How to practice makes perfect for IELTS Speaking part 2

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  • 22/05/2018

Speaking Part 2, of course, poses the IELTS student a completely different challenge the other parts of the test. While it is initially demanding to speak in a smooth and coherent manner for an extended period, this does become much easier with practice. As with any skill, there are both good and bad ways to go about honing one’s skills and below you’ll find a series of my top tips in relation to the former.

Help yourself

While it is, unfortunately, difficult to practice Speaking Part 1 and 3 on your own at home, Part 2 is an altogether different animal. All you need, to do so effectively, is an internet enabled smartphone and a notebook. The Internet is awash with sample task cards, on sites such as IELTS Liz and IELTS Mentor. Search for an appropriate one online and use the timer on your phone to ensure you make notes in accordance with the 1-minute time limit. Then, record your response on your phone’s voice recorder, which will, also, handily provide guidance as to how long have spoken for. Once you have completed the task, listen carefully to your answer and note any mistakes you have made, either in grammar, by unnecessarily repeating yourself or by failing to use fluency markers or less common vocabulary when you had an opportunity. Once you have done this, you should attempt the same task again, in order to see if you are able to make any improvements. By allotting just 10 minutes for this in your daily schedule, you should be able to practice many new questions each week and may quick progress in this area.

Useful Language

Both the Internet and our KTDC course books are good sources of functional language to assist with Speaking Part 2. Useful phrases include introductory statements, phrases of transition as you move from point to point on the task card, utterances to help you buy time and concluding statements. Try to set yourself specific targets to integrate these as you practice. Select, for example, three phrases of transition, practice them before you start and have them noted down in front of your to refer to as you practice. Using them in a controlled manner will help you to assimilate them and use them more naturally in the future. Being confident with a healthy variety of such phrases will strongly enhance your chances of performing strongly when it comes to fluency and coherence. In addition, since many of these are fixed phrases, you can work carefully to ensure your pronunciation is on point and that you apply any tone, stress or linking required with precision.

Aim high

While two minutes is the maximum time for which you may be required to speak, you should nevertheless aim for this when you are practicing. If you can speak coherently for this time in controlled conditions, it will make the prospect of doing so in the real test seem less threatening. Of course, the biggest challenge you’ll have is doing so without repeating yourself and ergo losing coherence. One key way of preventing this is by making effective notes. If, for example, they are well-balanced and you have ideas for each of the four points on the task card, you’ll be less likely to say the same thing twice. Ensure that you also include memorable or personalized references in your notes and these should help you to generate ideas as you speak. Finally, if you have absolutely no new ideas left when you are speaking, use a concluding statement to indicate you are about to sum up and do so using different vocabulary. Rather than damage your score, this could actually serve to enhance it.

Slowly, but surely

When practicing in class, under absolutely no circumstances should you interrupt or support your classmates or expect this of them. Instead, listen closely and carefully to one another and make notes in order that you are able to give one another effective feedback as to how to improve in the future. One common mistake students make is that they try to speak too quickly. In actuality, when native speakers are telling extended anecdotes they often talk rather slowly. Doing so will allow you more time to think as you speak and focus on delivering what you wish to say more accurately. Retaining eye contact, stressing your adjectives and even the odd pause for effect will help you convey your ideas in a convincing manner. Embrace your story and the emotions it evokes, rather than rattling through it as quickly as you can.

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