The IELTS speaking test section is what most candidates are most concerned about. To some extent mastering reading, listening and writing is possible but what about speaking?
One of the underlying challenges in the speaking section is fear and lack of confidence. So can we wipe this fear out and gain more confidence? Yes, you can! If you look too closely, IELTS speaking is just a 15-minute conversation with the examiner. There’s nothing that you can’t do right?
The speaking section is an informal conversation with the examiner. This test is mainly designed to test your pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and fluency.
Let’s see how you can ace in the IELTS speaking test section.
Top 5 IELTS preparation speaking tips-
1. Don’t Compromise Practice
Speak English every day, be it on a phone call, face-to-face interaction or online discussions. This isn’t something that we can do with just a week of practice. Start early, improve gradually, boost your confidence!
Now someone may not have many people for help and may think speaking is a two-way thing, right? But don’t let the lack of a companion stop you. Practice online, record yourself and most importantly identify your weakness and work on it. Practice with other students preparing for the same.
2. Understand the format of the speaking test and marking criteria
Not knowing the criteria is one of the main reasons that sometimes very good and confident speakers do not get the grade they expect.
If you don’t know what the examiner is looking for, you may confuse yourself with the intention of the task.
Following are the 5 parts to the IELTS speaking test marking scheme-
- Fluency – this refers to the ability to speak smoothly without unnatural pauses. Now, this doesn’t mean speaking as fast as possible. Speak with an appropriate speed. It shouldn’t look like you’re missing your train. Be natural and smooth, have plenty of pauses but not more than needed. Avoid repetition and self-correction. Don’t hesitate with the language, develop the topic coherently and appropriately.
- Coherence – be logical and consistent. Explain your answers, give examples so that the examiner clearly understands your point. Avoid short answers.
- Vocabulary – to ace this area you must have a wide range of vocabulary and know when to use them. Using words inappropriately or when not needed, will surely affect your score. Don’t try to overshow yourself.
- Grammatical range and accuracy – avoid making grammar mistakes. Make error-free sentences and use a wide range of structure flexibility.
- Pronunciation – having inappropriate pronunciation even though you are perfect in other parts will surely affect your band score. Now, this isn’t about the accent. This is about how clear your speech is and is easily understandable. Follow the stress pattern, emphasize certain words, use appropriate pitch. Little or no intonation will make you sound not interested in the topic, so work on this.
3. Warm-up before examination
To perform to the best of your ability on test day, you require a good warm-up. Watch English movies, read articles, magazines, blogs, speak to someone, listen to podcasts, music etc. (surely these might also release the tension).
4. Correct your mistakes
Due to examination pressure, we all make mistakes. Correct yourself wherever wrong, so that examiner knows that you’re aware of your mistakes. Don’t keep talking while disregarding your mistakes especially when you know what’s correct. Say sorry and repeat the sentence correctly.
5. Understand Before Answering:
If you don’t understand what the examiner has asked you, question them. Or if you don’t know the meaning of a certain word, ask them. Not knowing what you’ve been asked can affect your whole answer. So, make sure you understand the question properly first.
Here are a few expert tips to work on your IELTS speaking and touch band 7 scores. Our experts say you need to speak at a high level to get band 7 in the IELTS speaking exam. You can’t get band 7+ for IELTS without speaking really good English.
Keeping that in mind, trying to speak to your friends and colleagues, or AI voice assistants or family members doesn’t really give you the desired results. Our PTE experts dedicatedly provide you one on one feedback for strategic improvements and guide you to score the highest bands. Check out our new online courses for IELTS, English and French languages to boost your IELTS speaking today!