Email about how to get a 7 for speaking

Dear Mr. Green,

First of all, I would like to thank you for establishing such a wonderful website that benefits hundreds of thousands of IELTS examinees including me. I really appreciate your hard work, kindness and devotion, coz I know it requires strong perseverance to keep this website going.

Get down to business, I am writing to ask for your instruction. I have already had 4 IELTS tests, and will still have to take it...

I could easily get an overall score of 8 with Listening, Reading and Writing all above 7; while my Speaking results are always 6.5. I started learning English at the age of 5; and as a graduate of Foreign Language Institute, I am confident that my English has a very solid base.

In the Speaking test, I had pleasant and smooth conversations with the examiners, and had no problem organizing and delivering a 1-2 minutes' short speech.

As for practice, I talk to some American friends face to face for 1-2 hours once a week (this activity started from early February). Usually, they prepare a topic with a list of questions, and we discuss it. They say my English is very good (though i know there is a bit of exaggeration).

"7" in each item of the IELTS test is a must for me, but the "6.5"s make me so frustrated. Could you please give me some hints on how to improve my oral English? What are the essentials for scoring a 7 in IELTS Speaking test?

Looking forward to your reply. Thank you very much!!

Sincerely,

XXXX

I don't know why you are not getting a 7 for speaking. But here are a few suggestions:

a) show the examiner very clearly that you have very good complex sentence making ability,

b) reduce and virtually eliminate any minor grammar errors,

c) show the examiner very clearly that you have a very good ability to use a wide variety of discourse markers (linking devices for cohesion),

d) show the examiner very clearly that you have a very good knowledge of several phrasal verbs,

e) clearly & frequently show the examiner that you can make sentences at the higher-level of grammar such as, "I chose to study XXX because I thought it would lead to a well-paid and interesting career" and, "If he hadn't given me that advice, I probably would have made an unsuitable career choice" and

f) use contractions much more than you use the full form of verbs. If you especially do a, b, c, d & e, the examiner almost has no choice but to give you a 7.

You wrote> I had pleasant and smooth conversations with the examiners<. You should aim for this, AND MORE. You really have to impress the examiner in several ways to get a 7.0 or more.

Some examiners look more for your weaknesses than for your strengths. Hopefully, if you follow my suggestions, you'll get an examiner who recognizes that you really are a Band 7.

Just speaking to native English speakers might not be good enough, although it is good for your fluency. Are they trained English teachers? Do they really point out and explain your errors and do they really suggest improvements? Do they know what IELTS Speaking examiners think is important?

Also read my new blog page on the subject of Band 7, http://ielts-yasi.englishlab.net/Blog_P15.htm

(Note added Oct 12, 2008: That page no longer exists. It was renamed "Getting a 7 in Speaking")

See also a couple of suggested improvements to your email, below.

Dear Mr. Green,

Words cannot express my gratitude and excitement. I got a 7 in Speaking, finally!!

Following your advice, my capability of making long complex sentences has been greatly improved. I paid more attention to grammar when I speak, and made sentences with subjunctive mood and different types of subordinate clauses and murmured them very often. It works!! Even though I didn't spoke better than previous times (in terms of vocabulary), I found myself successfully saying the complex sentences.

Thank you so much!!

XXXX