IELTS Speaking - Better Connectors, Better Fluency

- When you're answering IELTS speaking questions,

do you sometimes ramble, go 'round in circles, get lost?

- [Smartphone] Turn right onto Calle Alonso.

- Hmm?

Or even forget the question?

- So yeah, I think that, I forgot the question, actually.

- If you do, it's bringing your fluency score down.

But don't worry, you're not alone.

It happens to many people.

And in this video, I'm going to show you

some natural and advanced fillers and connectors

that will up your fluency level.

(upbeat rock music)

Hi, my name is Keith.

If you don't know me,

I run the website IELTS Speaking Success,

trying to give you better English, better answers,

and get a higher score on IELTS Speaking.

I also run free live lessons on Facebook, Facebook Live,

every Tuesday and Thursday.

Check out the link below, 10 a.m. Spanish time.

I also have an online course on Udemy,

IELTS Speaking Success; Get a Band 7+.

Check it out if it's right for you.

Today then, we're gonna look at fillers

and improving your fluency.

So fluency makes up 25% of your score in the IELTS Speaking.

It consists of hesitation.

I um, I um, I, I live in a.

Repetition.

I want, I want, I want to, I want, I want to, I want to.

A range of connectives and discourse markers,

and what are they?

Well, connectives and discourse markers

are rather fancy names for fillers and signposts.

To improve your fluency, you need to be coherent.

You need to connect your ideas and your sentences

with good connectors and fillers

and show the examiner what you're going to say.

Now, many people have a limited range.

They repeat the same connectors.

And I think also, I also think that, and I think, I think.

For a Band 7 and above,

you need a wide range of connectors and discourse markers.

First and foremost, I love desserts, but that said,

I only eat them now and again.

So let's have a look at what we do in IELTS speaking.

We need to give opinions, right, add information,

emphasize, clarify, compare and contrast, conclude,

and we'll be using different language to do this.

We may be saying, for example, I think, also,

I really think, I mean, but, however, in conclusion,

and all of these are good, but they're not enough.

You need a wider rage of connectors

to impress the examiner and really push up your fluency.

So let's have a look at each of these different areas

and how we can expand your fillers.

So let's look first of all at opinions, giving opinions.

Take this question: Do you like going to museums?

Well, to be honest, I'm not a big fan of museums.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of museums.

So notice, if the answers are no, we can say,

well, to be honest, or honestly.

Notice the rising, falling intonation, honestly.

If the answer is a positive, wow, without a doubt,

I'm a big fan of museums.

Absolutely, I'm really into museums.

Notice, we can say yes or wow, without a doubt,

without a doubt, or absolutely,

with quite a bit of emotion as well, right?

Absolutely!

Show the emotion on your face, absolutely!

It's nice to give some feeling in our IELTS speaking.

And here's another question.

Do you think history is important?

Now, if your answer is yes,

it's very important, you could say,

yeah, I reckon it's essential!

For sure.

In my eyes, it's really important, because without it.

Yep, I'd say it's pretty important, because without it.

Yeah, I reckon.

I reckon means I think.

It's more colloquial

and really nice to use in IELTS speaking.

You could also say for sure, in my eyes, in my view.

All of these are good.

You can say yes, yeah, yep.

All of these are natural English and really good to use.

I would say or I'd say.

I advise you make the contraction.

I would say, I'd say.

I'd, I'd say.

I'd say.

If you're not sure if it's important or not,

you may be using language like I guess so or I suppose so.

Notice how you can mix 'em up, right?

I guess so.

I suppose history gives us a sense of identity.

I suppose so.

I guess history shapes our present-day culture and identity.

I guess so.

I suppose history.

I suppose so.

I guess history is important.

And notice the number one mistake.

The most common mistake is,

do you think history is important?

I think yes. (Keith laughs)

That's not right, right?

You have to say this.

I think so.

Yes, it is important.

So be careful with that one.

Let's move on.

Let's look now how we can use some nice fillers

and connectors to begin an answer.

Here's one question:

what are the advantages of traveling by plane?

Well, first of all, it's fast and really convenient.

First of all, makes sense, right?

Logical.

Notice we often say well first.

Well, first of all, and you're connecting, first of all.

Well, to kick off,

it's faster than most other means of transport.

Well, to kick off.

To kick off is like the football match, right, to begin.

To kick off is just to begin.

Well, to begin, or to kick off.

For starters, it's faster

than most other means of transport.

Now, that's a really nice colloquial filler, for starters.

Often we use it for the first course of a meal,

but also when you're talking to say to begin with.

For starters, nice.

Let's move on now and look at the same question,

the advantages of flying,

and how we can add information.

What fillers can we use here?

Well, we can use another thing is, on top of that,

as far as I know, to my knowledge.

All of these are great.

Let's see these in action.

Another thing is, apparently,

flying is the safest way to travel.

On top of that,

flying is said to be the safest way to travel.

As far as I know, flying is the safest way to travel.

To my knowledge, flying is the safest way to travel.

And now, for emphasizing.

There are different ways we can emphasize.

A nice one, rather complex but higher level, is this one.

I'd go as far as to say,

which means I would add even more emphatically.

I would go as far as here to say something.

Let's have a look.

I'd go as far as saying

flying is the best way to travel, hands down.

Hands down is a lovely expression.

Hands down just means for sure, undoubtedly.

Make note, start practicing it.

We can also use actually,

as a matter of fact, in fact, and here's the thing.

Notice the intonation is really important.

Actually usually has that falling and rising information,

and that, mm, ee, indicates you're going to carry on.

Actually, I think this.

Actually, flying is the safest way to travel.

Let's have a look at these in action.

Actually, flying is the safest way to travel.

As a matter of fact, flying is the safest way to travel.

In fact, flying is the safest way to travel.

And here's the thing.

Apparently, flying is the safest way to travel.

Now, when we move to giving examples,

there are many ways we can do it.

The common ones, for example, for instance,

take me as an example, take me as an example.

Let's see some of these in action.

For instance, to my knowledge,

Qantas Airlines has never had a fatal accident, ever.

You can see this with Qantas Airlines.

As far as I know, they've never had a fatal accident, ever.

I love that last one.

You can see this with Samsung.

You can see this with Apple.

So whichever your example is, it's a really nice,

smooth, natural way to give an example.

Let's move on!

Now, a part three question is often,

why do some people do this?

Now, this is a difficult question, 'cause it's very open,

and often, we want to clarify

what we mean or what we're going to talk about.

One of the great strategies in part three

with the why do some people question is to break it down,

to look at different kinds of people, right?

We can talk about young people, parents,

old people, workers, unemployed.

Break it down.

So to do that, we use very simple clarifying techniques.

My favorite is this one.

If we're talking about young people,

I reckon they move to the city

in search of better job opportunities.

Did you get that?

If we're talking about,

if we are talking about something or someone,

if we're talking about hm, great.

Here's another example.

If we're talking about parents,

I suppose they want a better school for their children.

Let's look now at contrasting, contrasting,

similar to comparing,

but where we look at A and then contrast it with B.

So often, we use the word but.

There is this, but there is that.

But is the most overused connector.

What are other ways we can use to express that?

Well, however, that said, mind you, at the same time,

and notice with most of these,

we have that falling, rising intonation.

That said, mind you, and it just indicates

that we're going to carry on speaking.

It's great natural intonation, lovely connector.

Let's see in practice, the same question as before.

Why do some people choose

to live in the city rather than in the countryside?

If we're talking about young people, I reckon they move

to the city in search of better job opportunities.

That said, many people who work remotely

choose to live in the suburbs or even the countryside.

If we're talking parents,

I suppose they want a better school for their kids.

Mind you, nowadays, there are lots of good quality schools

to be found in rural areas, too.

Can you see how that works?

Brilliant.

Start practicing.

Let's wind up with concluding.

(Keith laughs) Concluding.

There are different ways to conclude:

finally, to summarize, in conclusion.

I think some of the more natural ones are these.

In a nutshell, overall, all in all, at the end of the day.

So again, let's have a look at these in action.

In a nutshell, I think people move to the city

because it offers more opportunities.

Overall, I think people move to the city

because it offers more opportunities.

All in all, I'd say people move to the city

because it offers more opportunities.

At the end of the day, I suppose people move to the city

because it offers more opportunities.

Guys, that's it, A whole bunch of fillers

that will help you improve your fluency

and give cracking answers in your IELTS speaking,

for part one and part three.

I hope this has helped.

Just to remind you, come along to Facebook,

to the IELTS Speaking Success Facebook page,

Tuesday and Thursday, 10 o'clock Spanish time.

Free lessons!

It's brilliant.

We have a ball.

We have a whale of a time.

Do come and join us.

And if you're looking for a more in-depth online course,

check out my course on Udemy,

IELTS Speaking Success; Get a Band 7+.

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Get a Band 7+.

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Take care, everybody, bye-bye.

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