It's easy to make simple mistakes in IELTS
speaking, that can cut your score. In this video, I'm not going to tell you what
to do. I'm going to tell you what NOT to do to raise
your score. Before we look at mistake number one, make
sure to hit that subscribe button for the best IELTS Test Prep videos on the internet. Alright, I'll give you three mistakes for
each of the three parts of the IELTS speaking test. And make sure to stick around to the very
end for some critical test day tips. IELTS speaking Part 1. In Part 1 of IELTS speaking, you need to answer
very straightforward questions about what you do, where you live, and what you think
about everyday things. Mistake number one: Being too brief. A very silly mistake in Speaking Part 1 is
answering in a single word, or a short phrase. For example, if the examiner asks you, do
you live in a house or an apartment? Don't answer with 'a house'. Give a full extended response in two to three
sentences. You can say something like this. I used to live in a small apartment in the
inner city, but I've just moved. I now rent a house with a big backyard just
outside the city. It's great. Extend your responses. Don't speak for too long, but give a nice
answer consisting of two or three sentences and try to show off some nice relevant language. At E2, we cover techniques for how to extend
your answers in Part 1. These are covered in our online course, as
well as in our live classes, which are only available to paid members. Mistake number two: Using a memorised answer. The first set of questions in Part 1 are repeated. For example, the very common questions are
Are you a student? Or do you work? Or do you live in a house or an apartment? Or sometimes you might even get a repeated
question like this: Do you like the rain? It's a really good idea to practice answering
these types of questions before test day. But don't memorise answers. When you memorise an answer. You just put unnecessary pressure on yourself
because you're storing information in your mind. Trust yourself. You know how to answer these types of questions. There's no need to have a memorised response. On test day, relax, and speak naturally. As if this were a friendly conversation with
someone at a bus stop. Form the ideas in your mind and let your language
describe those ideas. Mistake number three: Adding in irrelevant
memorised words. There are some teachers out there, we won't
name names, who tell you to use this word to get a 9. This is absolute nonsense. There are no magic words. There are however relevant and irrelevant
words. If you're asked a question such as this, do
you like the rain? Then you might mention related words such
as wet or drenched or drizzle, or phrases such as 'the sound of rain on the roof' or
'caught in the rain' or 'absolutely soaked'. These types of words are the words that you
want to use on test day. Why? Because they're relevant. Adding a word like 'plethora', just because
it sounds fancy may in fact, decrease your score if you use it incorrectly, or if it's
not a natural use of the word. So stick to the relevant words. Let's look at three mistakes to avoid in IELTS
Speaking Part 2, in IELTS Speaking Part 2, you are given a task card and you will have
one minute to prepare and then two minutes to speak. Mistake number four: Thinking you cannot deviate
from the task card. You absolutely are allowed to deviate from
the task card. The task card is just there to guide you. The prompts can be very useful to help you
in your thinking. But by no means do you have to stick to them
strictly. For example, imagine you're asked to speak
about a website. And at some point, you begin to talk about
a phone app or even a computer game. Or perhaps the first time you used the internet,
which is not contained within this task card. This is absolutely fine. It deviates from the task card, but it is
still on the basic topic. Don't talk about your favourite footballer
if they ask you to talk about a website. But as long as it's related, it's fine. There's nothing in the speaking scoring about
staying on topic. Mistake number five: Going round and round
in circles. One of the most common mistakes candidates
make is not having any kind of strategy or approach for Part 2, and then they finish
in about 45 seconds, then they spend the next minute or so repeating themselves going around
and around in circles in a type of IELTS speaking death spiral. This is problematic because you don't exercise
a wide range of language, you're just saying the same thing. Again, and again. I really recommend that you use a strategy
on test day. This is not a memorised template, but a way
to approach each and every task card you see on test day. A strategy that allows you to stay on topic,
but use wide ranging grammar and vocabulary. Mistake number six: Thinking you've made a
mistake when the examiner stops you. In Part 2, if the examiner stops you, it's
not because you've done something wrong. It's because you've reached the two minute
mark. So even if you're halfway through your sentence,
the examiner will ask you to stop by saying: thank you. Don't let this upset you. You will not lose points for speaking for
the full two minutes and being stopped. Now let's move on to IELTS Speaking Part 3.
in IELTS Speaking Part 3, you will have a conversation with the examiner. The topic of the questions the examiner will
ask you will carry on from Part 2. So for example, if you have been speaking
about a website, then in Part 3, you will answer more complex questions about the internet. It's a great opportunity to begin to extend
your language to its capacity. Mistake number seven: Thinking you cannot
ask the examiner to repeat the question. The questions in Part 3 can be quite complex. Typically the examiner will ask you to define,
evaluate effectiveness, compare, categorise, classify, talk about change, give a reason
or talk about an attitude. If you don't understand a particular question,
you are absolutely allowed to ask the examiner to repeat it. This is much better than speaking off topic
and making yourself flustered because in the back of your mind, you know that you're off
topic. In short, if you don't understand something,
you can simply ask, can you please repeat that? Mistake number eight: Placing too much emphasis
on grammar. Part 3 is definitely the place where you're
going to want to extend your ideas using some more complex grammatical structures. But you should never strain to create perfect
grammatical sentences. By focusing too much on grammar on test day,
you will disrupt your pronunciation and coherence scores. So you need to find your balance, the place
where you are exercising a wide range of grammatical structures, but not going over the edge and
umming and ahhing, trying to make it sound perfectly accurate. Yes, grammatical accuracy is great, but not
at the expense of dynamic pronunciation. Mistake number nine: Not giving thoughtful
answers. Part 3 has been designed to take your ideas
and your language further. The questions are quite deep so that your
answers can convey a wide range of interesting ideas and vocabulary. To express thoughtful ideas. You'll need flexible grammar and some less
common vocabulary. There may be situations where you need to
buy some time to think of an answer. So if this happens, you can always say something
like, hmm, I suppose, or I think, or I reckon, or Hmm... So one of the things that comes to mind is... These types of phrases will give you a few
more seconds to think of your response, and try your best to give a thoughtful response. Again, let the ideas lead and let the language
follow. Your language, the words you use should really
just describe the ideas you have in your head. Need some help with your ideas. Be sure to check out our Topic Toolkits. These are available on E2 Test Prep, click
the link in the description below. All right, here are some final test day tips. Number one: There are no right or wrong answers. You're not there to give the right answer. You're there to express yourself as best you
can, and to show off your language skills. Number two: IELTS speaking is not a job interview. IELTS Speaking is quite informal. Think of it like a conversation with a curious
and kind stranger, rather than a kind of job interview. And this actually extends into what you wear. You should wear something smart and comfortable,
not something formal that you would feel uncomfortable wearing. Tip number three: Don't forget your passport
or ID. Make sure you arrive early to your speaking
exam. Make sure you have had something to eat, make
sure you've had a good night's sleep, and make sure to bring your ID. Don't take IELTS Speaking without doing a
mock exam. It's essential that you get a feel for what
it's like to take an IELTS speaking test. And this doesn't mean that you take it with
your partner or a friend. You want to feel a little bit of pressure. And you can do this on E2 Test Prep. And here's the final test day tip. You'll probably be nervous leading up to test
day and on test day. This is fine, accept it, use it to your advantage. Remember to be courageous. Think of your nervousness as the fuel that
will help you give great answers. By preparing properly, you can turn your negative
nervousness into positive excitement and be courageous. My name is Mark. Good luck.
