IELTS Speaking Part 2: describe a website

In Part 2 of IELTS Speaking, you might be asked to describe a website that you use:

Describe a website that you often use. You should say:

• what type of website it is
• how you found out about it
• what it allows you to do, and why you find it useful.

Here are some ideas, with some of the band 7-9 vocabulary underlined:

1. Facebook is a social networking website. It's a free website that allows you to keep in contact with friends or find people you've lost touch with. It's one of the most popular websites in the world, with millions of users in different countries.
2. All of my friends use Facebook. One of my friends sent me an email inviting me to join. I signed up and I've been using it ever since.
3. Facebook allows you to keep up to date with what friends are doing. You have a profile page with information and status updates so that you can tell everyone what you're doing. You can post messages to other people's pages. You can upload photos and videos. I find Facebook most useful for organising my life, keeping in touch with friends and storing photos. I think social networking websites have become part of everyday life.

Comments

[sonia]

hi
i just studied ur site every single day and with all ur silent help i got.....7.5 in one attempt...........thank you so much dear simon..i m from pakistan

[Ai]

Hi there,
I just wonder if I can use "WE" instead of "YOU" as a subject...
Thanks

[iman]

Dear Simon,
Firstly, I would like to appreciate the great work for the E-book. I was wondering if you could
address a problem that many exam-takers experience these days. Based on what I heard from several examiners,one of the main reasons that candidates are penalized in task2 is using over-generalized statements for supporting ideas. Unfortunately, there is very little explanation regarding this issue in books and other resources. Would you kindly explain what this matter is. I am certain many students will benefit from a lesson like that.
I appreciate your kind attention.

[semenchu]

Sonia,
hope i'm able to get result like you for my first attempt tomorrow. i just study this website as a silent reader. anyway, thanks a lot sir simon..

Ai,
yeah, i'm also wonder that we able to use "WE" rather than "YOU" to convey the same meaning..

[Dinh Xuan Son]

Hi Simon!
I am a Vietnamese student. I have known your webside. It is extremely helpfull for me. I just want to say that thank you so much.

[Martin]

Hi Simon,

Here is my description of your website and hope students can find it useful.

Cheers,
Martin

=========================================
I want to talk about a website called IELTS-Simon, which is a website I use and check every day.

This is a website dedicated for the preparation of the IELTS exam. It is updated on a daily basis and is maintained by an ex-IELTS examiner called Simon.

I don't really remember how I found out about this website, but I guess it popped out when I was googling for some IELTS materials on the web about two years ago. Since then, I've been using and reading its contents every day.

Of all the IELTS related websites available on the Internet, I think this is the most useful one because of the following reasons. Firstly, we can expect a new IELTS lesson every day, and the lesson could be for the Listening, Reading, Writing, or Speaking part. Secondly, besides IELTS materials, Simon also gives us plenty of useful advice on grammar and tips to get high scores for this challening exam. And thirdly, which I think is the most important, visitors of this website can make comments and/or ask questions, which makes things more interactive and productive at the same time.

All in all, this is a wonderful website that I recommend it to everyone preparing for the IELTS.
=========================================

[Raya]

**I would like to speak about a video sharing website which is called (youtube),it is a free broadcasting website where you can submit your private videos,or any movies produced by you,so that any person can watch it, like it or dislike it.
**How I knew about it. One day a friend of me who lives a broad ,told me that she submitted a movie for her family and she liked to share the watching with me, she gave me the name of this website, and she told me that there is no need to subscribe or sign in to watch any movie. I found it so amazing because i could see my friend after 5 years,how she become, her children and her life style.
***I found this website so interesting , entertaining and useful as well, because some times I look for old song or movie as entertainment, or I look for a video regarding old news or scientific reports, and some time this website consider as a good source for education since it has many videos for education of English , mathematic,music...as well as songs for children in the nursery and how they can sing it .

[Aleksandra Bucholc]

Dear Martin,
You wrote exactly,what I had in mind while trying to imagine my speech on the useful website.
I thought about the portal IELTS-Simon,as well.You expressed all what I would like to say on that occasion.
I don't use facebook,I prefer books than computer and real meetings with the people but I use this website because of all obvious reasons you mentioned.
Greetings for our great website creator and all active readers.
Aleksandra

[Giao Nguyen]

Thank you Martin and Simon. Both of you are gifted. I'm from Vietnam

[MALLA_sirupat]

Today I am going to talk about one website which is extremely popular now a days and it is called google plus. it is a social networking site where more than million people are member and they can see each another

one day i was looking a Google search to find out some information about the social networking site and i suddenly found this web site. i singed up and i have been using this since ever.

it is very very interesting and useful web site. we can upload not only current status and interest but also upload latest images and video so that people will easily know what their family and friends are doing at the moment.

[xiangling Tian]

it's my first to read your story, and i'll often come to 'see' you.

[Simon]

Congratulations Sonia!

...

Hi Ai,

Yes, you can use 'we' and 'us'.

...

Hi Iman,

My advice is to try to develop your ideas and arguments in detail in your main paragraphs. In other words, make sure you explain yourself well.

Have a look though my lessons to see examples of how I do it.

...

Thanks Dinh.

...

Thanks Martin. Nice description!

[sonia]

ur pleasure simon
now i m in need of ur prayers to get australian visa for study

[Bhakthi]

Hi Simon,

For the question, Do you work or are you a student?

Can I answer the question this way:

At present, I am neither studying nor working. I am planning to pursue my Masters course this year.

[Martin]

@ Aleksandra, Giao Nguyen, and Simon

You are more than welcome! I'm glad that you all like my description!

[Bhakthi]

Hi Simon,

Sorry for not mentioning the context of the question in my previous comment.

In a scholarship application form, for the question - Do you work or are you a student?

Can I answer the question this way:

At present, I am neither studying nor working. But I am planning to pursue my Masters course this year.

[Simon]

Yes, that's fine Bhakthi.

[Albert]

Hi Simon,
I just have one quick quesiton for IELTS speaking part 2:

396. A Gift of Money You Received (February, 2012)
Describe a time when you received some money as a gift.

You should say:

who gave it to you

what the occasion was

how you felt

and explain what you did with the money.

My Question:
Do I MUST answer all these 4 points? Can I just mention 2 or 3 of them and add something else in my speech myself?
Some people say it's OK to talk anything you want as long as your main idea is about 'a time when you received some money as a gift.' While some say we must answer all Four points, otherwise, my Task Response part will lose marks.

Can you please help me out? Thanks a lot.

[Martin]

Hi Albert,

The instruction for each Speaking Part2 clearly states that "you should say----", so I think it is common sense to follow what they ask you to do. It is perfectly OK to include some other ideas in your speech, but I'd say that the minimum requirement is to cover all the listed questions.

Regards,
Martin

[Yan]

hi simon,

I am so frastrated. I took many times of IELTS and my aim is to get 4*7s. After watching your website, I have managed to get reading,listening and writing band 7 or greater. But no matter how many times I tried, I just cannot get 7 in speaking part. Sometimes, if i perform well, i would get 6.5, if not, i get 6.0. I found that today's speaking test is too much harder than that in 2 years ago. The questions in the part 3 are so tricky that i cannot even answer it well in my own language. For example, last time the examiner asked me 'do you think how mobility could effect people's culture identify'. My answer is something like, people will become more telerate and open-minded if they treval a lot. For example, if you treval to china you may gradually accept some cultural feature of Chinese.

My result of the test is 6.5.

My question is what is the difference of band 6.5 and 7.0 in speaking test. Do you have any suggestion about how to improve my score in a short time( 1-2weeks)?

Cheers,

Yan

[Simon]

Hi Yan,

I think your answer to the 'mobility' question was good. I'm sure you're very close to getting a 7. I don't think you are doing anything wrong, so just keep trying. Stay positive - you're nearly there!

[daive]

I would like to talk about BBC.co.uk. To my mind, this is absolutely a useful website for most people, especially IELTS learner. There are not only up to date news which are about almost all aspects of live but also a vast amount of English learning materials. Student can practice reading skill through news, listening skill by listen to MP3 file which are divided into different topics and sorted in order from easy to difficult. Furthermore, there are also numerous videos which subtitle, so learner hear and learn how to pronounce exactly the words. I strongly recommend this website for those who are gonna sit for IELTS test in the future.

[Ganesh]

Hi Simon,
Could you please suggest me of main topic areas for speaking in Sydney.
Regards
Ganesh

[jee]

plz suggest some essays for me to my 1st feb exam .so that i can prepare well. thank yoy.

[Cute Coffee]

Thanks a lot for your silent contribution. I am trying to help me as well as my students with every single lesson from your website, especially when I am stuck in ideas for writing and speaking task.

[arshpreet kaur]

plz tell m how i improve speaking. last time i got only 5 band in speaking. now my test will be on 22 november. plz plz help m i want 7 band in speaking how i make sentences in english easily nd fastly

[Tristen]

Hi Martin,

This is a really fantastic job!
I wanted to descibe this Simon's website somehow so it is absolutely helpful for me to prepare it.

I took IELTS exams many times before and sometimes I got a question about a teacher (who I like or remember well) either in part 1 or 2.

At those times, I answered by describing a teacher who I remember from my high school and sometimes said a professor from my univeristy (* but it was a wrong answer for this because he was a professor, not a teacher),
however, now I have completely changed my mind and I will try to describe a teacher about our great teacher "Simon" in the next trial if I get related questions.

I have never met Simon yet but I'm sure that Simon is the best teacher in my entire life without doubt.

Therefore, I would like to ask you how you will describe Simon in terms of a favorite teacher.

Hope to hear from you soon,
Thanks!

[Arun atwal]

Hlw martin plz suggest me that how i m to speak about a topic on team work

[uyen]

Hi, Simon
There are a lot of website on the internet, but for me, the website I like most is ielts-simon.com. I find that this website is so beneficial for not only me but also people taking an ielts exam. It was set up by Simon who used to be an ex-ielts examiner and now run ielts exam preparation courses in Manchester, United Kingdom. I visit it everyday after university. This is due to fact that this website provide good advice for ielts exam and also help me improve my english language skills because i use it to study how to read, write, speak and listen. Especially, I can make comments or ask questions, which makes me study English much more effectively. To sum up, nothing can compare to ielts-simon website for reasons mentioned above.
Thank you so much.And I hope you can give me feedback.

[Simon]

Good description Uyen! Thanks :)

[Maria]

I would be greatful if you could check my writing below.

As technology develops, the number of cell phones increases and the quality improves which has attracted people specially young generation in the way that each person has at least one now.

Statistics indicate that lots of teenagers spend almost 6 hours a day on their smart phones which is considered as addiction, so that no one can deny the impacts on their life styles and education

Easier access to the internet that has been provided by the stuff motives students to study more. They use it for doing projects, researches etc. Furthermore, applications such as calculator, camera for taking photos of what has been written on the board, calendar to putting the exams date are also effective factors.As a result, study has became easier than it was and youths enjoy to learn more and more!

However, the drawbacks seem to be determinative as well. The significant one is being addicted. Games and social networks can entertain teenagers that they can find no time for their assignments. on the other hand, they would stay up late at night chatting with friends, playing, even watching movies on their cell phones, so through lack of sleep, their mind aren't ready to understand and learn what is being taught in the school.

Overall, due to its benefits they can not give it over while it may be harmful; therefor, the balance must be maintained to gain the upper hand and overcome the disadvantages in order to advance in their education.

Tnxxx

[Maria]

I'm sorry I forgot to tell you the topic which is ' How cell phones effect on teenager's education? "

[[email protected]]

Sir please give me advice related to speaking

By gourav choudhary

[prakash]

This website is one of the most worthy to all the student who want prepare for the IELTS exam. I found this is one of the best site for all the English learner. After all, I want to say thank you very much to Simon

[deep kaur]

Please tell me how I improve reading .last time I got 5 band .now I have test on 23rd june plz help me..

[maria]

how can write to talk in a speaking contest i'm maria

[Furik]

Please give me a piece of advice how can i improve my reading. All the time i get 5.0

[Simon]

Furik,

There's too much advice for me to give here. Have a look through as many of my reading lessons as you can - all my best advice is there.

If you want a step-by-step guide to reading, I've done a course of video lessons on the site linked below. They will give you the advice you need.

http://subscriptions.viddler.com/SimonCorcoran

[urmom]

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