Speaking is an easy task for most of us.
We are not poor at speaking , actually we don’t converse with people in English , on daily basis. Following TIPS may prove useful.
IELTS speaking consists of 3 parts
FIRST PART
It will be a brief introductory interview. Your name , occupation , place etc , and he will start conversing about any topic eg. Shopping , friends , workplace , etc.
i) Examiner : What is your name ?
Candidate : My name is Khalid Mansoor
ii) Examiner : Where are you from ?
Candidate : I am from Riyaadh ( Remember , never say I BELONG to Riyaadh ). You don’t belong to a place. You are FROM that place.
iii) Examiner : What do you do ?
Candidate : Well , I am a doctor and right now I am working at Amiri Hospital.
iv) Examiner : OK Khalid , is there anything you don’t like about your job ?
Candidate : hm… No , there is nothing .
Remember , the examiner has nothing to do with your personal choices. Try to speak in a way that you get a chance to speak more…!!
Khalid should have said that
“ Well, I have much longer working hours and usually I feel like a basket case upon coming back, I don’t get much time for myself or my family. …etc”
v) Examiner : Ok , Khalid , let’s talk about music. Do you like music ?
Candidate : No …
Does your siblings enjoy it ?
Candidate : Yes !!
Do you think you are answering YES or NO questions ??????? Never answer like that….!!!!!!! Expand your sentences. Why No ? or Why yes ? Get a chance to speak !!
vi) Examiner : Ok , Khalid , let us talk about music . Do you like listening to music ?
Candidate : No ..!!! Not at all !!! It is Haraam !!!
NEVER touch religious or political issues in your exam ..! Though you are right , but “exam is not the place to preach” …!!! Neither your examiner touches such topics , nor are you supposed to do so ..!
vii) Examiner : Khalid , do you like shopping ?
Candidate : Hmm… yes …. I do like shopping ……. Mmmm…. Many times when I am alone ……mmmm…….. I just call my friends ……mmmmm…… and then we hang over …
DON’T use so many mmmmm and pauses. The examiner will get to know easily that those are natural pauses , or you are taking time for thinking or you are out of your vocabulary ….it will deduct your score
viii)Keep and eye upon your grammar and tenses. Past should be in past tense , present should be in present and future should be in future tense.
ix) Don’t stress out yourself in developing fake accents. In IELTS exam , they don’t check your accent.
what they see is :
fluency , coherence and cohesion , lexical resource , and grammar. So keep yourself comfortable.
SECOND PART
He will give you a Cue card and give you time to think for 1 minute on that topic. He will also provide you with a pen and paper to write brief notes on what you think.
What I developed as a mechanism was :
I used to think in my own native language , and write just a few important words on paper. Keep an eye upon your watch too.
Remember , If you stop before the 2 minutes for speaking task are over i.e before the examiner asks you to stop , it will cause you deduction of ONE BAND. So don’t stop speaking before examiner asks you to stop…!!!!!
i) Tell me about your visit to a place outside your home.
Khalid starts writing and writing and writing as if he is attempting an MBBS annual exam , and when asked to speak , Khalid doesnot even take a single look at his paper ….!!!
Oh my God , then why were you writing ?????
Try writing key words like :
2011 , Shopping mall ( souq shaurq) , water clock , seaside , parapet wall , invigorating air etc etc .
ii) In IELTS Speaking , TASK ACHIEVEMENT doesn’t matter. So if you don’t know much about the topic :
Tell me about your visit to museum.
well, actually I have never been to one. So , I can just tell you what I heard from other people.
well, actually I have never been to one and I would like to talk about some other topic eg. Visit to Northern areas.
Or just simply create a fake story of a fake museum ;-) !!!
what I mean to tell you is that TASK ACHIEVEMENT is not a part of your cue card.
iii) Try speaking fluently and use at least 2-3 idioms for achieving a band 7 or higher. Because native speakers do use idioms in their daily life.
PART THREE
Examiner will ask you 3-4 questions related or unrelated to the topic. Answer them with full confidence.
APART FROM THE ( IDIOMS/ PHARSES / COLLOQUATIONS ) BELOW THESE ATTACHMENTS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE FILES SECTION :
SPEAK ENGLISH IDIOMS BOOK
SPEAKING CRITERIA
SAMPLE CUE CARDS.
FOOD
Crazy about
Yum-yum (tasty)
Out of the world !!! (deilicous)
Just what the doctor ordered (just what was required)
Pig out on (eat greedily)
Got a sweet tooth ( like sweet dishes)
FRIENDS
Talk over
As sharp as a tack
In a bad mood
Cheer me up
Down in the dumps
Got a heart of gold
Count on someone
JOURNEY / PARTY
Save the day
Had a good time
Had a blast
Good thinking
WORKPLACE
Insufferable lout
Can’t put up with them
Loose one’s temper
Drove me crazy
Drove me nuts
Work like a dog
Didn’t sleep a wink
Can’t stand
Paid me a compliment
Head and shoulders above
Mixed feelings about
Feel like a basket case
SHOPPING
Cost an arm and a leg
Top dollar
Have my heart set on going to ….
Gung-ho about …
Can’t SHELL OUT that much amount of money
Drove a hard bargain
Sell like hot-cakes
FUTURE PLANS
On the cards
Made up my mind
keep your chin up
look on the bright side
MISCELLANEOUS
No point in
Don’t have a clue about
Never in a million years !!!
When pigs fly !!!!
Bright and early
Buckle down
Hitting the books
Roll up one’s sleeves
Sitting pretty ( financially)
Get some experience under my belt
Cold shoulder
Talk one into ( convince)
RURAL AREAS
Live from hand to mouth
Hardly make both ends meet
Make a living
Giving through hard times
I extracted these from the book of SPEAK ENGLISH – IDIOMS..
I hope that my experience helps you a bit in getting through your exam ..
We are not poor at speaking , actually we don’t converse with people in English , on daily basis. Following TIPS may prove useful.
IELTS speaking consists of 3 parts
FIRST PART
It will be a brief introductory interview. Your name , occupation , place etc , and he will start conversing about any topic eg. Shopping , friends , workplace , etc.
i) Examiner : What is your name ?
Candidate : My name is Khalid Mansoor
ii) Examiner : Where are you from ?
Candidate : I am from Riyaadh ( Remember , never say I BELONG to Riyaadh ). You don’t belong to a place. You are FROM that place.
iii) Examiner : What do you do ?
Candidate : Well , I am a doctor and right now I am working at Amiri Hospital.
iv) Examiner : OK Khalid , is there anything you don’t like about your job ?
Candidate : hm… No , there is nothing .
Remember , the examiner has nothing to do with your personal choices. Try to speak in a way that you get a chance to speak more…!!
Khalid should have said that
“ Well, I have much longer working hours and usually I feel like a basket case upon coming back, I don’t get much time for myself or my family. …etc”
v) Examiner : Ok , Khalid , let’s talk about music. Do you like music ?
Candidate : No …
Does your siblings enjoy it ?
Candidate : Yes !!
Do you think you are answering YES or NO questions ??????? Never answer like that….!!!!!!! Expand your sentences. Why No ? or Why yes ? Get a chance to speak !!
vi) Examiner : Ok , Khalid , let us talk about music . Do you like listening to music ?
Candidate : No ..!!! Not at all !!! It is Haraam !!!
NEVER touch religious or political issues in your exam ..! Though you are right , but “exam is not the place to preach” …!!! Neither your examiner touches such topics , nor are you supposed to do so ..!
vii) Examiner : Khalid , do you like shopping ?
Candidate : Hmm… yes …. I do like shopping ……. Mmmm…. Many times when I am alone ……mmmm…….. I just call my friends ……mmmmm…… and then we hang over …
DON’T use so many mmmmm and pauses. The examiner will get to know easily that those are natural pauses , or you are taking time for thinking or you are out of your vocabulary ….it will deduct your score
viii)Keep and eye upon your grammar and tenses. Past should be in past tense , present should be in present and future should be in future tense.
ix) Don’t stress out yourself in developing fake accents. In IELTS exam , they don’t check your accent.
what they see is :
fluency , coherence and cohesion , lexical resource , and grammar. So keep yourself comfortable.
SECOND PART
He will give you a Cue card and give you time to think for 1 minute on that topic. He will also provide you with a pen and paper to write brief notes on what you think.
What I developed as a mechanism was :
I used to think in my own native language , and write just a few important words on paper. Keep an eye upon your watch too.
Remember , If you stop before the 2 minutes for speaking task are over i.e before the examiner asks you to stop , it will cause you deduction of ONE BAND. So don’t stop speaking before examiner asks you to stop…!!!!!
i) Tell me about your visit to a place outside your home.
Khalid starts writing and writing and writing as if he is attempting an MBBS annual exam , and when asked to speak , Khalid doesnot even take a single look at his paper ….!!!
Oh my God , then why were you writing ?????
Try writing key words like :
2011 , Shopping mall ( souq shaurq) , water clock , seaside , parapet wall , invigorating air etc etc .
ii) In IELTS Speaking , TASK ACHIEVEMENT doesn’t matter. So if you don’t know much about the topic :
Tell me about your visit to museum.
well, actually I have never been to one. So , I can just tell you what I heard from other people.
well, actually I have never been to one and I would like to talk about some other topic eg. Visit to Northern areas.
Or just simply create a fake story of a fake museum ;-) !!!
what I mean to tell you is that TASK ACHIEVEMENT is not a part of your cue card.
iii) Try speaking fluently and use at least 2-3 idioms for achieving a band 7 or higher. Because native speakers do use idioms in their daily life.
PART THREE
Examiner will ask you 3-4 questions related or unrelated to the topic. Answer them with full confidence.
APART FROM THE ( IDIOMS/ PHARSES / COLLOQUATIONS ) BELOW THESE ATTACHMENTS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE FILES SECTION :
SPEAK ENGLISH IDIOMS BOOK
SPEAKING CRITERIA
SAMPLE CUE CARDS.
FOOD
Crazy about
Yum-yum (tasty)
Out of the world !!! (deilicous)
Just what the doctor ordered (just what was required)
Pig out on (eat greedily)
Got a sweet tooth ( like sweet dishes)
FRIENDS
Talk over
As sharp as a tack
In a bad mood
Cheer me up
Down in the dumps
Got a heart of gold
Count on someone
JOURNEY / PARTY
Save the day
Had a good time
Had a blast
Good thinking
WORKPLACE
Insufferable lout
Can’t put up with them
Loose one’s temper
Drove me crazy
Drove me nuts
Work like a dog
Didn’t sleep a wink
Can’t stand
Paid me a compliment
Head and shoulders above
Mixed feelings about
Feel like a basket case
SHOPPING
Cost an arm and a leg
Top dollar
Have my heart set on going to ….
Gung-ho about …
Can’t SHELL OUT that much amount of money
Drove a hard bargain
Sell like hot-cakes
FUTURE PLANS
On the cards
Made up my mind
keep your chin up
look on the bright side
MISCELLANEOUS
No point in
Don’t have a clue about
Never in a million years !!!
When pigs fly !!!!
Bright and early
Buckle down
Hitting the books
Roll up one’s sleeves
Sitting pretty ( financially)
Get some experience under my belt
Cold shoulder
Talk one into ( convince)
RURAL AREAS
Live from hand to mouth
Hardly make both ends meet
Make a living
Giving through hard times
I extracted these from the book of SPEAK ENGLISH – IDIOMS..
I hope that my experience helps you a bit in getting through your exam ..
