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A challenging IELTS topic

Friday, May 28th, 2010

Hi

How easily do you think you could answer the following questions if you were asked them in your IELTS speaking test?

  • Where can people in your country get information about genetic research?
  • How do people in your country feel about genetic research?
  • Should this research be funded by governments or private companies?

If you’d find these questions difficult to answer because you’re not familiar with the topic of genetic research, then check out the article at the link below to get some ideas on this challenging topic. Read the full post »

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One way to get more spoken fluency practice

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Hi

Imagine this…

It’s your IELTS speaking test and you’re able to give extended answers to your examiner’s questions; you even give your examiner the impression that it’s easy for you to keep talking.

If that was your real speaking test, your examiner might be looking at an IELTS band score of 7.0 or higher for your speaking.

Here’s what it says in the public version of the official IELTS descriptors for spoken fluency:

  • IELTS band score 7: “[Candidate] speaks at length without noticeable effort…”

If you need to improve your spoken fluency for the IELTS test, it’s important to give yourself more opportunities to speak in English. Here’s one suggestion for how you could do this: Read the full post »

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Speaking speed and your IELTS score

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Hi

In our IELTS seminar this week, an IELTS candidate asked me if it’s OK to talk slowly in the IELTS speaking test.

She wanted to know what her IELTS score would be if her grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation were really good,  but she talked slowly.

As I’m guessing a lot of you may also be wondering the same thing, here’s what it says in the public version of the official IELTS descriptors for speaking: Read the full post »

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Compared to…

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Hi

How many different ways of comparing things do you know?

I’m asking you this because in your IELTS speaking test there’s a good chance your examiner will ask you to make some comparisons and then listen to how you do it.

(I included some example IELTS speaking questions in a previous post).

If you use a variety of grammatical structures and/or linking words to make comparisons, you’ll have a better chance of getting the IELTS band score you need.

Here are some different ways of making comparisons (taken from a recording of two native speakers comparing the cost of living in various cities):

Read the full post »

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An example of IELTS-type speaking

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Hi

After listening to some more of the recordings on the website that I recommended in the post ‘Listening to British, American and other accents‘, I realised that some of them are also examples of IELTS-type speaking.

There’s one recording, for example, where the speakers are making comparisons; this is something that you’ll probably be asked to do in your IELTS speaking test.

To give you some practice, here’s a selection of speaking questions from past IELTS tests that have been published. Read the full post »

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