Let's look at a new speaking topic:
Describe a day out that you enjoyed recently. You should say
- where you went
- whom you went with
- what you did that day
- and why you enjoyed the day out.
Note: When we talk about a "day out", it means that you went somewhere for leisure purposes. I wouldn't talk about anything related to work or studies here.
An IELTS teacher asked me the following questions:
Is it compulsory for candidates to address all of the prompts on the cue card? What happens if candidates ignore the prompts but speak well about the topic anyway? And what happens if the candidate misunderstands the question and speaks about a different topic?
Here are the answers that I gave the teacher:
I tell my students to use the prompts because they help you to structure your answer. However, it is still possible to get a very high score even if you don't address all of the points e.g. if you speak well about the topic but miss the last point or two. I don't recommend ignoring the points completely, because there's a danger that you'll go off task if you do that.
If you misunderstand the question and give an unrelated answer, I'm afraid you'll get a very low score. The reason is that candidates could memorise a perfect answer if off-topic answers were allowed.
Look at the following question and my sample answer, in which I've highlighted the adjectives.
What do you think are the characteristics of a good speaker?
I think good speakers are confident and passionate about the subject of their speech. They need to be interesting and engaging. I think a speaker's body language is also really important. A famous example of a great speaker is Barack Obama; he seems to be a naturally inspiring speaker, but I'm sure that practice and preparation are more important than natural talent.
Note:
Can you see how the adjectives bring my answer to life?
Somebody asked me about this sentence from last Friday's speaking lesson:
The student asked me why I didn't follow the normal third conditional 'rule' and write "there would have been" instead of "there would be"? Did I make a mistake?
The answer is no, I didn't make a mistake. I wrote a mixed conditional sentence on purpose. Can you see why? I'll explain in tomorrow's lesson.
1. Tip: give a list of different technologies, then talk about one in detail:
In most workplaces people use equipment such as computers, phones, printers, fax machines and photocopiers. I think the computer is probably the most essential piece of equipment because we rely on it for almost everything: communicating by email, writing reports, organising data, and finding information on the Internet.
2. Tip: talk about the positives AND the negatives:
Technology definitely helps workers because it makes many tasks so much easier. For example, email is such a useful tool for communication between employees in different offices, or even in different countries. On the other hand, technology can make life more difficult, especially when it goes wrong. It causes a lot of stress when the Internet is down or a computer crashes.
3. Tip: give the good effects AND the bad effects:
I think technology is often responsible for people losing their jobs. Machines have replaced people in areas like manufacturing and agriculture, and whenever a new technology is introduced, there are redundancies. At the same time, jobs might be created thanks to a new technology; for example, there would be no computer programmers if the computer hadn't been invented.
Most people don't know that there are videos of IELTS speaking tests on the official website ielts.org. The site also shows you the official score that each candidate was given.
Here's a quick guide to finding the videos:
I've been using three of these videos in the speaking band descriptors lessons on my member site.
We've been analysing the speaking performances of Tina (band 5), Alexandra (band 7) and Khush (band 8). All three candidates could improve their speaking scores if they followed some simple advice!
Describe an interesting place you have visited.
You should say:
Here's an example description of a place I've visited. I've used the vocabulary from yesterday's lesson to describe London.
Listen to the recording while following the vocabulary (see yesterday's lesson). Then you could practise your own description of London using the same vocabulary. Keep practising until you're happy.
In part 2 of the speaking test, you might have to describe a place. There are several possible questions about places. For example:
My advice is to prepare a description of one place that you could use to answer all of these questions. Then search the Internet for some good vocabulary.
For example, here are some ideas I found to describe London:
Here's part of a recent lesson on my member site. You'll see me answering three questions about the IELTS speaking test.
If you look at the 'fluency and coherence' column of the band descriptors, you'll see the following:
Do you understand the difference between these two types of hesitation? Here's how I would summarise them:
Tip: Try recording yourself as you answer some IELTS speaking questions. Listen to the recording and pay attention to your hesitations. Ask yourself whether you paused to find language or to consider your response to the question.
A common topic for the short presentation (IELTS Speaking Part 2) is "describe an important festival in your country".
My advice is to look for a description of your festival on Wikipedia. Copy the best parts of the description and make small changes if necessary. As an example, I've copied a short description of Christmas from Wikipedia.
Describe a festival: Christmas
Christmas is an annual holiday that, in Christianity, commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ.
Popular customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations; including Christmas trees, lights, nativity scenes, and holly. In addition, Father Christmas (known as Santa Claus in some areas) is a popular figure in many countries, associated with the bringing of gifts for children.
Over the Christmas period, people decorate their homes and exchange gifts. In some countries, children perform plays re-telling the events of the Nativity, or sing carols that reference the event. Christmas, along with Easter, is the period of highest annual church attendance.
A special Christmas family meal is an important part of the celebration for many, and what is served varies greatly from country to country. In England and countries influenced by its traditions, a standard Christmas meal includes turkey, potatoes, vegetables, sausages and gravy, followed by Christmas pudding, mince pies and fruit cake.
Your priority in part 1 of the speaking test should be to demonstrate fluency, not difficult grammar or vocabulary. You'll speak more fluently if you keep your part 1 answers simple.
Here are some examples of how I would simplify students' answers.
Note: the students' answers contain some mistakes.
Student's answer:
Logically people from different generation will have taste variation. Depending upon the maturity, music stars of their own age, impact of globalisation as well as technological development in music industry will divide younger and older generation.
My simplified answer:
Of course, people from different generations have different tastes in music. Popular music changes all the time, and most of us are influenced by whatever style of music is popular when we are growing up.
Student's answer:
Yes, I am fond of music. It is simply the medicine for my mind. When I am stressed, music remove stress. When I am happy, music inspires me to be more. It always in the centre of all my parties with friends. When I am sad, music takes me out glue and move forward.
My simplified answer:
Yes, I love music, mainly because it helps to put me in a better mood. When I'm stressed or sad, music picks me up and puts me in a positive frame of mind.
Examples are important because they bring your answers to life*. They make your message clearer and your answers more real.
Look at the examples that I used in my 'difficult jobs' answers in Friday's speaking lesson. Without these examples, my answers would be boring and abstract.
*Look up the phrase "bring something to life". What does it mean?
Here's a list of the 'less common' phrases that I used in yesterday's speaking answers. Notice that I'm highlighting phrases and collocations, not individual 'big' words.
Here are my sample answers to the questions in last Friday's lesson. Can you find any useful vocabulary in my responses?
What are the most difficult jobs that people do?
I think jobs can be hard for various different reasons. Some professions, such as concert pianist or surgeon, are difficult in the sense that they require a high level of skill that must be developed through many years of study and practice. On the other hand, jobs like police officer, firefighter or soldier might not require such high skill levels, but they are known to be extremely stressful and sometimes traumatic.
Why do you think some people choose to do difficult jobs?
I suppose we all want to do something meaningful. For some people, this means achieving a great ambition that takes years of hard work. People who choose dangerous jobs might do so for altruistic reasons or because they feel it's their duty to contribute to society.
Do you agree or disagree that all jobs are difficult sometimes?
I would have to disagree with that. I think we all feel that our jobs are difficult or stressful at times, but in the grand scheme of things we have nothing to complain about. A tight deadline or a lost computer file are really just minor inconveniences when compared with the horrors of war that soldiers face, or the life-and-death situations that paramedics see every day.
How would you answer these questions (from Cambridge 14, test 3)?
Tip: Try to think about giving answers that contain three sentences: answer, explain, example.
Faye asked a good question below last Friday's lesson:
Can you give some suggestions on how to answer the question "how you felt about something" in speaking part 2?
My suggestion is to start with a simple adjective (e.g. happy) and prepare a theme around this word. There's an example of theme preparation here, and I used this technique in several of the speaking lessons on my video course website.
Task: Let's prepare a 'happy' theme together. To be more precise, imagine that you have to describe how you felt when you passed an important test. List some ideas, and share them in the comments below.
The model answer that I shared last Friday was at band 9 level, mainly because of the range of words and phrases that it contained.
But I didn't spontaneously invent those words and phrases; they came from my research into the topic. I searched for good ideas, made a list of topic vocabulary, and then built my description around the phrases on that list.
I'm not suggesting that you can do this in your test, but it's the best way to prepare topics at home.
Describe a book that you enjoyed reading because you had to think a lot.
You should say:
- what this book was
- why you decided to read it
- what reading this book made you think about
- and explain why you enjoyed reading this book.
Here's my band 9 answer, using vocabulary from last week's lesson:
Here's a list of 'less common' vocabulary from the descriptions in last Friday's lesson. If I can use these phrases in my description (next Friday), I'll be able to give myself a band 9 for vocabulary!
Quick exercise:
Take just three of the phrases above, and try to use them in full sentences. Share your sentences in the 'comments' below.
In last Friday's lesson I shared a task that asks you to describe a book. To prepare for this description, let's choose a book and 'steal' some ideas from an online summary / review.
I'm currently reading a book called 'Atomic Habits'. I found a summary and a review of this book on Amazon (see below), so I'll steal some ideas and use them in my answer next Friday. Maybe you could prepare ideas, in the same way, for a book that you've read.
Here's a quick summary from Amazon:
People think when you want to change your life, you need to think big. But world-renowned habits expert James Clear has discovered another way. He knows that real change comes from the compound effect of hundreds of small decisions – doing two push-ups a day, waking up five minutes early, or holding a single short phone call. He calls them atomic habits.
In this ground-breaking book, Clear reveals exactly how these minuscule changes can grow into such life-altering outcomes. He uncovers a handful of simple life hacks, and delves into cutting-edge psychology and neuroscience to explain why they matter. Along the way, he tells inspiring stories of Olympic gold medalists, leading CEOs, and distinguished scientists who have used the science of tiny habits to stay productive, motivated, and happy.
And here's a customer review (there are many others on Amazon):
I feel lucky to have found this book. It's the only self-help book that I've thought, afterwards, was worth reading. It's had a dramatic positive impact on my life. It's well researched, well reasoned, and well written. A self-help book that actually makes a significant, and long-lasting difference. I'm going to keep re-reading it.
Let's start work on a new task, which comes from Cambridge IELTS 14:
Describe a book that you enjoyed reading because you had to think a lot.
You should say:
- what this book was
- why you decided to read it
- what reading this book made you think about
- and explain why you enjoyed reading this book.
Which book would you choose to talk about? I'll give you my ideas next Friday.
Let's look at some of the useful vocabulary from the answers that I shared in last Friday's lesson:
Note:
The phrases with a star (*) are great for the speaking test, but a little too informal for a written essay. Would you have known this?
Here are two sample answers that include opinions about the future:
Will large shopping malls continue to be popular, despite the growth of internet shopping?
I can’t see shopping malls disappearing any time soon, so yes, I think they will definitely continue to attract shoppers. We already have internet shopping, with websites like Amazon now mainstream, but the large shopping centres in my city are still packed with people. The Trafford Centre near Manchester, for example, is hugely popular, and I think this is because it offers more than just shopping. It’s a place where families go for a day out, to have lunch or to visit attractions like Sea Life or Legoland, and naturally they will browse the shops and buy things there too.
Do you think that some businesses (e.g. banks and travel agents) will only operate online in future?
I’m sure they will, and I think this is already happening. I’m pretty sure that there are online-only savings accounts, and there are travel websites like Airbnb that have no physical presence on the high street. I imagine that more and more services will only be available online; this seems to be the way that things are going.
In part 3 of the speaking test, the examiner might ask for your opinions about what will happen in the future.
For example, here are two questions from Cambridge IELTS 14 (test 4). How would you answer them?
When answering the two questions below, you should be aware that the examiner is expecting to hear some different verb tenses.
1. Do you think films have changed since you were a child?
No, I don’t think films have changed much since I was a child. When I was younger I enjoyed watching action films, and the Hollywood formula for this type of film seems to be the same today. For example, I liked the original ‘Superman’ films, and superheroes are still a popular subject for film-makers.
2. As the technology for home viewing improves, do you think people will stop going to the cinema in future?
No, I don’t think that people will stop going to the cinema. People can already buy fantastic home viewing equipment, but it still feels more special to share the experience of watching a new film with a theatre full of people. I don't think that technology will be able to replicate that cinema atmosphere.
In a recent lesson I explained why I'm not a fan of the 'PPF technique' for part 2 of the speaking test. I believe that candidates should focus on giving a good description in part 2, instead of worrying about verb tenses.
If the examiner wants to test your use of verb tenses, he/she can do this in part 3 of the test, by choosing certain questions.
Here are some typical 'tense' questions from speaking part 3:
- Do you think _____ is different now, compared to when you were a child?
- Did your teachers _____ when you were at school?
- How do you think _____ will change in the future?
Listen carefully for these 'tense' questions in part 3. The examiner will be listening closely to the verbs that you use in your answers!
Here are some negative answers to the 'photography' questions that I showed you a couple of weeks ago. The questions come from Cambridge IELTS 11.
1) What type of photos do you like taking?
Well, I don't usually take photos to be honest. I prefer to enjoy whatever I'm doing, rather than stop to take a photograph.
2) What do you do with photos you take?
I don't really do anything with the occasional photos that I take. They just stay on my phone and I forget to save them or upload them to my computer.
3) When you visit other places, do you take photos or buy postcards?
Neither. As I said, I prefer to enjoy myself, so I tend to let other people take photos. I used to buy and send postcards when I was younger, so maybe I should go back to doing that.
4) Do you like people taking photos of you?
As a child I was always a bit shy when it came to having my photo taken, so I would have said that I didn't like it. These days, if someone wants to take a photo of me, I don't mind at all.
In this lesson I asked for your views on a technique that some students and teachers are using: they use three verb tenses (past, present, future - PPF) to organise their speaking part 2 answers. In other words, they begin by answering in the past tense, then they move to the present and into the future.
Here's my view on this:
I'm not a fan of this PPF technique because it encourages you to go into the speaking test with a 'grammar mindset'. Your brain is focusing on verb tenses instead of more important things: the task, the bullet points, your ideas, and the vocabulary that you're going to use to express those ideas.
If there's one thing that I stand against as an English / IELTS teacher, it's the 'grammar mindset' and the idea that you can impress the examiner with 'complex structures'.
I'm a 'vocabulary mindset' teacher. I want my students to focus on the 'true content' of their answers, rather than grammar tricks.
Here are some sample answers for the 'nice home' questions that I asked you to look at two weeks ago. The questions come from Cambridge IELTS 14.
Note: I try to answer in a natural and slightly informal way, but with some good 'topic vocabulary'.
Why do some people buy lots of things for their home?
I think there could be a couple of different reasons for this. Some people like to surround themselves with beautiful objects and furnishings to brighten up their lives, while others buy lots of devices that are supposed to save time. In my own home we have examples of both types of object: we have things like ornaments and pictures because they look nice, and we have useful gadgets, like a small vacuum cleaner that we recently bought.
Do you think it is very expensive to make a home look nice?
No, definitely not. Basic furniture isn’t expensive these days, especially now that we have shops like Ikea. I know plenty of people who have furnished and decorated their homes really nicely without spending too much money. Personally I also like the minimalist look: some basic furniture, light colours and not too much clutter.
Why don't some people care about how their home looks?
Maybe they just see their homes as a base - somewhere to eat and sleep - rather than a reflection of their tastes or personalities. And many people are just too busy with work and life outside the home to worry about furniture and decorations. A friend of mine, for example, doesn’t seem to care about the way his house looks, but this is because he’s almost never there; he travels for work and spends more time in hotel rooms than in his own house.
Several people have asked me about a technique that some teachers recommend for part 2 of the speaking test: the 'past, present, future' technique, or 'PPF'.
Before I give you my opinion about this technique, I'd like to hear from you.
- Has anyone been taught to use this PPF idea?
- How exactly did your teacher suggest that you use it?
- Did it work for you?
- What benefits and drawbacks do you think this technique has?
Note:
Please remember that techniques like this are just suggestions, not rules. If your teacher is saying that you must use three tenses in your part 2 answer, he/she is wrong.