How to Start Speaking in IELTS: Part 1

Hello.

In this video, I will show you

how to start speaking in the first part

of the IELTS Speaking test, including introducing yourself,

talking about your work, your study, home and hometown,

and making it so easy you will never be stuck

for words again.

Let's do it.

(upbeat music)

Hello, it's Keith from Keith Speaking Academy

and also this channel, well, English Speaking Success.

Now, many students get nervous, right?

At the start of the IELTS Speaking test,

and sometimes they just block,

they can't speak.

Or as we say in English, "Did the cat get your tongue?"

Which is what we'd say to somebody who can't speak,

can't find the words.

So to help you, let me explain exactly

what happens at the start of the IELTS Speaking test,

and I'm gonna give you some simple phrases,

you can use to make sure everything goes smoothly.

Also, later in this video,

I'm gonna share a brand new resource, which has come out,

it's for all students preparing all parts of IELTS,

and it's called "IELTS Prepare by IDP."

It's an IELTS vodcast,

which means it's a podcast you can listen to,

but there's video you can watch,

and it's created by the trusted IELTS partners, IDP.

And it's basically a comprehensive guide

on how to effectively prepare for your IELTS test.

I think, it's awesome.

I'm gonna tell you more about it later.

But for now, let's begin with part one

of that speaking test.

So let's have a look at what happens

at the beginning of the IELTS Speaking test, right?

At the start, you enter the test center.

You have to leave your phone outside.

You are asked to sit and wait outside the test room.

So you sit and you wait.

And maybe you are hot and nervous.

Suddenly, the examiner opens the door

and you desperately look around

for some clues on what to do, right?

I mean, should I say something?

Should I wait?

Should I stand?

Should I shake hands?

Should I smile?

You don't know.

And maybe you blush, (laughs)

you go red, right?

And then the examiner says, "Come in."

You go in, you sit down, the examiner starts talking,

and you are not really listening.

You are kind of looking around.

And then the examiner stops

and you realize, it's your term to speak,

but the cat has got your tongue. (laughs)

Okay, no, no, no, no.

Let's rewind this, okay?

Let's look at this in a more positive way.

Let's make it better.

So you sit outside the exam room, the interview room, right?

You breathe and you say to yourself,

"I'm going to enjoy this.

I'm going to enjoy this."

And you wait.

The examiner will open the door and will call you

and you stand and smile

and you can just say, "Hi

or hello

or even nice to meet you."

Short and simple, right?

And then the examiner will invite you into the room,

tell you where to sit,

and you sit down.

And maybe say, "Thank you."

Always nice to be polite, right?

And then just stay focused.

Take a deep breath

and stay focused on the examiner.

They will have a clock probably, and a recording device.

They're gonna record the interview,

and then they're gonna ask you for your ID.

So make sure you have your ID,

whether it's a identity card or a passport.

Have that ready, okay?

And then they will ask for your full name.

You give it.

And they might say, "And what can I call you?"

And just say, "You can call me.

You can call me, Keith."

Don't say, Keith, I'm Keith.

Use your name, right?

And then that's it.

And then the examiner is going to choose a topic.

Probably either work, study, your home

or your hometown.

And just ask one or two questions.

And this is just the warmup, okay?

Let's have a look at what some of those questions might be.

So you might be asked,

"Do you work or study?"

And here, you can just be direct and say,

"Which it is, work or study, what you do,

maybe where and possibly how long," okay?

So you might say, "Well, I'm a blank.

I work as a blank.

I'm a teacher."

Just notice that I am is,

I'm a, I'm a teacher.

I work as a,

can you say that?

I work as a,

I work as a nurse.

Great.

Then the place you could say,

"I work in a blank,

not far from where I live.

I work in a school, not far from where I live.

I work in a hospital, not far from where I live."

You could also say,

"I work in one of the main blanks in my hometown.

I work in one of the main schools in my hometown.

I work in one of the main hospitals in my hometown."

Notice the S schools, hospitals,

'cause it's one of their main hospitals.

Finally, you could mention how long.

"I've been doing this for blank.

I've been doing this for two years.

I've been doing this."

Can you say?

"I've been doing this for two years."

Altogether, I've been doing this for two years.

Or for a number of years, or for two years or so.

Two years or so means more or less two years.

Great.

So putting that all together.

You might say, "I'm a nurse.

I work in one of the main hospitals in my hometown.

I've been doing this job for five years or so."

Great.

Now, a tip is to keep your answers short, right?

Maybe one to three sentences.

But here's the really important thing.

When you are practicing, give a different answer each time.

Don't memorize the same answer.

Try different combinations of these phrases

and each time give a different answer.

Why?

Because that builds your flexibility.

And with flexibility comes confidence.

Trust me.

Okay, now that's if you work.

What if you study?

So now if you study, of course,

you'll get the same question.

Do you work or study?

Again, you can say, which, what you study, obviously,

maybe where and how long you will study.

Or you have studied.

For example, you could say,

"I'm a student at blank and I study blank.

I'm a student at university and I study French.

Or I study blank at blank.

I study Spanish at London University."

Maybe give the name there, right?

You may also say if it's university,

"I'm in my first year.

I'm in my second year.

I'm in my final year."

Okay.

And talking about how long into the future,

you may say, "I will graduate in summer this year.

I will graduate in two years time.

I will graduate next year."

You can say I will or I'll,

"I'll graduate next year."

Notice the phrasing, right?

You can say, "I'll graduate next year."

Kind of a short pause in the middle,

just to help your fluency.

I'll graduate in summer next year.

Sometimes, we also say, "I hope to graduate next year."

'Cause it's a a hope rather than something certain.

"I hope to graduate in two years time."

So putting it all together,

you might say something like,

"I'm a student actually.

I study French at Oxford University.

I'm in my first year there,

so yes, it's quite exciting."

Okay?

Notice each time as I practice,

I'm giving a slightly different answer,

building my flexibility.

Now, this video is helping you to prepare

for IELTS Speaking,

but if you want help with other sections of the IELTS test,

such as reading, writing,

and listening, then you should download the mobile app

called IELTS by IDP

with the handle, IELTS by IDP.

It's by IDP Education,

who are one of the three trusted partners of IELTS.

There's lots of information

and resources in the app to help you get ready

for all of IELTS.

One of the most exciting is the brand new vodcast they have.

It's called "IELTS Prepare by IDP."

And it's available now!

There are 10 episodes covering

all four sections of the test,

test evaluation, what to do on test A

and much, much more.

I've just watched episode eight,

which is on IELTS Speaking,

and it is awesome.

It's clear guidance, practical steps

by the IELTS experts of IDP.

And you know, it's kind of, it's just delivered in a warm,

approachable, and friendly way.

And it's practical.

I mean, for example, they answer questions like,

"What happens if the examiner interrupts me?

What should I do if I'm given a topic

I know nothing about?"

- Well, Rocco, they cannot change the topic,

but what they can do is they can touch on the topic,

but relate something else to it.

So for example, you may say,

"Well, you've asked me about a book I've read

that I would like to read again,

but if I talk about this,

I won't be able to continue my test

because the reasons for this are very distressing."

So what I will tell you

is that I'll tell you about a movie I've seen

that I would like to see again, that's been based on a book

and this movie's name is "Harry Potter,"

so there's always a way around something.

(upbeat music)

- And what I really love about this app

is that they also give lots of advice

on how to improve your overall English, right,

not well as well as exam tips.

And that if you know me, is very close to my heart, right?

So the vodcast "IELTS Prepared by IDP,"

you can watch and listen.

You can follow at your own pace

on the way to work or school.

Go and download it now.

Look for the app IELTS by IDP

and find all episodes of this IELTS video podcast.

Great.

Right now, let's get back to our questions for part one.

Now, if you are asked about where you live,

the question could be, "Do you live in a house or a flat?"

So here again, short answers to the point.

You probably say, well, which say probably where it is.

You could mention the size and maybe who you live with.

So you might say, "I live in a house in the center of town.

I live in a flat on the outskirts of town.

I live in a house in the countryside."

Now, if you are a high-level speaker

and seven or eight, you might say quickly,

"I live in a house in the center of town."

But a high-level speaker may also say,

"I live in a house

in the center of town."

And can you see how the phrasing

and pausing can help your fluency?

So you break the sentence down.

I live in a house, pause,

in the center of town.

So that can really help your fluency.

I live in a flat

on the outskirts of town.

I live in a house

in the countryside.

Okay, so remember that to help you.

You could talk about the size or the feeling.

You could say, "It's quite a blank place.

It's quite a big place."

Cozy, meaning small but comfortable.

Spacious, meaning lots of space.

Comfortable.

Nice word.

You can say comfortable or comfortable.

Comfortable. Comfortable.

It's quite a comfortable place.

Or you may say something negative, you could say,

"Well, to be honest, it's rather small."

Again, notice the phrasing.

To be honest, it's rather small.

It's rather cramped.

Cramped meaning, not enough space.

It's rather dingy.

Dingy meaning small, dark, yeah,

not enough light, not very nice.

To be honest, it's rather dingy.

And you may go on to talk about the people you live with.

So you could say, "Well, I live there with my blank.

I live there with my husband, wife, spouse,

parents."

Or you might just say, "I live there on my own."

Putting that all together.

I might say, for example,

"I live in a house in the countryside actually.

It's quite a big place,

and I live there with my wife and daughter.

Nice. Let's carry on.

Now, if you're asked about your hometown,

you could be asked, "Do you like your hometown?"

And you could say, yes or no and probably why, okay?

Some simple phrases, keep it simple.

"Yes, I love it.

Yes, very much so.

For sure, it's great."

Possible reasons.

"It's full of blank.

It's full of history.

It's full of amazing architecture."

Amazing architecture.

What a fantastic word.

Architecture.

Notice the stress,

amazing architecture.

Lovely.

It's full of amazing architecture.

Architecture, of course, is the style

or the way that a building is designed.

It's full of amazing artica... (laughs)

Yeah.

It's full of ketchup.

"It's full of amazing architecture.

It's full of wonderful shops." Okay.

Other phrases, you could also say,

"Well, I would say it's a blank city."

And use different adjectives, right?

Let's practice together.

If I give you an adjective

and you say, "I would say it's a blank city."

Exciting.

Yeah.

"I would say it's an exciting city."

Vibrant.

Yeah.

"I would say it's a vibrant city.

Really interesting.

Yeah.

"I would say it's a really interesting city."

Great.

You may also say, "It's a great place to blank.

It's a great place to shop."

The to becomes to,

'cause we're stressing the noun.

It's a great place to shop.

It's a great place to eat out, to eat out.

It's a great place to visit.

So putting it all together for the question, I might say,

"Do you like your hometown?"

Oh, by the way, notice my phrasing and pausing.

"Do you like your hometown?"

"Yeah, very much so.

I like the architecture.

It's full of interesting sites for tourists.

So it's a great place to visit,

especially in the spring as it's not too hot."

Great.

And remember, it's really important

not to memorize your answers.

Practice using different chunks, changing them around,

spicing it up, spice up your answer, right?

'Cause remember, with flexibility comes confidence.

Let's move on.

So these are some of the introduction

or introductory questions you might be asked

at the start of the IELTS Speaking test in part one,

which is all about you.

You'll be just asked one or two questions about these work,

study, home, hometown.

And then, of course,

the examiner goes on to ask you questions on a first topic

and a second topic in part one.

If you want more details and more tips and ideas,

go and check out this video.

"Introducing yourself fluently,"

full of great ideas and tips, okay.

Just let me give you a few extra general tips

to help you on your way.

Number one, develop your answers a little in part one,

just a little, but keep it short.

Smile.

Thirdly, speak clearly.

It's really important.

And so I recommend when you are practicing at home,

practice speaking loudly,

it will really help when you actually come to do the test.

Number four, speak at a natural pace.

And again,

when you are at home and practicing,

the thing to do is sometimes practice speaking slowly.

And I mean really slowly,

because when you speak slowly,

it's gonna help you control the accuracy, the pronunciation,

the phrasing, and pausing.

It really is a test of your control.

And then later, you can speak more quickly.

So when you're practicing, sometimes speak slowly.

So remember,

if you want to practice these phrases from today,

go and have a look at the the PDF.

There's a link down below.

You can click on that, get the PDF for free.

And then you can review

and practice maybe with the video, again,

so you can get the pronunciation.

But more important,

remember that app and the vodcast I told you about?

Go and check out that free resource.

It's the vodcast "IELTS Prepare by IDP."

You can get it through the IDP app,

that's IELTS by IDP.

Go and download the app.

There's a link below and you can watch all of the episodes.

You can also watch it and listen to it on YouTube

or on Spotify.

They're released one by one.

But if you want them all together, I recommend the app.

IELTS by IDP.

You can get everything there.

I think you're going to love it.

No, I know you're going to love it.

And it's by the IELTS partners, IDP Education.

And it's free.

What have you got to lose?

There's a link down below.

Go and check it out.

You're really gonna like it.

Great.

If any of you are taking your test in the coming weeks,

I wish you lots of luck.

And for everybody,

I look forward to seeing you in the next video.

Remember to subscribe as well to the channel

and I'll see you very, very soon.

Thank you for spending this time with me.

Take care, my friend.

Bye-bye.

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