IELTS_Speaking_and_Vocabulary

1 Does the candidate use the prompts to help him?

2Does he keep to the topic?

3Is his answer long enough?

4What did he do well?

5 How could he have improved his answer?

3Work with a partner. Talk for at least one minute about the topic below. Check that your partner:

•Speaks for 1 minute.

•Keeps to the topic.

•Uses the correct verb tenses.

Describe the place where you grew up.

You should say:

•Where it was

•How long you lived there

•What you liked about it

You should also say if you think this is a good place for children to grow up in.

You need to speak for 1 to 2 minutes.

4 After you have spoken about the subject outlined on the topic card, you may be asked 1 or 2 follow-up questions.

Look back at the topic cards in questions 1 and 2. Read the examples below and match the follow-up questions to each topic. Write A (Topic Card I) or В (Topic Card 2) for questions 1-4.

EXAM T IP

The follow-up questions are short answer questions. You do not have to give long answers. Answer the question with a brief reason / explanation, if necessary.

Example: Did you tell anyone else about what you did?

Yes, I told my family and they were obviously proud of me, especially my mother. ’

Pronunciation: Final consonants

Pronunciation mistakes can make you lose marks in the IELTS speaking test. If the examiner cannot understand what you are saying, it is difficult to get a good mark.

Remember:

Open your mouth (even if it feels unnatural). Do not speak through your teeth. Do not mumble. Make sure you have pronounced the ends of words or sentences. Do not swallow sounds. In particular, sounds like /s/, /z/, /d/, /к/, /п/ and /I/.

Describe a conversation you had recently that changed your way of thinking.

You should say:

•Who you spoke to

•What you spoke about

•What you liked about it

You should also say if you think we communicate enough today.

Candidate’s answer:

I remember one conversation in particular that changed my whole way of thinking about teaching children. It was a seminar I attended on the importance of teaching reading at kindergarten level.

I spoke to a professor afterwards who said he thought it was essential children were taught to read| as early as possible. He moved on to say that teachers should not be frightened of using electronic books. At first I thought this sounded insane, but then he said that children were extremely sociable at this age and enjoyed working together. Sometimes trying to force them to read books was futile. An easy solution was to allow them to use computers, and he said every primary school teacher todayJ knows the convenience of using these in the class. I liked his suggestion that a long-term solution required an expansion into the e-book market. He finished by explaining that the government needs to start making changes to education policies. I think a fundamental problem is that we don't talk

^enough to each other today, so changes are difficult to make.

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Part 2 topics

Look at the following possible Part 2 topics. Build vocabulary around these topics. Practise speaking about each one for 1 minute.

PART 2

3 Find appropriate phrases from the Useful Language Box to complete the following Part 3 main ideas. Use your own ideas to make your ideas clearer where necessary. The first one has been done as an example.

0It would seem to me that children don’t enjoy reading as much these days. In my country for instance, most children prefer to watch television or play computer games, lo me, what we need to be focusing on is educating parents and getting them to spend more time reading with their children. One relatively easy way to do this is by reading them bedtime stories.

Pronunciation: Pausing and Chunking

When we write, we use punctuation to make our writing easier to follow. When we speak we need to do the fol­ lowing to make our ideas easier to follow:

1 L7 Listen to a candidate answering the following Part 3 question and answer the questions.

1 Does he pause in the right places?

2Is his answer easy to follow?

3Does he sound like he knows exactly what he is talking about?

4Does he sound natural?

5Would this candidate get a good mark for fluency?

6Would this candidate get a good mark for pronunciation?

EXAM T IP

Most English phrases end with nouns and verbs. Nouns and verbs have the most final-consonant clusters, i.e. pick up those bags / I'd like to suggest. When you pause at the end of a phrase:

•You have more time to pronounce final consonants.

•You give yourself a little time to think.

•Your intonation and rhythm will sound better

2aL8 Read a candidate’s answer to the following Part 3 question and divide the sentences into logical chunks, Listen and check your answer.

Do men and women like to read different types of books?

Yes, I think it's in this way because the nature of women and men are уёгу different so I think they choose different subjects and they have different tastes in reading. Yes for example I think women are very interested in reading novels that are based on love and affection. On the other hand I think men are very interested to read books for example the adventures and for example stories that are based on the travel of the person I mean biography for example and things like that.

3 L9 Listen to the candidate’s answer again and answer the following questions. a

1 Does she pause in the right places?

2Is her answer easy to follow?

3Does she sound like she knows exactly what she is talking about?

4Does she sound natural?

5Would this candidate get a good mark for fluency?

6Would this candidate get a good mark for pronunciation?

7What could the candidate do to improve her answer?

Pronunciation: Intonation

Intonation can show your attitudes and feelings. In English intonation, the voice usually goes up for a question and it falls to show completed statements.

EXAM T IP

English intonation is not monotone. It will be difficult to follow what you are saying if your voice does not rise and fall naturally

1 L10 Listen to a candidate answering the following Part 3 question and answer the questions.

Should boys and girls be given the same toys to play with?

1 Is his answer easy to follow?

2Does he use intonation?

3Does he sound natural?

5Would this candidate get a good mark for fluency?

6Would this candidate get a good mark for pronunciation?

2 L11 Now listen to another candidate answering the same question.

6Read the advertisement for a language course you are going to be taking. Talk about your plans and what you hope to achieve. Use the expressions from Question 5 to help you.

ACADEMIC SPEAKING SKILLS COURSE

Length of course: 3 hours per week for 4 weeks.

Course Aims:

a)lo learn how to effectively communicate in English at university.

b)To learn how to take part in discussions.

c)To get practice in expressing your ideas on a wide range of topics.

d)To build confidence in speaking in front of people.

Part 3 topics

Look at the following possible Part 3 topics. Build vocabulary around these topics. Remember the vocabulary you use for Part 3 speaking is formal. It is similar to the writing style you need for Task 2.