How to answer IELTS Speaking Part 2

I got 8.0 in IELTS Speaking and in today’s video, I will

show you some tips how to get there, especially in the Part 2 Speaking.

Hello, everyone.

Hong is back and, as promised, today’s video

is about the Speaking Part 2 of my practice speaking test.

And again, my colleague, IELTS teacher Ollie,

will also play the role of the examiner.

I got 8.0 in IELTS Speaking and in today’s video I will

show you some tips how to get there, especially in the Part 2 Speaking.

If you haven’t seen my video on Part 1, don’t forget to check out the link in

the description box below.

Also, for more tips on boosting your IELTS band score, don’t forget to

check out our website, weloveielts.org, and subscribe to this YouTube channel.

Okay. Now, let’s begin.

Here is some information about the second part of the speaking test.

You'll be given a card which asks you to talk about a particular topic.

You will have one minute to prepare before speaking for up to two minutes.

The examiner will then ask one or two questions on the same topic.

Now, I'm going to give you a topic and I’d like

you to talk about it for one to two minutes.

Before you talk, you’ll have one minute

to think about what you're going to say and you can make some notes,

if you wish.

Here’s some paper and a pen for making notes and here’s your topic.

I want you to describe an item of clothing that someone gave you.

You should say what the clothing was,

who gave it to you, when you got it,

and explain why this person gave you the clothing.

When a topic asks you to describe something,

does it actually mean that you have to describe a piece of clothing,

like style, material, something like that?

Well, as a non-native speaker, trust me, you'll soon run out of things to say.

My advice is, you don’t have to just describe things, in fact,

you can just talk about it.

Now let me walk you thought my thought process as a one-minute preparation.

One minute is incredibly fast, so your strategy is not trying

to be perfect.

The object doesn’t have to be something fancy,

it doesn’t even have to be real.

You should go with a simple, top of mind idea and stick with it.

For me, I will talk about a pair of jeans that my mother bought for

me on my birthday.

If you can, you can describe the jeans just a little bit in more detail.

Something like regular cut jeans or high-rise waist or they’re easy to use.

My mother gave it to me, but I want to elaborate a bit

more on the occasion that she bought it.

In this part you get to tell a story and remember

this is something from the past, so you have to use the past tense.

In the last question you can use a connective,

such as regarding reasons why, to signal the transition from

one question to another.

And then you can come up with one to two reasons why you love the jeans.

For me, the reason one is durable and the reason two is a token of love.

Well, if you're at a more advanced level and you already know what you're going

to talk about and you can spend one minute to jot down some vocabulary

and grammar you want to show off in this section.

Now you can add in more complex grammar structures.

How about some idioms and phrasal verbs to show off your vocabulary?

Okay, that was one minute. I’d like you now to answer the questions.

Remember, you have one to two minutes for this part,

so don’t worry if I interrupt you.

All right.

Today I'm going to describe a pair of jeans that my mother

gave me as a present on my 17th birthday.

Well, you know, I'm not a type of fashionista or anything like that,

but I find the jeans very classy, comfortable and very durable.

It’s a pair of regular cut jeans with high-rise waist that I really like to

wear because, I don’t know, they make my legs look longer.

And also, to me, jeans are incredibly

versatile because they can be worn by both genders.

They can be worn in both formal and informal situations.

And what I particularly like about them is that they can be

mixed with different types of tops and shoes,

so I can be free to express or to show my style.

If I remember correctly, as my mother and I were walking

down the street, when the jeans immediately caught my attention.

Even though they were a bit expensive at the time,

but my mother decided to splurge a bit for my birthday.

I was so thankful for that because if it had not been

for her, I would have never been able to get the jeans.

Even when you are not asked to talk about something in the past,

you still should tell a story in the past.

Let me tell you why.

Foremost, it allows you to use a range of tenses,

at least present tense and past tense.

And second, it sets up a nice foundation for you to sneak in

a more complex grammar structure, such as conditional sentences.

And regarding the reasons why I love them so much,

the first one is that they’re incredibly durable.

Can you believe it?

The jeans have been with me for more than ten years,

I think which is probably because I don’t grow much.

But anyway, this is also a token of love from my mother.

So, whenever I wear the jeans, I feel like she’s always around.

Of course she has given me different types of gifts

in the past, but...

Thank you, that was two minutes.

Oops, I went over time and was interrupted by examiner.

In fact, sometimes in the real test, you don’t even have enough time to

finish all the questions.

And that’s okay.

Even though it may feel weird, it's actually a good thing when

you're interrupted by the examiner.

It's always far better to talk too long than not enough.

Do your friends like receiving clothes as a gift?

After you finish, the examiner can come

up with one or two follow up questions.

This is a nice transition from Part 2 to Part 3, so keep your answers simple.

Something like this. Yes, I think so.

At least I don’t know of anyone that doesn’t like

clothes and accessories, especially when they’re free.

Having said that, of course we have to

take into consideration people’s preferences when

trying to pick out their birthday presents, right?

Hey. That was the end of Part 2. Are you curious, what about Part 3?

The upcoming video will be about Part 3 of my speaking test,

so stay tuned.

Here’s a quick reminder of what we have learned today.

Don’t forget to subscribe.