IELTS Speaking Task 3: How to get a high score

Hi there. My name is Emma and in today's video we will be looking at the IELTS, which is

a test that ESL students take when they want to immigrate to certain countries such as

Canada, Australia, England. It's also a test some universities require students take. So

if you want to study at an overseas university, you may have to take this test. So we will

be looking at specifically the speaking section of this test, part three. So the speaking

task has three different parts to it; part one, part two, part three. We will be looking

at part three. Okay, so first I will explain what happens in part three of the IELTS speaking

test, and then I will look at some tips on how to do well, and also things you should

not do. So let's get started. First of all, it's important

to know how long this test, this part of the test will take. It takes between four to five

minutes. Okay? And it's different than part two. In part two, the student is expected

to speak for about two minutes and there's no interruption. In this part of the IELTS,

it's more like an interview. The examiner asks you some sort of question, you respond.

They ask you another question or they might ask you to go deeper into the first question.

Okay? What types of questions are there? Well, sometimes

they'll ask you to predict something, to analyze something, to compare. They might ask you

to give your opinion. Often times, you're looking at the future as well. So for example:

what sports do you think will be played in the future? Okay? So often --future questions.

Part three is based on a theme. In part two, you're given something to describe often -- it

might be a historical building, it might be a teacher you really liked, it might be an

object precious to you. Part three continues from part two, so whatever you talked about

in part two, you're going to talk about in part three, but at a more abstract level.

So what do I mean by this? Well, if in part two you talked about your favourite teacher,

in part three you might be talking about education. You might talk about how it is different today

than it used to be. Okay? So you might be looking at education.

Some of the topics you may look at in part three: technology is very common, education,

environment, TV influence, leisure activities, shopping, sports, transportation. So these

are all very common topics, and so you'll be asked between four to six questions on

these types of topics. So an example you may be asked: "How are education

priorities different from those in the past?" Okay? So again, you have to state your opinion

for this question. All right, so let's look at some of the "Dos" and "Don'ts" for this

part of the IELTS. Okay, so let's look at some of the things

you should do. Okay? So there's our smiley face, this is a good idea. The first one is:

listen for keywords in the question. Okay? Sometimes you may not understand what the

question is... try to listen for the keywords of the question. Do you hear the word "education",

"school"? Listen and this will help you to understand the question better. If you still

don't understand the question: ask. Okay? This is very important. It's okay to ask the

examiner to repeat the question. If you don't understand, you can also ask for clarification.

It's better to ask if you don't understand than to answer something completely different

and wrong. Okay? So it's always better to ask.

When you do answer the question, make sure, again, you don't give these short yes/no answers.

Expand, give detail. Okay? Give examples, give reasons. It's very important to support

your points. For example: maybe they ask you if girls and boys should go to separate schools.

Okay? If you're asked that, you might say: "I think girls and boys should go to separate

schools for three reasons. First of all, girls learn better when they're separated from boys.

In my own experience, when I was a student, I was always distracted by boys." So you see

what I mean? Give details, give examples. Stick to the topic. This is very important.

If you're asked about education, talk about education. Don't talk about your pets, don't

talk about your hair; stick to education. I think this is actually the most important

point out of all of them: think you're... Think you will do well. What do I mean by

that? I think the IELTS isn't only testing you on your English, it's also testing you

psychologically. Okay? You need to think positively. You need to think you will do well. If you

think you will do well, you will definitely do better.

Okay, another point: it's important to build vocabulary before you do the IELTS. So you're

being marked on four things. You're being marked on pronunciation, you're being marked

on grammar, you're being marked on vocabulary, and you're being marked on fluency and coherence.

So that last one is together. So, these are the four different areas you're being marked

in. It's good if you focus partially on building your vocabulary beforehand; this is a good

way to prepare. You know you're going to be marked on this, so why not think about words

that have to do with technology? Practice these words in conversation. For example:

"technophobe", "cutting-edge", "state-of-the-art". All of these words will help you increase

your vocabulary score if you're asked about technology. Find words that have to do with

education, with leisure activities, transportation. So this is a very important thing to do as well.

Okay, another thing you should do: relate

the question you're asked to your own life. So if they ask you about technology, bring

examples of technology you use. Use examples of technologies you use, I mean. Use your

own experiences. And if you don't have a lot of experiences in terms of what they're asking

-- if they're talking about sports, you hate sports, you don't have anything to say about

sports -- again, you can make it up. Use your friend's experiences, use what you know from

the news. It's good to use real-life examples. Okay, this is another important point: it's

good to divide up your answer. Okay? So when they ask you a question, instead of just getting

right into it, you can say: "There are three ways that such and such works.", "There are

three problems with transportation in Toronto.", "There are several points I'd like to talk

about." Okay? So it's good to divide up what you're going to say by giving a number for

your answer. Another good thing to do is... This part of

the IELTS often requires you to use modals. So what are modals again? "Can", "could",

"may", "might", "should" -- these are modals. You're going to be using them in this part

of the IELTS. So brush up on that. Okay, practice using them. For example, maybe they're asking

you: "Who makes the best teachers?" You could say: "Parents may make the best teachers."

Okay? So use modals. Also learn opinion expressions. So don't just

keep saying: "I think", "I think", "I think". Use something else. "If you ask me", "In my

opinion", "It seems to me that", "It appears to me that", these are all good expressions

to use. "I think" is a little bit boring. Okay?

So now let's look at some of the "Don'ts", things you should not do for this part of

the IELTS. Okay, so what shouldn't you do in this section of the IELTS? Okay, so I have

"Don'ts" and an angry face. This is what you should not do.

So first of all, don't memorize answers. This is not the way to do well on the IELTS. Okay?

If you memorize answers, and if the examiner notices that you're sort of speaking funny

and thinks you've memorized an answer, they're going to change the subject. So it's good

not to memorize answers because you'll probably have a lot more difficulty if you do. It's

better, again, to spend your time learning vocabulary, practicing speaking with your

friends, practicing answering these types of questions, giving your opinion, but don't

memorize answers. Don't worry if you make mistakes. Okay? If

you make a mistake, if you can correct it and it won't take a lot of time - just quickly

correct it. If it's one of those mistakes that if you try to correct it, it's going

to cause a lot of problems, confusion - just leave it. It's okay if you make mistakes,

just keep going. Okay? Don't go off topic. So if you're talking about

education, don't start talking about sports. Stick to what they're asking you. Don't change

the question either; if they ask you a question, answer that question.

Don't use too many "umms" and "ahhs". Okay? Some "umms" and "ahhs" are okay, but if every

question you're saying: "Umm, I think, uhh, ehh that umm, uhh really that uhh", it's not

going to get you a good mark. So if you're one of those people who use "umms" and "ahhs"

a lot, try to focus before the IELTS on using them less. What you can always do is tape

record yourself speaking -- this is something I really recommend for the IELTS -- tape record

yourself, listen to your strengths: what are you good at? And what are your weaknesses?

Be honest -- everyone has weaknesses. So listen and try to practice beforehand to fix those

weaknesses. Okay? Don't use "I think" too much. "I think" gets

very boring. This is another thing ESL students often love

to do: they want to get more time and have more time to think of an answer so they use

these types of sentences in order to give themselves more time, they might say: "Oh,

that's a good question." It's okay to say that, but don't say it for every question.

Okay? If you need to buy that much time, don't just keep saying: "Oh, that's a good question.

Yeah, that's an interesting question. That's a good question." It's not going to help your

mark. If you use that, use it once. Okay, don't worry if you have an accent.

We all have accents. It's okay if you have an accent. In terms of your pronunciation mark,

the main thing they're looking for is that you speak clearly and they can understand

what you're saying. Okay? Oh, I think I said this twice, yes. So this

is a very important point; I've wrote it here twice. Don't worry if you make mistakes. Okay?

Treat this almost like a conversation. You know, it's good to support what you're saying,

it's good to make clear arguments. And so don't get too worried about this section of

the IELTS. Practice is the most important thing. Practice giving your opinion to your

friends, to your family, to anyone who will listen to you. Practice in English.

And if you want to see some of the questions you may get, come visit www.goodluckielts.com.

This site is wonderful, it has many good tips on how to do well on the IELTS and it also

has good practice questions. So maybe do some of those practice questions, and tape record

yourself while you do them. Okay? Another thing you can do is you can come visit

us at www.engvid.com. We will have a quiz there that will check to make sure you know

how to do your best on the IELTS. Okay, so until next time, good luck on the IELTS. I

know you're going to do great. Just practice, take a deep breath, and you're going to do

fine. So take care, and until next time.