GET 7-9 in IELTS Speaking #2

General Do's and Don'ts

Do …

✅ listen to the questions carefully
✅ give relevant answers
Example 1:
if the examiner asks where you are from,
you have to talk about your hometown, not necessarily where you are living now. This is connectedwith listening to the question.

✅ask for clarification if needed
The examiner is allowed to repeat the instructions twice, so ask for clarification if you need it. You will not be penalized for that.

✅ express your opinions and give examples to support your ideas
During the Speaking test, you will be asked for your opinions on different topics.
Giving your personal opinions and supporting them with examples from your experience will make your answers more interesting.

✅ use conversation fillers to give yourself time to think
If you don't know what to say or if you need time to think, you can say something like
"hmm...that's an interesting question" or
"let me think about that". This way, you don't lose points for fluency.

✅ relax and enjoy yourself
it's an exam and it's probably a life-changing exam for you, but it is easier to speak more fluently when you are relaxed. And your pronunciation and intonation will also improve.

✅ try to use interesting adjectives
For example, instead of repeating the word 'difficult' all the time, you could try using other words like 'tricky' or 'challenging'.

✅ paraphrase if you don’t know a word
If you forget a word, it's not a big problem. So don't panic.
You can use other words to explain what you want to say. In fact, if you do this well, you will get credit for it.

✅ speak clearly
And good pronunciation also means that the examiner can understand you easily.So open your mouth and raise you voice if you tend to speak too quietly.
You should at the same time avoid giving technical details about your work. The examiner doesn't share your technical knowledge.
So if you work in a technical field, for example engineering or IT, be prepared to talk about your work in a way that is clear for everybody and avoid giving technical details.

Don'ts

✖ give very short answers
In Part 1 of the test, the examiner may ask you some simple questions like "Where are you from?". But you should answer with more than one or two words.
Here's a good example:"I'm from a city called Krakow, which is in the south-west of Poland. I've lived there all my life."

✖ repeat yourself all the time and overuse simple words
To get a high band, you need to show that you can use different words to say the same thing. So try not to repeat the same words all the time.

✖ memorize long answers
The examiner is trained to notice pre-prepared answers and will not give you a positive score. What's more, your intonation will probably sound unnatural and so you will get a lower score for pronunciation. Just don't do this.

✖ get stressed if you don’t understand the question
you are allowed to ask the examiner to repeat the question. So don't panic.

✖ make long, frequent pauses
it's better to use conversation fillers than to say nothing. If you sit in silence, you will lose points for fluency and coherence.

✖ speak too quietly

✖ spell your name for the examiner
When the examiner asks for your name at the beginning of the test, just give your full name without spelling it. If there's an English version of your name that you like to use, you can add something like "But you can call me Michael."

✖ use your native language

✖ use words or idioms that you are not sure about
If you have just learnt a new word, phrase, structure or idiom and you are not confident about using it, then don't use it. It's too risky -- you can easily use it the wrong way. You should be especially careful with idioms and phrasal vocabulary.

✖ write on the task card in Part 2 of the test
The examiner will give you a piece of paper for making notes.

✖ ask the examiner if what you say is correct
The examiner is not allowed to respond to you unless need clarification about a question.