The IELTS speaking test lasts for 11–14 minutes. The examiner conducts an interview divided into three parts.
Let us discuss how to ace the speaking section.
Part 1 is a basic introduction round. The examiner asks the candidate simple questions about their hometown, job, hobbies, family, favorite TV shows, sports, and neighbors. One needs to speak to the point.
Part 2 involves a cue card with a topic, giving you a minute to prepare and two minutes to speak. This is the most scoring topic and one needs to have good command over the language to ace this section. Points are given for your fluency.
Part 3- It is a discussion based round where a candidate has to give the answer in detail. It is a question-and-answer round based on the topic from Task 2, with some questions from Task 1.
TIPS TO ACE THE SPEAKING SECTION:
- Don’t memorize answers– be natural… The examiner can identify if you have memorized your answers, which may affect your final band score.
- Avoid jargon and complex words. They can boost scores but may lead to mispronunciation or misuse.
- Use a range of grammatical structures– Try and use a range of grammatical structures using complex and simple sentences to express what you want to say. You can do by practicing at home by recording your answers and listening to see where you are making mistakes or you can also work with a friend who can point of your areas of improvement.
- Don’t fake your accent-Most students’ try faking the accent to speak like native speakers. With a face-to-face Speaking test, the IELTS examiner understands a wide range of accents so will be able to understand what you say. Communicate well, practice voice modulation and intonation.
- Pause to think-You can give pause while giving the answers to think about what you want to say. Keep in mind the pauses should not be too long. You can also use phrases like let me see, that’s an interesting question, that’s a good point, let me think about that for a minute.
- Avoid using fillers– We generally use fillers when we don’t know what to say, however, this gives the impression to the examiner that you can’t communicate properly in English language. So avoid fillers like umm, you know, well, like, yeah etc.
- Extend your answers– Give the answers in detail in round two and three especially When your answers are short, this shows the examiner that you cannot talk in detail about a topic. If the examiner says ‘Why?’ he is prompting you to give a reason for your answer and to extend more fully.
- Smile and maintain eye contact-Smiling can help calm your nerves which in turn helps your pronunciation. Making an eye contact with the examiner is equally important as it shows your confidence level.
To conclude, practice is the key. You can practice some common topics asked in part 2 by either recording or checking your mistakes or by working with a friend. Be natural, don’t talk flat, use intonation and avoid monotone and lastly smile as it increases your face value.
