Section 2 IELTS SPEAKING
Describe a foreign person that you like. You should say:
- where you met him/her
- why you like him/her
- and explain what you learnt from him/her
Describe an interesting advertisement that you have seen. You should say:
- where you saw it
- what it was about
- why you think it was an interesting advertisement
Describe a well-known person. You should say,
- Who he/she is?
- What makes him/her famous?
- Why you admire him/her?
Discussion:
- Do you want to become famous?
- How to become a well-known person in China?
- What kind of people can become famous in China?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of being famous?
- What do you think of the privacy of a well-known person?
- What do you think of the relationship between a well-know person and advertising?
- Would you be influenced by the well-known persons in TV commercials?
- Do you often talk about singers with your friends? What do you often talk about?
Describe an environmental problem. You should say,
- What it is?
- How long it has existed.
- What effect it has brought to people’s life./ What it happens?
- What we can do to solve it.
- Describe any law which you like,
- - explain what law that is,
- - how you will follow it,
- - what you like the most about it
Tell me about a conversation, which happened recently, you should say:
- why was it important
- who was that person that you had the conversation with
- when was it
- describe what did you learn from that conversation
An adventurous person
Describe an adventurous person who you know.
You should say:
• who the person is
• how you know this person
• what this person does that is adventurous
and explain why you think this person likes to take risks.
A photograph
Describe a photograph that you remember.
You should say:
• when it was taken
• who took it
• what is in the photograph
and explain why you remember this photograph
A news story
Describe some interesting news that you have recently read about or heard about
You should say:
• what the story was
• who was involved in the story
• where you read or heard about this story
and explain why this news story was interesting to you.
TIPS: Speaking
PART 1
1. Don't use the wrong verb tense when you reply.
2. You can practice speaking by recording your voice and playing it back and listening to it.
3. Try to rephrase words.
4. Practice cohesive phrases.
5. It's difficult to think about grammar when you're trying to speak.
I think it's much easier to improve your vocabulary score than your grammar score.
6. Can you use the past tense when describing a person who is still alive?
7. Which tense should you use when describing a person?
8. Do the 3 parts of the speaking test carry equal weighting when your score
is calculated, or is one part more important?
9. Remember that in part 2 you are always asked to "describe".
10. In the IELTS speaking test, 25% of your score is for pronunciation.
Many students confuse 'pronunciation' with 'accent'.
These are not the same thing!
11. IELTS Speaking Part 2: forget about eye contact.
12. IELTS Speaking Part 3: "it depends"
Many students answer questions in IELTS speaking part 3 by saying
"it depends".
13. IELTS Speaking Part 3: adding details
These are the 3 techniques I use to create longer, more detailed answers:
14. How do you answer a question when you don't know anything about the topic?
There are 2 things you can do:
15.A) If the examiner uses a word or phrase that you don't understand,
say something like:
B) If you simply didn't hear something that was asked, respond with:
C) If you want to make sure you've understood what the examiner has asked
you could say:
Explanations
4. As a child,
5. Grammar is only 25% of your speaking score.
If you are thinking too much about grammar, you will lose fluency.
If you try to use memorised grammatical structures, your speech
will not sound 'natural'.
You will not avoid small grammar mistakes unless you have lived in an
English speaking country for many years.
6. The answer to the first question is yes. You can say: "My father was always
a good role model for me when I was growing up." This doesn't mean that
your father is no longer alive; it just means that you are no longer growing up!
7. The answer to the second question is it depends. As we saw above, you can
use the past tense, but it would also be easy to add the present and/or future tense:
"My father was always kind to me when I was a child, and he still helps me
whenever I need something. I'm sure he will always be there for me."
8. The simple answer is that the 3 parts are not scored separately; the examiner
rates the student's performance as a whole. In this sense, neither part is
more important.
9. Make sure you prepare some good adjectives for each topic, make sure you
can talk about your opinions and feelings, and think about some examples
or stories to make your descriptions more interesting.
10. Nobody expects you to speak with a perfect British English accent. In fact,
the examiner will not judge your accent at all.
Your pronunciation score is based on these things:
clarity (speaking clearly)
speed (not too fast, not too slow)
word stress
sentence stress
intonation (the rise and fall of your voice)
11. Many students worry that they need to maintain eye contact with the examiner.
This is a good idea in part 1 and part 3, but not necessarily in part 2.
In part 2 of the speaking test, you don't need to worry about eye contact.
It's more important to look at the question and the notes you made.
Use the question to organise what you are saying. Answer the question
point by point, and make sure you cover all parts of the task.
You should also look at your notes. Hopefully you wrote down some
good ideas during the preparation time.
Remember: the examiner will not reduce your score for lack of eye contact,
but he/she will reduce your score if you don't answer the question well.
12. "It depends" is not a full answer. What does it depend on, and why?
Example question:
Do you think it's important to find a job that you love, or is it more important to
earn a good salary?
Don't say:
"It depends. Some people prefer to find a job they love, but other people
want to earn a good salary.
" (This answer just repeats the question)
Do say:
"Personally, I'd prefer to do a job that I really enjoy; as long as I earn enough
to live comfortably, the salary is less important. However, I can see the benefits
of doing a job that you don't like if it pays well. With a good salary, you can
probably do more enjoyable things in your free time."
13. Explain why
Give an example
Explain the alternatives
Question:
Why do you think friendship is important?
Answer:
I think friendship is important for all sorts of reasons. (why?) We need friends
to share experiences with, to talk to, and for support. (example?) In my case,
I like to meet up with friends at the weekend to do something enjoyable, like
see a film or go out for dinner. I like chatting with my friends about what
we've been doing during the week, or about what's happening in the world.
(alternatives?) Without friends to talk to, life would be dull and boring; we
would only have our families to talk to.
14. Be honest and explain why you don't know
Guess, and tell the examiner that you are guessing
Example question:
How has technology affected the kinds of music that are popular with young people?
My answer, using both tips above:
(1) To be honest I don't really know the answer to that because I'm completely
out of touch with what young people are listening to, and I'm not a fan
of pop music.
(2) However, I suppose that technology must have affected music. Maybe young people
are listening to music that has been made using computer software instead of real
musical instruments like the piano or guitar.
15.A) "Sorry but could you explain what you mean by ........" or
"I haven't come across that word/expression before. Could you explain what you mean?
B) "Excuse me, I didn't quite catch that. Could you say that again?"
"I'm sorry, but would you mind repeating that?"
c) "Do you mean ........"
"When you say ........, do you mean/are you asking ........?
PART 2
16.-ing and -ed adjectives
17. You cannot use VERY with adjectives that already have an absolute meaning.
18. USEFUL LINKING EXPRESSIONS
19. What changes have there been in recent years in employment in your country?
20. IELTS Grammar: opinion + conditional
Try this useful technique for IELTS writing and speaking:
Give an opinion, then follow it with a conditional sentence.
21. IELTS Grammar: lead, contribute, result
Students often make mistakes with the verbs lead, contribute and result.
Try to correct the sentences below.
1. Qualifications and skills may lead to get promotions.
2. Lack of exercise contributes to have an unhealthy body.
3. Violence on television is one factor that results to increase the crime rate.
What is the rule for these 3 verbs?
22. "Can you explain while, whilst, whereas, as?
23. When you can't remember an English word,
use other words!
How to explain what you mean:
24. Expressing a Preference .
25. You cannot use " Almost similar".
26. A very useful English expression you can use to get a better score on the IELTS test is
"On one hand... but on the other hand...".
27. Making a Summary in English.
28. How to Speculate in English.
29. By contrast / In contrast
30. On the contrary
Explantions
16. Adjectives ending in -ing are often used to describe something.
This TV programme is boring.
Adjectives ending in -ed are often used to say how you feel.
I'm bored.
I'm surprised.
I'm confused.
I'm tired.
17.fascinating, revolting
18. Useful Linking Expressions
Explaining causes
caused by
due to
because of
a result of
Explaining effects
leads to
results in
causes
19. I think there have been many changes in the types of jobs that people
do nowadays compared to 20 or 30 years ago. First of all there are
much fewer jobs related to heavy industry such as mining or ship-building
or even manufacturing. Secondly, there has been a big increase in the
number of jobs in the service and leisure industries like shops, gyms,
and hotels. And finally, since the launch of the internet there has been a big
surge in the number of jobs related to IT, such as web development and design.
20. Look at these examples:
In my opinion, governments should invest more money in public transport.
If rail and bus services were more reliable, fewer people would need to drive.
Schools have an important role to play in children's health. If schools banned
junk food, they would help to reduce the problem of childhood obesity.
In the future I think more people will do their shopping online. But if Internet shopping
becomes more popular, many traditional shops will lose customers.
I've underlined the conditionals. Examples 1 and 2 are second conditionals,
while 3 uses the first conditional.
Practice:
Prepare your own "opinion + conditional" ideas for different topics. Having a few
of these ideas ready could help you in the writing and speaking tests.
21. REMEMBER:
lead to + noun
contribute to + noun
result in + noun
NOTE:
It's ok use the "ING" form e.g. "lead to getting promotions", but it's better without it.
22. Here's my simplified explanation:
While and whilst are the same, but whilst is a bit more formal (according to one
famous grammar book). Whereas is always used for contrast. While/whilst can be
used for contrast, OR to mean "at the same time".
As can mean "because" or "exactly at the moment when".
23. There are five ways to explain your meaning: 1) use simple words to explain,
2) use opposites, 3) compare to other things, 4) say what it is NOT, and
5) use examples.
24. • I prefer A to B because...
• If I have a choice, I will... (a real possibility)
• If I had a choice, I would... (not a real possibility, just wishing)
• For me, A is much more attractive / interesting / preferable than B because...
25. You can say almost the same as...
They look almost the same to me.
26. Question - Who is the better basketball player, Tom or Jack? Answer, using contrast -
On the one hand, Tom is taller than Jack. On the other hand, Jack is quicker and stronger.
27. Here are some more advanced phrases. If you can just use one of these at the right time
during the IELTS test, it will show that you have good ability in English.
Example 1: Looking at the whole picture, it is clear that...
Example 2: Considering all the points mentioned, we can see that...
Example 3: We can see from this discussion that...
28. The word "speculate" in English is basically the same as "guess"!
When you guess about something - about the future, about an idea, about a situation
that is not certain, or about any unknown situation, you can simply use the
future tense in English if you believe strongly in your idea.
If + past participle + conditional
Example: If the world were coming to an end, we would be lucky to find a spaceship
so we could escape!
When you are talking about a conditional situation (not a real situation) in English,
be sure to continue using the conditional tense as you describe possible results.
For example, after talking about having a spaceship above, you could say:
If we had a spaceship, we could fly to the moon or to Mars.
We would have to be careful to choose the best people who could help us live in our new world
We might have some trouble from people who are not chosen to come with us in our spaceship!.
29. I often use these two phrases in both writing task 1 and 2.
They are exactly the same, and are used in a similar way to "however"
or "on the other hand" to introduce a contrast / comparison.
Put "By / In contrast" at the beginning of a sentence, with a comma after "contrast".
Example
Unemployment rose in the UK. By contrast, the number of unemployed people
in Canada fell.
30. I've never used this phrase in any of my IELTS lessons. It doesn't mean
the same thing as "by / in contrast".
We use "on the contrary" to deny that something is true, and to explain
that the opposite is true.
Example
- Person 1: "You had some problems with your hotel, didn't you?"
- Person 2: "On the contrary, the hotel was great, but the airline lost my suitcase."
IELTS SPEAKING TOPICS
1. What is the character of the people like in your country?
2. Name a person whom you admire. Why?
3. Which is your favourite colour?
4. If you had a chance , would you have a son or a daughter?
5. Are you going to bring up your child any differently to the way your parents did?
6. If you could start your life again, would you do anything differently?
7. The man in the seat next to you is smoking, What do you say?
8. What is your opinion about recycling?
9. Someone asks you a question you do not want to answer. What do you say?
10. Describe a place you will never forget.
TIPS:
1.speak until they stop you, don't just answer the question and stop.
2. accuracy
3. don't give off topic answers
4. 3rd part-describe things, compare and contrast, provide an opinion
Candidates often forfiet accuracy for quantity in a bid to impress examiner in speaking test
The IELTS test is a test of English accuracy.
In each of the following pairs of sentences, one sentence is correct, and the other incorrect. Choose which you think is
correct in each pair and then look at the answers to see if you were correct:
1.
a. I study about engineering.
b. I study engineering
2.
a. The movie was very funny.
b. The movie was very fun.
3.
a. I went many places on my holiday.
b. I went to everywhere on my holiday.
4.
a. I am exciting too much.
b. I am very excited.
5.
a. Many temples beautiful.
b. Many beautiful temples.
6.
a. Nowadays.
b. Nowsaday.
7.
a. The government should improve public transport.
b. Government should to improve public transports.
8.
a. I go to shopping everyday.
b. I go shopping everyday
9.
a. I like playing computers.
b. I like using computers.
10.
a. I am not liking hot weather.
b. I don't like hot weather.
Answer Key 1. b 2. a 3. a 4. b 5. b 6. a 7. a 8. b 9. b 10. b
Talk about something that you lost. Please say
- What was it?
- Where did you lose it?
- How did you feel about it?
Describe a situation in which you were very polite. Please say
- Where did it happen?
- How did you show that you were polite?
- Explain why were you so polite?
Describe a photograph of yourself that you like.
You should say:
When and where the photograph was taken,
what was happening at that time, who took the photograph,
and explain why you like this photograph of yourself.
You should talk about an interesting and impressive speech or talk you have heard,
you should say:
- Who was the speaker
- Where have you heard the speech
- What it was about
Describe something that you learned about another culture. You should say
- What did you learn?
- What is the new culture?
- How did you find out about it?
Describe a sporting event you attended.
You should say:
What kind of sport it was
How it compared to other events you’ve been to
How often it takes place
Explain why you consider this event to be of interest.
Describe a child that you know. Who is he/she?
Your relation,
what does he/she like,
and how has he/she influenced you?
