We are going to discuss in detail how you can answer the questions given to you by the examiner in your IELTS Speaking examination.
Get straight to the point
You will be asked 5 or 6 questions which you need to answer directly and straight to the point. Some of my students say that they will rely on time, and some will rely on the length of the sentences. I would suggest giving 3 – 4 sentence answers for each question. Why? There are many different topics that could come up in part 1. These will include things like your hometown, your friends, family or what you enjoy doing. However, in preparation we should go through as many different topics as possible that will most likely come up in the exam. The number of topics coming up will range between 8 -15 but when preparing before the exam, you should go through all of them. And like we said in the previous article, the main thing in part 1 IELTS speaking tips is to keep it direct and to the point however making sure that you answer the question.
Ask when you are not sure
It is very important that you UNDERSTAND the question. Make sure you don’t answer a question if you don’t understand it because you may also be asked to provide your opinion on a topic or to agree or disagree with something. Some questions may even ask you to put in both sides of the argument which makes thoroughly understanding the question really important.
Therefore, make sure you ask the examiner when you are not sure about a question or anything else in the exam for that matter. You will not be able to answer anything if you do not understand the question so please don’t be worried about clarifying. Just make sure you make it clear in your head that you know what you are being asked and are sure of how to answer it.
Talk about opinions
It’s very likely that you will be asked in one form or another to agree or disagree with something or what you like or dislike to do. It is good to use connecting words such as I like/I don’t like. There are also linking words such as I think/I agree/I disagree. However, just make sure that you don’t overuse those words.
Use descriptive words
Within the exam, you will be asked to describe something, and normally you would use some good adjectives to impress the examiner with your vocabulary skills. If you were to describe a person, they could be: short, fat, thin; they may have blonde hair or brunette hair etc etc. It’s possible that if you were describing a place it might be ‘good’, but it might also be ‘fantastic’, ‘beautiful’ or ‘captivating’, which shows you can use uncommon words to give you an advantage when it comes to targeting a band 7 or 8 score.
Stay on topic
It is important you stay on topic as you can lose marks if you go off topic or if you provide an incomplete answer. If you do not understand the topic then, like we said before, simply ask the examiner to repeat the question again.
Good luck!
If you are serious about taking your IELTS writing to the next level, sign up for your FREE 3 part IELTS writing video course that takes you through both task 1 and task 2. The video lessons are led by our highly experienced UK native IELTS teacher, Katherine. We also provide you with exercises to test your understanding on IELTS speaking tips part 1!
Sign up your FREE IELTS writing video course by clicking here: https://swoosh-english.thinkific.com/courses/ielts-writing-video-course
