IELTS Speaking

1. IELTS Speaking By Chris Tang

2. Are you afraid of IELTS speaking test?

3. You don’t have to be!!! • Predictable • Easy preparation • Lots of tips to use

4. On Entering the Test Room • Waiting out at the door • “Do you have a mobile on you?” • Psychological suggestion

5. So how do you say it? • I’ve taken the test for … times. For my previous … tests, I always got X for my reading, X for my listening, and X for my writing. But I haven’t got enough for my speaking. So I have to take the test over and over again until one day I can get at least 6.5 for my speaking.

6. Why you can say it? • The four official marking criteria: • Pronunciation • Vocabulary • Grammar • Fluency • What you say doesn’t really matter, but how and how well you say it!!!

7. General mistakes to avoid • Vocabulary • Overusing words like “good, nice, beautiful, interesting, delicious…” • Learn to paraphrase • Can you list ten positive words (adj.) to describe a person? • What about ten negative ones? • Good and well, Clever and smart, Bored and boring • Say “no” to Chinglish

8. Grammar • Plurality, third person pronoun, past tense, perfect tense, misusing gender-related nouns • Pronunciation • Mispronunciation • Be intelligible, so enunciate • Fluency • Speed is not fluency • Join and expand ideas; Avoid pauses; Avoid repetition; Expand rather than listing things

9. First things first • Standard: What is your full Chinese name? • Variants: What is your full name?/ How should I call you?/ How should I address you? • Answer: Long??? Or short??? • My name is ____. (even “Name is___.”) • My full name is ____, and I also have an English name, ____. You are welcome to call me ____. • Remember what matters?

10. First runner-up • Are you working or studying? • Principle: Don’t make it too difficult. • Eg. I’m studying. And I study ____ in _____, one of the top universities in China and I will be graduating in 2 years’ time. • I’m working for ____ as an administrative staff/sales/secretarial staff. I’ve been doing this job for many years and I still like doing it.

11. Like it and not like it. • Eg. Why did you choose this major? Do you like it and why? Do you like your job? • Be prepared. You may stumble at the easiest questions. • Don’t talk big, talk small. • Tell a story rather than giving empty, lifeless reasons.

12. A dose of panacea • It is all because of my girlfriend. She is the one and only woman I love the most on the earth. In order to make her happy, I would like to do anything for her, including…. Because I just want to be with her, to be where she is. • It is because when I was young, I had a teacher and he always told me about …, which has deeply influenced me. So I …

13. East or west, home is the best. • Where is your hometown and could you please tell me something about your hometown? • Answers that may let people laugh their head off: • My hometown is Xin Jiang. • My hometown is .... But I’ve never been there before. • My hometown is …. It is a very beautiful place. I love my hometown. • It is your homeTOWN in contrast to homePROVINCE, homeCOUNTRY, homePLANET. • It is where you were born and grew up in contrast to where your parents or grandparents came from.

14. Elaborate in four aspects • Location, population, climate, and something special.

15. Let me show you how! • My hometown Taizhou, is located in the middle part of Jiangsu province along the Yangze river,it has a population of 5 million people, and the mostly temperate climate here offers an excellent environment for various agricultural activities and for tourism; It has produced many well-known scholars and intellectuals, one of them is our Chairman Hujingtao, who has spent his early years studying here.

16. A bit about climate or seasons • Climate: • Wet/warm/tropical, dry/arid/semiarid, temperate/continental, etc. • Four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn/fall, winter • Beijing's climate is defined as "continental monsoon." The four seasons are distinctly recognizable. Spring and autumn is the best time to be in Beijing, particularly in the months of April, May, September and October.

17. And if you choose to describe the seasons • Spring: • Warm, windy, dusty, sand-storm, flowers start to bloom • Make it poetic. Eg. When spring comes, everything wakes up from their long and cold sleeps. Trees turn green, and flowers also start to bloom: it seems like the world is, all of a sudden, rejuvenated. • Season of new life/rebirth

18. Summer: • Hot, rainy, wet (lots of rain), stormy, humid, sunny, stuffy, sweltering, sauna-like • Learn to use a variety of descriptives to say “very”. • Quite, rather, pretty, fairly, really, so, extremely, totally • One can even use analogy. Eg. It is like an oven in summer time. • Activities: holiday… • Holiday season

19. Autumn/Fall: • Cool, crisp, mild, cozy, clear sky, golden season, azure sky • Golden season, season of harvest • Winter: • Cold, freezing, snowy, icy, short days, long nights • Silver season, Christmas season

20. I’d like to own my own house! • Do you currently live in a house or an apartment/flat? Where do you live? Can you describe what is in your home? • Let’s see a few pictures.

23. To compare two or more things • Always think in terms of • Cost/price • Features (what makes it really what it is) • Effects (popular?)

24. What are the differences between a house and an apartment/flat?

25. I’m a traveholic. • Do you love traveling? Do you often travel? • To answer “Yes” and “No” • Sure. You bet. Absolutely. Definitely. • Not if I can help it. Not a chance. • Is ice cold? Does bird fly?

26. Shop till you drop, and sports stuff • Do you play sports? What sports do you play? • Do you often go shopping? What do you buy? • Common answers: I play soccer, basketball, tennis, table-tennis… (listing things) • Better answer: I often buy lots of different things from food to drinks, from clothes to shoes. Anyway, I enjoy shopping, ‘cause it brings me great joy.

27. Food, forever I like. Cooking, um, yet to be answered. • Avoiding overusing the word “delicious” • Flavor: spicy, hot, sweet, sour, bitter, salty, savory, light • Vegetables and fruits • Cooking methods: boil, fry, steam, roast, bake, grill, stir-fry, stew, braise, barbecue • Texture: chewy, tender, crispy, flakey

28. Other questions, but they are easy! • What is your favorite kind of music/ book/movie/food? What kind of … do you like? • What is your favorite time in a day/ month/season in a year? • What is your favorite kind of music? • Genres: pop, jazz, blues, rock, classical, instrumental, rap (urban), gospel… • When it comes to music, I have to say… • I’m very much into/ fond of/ fascinated by/about; …is the greatest passion in my life • When I am listening to…, I feel like… • For example, for instance, once… • Think outside of the box

29. Let’s give it a try! • Well, I am not really into music. But sometimes I do like listening to religious music, I mean, Christian music. Christian music is always about singing praises to God and reminding people of their responsibility to live a pure and holy life. It is music that purifies life. It helps me a lot. Whenever I’m listening, I feel like being lifted up to heaven and drawn close to God. It gives peace to my mind and joy to my soul.

30. Let’s get serious: Topic/Cue Cards • Four categories • People • Place • Object • Event • And I don’t care what category it is. I always have my way.

31. Well, today I am going to talk about none other than my uncle. My uncle is quite famous in his place. People often call him Mr. Traveholic. And just as this name suggests, he loves traveling very much. And actually traveling is one of the most important things in his life. And he has been to many places throughout China, from Harbin in the north to Guangzhou in the South, from Shanghai in the east to Urumuqi in the west. And he always says his favorite place of all is Qingdao, because of its natural beauty, its food and its unique local culture, which all drive him to return to Qingdao to visit over and over again. • First, Qingdao is famous for many of its interesting places, its beautiful beaches, and its clean streets. Hundreds of thousands of visitors are attracted here from all over the world by its enchanting natural beauty. • Second, the local food and snacks are also something one can never miss when visiting Qingdao. They come in various colors, shapes and tastes, to suit different palates and wallets. They are not only exotic and delicate to the tongue, but also to the eye. • Last but not the least, Qingdao is also famous for its unique cultural heritage represented in local festivals and Qingdao beer. Especially, Qingdao beer. It is quite a big name in China. It is loved by millions of people, including me. • Anyway, that is my uncle, a traveholic, and Qingdao, a great place to visit.

32. People Cards • Who the person is • What the person looks like • What the person is like (character and personality) • What the person does/has done • When and where you met this person • Why you like/dislike/admire/choose to talk about this person

33. “Who” question • Well, I am going to talk about… • When it comes to …, I would like to talk about • (Snow White) was a very good friend of mine.

34. 昵称法 • A childhood friend • I would really like to talk about Slobbery, a childhood friend of mine. Slobbery is his nickname, because he used to let saliva dribble from his mouth while sleeping in class. His real name is XXX. But anyway, he is a nice buddy…

35. One’s Looks • General descriptors: good/bad-looking, handsome, beautiful, pretty, plain, homely, ugly, awful • Significant parts on the face: eyes (eye color:black, green, blue, hazel), eyebrow, nose(aquiline nose), mouth, teeth, cheek, chin • Other parts of the body: torso, limbs

36. Quotation from Gone with the Wind Scarlet O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were. In her face were too sharply blended the delicate features of her mother, a Coast aristocrat of French descent, and the heavy ones of her florid Irish father. But it was an arresting face, pointed of chin, square of jaw. Her eyes were pale green without a touch of hazel, starred with bristly black lashes and slightly tilted at the ends. Above them, her thick and black brows slanted upward, cutting a startling oblique line in her magnolia-white skin—that skin so prized by Southern women and so carefully guarded with bonnets, veils and mittens against hot Georgia suns.

37. Character and Personality • Kind, warm-hearted, easy-going, faithful, honest, responsible, accountable, trustworthy, reliable, compassionate, humble • A giving person, a man of his word, a “me, me, me” person, an angel of mercy, double-crosser, double talker

38. What One Does • Occupation • Time, Location and Story • Significance or meaning • Eg. A friend looking after you when you are sick. It shows that he has heart of gold.

39. Why? • Good character/personality impresses or touches you • You have learned a life lesson from them • Story

40. A Childhood Friend • Relating topics: child, friend Tell me about a child that you know You should say: • How you know them • What they look like • cute, short, chubby, messy hair, dirty hands, innocent and pure • Something about their personality And say whether or not they are similar to how you were as a child

41. I would really like to talk about Slobbery, a childhood friend of mine. Slobbery is his nickname, because he used to let saliva dribble from his mouth while sleeping in class. His real name is XXX. But anyway, he is a nice buddy. Round-faced with chubby cheeks, and usually dressed in his baggy pants, he can hardly conceal his over-weighted body. But you know kids. They never worry about their body weight. Don’t be fooled by his looks. He isn’t as tough as his may look. He is the tenderest thing I’ve ever seen. Whenever other kids laugh at him or bully him, he would run to a corner and cry like a girl. Well, if you ask me whether Slobbery is similar to how I was as a child, I would say no. But he surely resembles that kind of people who are one person on the outside, different on the other.

42. When it comes to a childhood friend, I can’t help thinking about Princess Fiona, my best playmate. Her real name is Annie. Even now, I can still recall her black curly but long hair, and her favorite red dress with black strings tied around the waist. She looked so beautiful and elegant, just like a princess. So we all called her Princess Fiona. Not like me, Princess Fiona was a strong little girl. She never cried, even when she stumbled over rock and hurt her knees. Now she’s become a big girl and even stronger, while I am still who I am, never able to become like her. And that is Princess Fiona, my best playmate.

43. Common People Cards • A person you’d like to spend time with • Famous person • A person who is good at cooking • A person who has influenced you • A person who helped you • Old people • Best friend • Etc.

44. Famous person • Who he/she is • How you got to know this person • What this person is famous for • Why you choose to talk about this person

45. Who: my uncle • How: live in the same neighborhood • Famous for: traveling • Why: I also love traveling…

46. Place Cards • What the place is • When and with whom you visited that place • What did you feel when you visited that place • Why do you visit that place

47. What Questions • Name of that place • Location • … be located/situated … • … sits/lies … • Features • Ten adj. to describe a place

48. When and with whom • Long time ago? • Several years ago? Many years back? • Just last year? • A few months ago? • A couple of days ago?

49. Feeling High or Down? • Feeling: • Sad, excited, thrilled, down, frustrated, depressed, etc. • Feeling like…

50. Why? • Reasons: • Tourist spot, beautiful • Understand the local culture and customs • Story