IELTS Speaking Part 2: How to do it well

hi welcome to write the top I'm Adam and in today's video I'm going to look at the IELTS speaking test and in particular part 2 of the IELTS speaking test we're going to look at basically what's going to happen during this part of the test how you should approach this test what you should do with the card you're given how you should prepare in the time you're given to prepare how you should speak what you should speak about etc and we're also going to look at some ways that you can prepare for this test before test day so when you go to the actual test of your official test you should be ready you should be confident you should be able to do this test very well now why am i focusing on this particular part for many people this is the most difficult part of the speaking test this is the part where you're by yourself speaking for one to two minutes the interviewer doesn't ask you any questions he or she may not give you any sort of hints he or she may look at you a little bit in a way that's uncomfortable for you maybe they'll smile maybe they won't you have to be ready for everything so let's begin with what will happen so part two we call this the monologue monologue means speaking alone as opposed to dialogue which is a conversation it goes two ways so part 1 you're going to have the interviewer asking you questions you're going to be answering them in part two you'll be given a card okay and on this card you're going to be given a topic and some questions about this topic and you have to speak by yourself for one to two minutes okay now you will be given one minute to prepare and you will have your paper you'll have a pen you can write down note we're going to talk about whether you should or not take note and then you're going to have to start speaking when the grader when the interviewer tells you to start speaking you'll have to speak for a minimum of one minute a maximum of two minutes but what I want you to do I want you to aim for one and a half to a minute 45 if you speak too little they will ask you to say more if you speak too much they'll cut you off you don't get to have a good solid conclusion like you should okay so you're gonna be given a card a minute to prepare one to two minutes to speak how should you approach this let's look okay first of all let's look at the card that you're going to be given it'll be something like this it'll be a small card with exactly this structure of topic and questions you'll have to read it in that one minute that you're given to prepare you have to read the card think about your answers take notes if you want to and then be able to answer all of these particular questions and give all this information required so describe a tourist attraction that you have visited in the past you should say where this attraction is located who you went there with what you did or saw there and whether you would recommend it to somebody else or not and why okay those are the things you're going to have to answer so what should you do first okay so here is the general approach that you're going to take to part two of the speaking test you're going to look at the question very carefully okay describe a tourist attraction that you have visited in the past so first thing you need to notice it's a place you've already been to not a place you want to go to not a wish and experience past or future obviously past what does that mean most of your speech is going to use the past tense verbs very important to pay attention to that is it experience or wish are you going to be talking about something you've already done or something that you wish to do that you want to do again your grammar is going to depend on whether it's done or wish is it in your country or abroad so in this particular question they don't say at home or abroad so choose whatever you want if you had something local great if it's something in another country from you that's fine to ideally go with what you know best but we're going to talk about how to prepare a little bit later on figure out the details who what when where how generally they're going to ask you detailed questions they may ask you any one of these know everything know everything that you can about this particular topic who is it a person who is this person in what time was he or she alive etc in this case it's a this attraction so the who the only thing that who applies to is who you went with who you would like to go with or who you think should go your friends family or everybody etc what means what is it what is there to do what is there to see what what maids meant what makes this place famous anything with what when when did you go when will you go again that's the only time when was this place built or constructed when was it discovered if it's a natural thing where where is it okay very simple how how can I get there how can I enjoy it how can I get the best view of whatever the place is okay understand the last component and be ready to develop that answer now this is the most important thing so the last part of the question say whether you would recommend it to others and why this is where you're going to spend the most time of your speech okay the details very quick the last part the why or the whether you would recommend etc spend the most time on that part of the speech now should you take notes or should you not take notes during the one-minute preparation try both okay some people need to have their notes they need to be able to look at something while they're speaking or they lose their focus okay other people as they're taking notes they get confused or they write full sentences and that one minute goes very fast if you're taking too many notes you'll run out of time before you finish all the notes before you get all your ideas down personally I recommend no notes but if you're going to get panicked during the speech and you're going to forget your ideas and you have nothing to look at that's a problem to experiment both ways do a few practice tests with notes do a few practice tests without notes whichever works better for you is the one you should go with now what I also tell some people write your first sentence the first sentence of your speech that way when the interviewer says okay you can begin now you're ready to go you can start speaking right away and by having your first sentence you will build more and after you have your first sentence you will already be speaking in English and the second sentence will come more easily and then the third fourth and then you have your whole speech again practice both ways choose what is best for you have your opening sentence ready again you can write it you can think it but be ready to speak right away now when the interview says okay you can begin don't take 10-15 seconds to start start as soon as you possibly can to show that you're ready that you're confident that you have the English and the ideas ready to go do not read anything off the card during your presentation so that card with the topic and the questions don't read any of it out loud don't say okay where this attraction is located well it's located here no make it all part of the speech we're going we're going to look at it a little bit more detail but you're treating this talk like a little mini essay okay so it has to have a flow it has to be smooth ideas have to link from one to the next and it all has to go from beginning to end very smoothly don't read anything from the card so how are you going to break down your time my recommendation speak 30 to 45 seconds on the initial details who what when where how etc the why which it has to be more developed which will be part of the second the last part of that of the test whatever the part two that's what you're going to spend more time on so where's this attraction is located who you went there with what you did or saw they're all of these should be answered within 30 to 45 seconds and then that leaves you about 45 seconds to a minute on the last part and this part you have to develop whether say whether you would recommend it to others and why what about it is good or not good why would you recommend it why would you not recommend it make me believe that your recommendation is good one is a good one right make me understand why you recommend it spend more time on that so now let's move on to the delivery now a few things to keep in mind treat this talk as a mini essay I mentioned it before what does that mean have an introduction have a body have a make sure that ideas flow everything is in its place what am I talking about that's your introduction so say like okay I'm going to discuss with you I'm going to talk to you about a tourist attraction that I had visited a long time ago with my parents etc etc one you've given me an introduction sentence two you've already given me one of the details who you went there with you can even include when technically you can answer all the details in two or three sentences in like 20 seconds but then you have to spend more time on the last part so you can give a little bit more detail who you went there with with my parents who always loved to go to natural places or to famous places etc body - like the imagine is a second body paragraph elaborate on the reasons why would you recommend this place why would you not recommend this tourist attraction again you're not reading the cards you're going to try to change as many of the words as you possibly can pay attention to the tense it's a place you had visited in the past make sure your tenses are in the past tense would you recommend yes because you you think that people would enjoy it so make sure you match all your verb tenses etc and try to have a conclusion when you're done make sure that the interviewer can understand can hear that you're basically done so that is why I would recommend this place it's very basic it's very simple don't worry too much about it don't spend too much time thinking about it just make sure that it's clear that you're done and then the interviewer will either tell you to go on because you didn't speak long enough or he'll say or she'll say okay thank you and move on to part three try to create a mental picture for the listener what does that mean well try to feed his or her senses okay what is the place to look like what does it sound like what does it smell like if you can touch thing if you can touch things what do they feel like okay try to get all the senses try to create a picture in the mind of the listener to show that you actually know this place very well delivery now another thing to keep in mind this test is not about content it's about is it a little bit about content but it's more about English right they want to know that you can speak about a topic for an extended period and be clear have a good flow have intonation and tone which we're going to talk about in a second so don't panic if you don't note all the details to speak speak speak that's the most important part a few more things about the delivery avoid thinking sounds and so then I went with my parents and we avoided all that thinking sounds shows that you're thinking about English you're looking for the English words to use or you're thinking about grammar try to avoid it if you have to think just be quiet but ideally just speak just try to make use filler basically I went with my parents who my parents you know my mom and dad in the meantime you're thinking and we went when I was a little kid because they liked taking me places and that so at least you're speaking while you're thinking um or all these things avoid them avoid dead time so that's the other side of the coin try not to be silent for too long okay if you're not saying anything it means you're thinking about English you're thinking about grammar you're thinking about vocabulary means English is not very strong with you and your score is going down speak speak speak speak as much as you can if you stumble means if you fall if you trip if you make a mistake and you know you made a mistake go back to the last clear point you had and start over don't panic the more you panic the more mistakes you're going to make and the whole thing falls apart if you made a mistake that's fine everybody makes mistakes that's okay go back calm down start again and keep going control the pace don't speak too fast don't speak too slow add intonation and stress make sure your sentences go up and down up and down have flow make sure you don't have choppy sentences like this one be it doesn't sound very natural right so make sure you have clear flow make sure you're not monotone and only speaking in one tone that the person doesn't really know when your sentences are finished and when you're going on not monotone ups down stress when you need it pauses when you need them etc avoid choppiness do not worry about grammar if you're going to concentrate so much on grammar you're going to make mistakes you're going to get panicked and you're going to make more mistakes you're not looking for a perfect score you don't need a 9 you don't need an 8.5 most of you I'd say 99% of you don't need an eighth 7.5 will usually be enough for you for most things some of you do need an eighth that's another issue but don't worry about grammar grammar is just one part of your score they want to see you speaking naturally they want to make sure they understand you if you make a grammar mistake but I can still understand what you're trying to tell me not so bad if you make grammar mistakes and I don't know what you're saying that's a whole other issue ok let's look a little bit more at other stuff ok here are a few tips I want you to always keep in mind and tip number one and never forget this one this is the most important thing if you forget everything else about this video but you only remember one thing this is it relax relax relax because it's very important you stay relaxed because when you're relaxed you think more clearly when you're relaxed you speak in an even tone when you're relaxed it's easier to understand you when you're panicking that's when you start making mistakes that's when you start losing the flow that's when you start making it difficult for the listener to understand what you're saying ok now some of you will think that you did very badly in part one and because you think you did very badly in part one you're probably going to do badly in part two because you can't relax you're nervous you're stressed let it go part 1 is finished there's nothing you can do about it there's nothing you can fix let it go don't think about it concentrate on part two right now you're doing part to concentrate on part two relax okay don't worry about the interviewer but try to make eye contact now some of you will have an interviewer who will sit there and smile and nod when you say stuff this will encourage you that's a good thing some of you will have an interviewer who will sit like this and just look at you no expression or maybe they'll like it looked like this and maybe they'll take some note doesn't matter it doesn't matter what the interviewer is doing the interviewer is not the one being tested you are the one being tested okay relax do what you have to do speak be comfortable be natural use your good English that you worked hard to get and don't worry about the interviewer he or she will give you a score based on what you do not what they do okay if you make a languages make mistake excuse me if you notice you made a grammar mistake fix it right away if you made a grammar mistake and then you keep talking and then suddenly you realize oh wait I made a grammar mistake about ten seconds ago don't go back and fix it it's too late it's done just keep going if you try to go back and fix it then you'll start tripping and making more mistakes let it go relax stay on topic now some of you get nervous and you think you're not speaking enough I've had many students who do practice tests and I have to stop them in two minutes or two minutes and ten seconds because first of all they're talking too much now and second of all they're on a completely different topic they're not even on their card anymore they forgot what the hell we're speaking about in the first place stay on topic when you think you've given all the information you have to give stop have your conclusion sentence and stop if the interviewer says please speak a little bit more if they ask you another question speak a little bit more just make something up it doesn't matter but stay on topic don't go don't give details that are not important or relevant the truth is not important okay you can make up anything you want if they ask you about your favorite book you can talk about whatever book you thought of at that moment and just make up a story whether it's true or not whether there may be the interviewer read the Volken he knows that this is not actually the right information who cares it's not about the content it's about the delivery it's about how you speak how you construct sentences how you construct a full monologue from beginning to end English and delivery are the most important thing truth not okay you can lie you can make stuff up it doesn't matter but just to make sure that you're not forced to make stuff up and you get nervous because you want to stay relaxed remember I'll show you how to prepare before test date for that which is be prepared so let's look at that an idea Bank this is very very very important that you do well before test day okay now what I mean by an idea Bank think about different types of topics that might come up in part one two or three of the speaking test but especially part two because you can prepare so for example think of your favorite book when if you come to the test and the card says discuss your book you read that you really enjoyed don't think of what book did I really enjoy you should already have a book in mind ready to go I'm not saying that you should create full answer is full minute and a half answers to any of these topics I want you to think of a book and I want you to know everything about this book the plot the characters the author obviously when it was written why you liked it why it's good why it's bad what genre is it fiction nonfiction literary sci-fi etc I want you to know everything about this book and any question or any card that you're given that's about a book it's going to be that book no other book don't think about books on test day on test day you're relaxed you're comfortable you're ready for anything they ask you about a book you know a book they ask you about a movie you know about the movie so here are some ideas look these over if you want a few more ideas go to my website right to top on the menu bar look for the brain mind and you look for idea bank and you'll see some more some more examples that you can prepare there look at favorites look at situations in work at school look at situations in your personal life be ready to speak about all of these now just a little trick or a little extra tip book movie you can be the same thing for example the Shawshank Redemption people love to talk about this movie because it was a great movie it's also a book it was a book first Stephen King wrote it it's a short book I highly recommend you read the book watch the movie and any question about books or movies you're ready to go with that one don't think about anything else family member choose one anything about a person you can use that that family member if it's an it's a question about a person who's not a family member you'll have another one ready to go okay so describe a tourist attraction that you have visited in the past you should say where it cetera so I'm going to tie myself here a little bit okay so a great tourist attraction that I visited in the past was Niagara Falls now I'm from Toronto Canada and that's why I like this place very much it's very beautiful it's just about an hour south of Toronto it's in Niagara Ontario it's right on the border with the United States and I I've been there many times and usually I go when family from out of town comes to visit and they've never seen it I like to take them there because everybody wants to see Niagara Falls and every time we go of course we go down to the Falls we walk along the promenade there and we look at the Falls and we take pictures sometimes you can also I mean I haven't done it but some of my family members have gone down in the boat on the river so they get really close to the Falls and they get all wet and they take good pictures but there's also other things to do around Niagara Falls not only the Falls themselves and actually that is why I would recommend to anyone who comes to near Toronto or to the area to go see Niagara Falls because first of all it's a beautiful natural landscape it's something that only nature can do and it's something that really needs to be seen if you have a chance but the whole area is actually very nice there is lots of things to do there's a casino if you like casinos there's a casino in the town of Niagara Falls and not far there's another little town called Niagara on the Lake and it's a nice old town with an old-style downtown area and our wineries all over the place that you can go visit and you can try some famous iced wine that's famous to this region of the of Canada and that I would recommend it because it's really a beautiful place to go and everybody should have a chance to see it at least once in their life okay I didn't really time that but I hope that's about the right time so there you go there's speaking part - I hope you're going to be ready remember relax that's the most important thing you can do and be confident you've practiced you've gotten ready you've studied English a long time you can do this don't worry about the interviewer just worry about yourself now if you have any questions about this please ask me down below in youtube or you can visit my facebook page my Twitter my Instagram you can come to my website right to top comm you can get more information there about all kinds of IELTS TOEFL writing stuff as well by the way the idea bank very useful for writing the essay you can prepare for that as well and come again see me real soon oh don't forget to subscribe to my youtube channel if you like this and I'll see you again bye

Channel: Write to the Top

Views: 102,588

Keywords: ielts, ielts general test, English, language test, English test, IELTS academic essay, scoring, assessment, grammar, vocabulary, structure, writetotop.com, question types, tenses, skills, quick tips, IELTS speaking, speaking test, part 2, how to speak, English speaking, test preparation, test tips, study tips, pass the IELTS

Id: bsDFzcYL-qs

Length: 23min 35sec (1415 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 25 2016