Advanced Vocabulary for IELTS Speaking

- Do you really need lots

of advanced vocabulary for IELTS Speaking?

Many students get really confused about this,

and they use inappropriate vocabulary in the test

and so get a low score.

Let me show you some appropriate advanced vocabulary

and how you should use it.

Let's do it.

(upbeat music)

Hello, this is Keith from English Speaking Success

and the website the KeithSpeakingAcademy,

where you can find lots of free resources

to prepare for IELTS Speaking

as well as my online courses.

So what was the question?

The question was, do you really need lots of advanced words

and phrases for IELTS Speaking?

The answer is yes and no. (chuckles)

I knew you were gonna say that, Keith.

Okay, so of course you do need

some advanced vocabulary, right?

But the biggest mistake students make is this.

The above-mentioned problem is laborious,

and I will be elated when it is in culmination.

And really what the student means

is this is a difficult problem,

and I'll be happy when it has finished.

The mistake is the student is trying to fill their sentences

with too many advanced and complicated words,

and what happens is it makes you sound unnatural

and you will probably make lots of mistakes.

So in that example, the student said,

"Well, the problem is laborious."

Now laborious does mean difficult

but you can't say a laborious problem.

You talk about a laborious job or a laborious task, right?

That's difficult.

And he also mentions culmination, right?

Now, culmination does mean the end,

but it means it's the end of a series of events,

and the culmination is the last event of a series.

So the student is trying

to use these complicated words they don't fully understand,

nor know how to use correctly

and make lots of mistakes and get a low score. (groans)

So we need a balance of simple and complex language.

We need to sound natural, right?

A much better answer would be,

this is a tricky problem

and I will be happy when it's over.

Okay?

So remember, your vocabulary score is 25%

of your IELTS Speaking score, right?

And you need to show a wide range of vocabulary

that includes simple and complex vocabulary,

and you need to use it accurately.

That's the thing, you must be using it correctly

or it can bring down your score.

How do you learn to use these words,

like the words I'm gonna show you today?

How do you use them accurately? It's very simple.

You practice and you practice

until you feel comfortable using them.

And if you don't,

I would suggest don't use them in the test.

So learn, practice, be patient,

and step by step, you will build up your vocabulary

and become a more confident speaker,

which is our goal, ultimately, right?

So with all of that in mind, let's have a look.

Now I'm gonna show you 10 great words and phrases.

Advanced vocabulary, they are,

and I really love these words.

I've chosen them 'cause I enjoy using them.

They are advanced, and I think they will really help you.

And what's more, you can use them

for any topic in IELTS Speaking.

How about that?

So without any further ado, let's get straight into it.

Number one, to exacerbate.

Exacerbate, meaning to make something worse,

Collocations, you can exacerbate a problem,

exacerbate a situation,

or an impact, or the effect of something.

Now in IELTS Speaking, especially part three,

we often talk about problems,

about the size of the problem,

how to solve the problem,

or maybe make it worse, right?

Here's a great example with this word

on a recent topic, all right?

The problem of climate change is exacerbated

by people flying too much and creating carbon emissions.

Number two to mitigate, mitigate,

which means to make less severe

or less unpleasant, okay?

Collocations, we can mitigate a problem,

mitigate the impact or the effect of something,

or mitigate someone's suffering.

Again, talking about problems,

how can we reduce the impacts of different problems?

Mitigate.

Here's another example.

We could mitigate the impact of climate change

by flying less, easy solution.

Number three, unsurmountable, unsurmountable,

which means impossible to solve, right?

Collocations, you can have an unsurmountable problem,

unsurmountable challenge or a barrier.

So again, talking about problems in IELTS Speaking

that may be very difficult

or even impossible to solve,

you could say, although climate change

is a challenging problem,

it's not unsurmountable.

We can solve it.

Notice what I did?

I used a negative to express my idea, right?

It's not unsurmountable.

It's not impossible, meaning it's possible, right?

Okay, moving on.

Number four, an uphill struggle,

meaning something is difficult

and challenging but still possible.

We can use this to talk about a task,

a project maybe, or even a game.

I love this expression 'cause I used to live

at the top of a hill,

and I always used to think it was

so difficult to get back home.

Of course, this is

a more abstract metaphorical meaning, right?

Meaning something is very difficult.

We could use it in the following context:

Writing my new book has been an uphill struggle,

so I will be thrilled when it's finished.

Number five, apprehensive, apprehensive,

which means you're worried or nervous

about a future result or something coming out bad.

In IELTS Speaking Part 2,

we often have to express different feelings, right?

They ask you, and how did you feel about this?

Apprehensive is a nice one.

Here's a possible example.

Initially, I was really apprehensive

about doing my driving test,

but in the end, it turned out really well.

Number six, disgruntled.

What a lovely word, disgruntled.

This is a feeling again,

and it's a feeling of unhappy,

being unhappy and disappointed

and maybe dissatisfied.

So again, we've talked about part two,

telling a story then describing your feelings.

Maybe you bought something in a shop,

you want to talk about the customer service.

You could say,

the customer service in that shop was terrible,

and in the end, I felt rather disgruntled.

Number seven, bewildered,

bewildered, meaning confused.

Collocations are thoroughly bewildered,

to be utterly bewildered, to be bewildered by something.

So here we're with our feelings again,

where we may be confused by something.

An example here might be,

I was utterly bewildered

by my friend's decision to quit his high paid job.

Number eight, to do my upmost,

which means to try my best.

Now in IELTS Speaking,

especially part three,

we sometimes are asked about the government, right?

Do you think the government should?

Is it a good idea for the government to?

So here, this is great

because you could use an expression like this.

For example, the government have produced

a good economic plan,

and I am sure they will do their upmost to implement it.

Nice, notice we can say to do my upmost,

you do your upmost, and they,

the government, do their upmost.

Great, you could say, because the government,

sometimes it's used as a plural noun,

sometimes as a singular noun,

you could say the government will do its upmost

to implement the plan.

Moving on, number nine, inept.

Another lovely sound, inept,

which means to be inept means you're not good at your job

or you show a lack of skill at doing something.

Collocations, we can have very inept,

rather inept, totally inept,

politically inept, or socially inept.

If you're not very good at socializing,

you're socially inept

and to be inept at something.

We may want to describe the government as inept.

It sometimes happens, right?

Or maybe we're talking about another common topic,

work, and your boss.

You might say:

My boss likes to design his own PowerPoints, right,

but between you and me, he's rather inept at it.

Number 10, impeccable.

Another lovely word, impeccable.

Impeccable, meaning, well,

perfect or without fault.

Apparently it comes from the Latin in, meaning not,

peccare, peccare, meaning to sin.

So without sin, being perfect, right?

Collocations, you can talk about an impeccable job,

to do an impeccable job, right,

to do a task very well.

Impeccable behavior, impeccable manners,

when you behave very well, even impeccable English,

when you speak perfect English.

So you could say:

My friend has lived in America,

and she speaks impeccable English.

So there you have 10 of my favorite words and phrases

that will help you build up your confidence

and your vocabulary whilst speaking English.

Remember to go for that balance

between simple and complex vocabulary

when speaking and trying to sound natural, okay?

With these words, do practice

until you feel comfortable using them.

Step by step, build up

and become a more confident speaker.

If you want more help,

go and check out the website the keithspeakingacademy,

and if you want to ace the IELTS Speaking test,

go and check out my online course,

IELTS Speaking Success: Get a Band 7+ Gold.

There are exam strategies, practice exercises,

quizzes, hundreds of idioms and expressions,

fun and engaging videos.

There's the two live lessons a month.

There's the Facebook private group.

It goes on and on.

Find out more in the links below in the description.

And if it's right for you, go ahead.

In the meantime, stay positive, my friend.

Keep practicing and I will see you very, very soon.

All the best, bye bye.

(upbeat music)