How to Start Speaking in IELTS Part 3

[Computerized Voice] And can I have the task card back?

- Sure.

So listen, I've just finished part two

of my IELTS speaking test.

Now it's time for part three, the deeper conversation.

But what if I don't know what to say?

How do I get time to think?

Oh my, what if I don't understand?

What kind of questions will they ask me?

How can I develop my answers?

Let's find out. (upbeat music)

Hello, it's Keith from the Keith Speaking Academy

and the YouTube channel, English Speaking Success,

where you become a confident speaker of English.

Now, the truth is all parts

of the IELTS speaking test are challenging.

Well, and fun, right?

But part three is critical because that is where

the examiner will decide if you are a five or a six,

a six or a seven and so on, right?

So it's really important you understand this.

The examiner really controls this part of the test

to make sure they push you to your limit

so they are sure about your level.

So they will make up questions based on your answers.

They will cut you off and move on to another question

to test more things.

And all of this is fine, expect it.

The biggest and most exciting part of part three

is that you can't really prepare your answers,

because you don't know where the conversation

is going to go.

So topic research is good,

but flexibility is much more important.

In this video, I will tell you some of the most common types

of questions and how to answer them,

as well as ideas on how to develop your answers,

which is really important in part three.

Finally, I'll show you how to create time

for yourself to think.

Okay, sound good? Great.

Oh, do remember you can get the PDF

of all of these phrases clicking on the link below for free.

Okay, let's begin. (icon whooshes)

Right, now we're gonna look at three very common

question types for part three and how to answer them.

Okay, the first one, "How has something changed

in recent years?"

Here the examiner is testing your knowledge

and ability to talk about comparisons

of the past and the present.

Okay, now you could just start talking.

I'm a big fan of going with the flow,

but you can also use some of these phrases

to help you structure your answer and begin confidently.

Don't just memorize these, use them flexibly.

There's lots of combinations.

Right, for example, we can say,

"In the past we used to dah-dah-dah-dah-dah.

This has changed a lot recently.

Now we usually dah-dah-dah-dah."

Okay, three phrases, one after the other, simple structure.

Or something similar,

"Previously, we used to dah-dah-dah-dah-dah.

This has changed a lot recently.

Nowadays we tend to dah-dah-dah-dah-dah."

Okay, so what you are doing here is you're using

a past tense, present perfect,

connecting past to the present, and then the present tense.

So you are showing a wide range of tenses.

With the past, you could say, "Previously we used to,

previously we would dah-dah-dah, or previously we did."

Okay, so you can chop and change

and mix it up a little bit, right?

Remember, build your flexibility.

So for example, if the question were,

"How has shopping changed in recent years?"

I might say, "Previously, we used to go into the town center

and buy things in real shops, brick and mortar shops.

But that has changed.

And nowadays we still go to the shops,

but we often buy things online because they are cheaper."

Okay? Nice answer.

But remember in part three,

you do need to develop your answers more.

So here, let me give you one

of my secret methods, the ORE method,

the O-R-E method:

opinion, reason, example.

The example is the key bit.

That's where you can really give extra information

and show off your vocabulary, okay?

So you can see in my previous example,

I gave my opinion that we used to go to shops.

Now we shop online, and the reason, because it's cheaper.

Now, I can add an example to develop the answer.

But be careful because what you might think is,

"Oh, I can say something like, 'Well, yeah, for example,

when I buy clothes, I go to the shops and try them on,

and then I go and buy that item online.'"

That's not great because that's a personal example.

You're kind of going back to part one,

which is about you.

Here, try not to be personal.

It's okay if you give one or two examples that are personal,

but think generally, think globally,

around the world and try to get a more general

or global example.

For example, "When many young people buy clothes,

they go to the shops like GAP to try them on,

and then they go to the GAP website

and buy that item online."

Think generally, think globally for your examples.

Also think about examples from the news,

something you've read or seen on the internet or the TV,

if you still watch TV,

like, "I read the other day actually that one shop, GAP,

I think, reported that their online sales of clothes

had actually surpassed in-shop purchases.

Okay, so your example doesn't have to be perfect,

doesn't have to be true.

I don't remember the details, but that's okay.

It's about expressing your English language

and developing your answer.

So you've got ORE: opinion, reason, example.

For your example, think globally, generally,

or something in the news.

Let's move on. (air whooshes)

Right, question type number two, very common,

"How will something change in the future?"

And here the examiner is testing, testing what?

Yeah, examiner is testing if you can compare

things in the present to the future.

So thinking of the language of comparison,

present tenses, future tenses, possibility,

speculating, all of that.

Again, remember you can just start talking,

or you could use some of these phrases

that might help you along.

For example, "At the moment,

the situation is dah-dah-dah-dah-dah,"

and, "I think in the future we will dah-dah-dah-dah."

Or, "Right now, the situation is.

I suspect in the future we might dah-dah-dah-dah."

So instead of will, you could be using might

as a possibility, a possible future.

Or, "Today, it seems to me that dah-dah-dah-dah.

I guess in the future we may."

Okay, I guess, I reckon, I suspect.

You can change might for may or could.

You can change will for going to.

All these possibilities, right?

Chop it up, change it around. Build your flexibility.

Here's an example, on the same topic of shopping,

how will shopping change in the future, right?

"Well, at the moment, the situation is

we buy many clothes online as well as in the shops.

I suspect that in the future,

we might buy almost everything online."

Got it?

Now, develop your answer. Can you think of an example here?

Remember, general, global, in the news.

Here's one, and I got from seeing a mobile app.

"So the other day, I saw a new app where you can upload

your image of yourself and add clothes to it

so you can see if the clothes match you

or if they suit you, right?

And I think this means that we will buy

more and more clothes online

because there will be no need to go to the shops

to try them on."

And there you have it.

Remember, the examiner might cut you off, doesn't matter.

It means they've heard enough,

and they want to push you in a different direction.

So relax about it.

Okay, let's move on.

Oh, before we do, if you are enjoying this, please remember,

do like the video and subscribe to the channel.

Let's go in to the third type of question.

Why does some people blank, do something. Okay.

Here, really the examiner is testing your expression

of opinion, right?

Well, I agree, I disagree, I think I suppose, and so on.

My advice with this kind of question

is to focus on a specific group of people.

Because when we say why do people,

I mean, it's impossible to answer, that could be anybody.

But if you choose a group of people like teenagers,

adults, working people, mothers,

retired people, it helps you focus.

It helps you develop the answer better.

And because you're being quite specific,

you'll be using a more specific deeper range of vocabulary,

so you're making it better for yourself, okay?

So here I can just recommend one phrase, right?

Very simple to answer.

"It depends, if we are talking about group of people,

then I think."

For example, "Well, it depends, right?

I mean, if we're talking about teenagers, then I think.

Well, it depends.

I mean, if we're talking about older people, then I think."

You see?

Let's look at an example, again,

sticking with the shopping theme in part three.

"Why do some people never shop online?"

"Well, it depends.

I mean, if we're talking about older people,

then I think they may not know how to do it,

and they might not trust it."

Okay, great way to start. Can you think of an example now?

Remember, don't be personal.

Don't say, "For example, my granddad doesn't like."

No, don't talk about personal examples.

Remember, think generally, think globally,

or think about the news.

So maybe something like this.

"I've seen a lot of reports on the news lately

of older people being scammed, you know,

buying things online that don't exist.

They might purchase a car because it's super cheap,

but then they give the money to the scammers

and they never even see the car.

And I guess all of this means they are reluctant then

to buy online."

Got it? Great, let's move on.

(icon whooshes)

Okay, so we've seen three very common question types

and how to develop your answer, right?

But to do that, you need to think fast.

You really do need to think on your feet, as we say.

Think on your feet, think quickly, right?

So you need time to think, but in part three,

there isn't much time, right?

The big thing about part three is the pace.

It's fast and furious, like the film.

How then do you create time to think?

There are three things you can do, right?

The first, listen carefully to the question,

repeat the question aloud,

and then take a moment to breathe and think and answer.

Okay, so if the question is, for example,

why do some people never shop online?

"Why do some people never shop online?" (exhales)

And then start speaking, okay?

Don't worry about the time.

Let the examiner worry about the time.

That is their job to control the time, not yours.

You take your time and answer, okay?

Second thing you can do is to use time fillers, right?

Very common things like, "Oh, that's a good question."

So once the examiner asks you the question, you go,

"Hmm, that's a good question.

Oh, I haven't thought about that.

Let me see. Let me think." (breathes deeply)

And take that breath, in and out.

Just that time.

Get oxygen to your head, give you time to think

and relax your shoulders and your body.

Okay, tip number three, ask the examiner to clarify

or to repeat, right?

Even, maybe 'cause you don't understand,

but even just to get more time, right?

It's one thing you can do.

Don't overuse this, but you can.

If you don't understand a question,

or you didn't hear it correctly,

or it just wasn't clear, right,

you can say, "Could you repeat the question?"

And they will repeat it.

"Could you repeat the question?"

But my favorite is, "What do you mean exactly?"

I love that because you are showing

that you've understood the question,

but you are not 100% clear.

You are not saying, "Oh, I don't understand."

You are saying, "Well, okay, I understand,

but what do you mean exactly?

Clarify the question."

So the examiner might rephrase the question,

not only repeat it, but say it in a different way,

helping you understand, but giving you time to think.

"What do you mean exactly?" Great question. (chuckles)

So now you have some nice phrases. What are you going to do?

(chuckles) Practice, of course.

You can download the PDF for free, there's a link below,

and start practicing.

If you're interested in taking your spoken English

up a whole new level, well, you can join

one of my online courses.

There are links down below.

Now I know some students cannot join an online course

or work with a teacher, and that's fine.

I have a tip for you.

Go to my website, keithspeakingacademy.com.

Look for IELTS Part 3. Again, there's a link below.

Look at the part three topics and subtopics.

Try and create some questions for each subtopic

based on the three question types you've seen today.

And then just try and give your answer to those questions.

Again, you can use some of the phrases from today's lesson.

And just practice doing that. It's the practice.

Bonus tip, record yourself

on your phone and just listen back, right?

You could share it with another student,

with a friend and say, "What do you think?

What do you think of the example? Is it good?

Is it clear? Could it be better?"

And just try to improve day after day.

That's my tip for you.

I hope that you've enjoyed this lesson.

Thank you so much for watching.

And I'll see you in the next video.

Take care, my friend. Bye-bye.

(upbeat music)