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What are some tips on the IELTS speaking test? How can I prepare well?

Numerous universities around the globe are serving students from different countries. For the same purpose, these institutions oblige proof of English, provided by the English proficiency tests and the most popular among all tests is, IELTS (International English Language Testing System). Unlike other tests, this is a paper-based test, providing all students a suitable & comfortable environment of which they are habitual from past school years. It includes all four modules: Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking. Candidates perform the LRW test on the same day and the Speaking test on the other day. However, most of the students find the speaking module more complex and quizzical because it is often the one skill that many students get the least practice for. Consequently, the foremost point to remember is that this test is a formal speaking test, thus one must avoid any type of slangs primarily.

 

Talking about the test, like all other exams, knowing and understanding the format of this exam is of utmost importance, as the examinees must comprehend what to expect in the exam so that you can prepare perfectly and, avoid any wonderments on the test day. The IELTS exam is partitioned into three crosspieces: Introductory, Cue Card, Follow-ups.

 

Initiating the Introductory round, which is 4-5 minutes long, you have to answer the questions related to your personal situations, family, hobbies, likes/dislikes, work/studies, and many more. The primary purpose of the step is to make you comfortable & ease and converse on the stated life topics, making it the simplest round. One thing to remember is to be loyal with your examiner, especially in the first round, where you talk about yourself. If you are not true, but cooking up the answers, you will get puzzled while talking. Further comes round two, the Cue Card round, where you are given a topic and some necessary points to be included in your two-minute speech. However, begin commencing your speech, you also get one minute to read the topic carefully and to prepare a brief & rough outline of what you have to speak. This round is basically aimed at checking your eligibility for speaking on a specific topic, for a long time. In the end, you have to encounter the most abstract part of the speaking session, the Follow-up round. Students find it challenging because, in this section, the examiner asks some questions related to the topic you spoke in round 2, and almost all questions revolve around the same theme. This makes a candidate confused & bewildered as he or she feels obstructive in adding variations to their context. So, you must avoid repetition, which is the main objective of this round. However, this section tests your ability to talk about different time zones, give your opinion, compare & contrast distinct ideas. In this way, this complete structure of the speaking session is sufficient to tell a person's eligibility and proficiency.

 

After verifying the structure of the test, one should also emphasize on finding his or her current speaking band. You can take help from an experienced IELTS teacher in order to discover your speaking band. This is also one of the supportive tips that aid to improve and work according to the need, that also saves your time. For instance, if a person's initial band is 5 or 5.5, then he or she must need to work hard. Likewise, if one is scoring a 6.5 or 7 in the first place, then he or she can emphasize more on polishing, rather than starting from the beginning.

 

Furthermore, there are specific terms that an examiner looks for into you and they are:

  • Fluency & Coherence- Ability to talk smoothly, how well the examiner concedes your message.
  • Lexical Resource- Ability to use an extensive series of vocabulary precisely.
  • Grammatical Range & Accuracy- Ability to implement the grammar rules & tenses in your speech accurately.
  • Pronunciation- Ability to pronounce, use intonation & stress levels unmistakably.

 

If your examiner is not able to understand what you are trying to say, then you may lose some bands. You may also use some powerful vocabulary words and idioms. The formed sentences must also be error-free and should use a range of appropriate grammatical structures. Similarly, comprehensive use of pronunciation features, such as intonation patterns, stressing levels on important words also support you to sail through the test. However, everything is possible if done in the right manner, by following some useful techniques. The main tip is to start speaking more and more in English, either with your friends, family, or teachers who are good at English. On the other hand, one can effectively do it by finding a speaking partner for themselves may it be your best friend with good English skills or a family member, so that you can talk on real-life situations to build a strong and stable foundation. Daily conversation in this language is remedial to give an outstanding performance during the test. Also, with the partner, one must practice more be conversing naturally, rather than practicing the IELTS Questions, as it may restrict the conversation several times.

 

Further scrutinizing the roadmap for speaking success, reading and listening are also great measures that enhance your speaking abilities. Reading a variety of texts, newspapers, books, and novels and listening to multiple podcasts, radio shows, and any other English conversations help to improve lexical resources (grammar and vocabulary). Furthermore, never cram or memorize your speech as well because f you skip anything, you might not be able to regain your memorized speech, leaving a false and fake impression of yours in front of the test-taker. Another central point is to listen to the spoken question carefully. Although it is not wrong to ask the examiner for any clarification, the only thing is that this may affect your scores. Along with that, prevent the excess usage of conjunctions like 'and' or 'but' in sentences. Try to add a full stop between two sentences to separate them.

 

As you are aware of the fact that the examiner records your voice, so you need to be loud and clear while speaking. The supervisor who is taking your test is responsible for only 10% of your marks. The head later hear your recording, makes the final judgment and give you your final scores. Moreover, planning is necessary for this module as well because without preparing an outline, he or she may not be able to comprehend what he or she is speaking or will say. For every response, give an opening statement, answer the main question and extend it by providing some reasons or examples, and then conclude it by paraphrasing the question via synonyms. Another significant point is although you are constrained by the time, yet don't stop unless and until you are told to. Also, if a student has started the preparation, start keeping the records of new words or expressions in a diary and use it daily. You may get some useful and valuable vocabulary here.

 

Also, for these applicants, many websites are also serving their contribution whose main goal is to take you to the heights and ace the test. They do this job by catering to you various PTE Practice Test and Mock tests, designed below the PTE Official standards, which assists you to polish all the required abilities.

Furthermore, don't get nervous while conversing with your examiner because this is not just a test but a normal conversation in which you are supposed to answer all the questions accurately in English, asked by the examiner. Concentration and confidence are the only things demanded by the test, and these would encourage you to get 8.5 bands in your IELTS speaking examination.