Preparing for IELTS: Speaking

The conversational part of IELTS – an interview that lasts 11-14 minutes. It assesses your grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and fluency. You can read an approximate list of questions beforehand, but there is a good chance you will have to improvise.

Read about the secrets to preparing for the most intimidating section and what's important to remember on the exam itself!

Speaking has three parts. In the first – you have to answer about 12 questions about yourself and your life: hometown, family, hobbies, profession. These questions are relatively easy and short. In the final section, you'll be asked 5-6 more serious and abstract questions that echo the theme of Part 2.

How to prepare:

• Find an interlocutor and practice answering both simple and unexpected questions.

• Tell the stories you read or the lectures you watch.

• Speak to yourself – comment on daily activities, or summarize your day before you go to sleep.

What you need to learn:

• Phrases to start your answer («I think», «In my opinion», «To my mind»).

• Fillers, that is, phrases in case you can not answer immediately and you need to gather your thoughts. («I've never thought about it, but I could say that…», «I've got mixed views on the issue of…», « You know, I am not an expert in art, but I suppose that...»).

• Consistency markers. («In addition», «besides», «for example»).

But remember that your speech should sound natural. Don't try to jot down answers to common topics. It's felt, and even if you manage to fool the examiner, your lack of fluency can cause you problems in other sections of IELTS.

You may have problems in other sections of IELTS.

In the exam:

• Speak much more than the examiner. Don't answer one sentence at a time, but try to develop your thought into several sentences.

• If you don't know how to answer, think about what you want to say.

• If you don't know how to answer, think out loud. Say what comes to your mind. Remember, it's not the quality of your ideas that counts, but your level of English.

• Don't make your speech too complicated. Keep it simple, but understandable.

Wish you the best of luck and strength! It's all going to work out!