In Sunday's lesson I suggested answering in the following way if you don't know what to say:
"Well, I don't really know much about... because..., but I suppose..."
In other words, you admit that you don't really know what to say, you explain why, then you invent an answer anyway. Let's try using the formula above with an example.
Question:
What kinds of jobs might stop when the season changes?
Answer:
Well, I don't really know much about seasonal jobs because everyone works all year round where I live, but I suppose that some jobs related to tourism must stop at the end of the summer holiday period.
Hi
I got my result on 05/04/2014
L 7.0,R 7.0, W 6.5,S 6.0
I'm going to retake Ielts on 10/05/2014. Any one wanna practice Speaking pls add me on Skype. I need 7.0 each band. My skype is viva.ly14.
Posted by: viva | April 18, 2014 at 13:06
Your lessons are always very helpful Sir. Thank you
Posted by: Tring trang | April 18, 2014 at 20:18
I got my results and have 6 band but need 7. Any one want to share writing skills please. My email is [email protected]
Posted by: R | April 18, 2014 at 21:23
that is an interesting advice for eveyone, but i hope that i will not get these questions.hihi
Posted by: ttrung | April 19, 2014 at 02:49
Thanks, Simon. That's very helpful.
By the way, is there a kind of matching question that requires more than 1 answer?
For example, question 1-4: match the name (A-F) that is related to the following information, you may use any letter more than once. Could it be possible that the answers are like:
1. A, D
2. B
3. E
4. C, D
Posted by: hellcha | April 19, 2014 at 05:41
but I suppose that some jobs related to tourism must stop at the end of the summer holiday period.
My query is: put 'WOULD' instead of the word must .
Posted by: sabrena | April 19, 2014 at 06:47
Hi Simon,
I've read some comments that the phrase "you know" should not be used in speaking because the examiner may don't know the thing you are saying, is it true or not?
Thank you!
Posted by: Tuyet Mai | April 19, 2014 at 09:23
Tuyet
We answered this recently. This is not true. Natives use 'you know' as a filler and you should too. Like everything though, you don't want to repeat it too much, as that could be repetitive.
Posted by: sjm | April 19, 2014 at 10:41
Lots of street jobs like ice cream seelers are replaced in winters by hot tea vendors
Posted by: ntr | April 25, 2014 at 06:50
Hello Simon,
I have benefited a lot from your website. Thank you very much.
I just have a question: will ordinary or unprofound answers make a candidate lose marks? I can actually speak fluently on subjects related to education, politics, linguistics, society, immigration, law, etc., as I study them and have plenty of ideas in these areas. However, if somebody ask me about unfamilar topics, such as business, I really don't know what to say. And this was just the case of my Ielts speaking test yesterday, where I got one about "neighbourhood" for part 2 and 3. It seemed that lacking of relevant opinion or experience or knowledge, I could not perform to my maximum potential, and therefore my vocabulary, which was quite "boring", would be low-marked presumably.
In short, although IELTS evaluates a candidate's mastery of the English language, is it really possible to do so without consideration of his or her speech content? The linguistics skills, after all, are closely knit to our thoughts. Some people even stammer when they don't know what to say.
In the hope that you can answer my question.
Thank you.
Posted by: Sacha | May 11, 2014 at 11:33