Tips and Phrases KE ITH O ''''HARE TIPS AND PHRASES FOR IELTS SPEAKING PART 2 C O P Y R I G H T © 2 0 2 2 , K E I T H S P E A K I N G A C A D E M Y Keith runs The Keith Speaking Academy He has been worki[.]
TIPS AND PHRASES FOR IELTS SPEAKING PART KEITH O'HARE IELTS Speaking Part is a piece of cake, if you know what you are doing! In this article, you will find out how you can succeed in IELTS Speaking Part with powerful tips and lots of useful phrases About the Author Keith runs The Keith Speaking Academy He has been working in international education for over 20 years as a teacher, teacher trainer, and education manager He has helped over 40,000 students prepare for their IELTS Speaking test with his online courses COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY It’s important to have a clear structure in Part of your IELTS test, so the examiner can follow your answers Here, you will be given a task card, a piece of paper, and a pencil The examiner will give you minute to prepare In that one minute of preparation, you should: Get an idea quickly Structure your talk – think about what you are going to say and make some notes Remember, when speaking, you should keep hold of the task card and refer to your notes as you speak These are effective ways to stay focused and use your one-minute preparation time well COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY Get to the point! You only have to minutes to talk so remember, avoid any preamble that will just confuse the examiner Make sure you say clearly what you are going to talk about in the first sentence For example, The person I am going to describe is none other than my father I’m going to tell you about my favourite place If you spend more time on the introduction, you may have less time to talk about the most important topic COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY Most students ask ‘Which tenses can I use?’ Actually, you can use any tenses you want in IELTS Speaking Part It depends on what meaning you want to convey There may be chances to use past, present and future tenses What is important, is that you try and show off your use and control of several different tenses Let me show you some ideas below with a special storytelling technique as old as the hills – but take note, only use it if you are confident with it In the first example below, we’ll use past tenses only Describing an event: It happened about months ago [TIME] I was waiting for a friend inside a coffee bar [SET SCENE] This woman came in and started talking really loudly on her phone Then she sat next to me It was so noisy so I asked her to be quiet [ACTIONS] COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY Now see what happens when we introduce some present tenses It happened about months ago [TIME] I was waiting for a friend inside a coffee bar [SET SCENE] Then, this woman comes in and starts talking really loudly on her phone Then she sits next to me [LIVELY ACTIONS] It was so noisy so I asked her to be quiet [CONCLUDING ACTIONS] We can use the simple past tense to say when something happened Then, the past continuous tense to set the scene After that, we can introduce present tenses to make the action vivid and make it feel like it is happening now in front of us It’s a powerful technique because it triggers stronger emotional responses Finally, when concluding, we often go back to the simple past tenses COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY It means not memorizing whole sentences, but using templates to help you explain your ideas and build your confidence A template is basically a short phrase where we can change some of the words to make new but similar sentences Here are some examples: When starting a talk or story I’d like to kick off by telling you I’d like to kick off by telling you what happened When saying when it happened This took place This took place quite a while back When describing a place It’s one of the _ places I have visited It’s one of the most amazing places I have visited COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY What are Cohesive Devices? These are the words or phrases that act like glue and stick your sentences and ideas together, making them logical and easy to follow They are often called discourse markers, linkers, or connectors For example: First of all, to kick off After that, next, Anyway, Finally, In the end These make it easier for the examiner to follow you, to understand your ideas and so give you a higher score Other examples: When changing topic Anyway, what happened next… When describing or summarising your feelings When it comes to my feelings, I’d say I felt very happy As far as my feelings are concerned, I’d say I was over the moon Use Cohesive Devices in your everyday English conversation until you become comfortable with them COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY All of the above tips are good, but another thing to consider in IELTS Speaking Part is ‘don’t think too much’ The most important thing is to use natural English and just start talking to get into the flow This is not easy for everyone and depends on your personality, level and dedication However, it is great if you can it It also helps you be creative and improve your speaking skills In order to be a high-level English speaker, you need to not only repeat phrases and imitate others, but also be creative Make every sentence yours and unique Just imagine, when you move to a new country, that country and community need more than a robot, it needs your creativity It requires you to express yourself creatively in English The same is true when you go to study abroad, that university doesn’t need a robot, it needs you It needs your creativity It requires you to express yourself creatively in English This is where you can bring great value to those around you COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY Now if you are going for a band or in IELTS Speaking, don’t be too straight, just imitating lots of phrases Open up, be creative, go with the flow, and let yourself shine! Follow the above tips, start using these phrases and you have a great chance to succeed in IELTS Speaking Part Remember, practice as much as you can! Find out more about my work at WWW.KEITHSPEAKINGACADEMY.COM COPYRIGHT © 2022, KEITH SPEAKING ACADEMY