Today we’re going to talk about the IELTS speaking test and how you can go ahead and score a perfect nine on the test. Now the tips I’m going to cover in this video are true and tested 100%, so you do not need to worry about it. I think this is the only video you will need when you go on for the speaking section, and you know you’re not really sure how to go ahead and increase your score. If you’re at six right now, you’ll be able to move towards a seven; if you are at seven already, you’ll be able to move towards an eight, and so on and so forth. So definitely, it’s going to increase your score. I just want you to stick with me because we have 15 very important points that I want to give you.
Test Format
Okay, so about this video first, I’ll just give you the structure. The first thing I’ll cover is the basic format quickly in one or two minutes. I’ll tell you about the IELTS speaking test format. Then I’ll give you some general tips and then I’ll give you some section-wise tips. Okay, so if you don’t know what section-wise is, just stick around.
So the IELTS speaking test, coming to the format, is conducted in three parts, and these are the three sections that I’m talking about. Okay, part one is really a general introduction. When you actually go into the room, you talk to the examiner, you know, and the first thing that he will ask you about maybe your family, your job, your studies, your interests—really anything very, very general he can ask you about that he or she, whatever, you know. And that’s your first part.
Focus on English Speaking, Not Ideas
Part two will actually be your sort of extemporaneous speaking, and this will be on everyday topics. So over here you will be given a card, you know, sort of like this right now on the screen, and you can see this card has a few questions. Okay? And you will make sure that you know, in that one minute to prepare, by the way, you get one minute to prepare, of course, so you will make sure that in one minute to prepare, you can take some notes regarding what you would like to say about this topic, how you’d like to answer all these questions. And then you get one to two minutes to speak. So that’s your part two.
Don’t Rush or Speak Too Fast
And then finally, part three is the discussion on abstract topics. Now over here, the topic that comes in will be very, very related to whatever you talked about in part two.You know, what kind of jobs are very popular in your country? Something like that. Now, these are abstract topics; everyone may have a different answer for this, but there’s really no answer. Okay? They can even ask you something like, what kind of flowers do people prefer to see in your country or do people prefer to grow in your country? Something like that—very, very general, nothing too extreme really.
Okay, so coming to the tips now, these are the tips and tricks for the IELTS speaking test. Now this is the part that will really, really boost your score, and it’s going to help you make the maximum out of your preparation. Okay, so first we’ll start with some general tips, then we’ll move on to the section-wise tips—that’s part one, part two, and part three.
Section-wise Tips
Okay, great! So for the general tips, the number one tip that I can give you is that a lot of people are making this mistake, but you’re going to be the one who actually comes out on top if you realize this: that you are marked on your English speaking, not on your ideas/opinions. Okay? Don’t think that you are going to be marked on your ideas, or your opinions; that does not matter during the test. Maybe you can change your mind while answering the questions. You can change your mind, so you can say something like, “I’m sorry, I think I’m moving in the wrong direction. When I really think about this issue, I feel that the right way to go would be,” and so on and so forth. You really just move on with this format—something like this. You can easily do that. Your opinion doesn’t really matter, but you being able to communicate your ideas to the examiner shows that you can use that language, English, and you can answer the question right. And that’s really what you want to do. That’s really all you will be graded upon.
Okay, so that’s my first tip, you know? Don’t worry about your ideas or opinions; you can even make up things, imaginary things; you can make false examples. It doesn’t matter as long as they seem okay to you and at the same time, they seem believable, it’s good enough.
Okay, the second point over here is that don’t rush or speak too fast. A lot of people would just go on, and they would want to show they’re very fluent in English by speaking extremely fast. And at times they would stutter, but you know, at least they’re speaking fast, right? That’s wrong. That’s going to bring your score down. That’s not a good way to go. Okay? And now the best way I would say you should go about this on the IELTS speaking test is to try to see how the examiner speaks, and you will see that they will try to communicate with you in a very slow, clear, and basically at a regular pace. Okay? Slow manner, clear manner, and their pace will be regular. That’s really what you want to go for when you’re taking the IELTS speaking test. You don’t want to rush in because chances are you’re gonna make a mistake, you’re gonna be stuttering, you’re gonna go on and digress; something like that will happen. And that’s something you want to avoid.
Okay, that’s my point two. Point three will be to use linking words. If you don’t know linking words, you know they can be something like therefore, consequently, for instance, however— all of these words are linking words. Right? Here’s a chart on your screen, so you can actually go ahead and memorize some of these linking words. It’s gonna make it a hell of a lot easier for you to actually keep these in mind. Okay? So that’s my tip number three.
Moving on, tip number four we have over here is paraphrasing the question. A lot of times you have to buy paraphrasing the question will help you time on the test, and you do not know how to start the answer. You know, maybe you’re still thinking about whatever you’re doing, but you know, whatever your opinion is, you’re thinking about it—doesn’t matter. You can paraphrase the question. For instance, if the question is, “What’s the best way to buy a house?” well, you can say, “The ideal way to buy a home,” you ask. So, you know, you see how I actually paraphrase the question, and then you can say, “Oh, I really think that, you know, so and so.” So you can really go ahead and start making up your sentences like, you know, you can start with the question. So you really need to go about and paraphrase the question. Even if you’re repeating, it doesn’t matter, but you need to paraphrase it because otherwise, it’s gonna bring your points down. If you paraphrase it, of course, it’s gonna bring your points up, so that’s a good way to go.
Conclusion
Okay, um, point number five would be to use a wide range of vocabulary. This is extremely important, guys. Vocabulary is something that is going to bring your score up by a lot. If you know these synonyms, if you know words like pernicious, you know, exacerbate, placate—all of these things, you know, things like these can really bring your score up. And these are the words that you can commonly use even when you know you’re having a conversation. Of course, you don’t have to do that with your friends, but at the same time, you realize that these words are very easy to use, and there’s a lot more words out there. These two or three words I just had them in my mind, and I just, you know, talked to you about those. There’s a lot more words that you can just easily use in the conversations, and it’s gonna actually help you.
Okay, so that’s one more point. Moving on to point number six, you need to reach the test center early. Reach the test center at least 30 minutes before your test starts because your mind needs to get used to the fact that you’re going to be taking the test now. So just for your psychological satisfaction, which by the way you don’t really get to control so much, so it’s really important that you go ahead and reach the center early. You’re ready for the test; you’re confident; you know you’re not really very, very nervous, and you’re not in a rush. Okay? That’s the worst thing you can do to yourself—giving the test in a rush. That’s a bad idea.
Okay, next we’ll move on to point number seven, and that is to maintain eye contact with your examiner. So as soon as you enter your room where the examiner is sitting down, he’s gonna be taking your test. Please make sure that you have some eye contact going on over there. So, you know, I’m not saying just keep staring into the eyes of the examiner; that’s not what I’m saying. But still, optimally keep looking into their eyes maybe once in two or three seconds just to show that, you know, you’re not afraid of creating eye contact. That creates a
very strong sense of confidence. So, please make sure you maintain eye contact with the examiner when you’re answering.
Okay, moving on to point number eight, do not digress. Stay on topic; don’t go off-topic. The examiner is going to give you questions, and then you need to stay focused on that question. Maybe it’s a question about your favorite sport; don’t just go off and start talking about how your childhood was great or how your school life was great. No! The point of the IELTS speaking test is to stay on the point, stay on topic, and answer the question that is asked. This is something that can get you a good score, so please stay on topic.
Now we’ll move on to the section-wise tips, and we’ll talk about part one first. The tip for part one is to keep your answers short, but around three to four sentences. Just like that. I have seen a lot of candidates rambling on. You know, they’re just going ahead and speaking about their topic. But really, if you just keep it short and simple, you can do that. It’s really going to be a lot easier for you to get your point across without rambling, and then you can answer the next question that they give you easily.
Now moving on to part two. The tip for part two is that you need to utilize your one minute of preparation wisely. So when you get the card and you’re told to prepare for the topic, make sure you’re writing down some key points. These key points are going to be essential for you to structure your answer when you actually start to speak. So please utilize that minute wisely.
Finally, moving on to part three, you should develop your answers. When they start asking questions, engage in a discussion; elaborate on your points and provide examples. That is what’s going to help you. You know, it can even give you one or two more points, and they can see that you’re speaking fluently you’re very comfortable with the language, and you can communicate effectively. That’s really important.
So that’s it! Those are the tips and tricks for the IELTS speaking test. I hope you found this video helpful. If you did, please leave a thumbs up, and subscribe to the channel for more videos. Good luck, and see you in the next one!