Speaking week

The aims of the speaking self-study programme are that you . . .

• Understand the format of the Speaking Test
• Understand how your speaking is assessed
• Understand the type of topics you will be asked about and how you should
respond in each part of the test
• Develop appropriate vocabulary for the IELTS Speaking Test

Day 1 a) Make sure you know exactly what the Speaking Test is like. Go to
https://www.ielts.org/about-the-test/test-format and read the information carefully.

b) Go to https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/prepare/free-ielts-practice-
tests/speaking and read this information carefully too. Then do the practice. Record
yourself on your phone or some other device.

b) Go to https://www.ielts.org/-/media/pdfs/speaking-band-descriptors.ashx?la=en and
download the public descriptor. These give you a good idea of what the examiner is
looking for at each Band level for Fluency and Coherence (This means your ability to
continue speaking (especially in Part 2) and to link your ideas and language
together.), for Lexical Resource (your vocabulary), Grammatical Range and
Accuracy (how well you use grammar to communicate), and Pronunciation (how
easy it is to understand you).

For more information and help with these four areas, watch these videos
Fluency and coherence https://youtu.be/8H-WeY9GSf8
Lexical resource https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQQE2hWrl98
Grammatical range & accuracy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq6IZBtM4IU
Pronunciation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UawwTSzaZzk

Day 2 The Speaking Test consists of 3 parts. In Part 1 the examiner will ask you about
ordinary, everyday things such as how you spend your free time, your holidays and
travel, food and restaurants etc. Part 1 always begins with questions about either your
work/studies or your home/hometown. Part 1 lasts from 4 to 5 minutes.

a) It is important that you have the vocabulary to discuss everyday topics. List 5 key
words or expressions for each of these ‘typical’ Part 1 topics. Check in a dictionary how
to pronounce them correctly. Mark the word stress.

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British Council is a proud co-owner of IELTS.

 Example your home flat/quiet neighbourhood/ small balcony/sunny living
room/ friendly neighbours
1. Your home
2. Your hometown
3. Your studies or your job
4. Shopping
5. The things you do with friends
6. The food you like
7. The music you like
8. What you do on your holidays
9. The sports or exercise you do
10. How you communicate with people
b) For more vocabulary practice go to
https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/intermediate-vocabulary and choose an area
that will be useful to you. For example, practise learning synonyms at
https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/intermediate/unit-23/session-1

c) You should try and answer these Part 1 questions with 2 or 3 sentences. Think about
giving a reason for why you like or dislike something, give an example. Now go to
https://www.ielts.org/-/media/pdfs/115041_speaking_sample_task_-
_part_1.ashx?la=en and practise answering these questions again. Record your
answers on your phone. Listen to your recording.

Ask yourself:
• did I have to think about some words that I needed?
• did I give reasons for things?
• did I give examples?

Compare your answers to Part 1 here with the answers you gave on Day 1.

d) Watch a test taker do Part 1 of the test. Go to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAf41I68HD8&list=PLSAx4faA_rjNEb16E7FGDnQT
Sn9dAuDPv&index=14&t=41s

What did he do well or less well?

What topics was he asked about?
Look at the examiner’s comments.

e) Now practise a Part 1. Read the questions and record your answers.

Let’s talk about what you do. Are you a student or do you work?

What do you like about your work/studies?

Is there anything you don’t like? Why?

What do you plan to do in the future?

Now let’s talk about shopping. Do you prefer to shop online or go to real shops? Why?

Do you like shopping alone or with friends?

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 What sort of things do you most enjoy buying?

Do you find it difficult to buy presents for friends and family?

Let’s turn to sport. Do you do any sport? Why?

What do you enjoy most about this activity?

What are the good things about doing a sport with other people?

Are there any sporting activities you would like to try in the future?

f) Look at the timer on your phone. Did answering the questions take between 4 and 5
minutes?
If yes, well done.
If no, how could you have said more? Did you give reasons and examples where
appropriate? Answer the questions again, giving more information.

Day 3 In Part 2 you are given a card with a topic on it. You will have to talk about that topic for
up to two minutes. You will have one minute to prepare your talk. Use this time to make
brief notes – one or two words – to help you while you are speaking.

a) Look at this topic card. Time yourself and make notes for one minute, then talk for
two minutes.

Describe a person who you like or admire.

You should say

• who the person is

• what they have done in their life
• why you like or admire them

And say how they have affected you.

b) Go to https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/prepare/free-ielts-practice-
tests/speaking/part-2 and practise a Part 2 topic. Follow the instructions and when you
have finished speaking, listen to the audio recording.

Did you speak for 2 minutes?

hesitate trying to think of words you needed?
correct grammar mistakes as you were talking?
repeat yourself?
connect your talk and ideas with linking words?

Notes:
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 If you can’t think of the exact word(s) you need, try to paraphrase, that is, think of another
way of saying the same thing.
Don’t over-correct if you hear yourself making grammar mistakes because this will interfere
with the fluency of your talk.

Compare your Part 2 talk here with the talk you gave on Day 1.

c) Watch a test taker do Part 2 of the test. Go to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0UGhSufSJk&list=PLSAx4faA_rjNEb16E7FGDn
QTSn9dAuDPv&index=3&t=5s
• What did she do well or less well?
• What topic was she asked to talk about?
• Look at the examiner’s comments.

d) In the Speaking Test you can use less formal words and expressions than in the Writing
Tests. To learn more about phrasal verbs, which are used a lot in speech, go to
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-to-upper-intermediate/phrasal-
verbs

e) To learn more informal expressions, watch the podcasts on

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/general-english/podcasts

Day 4 In part 3 you will discuss issues loosely connected with the topic you spoke about in
Part 2 of the test. In this part of the test, you need to generalise more rather than talk about
personal. experiences, express opinions and support them, speculate about the future and
make comparisons. This part lasts between 4 and 5 minutes.

a) In Part 2 you spoke about something that was important to you, something you valued. Go
to https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/prepare/free-ielts-practice-tests/speaking/part-3
and practise answering the Part 3 questions that follow on from this topic. As before, record
your answers.

• Did you answer the questions about people in general rather than about yourself?
• Did you use different tenses to talk about status in your parents’ time (past simple/used
to/would), how that has changed (present perfect) and how things are now (present
simple)?
• Did you use comparatives to compare things in the past with now?
• Then listen to the recording of a test taker. How do you answers compare with him/her?
•
Compare your Part 3 answers here with the answers you gave on Day 1

b) To get a better Band Score for Grammatical Range and Accuracy, try to vary the tenses and
verb forms you use. There are different ways to talk about the past. As well as using past
tenses, you can use ‘would’ and ‘used to do’. Go to
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-to-upper-intermediate/past-habits-
used-to-would-and-the-past-simple and do the exercises.
You will also need to speculate about the future. Go to
https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/intermediate/unit-17/session-2/activity-3

c) Watch a candidate do Part 3 of the test.

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To watch and listen to a Band 6 test taker, go to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBkffRImTwE&list=PLSAx4faA_rjNEb16E7FGDnQT
Sn9dAuDPv&index=4&t=0s
What did he do well or less well?
What general topics was he asked questions about?
Look at the examiner’s comments.

To watch and listen to a Band 7 test taker, go to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STR6tv_VkCY&list=PLSAx4faA_rjNEb16E7FGDnQ
TSn9dAuDPv&index=8&t=50s
What did she do well or less well?
What general topics was she asked questions about?
Look at the examiner’s comments.

To watch and listen to a Band 8 test taker, go to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GebKN7OVorg&list=PLSAx4faA_rjNEb16E7FGDn
QTSn9dAuDPv&index=11&t=0s
What did he do well or less well?
What general topics was he asked questions about?
Look at the examiner’s comments.

Day 5 on the last day, you will put everything together.

a) Watch the following test takers and read the examiner’s evaluation.
Part 1 Aashish Nepal 7.5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAf41I68HD8
Part 2 Tina Vietnam 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0UGhSufSJk&t=44s
Part 3 Gabriel Brazil 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ3WudiiZi4

Aashish
Watch this Speaking test sample, where Aashish from Nepal talks about 'Work, friends, food and
cooking'. Here's why this performance was given a Band 7.5: This test taker speaks fluently and he
engages with the questions without any obvious effort. There is only occasional hesitation,
repetition and self-correction, which is mostly content-related and only rarely to search for
language. His relaxed delivery is supported by his flexible use of markers (I am both; basically; as
well as; every now and then; that would be French). His vocabulary is sufficient for him to engage
with a variety of topics and he demonstrates an ability to use idioms and collocations with some
sense of style and skill. However, he makes a number of inappropriate vocabulary choices (all over
the place; that’s not just my cup of tea; someone to confront and talk to; I haven’t got a chance),
which restrict his rating on this criterion. He has a wide range of grammatical structures at his
disposal and the majority of sentences are error-free. Even when errors do very occasionally occur
(I work part-time as well as a student; it just does not come into me), they do not detract at all from
meaning. He uses a wide range of pronunciation features and is able to use stress and intonation
effectively. There are just a few lapses and very occasionally sounds are poorly formed (bot for
‘both’; vent for ‘went’), but overall, his accent has only minimal effect on intelligibility.

Tina
Watch this Speaking test sample, where Tina from Vietnam talks about 'An interest or hobby you
enjoy'. Here's why this performance was given a Band 5: This candidate is able to maintain the flow
of speech for most of the time but there are hesitations as well as some repetition and self-
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correction. This, together the fact that she describes several interests rather than one interest,
makes her hard to follow at times and leads to some loss of coherence (before when I live in
Vietnam I often go to … church and or some association … er … I can … er … I often ask my
friend to … er … to contribute … er … er … and give a hand to help the poor people … or the old
people because I think the old people are so … er … my … is look like my grandparents so I want
to take good care for them). She can use markers accurately but within a narrow range (first; so;
because; as well; in the future). She rather limited range of vocabulary is just adequate for this part
of the test. She manages to talk at some length about these familiar topics and produces some
good items (widen my knowledge; to overcome or try to get over the problem; contribute; take good
care). She makes some errors in usage (do volunteers). She uses a narrow range of sentence
patterns, but there are a few instances of ‘if’ and ‘when’ clauses. She produces basic structures
with reasonable accuracy but verb tense errors and omissions are frequent (I can shopping; before
when I live in Vietnam I often go ... ; in picnic; I enjoy with it). She has quite a strong accent with a
number of poorly formed sounds and systematic omission of word endings (lee a han for ‘lend a
hand’). Rhythm is often syllable-timed and utterances are sometimes delivered too rapidly, which
causes some difficulty for the listener.
If possible, work with a friend or family member who speaks a little English. Ask them if they
will be your examiner.

Gabriel
What speaking ability does a score of IELTS Band 6 represent? Watch this Speaking test sample,
where Gabriel from Brazil talks about 'Hobbies'. Here's why this performance was given a Band 6:
This test taker is able to keep going and produce answers of sufficient length, but his performance
is characterised by hesitation, repetition and self-correction. This limits his fluency and causes
some loss of coherence but, overall, he is not hard to follow as he uses linking words and markers
quite effectively (first; because; for example). His vocabulary is wide enough to deal with the topics
at some length (way to escape; driving over the limit; day-today activities; you need to pay your
bills), but there is a lack of flexibility. In spite of some inaccurate word choices and expressions, he
is generally able to express his ideas and opinions sufficiently, if not very effectively (they need to
be pleasure; forget what’s bad; we need to have other thing to be relax). He produces a mix of
short and complex sentence forms and a variety of structures, but with limited flexibility. Errors
occur with word order, articles, redundant subject pronouns or subject omission, but these do not
impede communication (they need always have something to do; is something that you don’t do
always; if you spend too much time doing hobby there’s something wrong; if you are doing a lot of
hobby; if you do always everything). The test taker uses a range of pronunciation features but with
mixed control. Rhythm is sometimes affected by his hesitation and some lapses into syllable-timing.
Not all sounds are well articulated and he occasionally omits syllables (activit(ie)s). Although these
negative features reduce clarity at times, he can generally be understood throughout.

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IELTS Speaking Test Practice

Part 1

Examiner: Let’s talk about where you live. Is your hometown a big place or a small place?

You:

Examiner: What sort of things do you do with your friends in your town?

You:

Examiner: How do you usually travel around your town?

You:

Examiner: Is there anything you don’t like about your town? Why? / Why not?

You:

Examiner: Let’s talk about hobbies. Do you have a hobby?

You:

Examiner: How much time do you spend on your hobby?

You:

Examiner: Do you have friends who share the same hobby?

You:

Examiner: Did you have different hobbies when you were younger?

You:

Examiner: Let’s turn to pets. Do you have a pet? Why? / Why not?

You:

Examiner: Did you have a pet when you were younger?

You:

Examiner: What is the best animal to have as a pet? Why?

Part 2

Examiner: Now I will give you a topic to talk about for one to two minutes. Before you talk, you
will have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes if
you wish. Do you understand? I’d like you to talk about a place that is special.

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 Describe a place that is special.

You should say

• where the place is
• who you go there with
• what you do there

And explain why it is special.

Examiner gives the test taker one minute

Examiner: Can you start speaking now, please? I’ll tell you when the time is up.

You:

Examiner gives the test taker two minutes to speak.

Examiner: Thank you. How often do you go to this place?

Part 3

Examiner: We’ve been speaking about a place that is special for you. Let’s talk about places
more generally.
Examiner: Do you think most people have a place that is very special to them?

Examiner: Children often have a favourite place where they can hide or play. Why do you think
that is?

Examiner: Why do you think people get homesick when they are away from their home?

Examiner: Places obviously change over time. Do you think that the changes we see today are
positive or negative?
Examiner: Can you give me examples?

Examiner: How do you think that places such as cities and towns will change in the future?

Examiner: Thinking about more distant places. A lot of money is spent on exploring space and
the possibility of people in the future living on different planets. Do you think this is a good use
of money?

Examiner: Do you think people will be living in space in the future?

Examiner: What would be the benefits for the human race if we could live on other planets.

Examiner: Thank you, that is the end of the Speaking test.

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b) Self-evaluation. Listen to your recording and answer the questions yes or no.

Questions Answer
Part 1 1 Did I have to think about some words that I needed?
2 Did I answer with two or more sentences?
3 Did I give reasons for things?
4 Did I give examples?

Part 2 5 Did I speak for 2 minutes?

6 Did I hesitate trying to think of words I needed?
7 Did I correct grammar mistakes as I was talking? (How often)
8 Did I repeat myself?
9 Did I connect my talk and ideas with linking words?

Part 3 10 Did I answer the questions about people in general rather than
about myself?
11 Did I different tenses to answer the different questions?
12 Did I use comparatives to compare things?

Analysis
1 If you answered no, well done! If you answered yes, listen carefully again and work out and
write down the words you needed.
2 If you answered yes, well done. If you answered no, listen again and think about the extra
information you could have added.
3 If you answered yes, well done. If you answered no, think of some reasons ‘why’ or ‘why not’
you could have added.
4 If you answered yes, well done. If you answered no, think of some examples ‘why’ or ‘why
not’ you could have added.

5 If you answered yes, well done. If you answered no, think about what else you could have
added. Could you have talked more about the people involved, or what something or
somewhere looked like. Remember, you should try to tell a story and paint a picture.
6 If you answered no, well done! If you answered yes, listen carefully again and work out and
write down the words you needed
7 Correcting ourselves while we are speaking is perfectly natural but try not to do it too often
as this reduces your fluency.
8 If you answered no, well done! If you answered yes, work out why that was. Did you run out
of ideas? Did you lose your place in your talk?
9 If you answered yes, well done. If you answered no, listen again and work out where you
could have added linking words and phrases

10 If you answered yes, well done. If you answered no, try again and speak about people in
general In my country, people ….. In the past, city dwellers would . . .
11 If you answered yes, well done. If you answered no, listen again and think about where you
should have used past tenses or future forms.
12 If you answered yes, well done. If you answered no, listen again and think about where you
could have made comparisons.
.

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c) Study programme review.
Tick the work that you have done and then give yourself a treat!

I looked at the format of the test and now understand it.

I recorded myself answering (at least) one Part 1

I understand the marking criteria and how my speaking will be

assessed.

I made vocabulary records of the words and phrases that will

be useful in Part 1.

I improved my vocabulary by working on synonyms.

I watched a test taker doing Part 1 of the test.

I recorded myself answering (at least) one Part 2.

I watched a test taker doing Part 2 of the test.

I learnt more about using phrasal verbs and informal

language in my speaking.

I recorded myself answering (at least) one Part 3.

I worked on varying the tenses I use.

I watched a test taker doing Part 3 of the test.

I watched a complete Speaking Test and used the examiner’s

notes to assess it.

I practised doing a complete Speaking Test and completed

the evaluation and analysis.
I am now going to give myself a treat.

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