAL
questions RELATED to your Part 2 topic", you know Part 3 is starting. Be ready!
Do NOT take so much time. Two sentences for each answer is usually enough. If you have a
long introduction, the examiner will think you don't know how to answer the question.
Use the General-Specific technique. As soon as you hear the question, give a general opinion
about the topic. Then give a specific reason or example in the next sentence or two.

IELTS Speaking: 10 Tips for Teachers

November 29, 2011 IELTSAcademic

Are you new to teaching IELTS? Or perhaps youve been teaching IELTS a while and are
frustrated that your students never seem to improve beyond their barely-adequate, high-schoollevel English conversation?
The following advice should add a few extra techniques to your arsenal and will hopefully make
you reconsider some of the teaching practices suggested by standard coursebooks. Feel free to
add your own hints and tips in the comments section below.
Note: these tips assume that students are being taught in small groups, but some apply equally to
one-on-one teaching situations.
1. Stick to pair practice

Since the Speaking module of IELTS takes the form of a one-on-one interview, there is rarely
any need to deviate from this pattern in practice. Avoid whole-class interactions as much as
possible and maximise pair practice instead. It is a common myth in language teaching that
learner pairs simply replicate each others mistakes, when research shows that they actually
develop more advanced negotiation and explanation strategies than they would with a native
speaker.
2. Close the textbook

The problem with using prepared materials for speaking practice is that students are rarely able
to resist reading the question even as their partner is asking it. If you are not activating their
listening skills in Parts 1 and 3, you are not adequately preparing students for IELTS Speaking.
Force them out of the reading habit by making the interviewee close the textbook during Parts 1
and 3.

3. Model for different band scores

Often the reason students fail to improve is simply that the models they are offered by trainers
are so far beyond their capabilities that they have no idea how to apply them when speaking.
Metalinguistic advice based on the scoring criteria, meanwhile, is often difficult for lower-level
students to comprehend. A more effective classroom technique may be to model different
answers for Bands 4, 5, 6 and 7, making only minimal changes to each answer so students have a
clear sense of which changes produced a higher score.
4. Useful language remains useless until you make it useful

Most IELTS textbooks will suggest useful language for answering a set of practice questions, but
few provide any real incentive to use it. Bewilderingly, many textbook authors place useful
language after the questions when students have already made up their minds about what they
are going to say! Making this so-called useful language truly worth using thus becomes one of
the teachers most challenging roles in the classroom. One technique that works is making
students cover the questions with one hand and try to guess what those questions might be based
on the model answers suggested. This forces them to process the useful language more carefully,
making it potentially, well, useful.
5. Ban certain words and phrases

Students repeatedly ask how they can improve their IELTS Speaking scores in the same way they
constantly cling to their favourite words and phrases: I think; I agree; For example; So;
Because; fun; interesting. If you really want your students to venture out of their comfort zone in
speaking, you might consider imposing a penalty on the use of a certain word or phrase during
practice. Possible penalties include coming up with five synonyms when their turn is over.
6. Involve the listener in Part 2

There are various techniques available to keep students involved while their partner is doing the
individual long-turn. One is to require everyone to ask a follow-up question at the end (with a
strict time limit so this doesnt turn into another two minutes of unstructured talk). Another is to
get students to reproduce their partners notes while listening. One technique that is good for
feedback purposes is to get students to tick off the different prompts in the task as they are
answered by their partner. A more challenging task is to withhold the question from one of the
pair, who then has to guess and write down the different prompts based on what their partner
says. By involving the listener, of course, you can also prevent them from mentally rehearsing
for their own turn!
7. Teach and continually reinforce a range of strategies to expand answers in Part 3

Students often forget that there are many ways of answering the question in IELTS Speaking Part
3. If your students rarely deviate from the opinion>supporting reason linear approach, you
should consider practice activities that force them to expand in other ways. One technique is to
have them deal cards containing prompts such as Personal Example, Example from Knowledge,
Three Reasons, Attribution, Concession, Recommendation, Prediction, Comparison (Country),
Comparison (Past/Present), or signal phrases eliciting similar responses. Answers will sometimes
become incoherent or even surreal but that can add to the fun of the exercise. Students should
know beforehand that the goal of the exercise is to explore the range of possibilities in speaking,
not to come up with perfect answers.
8. Make a note of common errors in speaking

For teachers, IELTS Speaking practice is a very useful opportunity to gather information about
their students high-frequency errors. Views differ, however, when it comes to the best way to
respond to such mistakes. Immediate recasting may be an option in one-to-one lessons, but in
group situations it is generally considered best practice to promote fluency and avoid
highlighting errors made by individual students. There is no need to provide feedback on errors
immediately after practice, either. Your notes could form the basis of a grammar workshop later
in the lesson or the course, one that is probably more relevant to your students real needs than
the grammar exercises offered by the textbook. When selecting which errors to highlight,
prioritise likely L1 interference errors, especially when the students belong to the same L1 group.
9. Give your students feedback tools

Pair practice becomes much more rewarding when students are able to give feedback. A
simplified checklist based on some (but not all) of the scoring criteria in IELTS Speaking is one
way to enable this. Beware of giving students so many items to consider that feedback becomes
the focus of the practice session. As a general rule, giving feedback should never be more
difficult than answering the question itself. Once peer feedback becomes an established practice
in class, different checklists graded for difficulty can be introduced over time.
10. Take a speaking test yourself

It may seem like stating the obvious, but theres no better way to become a better test trainer than
by taking a test yourself. Get a colleague or a student to put you through the three parts of IELTS
or devise a similar test in another language you have studied. Reflect later on how your answers
could have been improved. If you had no trouble answering, try analysing the speaking strategies
you used when fielding questions and consider how best to introduce them to your students.

IELTS Speaking Part 1: Tips

This first section of the IELTS Speaking exam lasts about 4-5 minutes and
gives the examiner the chance to find out a little about you through some
simple getting-to-know-you questions. These will be questions that youll
have something to talk about such as your family, where you come from and
what your interests are. This is also YOUR chance to get off to a good start!
Example Questions:
Q: Can you tell me where you're from?
Q: Do you enjoy studying English?
Q: What are you studying?
Q: Have you got any interests or hobbies?
Part 1: Top Tips!
Impress the examiner with your ability to give full answers to his or her
questions.
a) Avoid short, yes, no answers.
Q: Can you tell me where you're from?
A: Im from Coimbra. Its a city in the central part of Portugal. Its a very
historical city and we have one of the oldest universities in Europe.
[Use examples to back up statements].
Q: Do you enjoy studying English?
A: Oh yes! I went to England last year and loved being able to communicate
with local people. And knowing a second language means you have access to
a whole new culture new authors, English films.
b) Give the examiner a picture of you.
Q: What are you studying?
A: Im taking an IELTS course in India in order to go to university in the UK.
Ive been accepted on a Business course in London but need to get the right
IELTS score so Ive been doing lots of IELTS Speaking practice.

Q: Have you got any interests or hobbies?

A: Not really. I like watching football and read books quite often, but I dont
have any hobbies really. Hopefully one day Ill discover a hidden interest!
- See more at: http://pathways.com.vn/en/news-view/ielts-speaking-part-1tips#sthash.5ZmTf1zH.dpuf
Hey there! The other day I talked to you about the most important thing for your preparation
which is beyond any kind of tips and strategies and you can read this post here. Today, however,
I will focus on Speaking Tips. All the things you can do to help you along with your preparation
and language learning: The Top 10 tips you will ever need to improve yourself in the
speaking section! If you follow them consistently, you will definitely see your score raised. So,
are you ready? Here we go!
1.) Pronunciation

Pronunciation is important. They do not expect you to talk like a native speakerof course not
but you have to be clearly understood and you should pronounce the words correctly.
Mispronouncing of words counts against you. If you can also talk like a native speaker by all
means do it; thats an extra bonus, but not a requirement.
2.) Be prepared

You are going to be nervous more or less. The more prepared you are, the less nervous you are
going to be. Keep in mind that the examiners see lots of people everyday: they are tired, too.
They are on your side not your enemy. Go in there and have a friendly conversation with
confidence. If you make them forget that they examine you (which is the ideal), you will score
higher.
3.) Communication

There are no right or wrong questions. You just have to be able to understand what you are asked
and talk about it giving your own opinion and/or arguments. They just want to see that you can
communicate well and effectively in English and that you can justify and stand up for what you
believe.
4.) Practice makes perfect

Answer questions on your own and practice a lot. Do NOT memorise answers by heart; they can
understand that and it will count against you. Just practice answering the questions lots of times.
5.) Focus on what you know NOT on what you dont

Gradually, the questions are going to be a little bit more challenging, especially in the last part.
Earn some time to think by asking: Could you repeat the question, please? Most times, apart
from a difficult word or phrase, the question is pretty simple so dont get too overwhelmed. Even
if they ask you: What do you think about nuclear energy? and you know nothing about it, you
still know that nuclear energy is dangerous, right? So, base your answer on that. They do not
expect you to be a scientistjust to talk in English.
6.) Think in English

I know it is not so easy but try to talk in English as much as possible. The worst thing you can do
is to try to translate in your mind what you would say in your mother language. Avoid that at all
costs! Be simple, but think in English. If you think in a language with a different syntax and
more advanced vocabulary you will get stuck eventually and then you will forget what you
started to say in the first place.
7.) Speak as you write

When you write there is introduction, main body, and conclusion. Keep that in mind in Speaking,
too. Start with an opening phrase; state your opinion; and complete your thoughts with an ending
phrase.
8.) Standard phrases

Learn standard connecting phrases to help you during your speaking, especially when you get
stuck and you dont know what else to say. You can find some of these useful phrases in the
Speaking lessons here.
9.) You can lie

Examiners know nothing about you: nothing about your life or beliefs. And you know what?
They dont even care. All they care about is your English. So, it doesnt matter if you lie just
because it seems easier at some point or another. You can lie as much as you like, as long as your
English is good; you are on topic; and you answer the question.
10.) Speak up!

You will be nervous but that doesnt mean that you should be shy or make it difficult for the
examiner to hear you. Your English may be excellent but what difference does it make if only
dolphins can hear you? If the examiner cant hear you, he will be annoyed because his job
becomes harder. We dont want that. Open your mouth; talk clearly; and speak up with
confidence!

You can find speaking questions to practice for PART 1 in the e-books section here for
free! What do you find difficult in Speaking? Tell me in the comments below!