IELTS Speaking Tips for Part Two
1. Practice talking about one topic at length. Choose a general topic like exercise and see how long you can talk for. Then choose another topic and try to beat your last time. Keep trying until you can choose a topic at random and talk for at least 3 minutes on that topic.
2. Practice making notes using practice test prompts. Only give yourself one minute to make notes. See if you can speak for two minutes using the notes.
3. Don’t worry about time. The examiner will stop you once you have talked for two minutes. If you have talked for less than one minute the examiner will ask you to continue. You won’t be penalized for time as long as you have spoken for more than one minute.
4. Keep your notes short, usually to just one or two words. For example if your card is:
Example:
Describe about your favorite restaurant from your childhood.
You should say:
what it looked like
what kind of food they served
how often you went
and explain why it was special to you.
Your notes might look like:
The Golden Sun, downtown, old looking,
Great noodles, traditional noodles, spicy,
every Saturday, my whole family, closed now
dad/me still talk about it, story: dad/me noodle race
Instead of making a list of notes, some test takers find it helpful to make mind maps.
5. Use the topic and talking points to help you structure your talk. Pace yourself and give yourself enough time to talk about each point. Don’t stay too long on one point.
Try to prepare a lot of notes for the last talking point. That way you can have enough to talk about, while still covering all the points on the card.
6. Your answer should be organized in a coherent way. Don’t bounce from topic to topic and back again.
7. Try to speak at a normal pace. A lot of test takers speak very quickly during part 2. This can sound unnatural and might make you finish too soon.
8. Practice turning short notes and words into long answers.
Look at a sample speaking test and give yourself 1 minute to make notes for each point on the card.
Then practice turning those notes into a 30-second talk. Then start over and expand the same notes into a 1-minute answer.
Then do it again and make a 2-minute answer.
Finally, do it one last time and make a 4-minute answer.
Then find another practice test question and do it again. Keep practicing until you can talk for 3 minutes almost every time using your notes.
9. The examiner will ask you one or two questions after you talk. Remember your answers to these questions should be of normal length. You don’t need to talk for another minute.
10. If you don’t understand a crucial word on your card, ask. You might say: “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what ____ means.” The examiner may, or may not, be able to give you a quick definition. It doesn’t hurt to ask.