English Podcast · Episode 3 · August 23, 2019

IELTS speaking tips

This episode is the third part in our miniseries about the IELTS exam. Each week we explore one of the four parts of the IELTS exam: writing, reading, listening, and speaking. This week we are talking about the speaking exam and Conor is joined by Keager, a teacher with years of experience teaching the IELTS exam.

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IELTS Speaking tips
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IELTS speaking tips

This episode is the third part in our miniseries about the IELTS exam. Each week we explore one of the four parts of the IELTS exam: writing, reading, listening, and speaking. This week we are talking about the speaking exam and Conor is joined by Keager, a teacher with years of experience teaching the IELTS exam.

Listen to this episode

The scripts

A few general IELTS speaking tips:

  • Show the examiner what you can do and use every opportunity to talk – no monosyllabic answers!
  • Part 1 is “easy” in content but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use complex grammar and vocabulary. 
  • Ask the examiner to clarify or repeat if you’re not sure. These types of interactions also show your level of English, they don’t have to be a problem. Say something like “Sorry, could you repeat that”, rather than “eh?” or “what?”
  • Record yourself on your phone and listen back to improve. You might cringe a little but you’ll get over it!

IELTS speaking tips for Part 1

Keager answered these sample questions:

Let’s talk about your home town or village. 

Let’s move on to talk about accommodation. 

Tell me about the kind of accommodation you live in?

IELTS speaking tips for Part 2

Keager and I discussed this sample question:

Describe something you own which is very important to you. 

You should say:

where you got it from 

how long you have had it 

what you use it for 

and explain why it is important to you

Part 2 is very different to Part 1. Use your one minute wisely (=intelligently) in part 2. You have lots of options:

  • Make a spider diagram
  • Write down key words
  • Write a list or a flow chart of what you’re going to say
  • Write one or two key sentences or phrases
  • Do nothing, just think!

Read the prompt carefully for part 2, and know in advance how you are going to use the 1 minute of preparation. Do  whatever works for you. 

IELTS speaking tips for Part 3

Keager answered this question

Let’s talk about the role of advertising. Do you think advertising influences what people buy?

  • “A two storey, semi-detached house”
    • A stor e y (with an ‘e’) is another word for a floor – a two-storey house has an upstairs and a downstairs.
    • We divide houses by how they are attached to other houses:
      • A terraced house – lots of houses in a row, all attached to each other.

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Learn more about the exam

Glossary

Eleven words and phrases.

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  • to cringe — to feel very embarrassed when you think about something you have done
  • to get over something — to recover from it, whether it is an illness or a disappointment
  • to get bogged down — to get stuck on one thing and lose the time you needed for the rest
  • a storey — a floor of a building, so a two-storey house has an upstairs and a downstairs
  • a semi-detached house — a house attached to another on one side but not on the other
  • a detached house — a house not connected to any other house
  • a terraced house — one of a row of houses all joined to each other
  • to clarify — to make something clearer, or to ask someone else to
  • a monosyllabic answer — a one-word answer that shows the examiner nothing
  • a spider diagram — notes drawn as a central word with ideas branching off it
  • a prompt — the card or question that tells you what you have to talk about

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