IELTS Speaking

You DON'T have to use very formal or academic language. IELTS Speaking is a colloquial conversation and you gain a high score by speaking naturally and coherently.

You'll be asked to talk about familiar topics. The questions are usually simple and easy to understand. You have to provide an explanation for your answer. Never wait for the examiner to ask you 'WHY?'. Don't speak too much. Provide precise and explained answers.

IELTS Speaking part 2 is designed to check a candidate's narrative skills.

You have to be coherent and logically connect the information.

Try to speak for more than 2 minutes.

Use your 1 minute to make notes plan what you're going to say.

You have to describe a story in three different tenses. 

Start with the past, then link the present and say something about the future.

Don't change tenses quickly. Your story should have a chronological sequence of the events.

'Describe a website you have bought something from'

◾ Start with the past - describe a website that was very useful for you a couple of years ago. Talk about its design, products, service, delivery options etc. And mention what kind of things you used to buy from this website.

✅ Use narrative tenses, used to and would - (Past simple, past continuous, past perfect, past perfect continuous, used to and its alternatives)  

◾ Having finished the past, link the present and describe another website which is very useful for you nowadays. Talk about its benefits and privileges compared to the previous one. Explain why you decided to start using another website (it may be a negative experience, issues with the product etc) and say what you use it for.

✅ Use present tenses - (Present simple, present continuous, present perfect and present perfect continuous)

◾ After that, mention the future. You may say what website you would like to try in the future (it may be someone's recommendation, advertisement, your interest and so on). 

✅ Use future tenses - (Future simple, future continuous, future perfect and future perfect continuous)

Once you've finished your answer, the examiner might ask you 1 or 2 follow up questions in order to close the topic. Don't speak too much. Provide brief and precise answers and reasons to support your view.

As for the last part, you'll have to provide long, complex and well-supported ideas. 

Speaking part 3 is very similar to writing an essay. You have to start with an introduction, provide explanation and arguments to strengthen your point and summarise the topic.

Part 3 questions are designed to test candidates' ability to think in English. Thus, you'll be asked very complicated questions and you have to speak relatively more. Due to its complexity, people tend to go off the topic.

Focused on the task, don't forget to answer every part of the question and give a logical summary.

'Some people think that competition leads to a better performance from sports stars. Others think it just makes players feel insecure. What is your opinion❓'

⭕ Discuss sport and competitions generally.

⭕ Discuss both sides. Explain why it can be productive or detrimental to sportspeople and finally, say what your personal opinion is. 

⭕ Summarise (answer the question directly)

✅ Speaks at length fluently and coherently

✅ Develops topics completely

✅ No hesitation

✅ No repetition

✅ No self-correction

Listen to the questions carefully and answer every part of them in details.

Provide logical and appropriately developed answers.

Use discourse markers and cohesive devices and don't forget to summarise your answer

Even if you realize that you made a mistake, NEVER correct it and NEVER repeat the same sentence.

If you hesitate, it has to be related to the content (in case the discussion topic is very hard) but it should never be related to the language (you shouldn't be looking for words or grammar)

✅ Uses a wide vocabulary precisely and naturally

✅ Uses idiomatic language naturally and accurately

✅ Uses less common vocabulary and lexical items

Try to speak naturally with minor inaccuracies. You don't have to use very formal or academic vocabulary since IELTS Speaking tests your colloquial English.

Try not to hesitate between sentences and especially between words. In case the discussion topic is complicated and you haven't made your mind up regarding the issue, you may hesitate a bit but never stop or pause to look for a word or grammatical structure.

Practise a lot before trying to pass the exam and try to use your passive vocabulary.

✅ Uses a full range of grammatical structures

✅ No inaccuracies or errors are perceived

First and foremost, try not to make any severe grammatical mistakes.

In order to achieve a high score in IELTS Speaking, you have to use a full range of grammatical structures. For example:

◾ Simple Sentences (I remember myself participating in a sports competition) 

◾ Compound Sentences (A friend of mine offered me to go with him on a holiday but I had to revise for my midterm exams)

◾ Complex Sentences (Some people, while competing others, feel insecure and, as a result, lose their self-esteem)

◾ Passive Sentences (The living costs in big cities have always been exorbitant)

◾ Conditional Sentences (If I hadn't applied for that course, I wouldn't have ended up working for an international company)

◾ Complex Gerunds and Infinitives (Then I realized there was no point in asking them about the accident)

◾ Inversion (Never have I seen such a magnificent view)

◾ Past, Present and Future Tenses (When I first visited the Natural History Museum, I had never seen more astonishing exhibits before. After that, whenever I find some free time, I tend to explore different ancient remains in different parts of the world. Next year, I'm going to visit the Acropolis Museum in Athens)

✅ Speaks clearly

✅ Speaks without a noticeable accent

✅ Pronunciation is precise and flexible

If you plan to achieve 7+ in IELTS Speaking, you have to be speaking without any particular accent. Your pronunciation should be clear and accurate. 

Moreover, you have to be correctly pronouncing sounds like ð, θ, æ, v, w etc.

Apart from that, you need to demonstrate advanced pronunciation features such as connected speech, intrusion, assimilation, catenation and elision