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IELTS Speaking

Part 3 of the IELTS speaking test

In Part 3 of the IELTS speaking test, the examiner will ask you between 4 and 9 questions. These questions will be in some way related to the subject of the topic card you spoke about in Part 2 of the speaking test. In total, this section of the test will take between...

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Part 2 of the IELTS speaking test

In Part 2 of the IELTS speaking test, you need to speak for 2 minutes about a topic that the examiner will give you. This section of the test is also referred to as the long turn. Before you need to speak, the examiner will give you one minute to prepare what you are...

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Part 1 of the IELTS speaking test

Part 1 of the IELTS speaking test takes 4 to 5 minutes. The examiner will ask you questions about personal or familiar topics, such as your hometown, travel, food and your free time. Here are some example questions (you can find more in the practice tests section): Do...

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Tips for the IELTS speaking test

On this page are tips and hints for speaking in the IELTS test. If you have a question or a tip that you think would benefit others, let us know using the message form at the bottom of the page. *Note that the speaking test is the same for the General Training and...

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Speaking more formally in Part 3 of the IELTS test

As you probably know, there are three parts in the IELTS speaking test. In Part One, the examiner will ask you questions about yourself. In Part Two, you will have one minute to prepare and then need to talk for two minutes based on a topic card (also called a 'cue...

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Giving and justifying opinions for IELTS speaking

Giving and justifying opinions for IELTS speaking The IELTS speaking test is like most conversations.  If you give an opinion, you should justify it, and if possible, offer a reason, solution or speculation. For example: I don’t think people should automatically be...

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Tips for the day of your IELTS speaking test

So the day has finally arrived - it's test day! Depending on the test centre you are taking your test in, you might have the speaking on a different day to the other parts of the test or at the beginning or end of the same day. Whenever your speaking assessment is,...

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6 tips for making notes in Part 2 speaking

Here's an example of a topic card used in Part Two of the IELTS speaking test: Describe your favourite leisure activity. You should say: what it is how often you do it when you first started doing it. You should also say why it is important to you. Using the...

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Giving longer answers in IELTS speaking

This post focuses on a formula you can use to help you keep speaking fluently during the IELTS speaking test, especially in Part 2 (the topic card). Consider the following question. How could you expand your answer? Do you think traditions are important? Now read the...

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How to practice your spoken English for IELTS

4 ways you can practice speaking English Getting enough English speaking practice can be one of the biggest problems for learners of English who want to improve their speaking skills, especially if they live in a non-English speaking country. However, there are some...

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6 tips for speaking more fluently in IELTS

Here are 6 tips for speaking fluently in the IELTS test, based on over 20 years of preparing candidates for the IELTS test (and 15 years as an IELTS examiner!) For many people preparing for the IELTS test, it can be difficult to improve your fluency unless you have an...

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Facts about the IELTS speaking test

Facts about the IELTS speaking test

There are lots of websites, forums, blogs and posts on the internet giving advice about the speaking test, but so much of the information available is either incomplete or incorrect! To help, we have assembled some of the most common points below and listed them as...

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Time to think in the IELTS speaking test

As we've mentioned in previous posts (and is probably obvious!), when you are asked a question in the speaking test but cannot think of a response straight away, you should avoid just using words like 'Umm....errr.....'. Here are some expressions that you can use to...

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Describing places in IELTS speaking

Describing places in IELTS speaking

On this page, we will look at some vocabulary for describing places in English. As with all new vocabulary, make sure to use it often to help you remember it, and if possible write it down in a notebook or a piece of paper so you can review it in a few days. Useful...

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