ielts-yasi.englishlab.net

Modified Oct 24, 2018

How to Speak in Part 1

Key Points

        (A lot of the information below applies to the whole test, not just Part 1.)

• In Part 1, the examiner is mainly testing you for two things: i) everyday vocabulary and, ii) basic grammar.

• For almost every answer, you should give a two-part answer: First, a direct answer ( 直接的回答 ) to the question and then add more information.

• A 'direct answer' does not mean the same as 'an immediate answer' – a 'direct answer' means 'not an indirect answer'. Indirect answers lower your coherence score. Here's an example of an indirect answer:

         Question: "Do you work or are you a student?"

         Answer: "Oh, I've been working for five years."

That answer does tell the examiner that you are working but it does so indirectly. The question asks you to choose between "A" and "B" and, in order to answer directly, you should first choose between A and B and then add some suitable extra information. So, a more suitable answer is, "I'm working. In fact, I've been working for five years."

There are times in the Speaking test when it is suitable not to give an immediate answer, for example, when it's a difficult question and you need to think for a second before answering or when you want to make a comment about the question. This is natural even when you are speaking your native language. In the case where you need time to think, you should tell the examiner that you need a second to consider the question; don't sit there silently thinking about your answer. 

In other words, you should always start speaking immediately after the examiner asks a question but what you say does not always have to immediately be the answer to the question from the moment you start speaking. However, you should not need to speak this way very much in Part 1 because almost all questions in Part 1 are rather simple, information-seeking questions. This advice is more suitable for some Part 3 questions.

• Be very willing to give the examiner a lot of information. ("Information" includes your feelings and opinions.)

The best way (but not the only way) to give new information is to include the information in the same sentence as your direct answer. When you do this, you usually use a relative pronoun (联系代词) such as, "which" to make the whole sentence into a complex sentence. Showing this skill is a key point for getting 6 or more for grammar and 6 or more for the whole Speaking test.

When you give extra information, make sure it is new information, not information that everybody already knows.

Here's an example of extra information that is not new information: "I study chemistry, which has a lot of experiments." Almost everybody knows that the study of chemistry (usually) includes experiments. That's almost like saying, "I study history, which is the story of the past." But if you say, "I study chemistry, which has a lot of interesting experiments" then you are giving new information to the examiner – the information that the experiments are interesting to you.

Note that there are times when it is not suitable or natural to use a relative pronoun to connect the extra information to your basic answer. For example, if you say, "I'm working, which (is something) I've been doing for five years" then your answer will sound a little unnatural and forced.

• Be very willing to speak your feelings about things, (your likes/dislikes, your preferences, your opinions), even if the question did not directly ask you about your feelings. In other words, feel free to speak personally. First give a suitable direct answer to the question and then, if you can't think of any other suitable information to add, speak about your feelings on the topic of the question. Or, even if you can think of more information to add, feel free to include your feelings in your answer.

• Whenever you answer a question about your feelings, opinion or your likes/dislikes, (including your preferences), (almost) always include in your answer at least one reason why you have that opinion or feeling. Even such a general statement as, "I'm not sure why; that's just how I feel." would probably satisfy most examiners.

• The questions in Part 1 will come fast and you will get a total of about 12 questions, in three different topics.

• The examiner will quickly introduce each new topic with words such as, "Let's talk about music now." Listen carefully when the examiner announces the topic because that information can help you anticipate what the questions will be.

• The examiner will usually say nothing when you answer each question, or he/she will say something very short, such as, "Ah!", "Mmm!", "OK", "Thank you", "Good!", "That's interesting." etc. The examiner will not (or should not) discuss the question with you.

• You cannot ask the examiner questions, such as, "I'm from Xian – have you ever been there?" Or, "I like basketball. Do you like it?" But you can and should ask the examiner to repeat the question if you didn't understand it clearly. Just say a quick, "Pardon?" or, "Sorry?" if you want the examiner to repeat the question. And you can and should ask the examiner questions such as, "Do you mean ...?" Don't be afraid to ask questions like that in order to seek clarification – asking for clarification is a good communication skill and the examiner takes into consideration your communication skills when giving you your score.

• If the examiner asks you to repeat what you just said because he or she did not understand, be careful about repeating exactly the same words – try to change some of your words when you repeat your answer. If you repeat exactly the same words, sometimes the examiner will still not understand you! This is because the problem is often not just a pronunciation problem but a combination of two things – imperfect pronunciation and an unsuitable choice of words. 

In other words, if your pronunciation is clear and accurate but you use an unsuitable choice of words, the examiner will usually not ask you to repeat your answer because they will hear you clearly. Similarly, if your choice of words is suitable but your pronunciation is not perfect (but not too bad), the examiner will usually know what you said and will not ask you to repeat your answer. So, if the examiner asks you to repeat a sentence, try to guess which words were unsuitable and try to change them when you repeat your sentence.

If you are asked to repeat a sentence, (and you use a different word or two), also try to clarify your meaning by giving an example. 

Alternatively, you could repeat your sentence using the same words that you spoke originally, but also include an example and, as well as that, say something such as, "In other words, ..." or "What I mean is, ....". 

• The average length of each answer in Part 1 should be about 20 seconds. A few answers might be as short as 10 seconds and one or two answers might be as long as 30 seconds but most answers should be between 15 and 25 seconds. In this time, give as much information as possible.  

In general, try to keep a balance between longer and shorter answers within each topic, such as the topic of "Sport" or the topic of "Food". For example, if you first give two short answers in one topic, you should try to make the other answers in that topic longer. Or, if you first give two long answers, try to make the other answers in that topic a bit shorter. 

In this way, you will be co-operating with the examiner by helping him or her ask you about 12 questions on three topics in about 4.5 minutes (between 4 and 5 minutes). If the examiner feels that the interview "went smoothly", you are more likely to get the highest score that is possible for you.

• Don't feel offended if the examiner interrupts you. It is part of the examiner's job to control the timing of the test and to keep the test moving. If the examiner was just having a chat with you on the bus, he or she would not interrupt you but in the Speaking test, there are strict time limits on the different parts of the test.

• As mentioned above, try not to think too long before you start to answer a question. Say something! If you can't think of anything to say immediately, it is alright to make a comment about the question before you actually answer the question, but don't do that too often. (For example, "That's a difficult/unusual/interesting question.") Or, you could first say something such as, "Let me think about that." but don't think for too long before you start to answer the question.

• This is a Speaking test, not a police interview. That means you can and should tell "white lies" (无恶意的谎言) sometimes if it helps you to speak better, (especially to show vocabulary). The examiner is really more interested in your speaking ability, not the truth of the facts that you speak. However, as much as possible, try to tell the truth because you will speak more convincingly that way, (for example, your intonation will more likely be correct without you even thinking about it). As well as that, it will be easier to speak fluently when you only need to think of the English, not first think of ideas and then think of the English.

• Try not to make it obvious to the examiner that are speaking long patches of memorized English, such as a complete answer that you had memorized, word-for-word. Examiners don't like answers like that and, if they think your answers are memorized they will ask you more difficult questions than they usually do. And let me tell you, 90% of Chinese students who speak a completely memorized (long) answer cannot hide that fact from an experienced examiner! 

Why do examiners dislike completely memorized answers? Firstly, the purpose of the Speaking test is to assess how well you can communicate naturally in spoken English – completely memorized answers are not considered to be natural communication. Also, you are not supposed to know what the test questions are! So don't make it obvious that you do know a certain question is in the test.

As well as that, Westerners (including me) do not believe that memorizing long passages of language is the optimum way to learn a language. (However, memorizing a few long passages of a language can, at times, be a useful part of learning a language.) The theory is that people best learn a language by memorizing short combinations of words, such as noun + adjective combinations, a verb construction such as a present perfect construction, phrases, expressions etc. and even very short complete sentences. Then, you should create your own output by combining the short memorized items. In fact, language experts believe that the best way to learn the vocabulary of a language is not to learn single new words but learn them in short combinations of words.

So, if you do prepare a complete, rather long answer to a question, this is my advice:

1. Don't try to repeat or practice that answer 100% exactly the same each time you say it. Instead, vary your answer a little each time you say it, hopefully making it a little better each time. Or, you can think of this idea as meaning, don't 100% memorize a long answer but instead memorize just the key points, so that you are memorizing your answer to about 70% accuracy. And,

2. Whenever you repeat or practice an answer, speak it naturally, as if you were really speaking to another human being. Don't practice repeating any prepared answers like a robot. If you practice any answers by speaking like a robot, this will influence how you speak in the test, which will give the examiner a hint that you had prepared the answer before the test.

Vocabulary

• One of the key points in Part 1 (and it's a key point throughout the whole test), is to show the examiner your vocabulary. For instance, always look for opportunities to say, "For example, ... " and then show some vocabulary.

• In the Vocabulary List pages of this website, you will see some examples of good vocabulary. In your test preparation, you should add your own words for other topics that are not included in those lists. When you look at those words in the Vocabulary lists, you'll see that many of the words are examples of different types, for example, different types of films. Other words in the lists give examples of something, such as examples of housework, ("sweep the floor", "wash the dishes", "take out the garbage", "ironing" etc.)

These words are basic, everyday vocabulary. Don't think that Part 1 is trying to test the kind of words that you find in "IELTS Vocabulary" books. Those books are mainly for the Reading and Writing tests. (Similarly, the examiner is not looking for the kind of words that are tested in the GRE test.) Of course, many of the words in those IELTS Vocabulary books are suitable for Part 1 answers, but some of the words in those books are too formal for speaking, especially for Part 1.

• As mentioned above, sometimes it is better to tell a small lie, in order to show your vocabulary, than to tell the truth but miss out on the opportunity to show your vocabulary.

For example, if the examiner asks you, "Do you have anything on the walls of your home (or, your room)?", the truth might be that you have nothing on the walls because you don't want to damage the walls. But that answer doesn't show much vocabulary. If, on the other hand, you (untruthfully) tell the examiner about lots of things that you have on your walls, possibly including in your answer a short description of a picture (for example, a bamboo forest with two tigers lying on some grass), you will get more points for vocabulary.

Similarly, the examiner might ask you what you can see when you look out the window(s) of your house (or your room) but maybe you don't know the vocabulary to describe what you really can see. In this case, tell a lie and give an answer using vocabulary that you do know. Or maybe the view is very boring and simple to talk about and doesn't require much vocabulary to describe. In that case, tell a lie and impress the examiner with your vocabulary by describing a view that is not true but that is rich in detail or rich in vocabulary.

Another example is the 'housework' topic. Many candidates do very little housework, besides just tidying up their own room. You could speak the truth and say that and explain why you don't do much housework. That's quite good, if you can use good language to say it. But why not include in your answer that you occasionally wash the dishes or help your mother wash and chop up the vegetables for dinner (even if it is not true)? And in the question that asks you what housework you least like doing, you can tell a lie and say, "Once I had to ..... and I really didn't like it because ..... So, I'd probably say (or, "I'd have to say") that's the household chore I least like doing." Use your imagination here!

• If you get a question that asks you whether you do something often, such as, "Do you often visit museums or art galleries?" then try to include in your answer how often you do this, even though "how often" was not specifically asked. For example, to say, "No, not very often" as a complete answer to that question is not wrong and is quite suitable in normal conversation but the following answer is better in the Ielts test, "No, not very often. I'd say I visit one of those places only about once every five years or so ......." Or, "once a year" etc. This is showing the examiner that you know the language used to express how often you do something. Of course, the question might directly ask you, "How often ... ?" and, in that case, you definitely need to show the language expressing how often you do it.

Grammar

• You should definitely answer using full sentences, not one word answers! For example, if the examiner asks you, "Do you work or are you a student?", don't just answer with the one word, "Student."

• If you look at the Part 1 questions on this website, you'll see a variety of question types. You should be able to recognize the different types, especially the different verb tenses. Then, especially in the direct answer to the question, use the same type of language. Sometimes, when you add extra information, you can or have to change the verb tense or the grammar type but usually you should continue with the same grammar.

For example, pay attention to any past tense question, which usually has the word "did" (or, "was" or "were") in the question. Then use the past tense in your direct answer, and probably in all of your answer, as well. For example: "When did you first start reading newspapers?" You should first say when, speaking in the past tense, then add a little extra information. This extra information could be why or how or where you got the newspaper from, or what parts of the newspaper you used to read when you first started reading newspapers, say, at the age of 12. For example: "I think I started reading newspapers (or, them) when I was about twelve. I remember I used to wait until my father came home from work and then I'd get the newspaper from his briefcase because he used to buy it every day and read it on the train."

At other times the question is asked in the present perfect tense (现在完成时) but your answer should be in the past tense. For example, "Have you received any (on-the-job) training at work?" The most suitable way to begin your answer is to usethe same tense, "Yes, I have." You could continue to use the present perfect tense such as, "I've been trained how to give presentations to my customers". But it would be better to change to the past tense and say a more specific time when this happened. For example,  "Yes, I have. I was trained how to give presentations to my customers when I first started this job." Notice that whenever you use the past tense the listener or reader needs to know, or be given, some idea of when in the past. Even "many years ago" and similar expressions are good enough for indicating "when" in some situations.

When talking about something in the past, look for opportunities to say something such as, " ... because I thought it was interesting". Notice you say, "thought", not "think" even though you might still think that it is interesting now. This is 间接引语, the same as this: "He said he was a doctor." (He still is a doctor.) Another example is: "I chose that sort of work because I thought it would suit my personality." (Here, "would" is the subjunctive form (虚拟语气) of "will".)

• Understand the different usages of the word, "would". The examiners often ask, "Would you say ...?" such as, "Would you say your hometown is a good place for children to grow up?" That means, "Do you think your hometown is a good place for children to grow up?" In fact, it means, "In your judgement, is your hometown a good place  ...".

Your direct answer should be, "Yes, I would" not, "Yes, I do." Or you could use a different direct answer such as, "Not really."

• In general, if a question has the word "would" in it, your answer should use the word "would" not "will" or some other verb form. 

For example (for Chinese candidates), "What would you suggest a visitor to China see and do?" should be answered by saying: 

   "I'd suggest they visit the Great Wall and ..."

= "I'd suggest visiting the Great Wall and ..."

= "I'd recommend they visit the Great Wall and ..."

= "I'd recommend visiting the Great Wall and ..."

= "I'd encourage them to visit the Great Wall and ..."

= "I'd tell them to visit the Great Wall and ..." (This last example is not as good as the others because "tell" is more general than "suggest" – it's more suitable for the question, "What would you say to a visitor to China?")

• Many questions are 'Yes/No Questions' and for many of you reading this page, the first grammar point that you need to study is how to suitably answer a Yes/No question.

• Probably the second grammar point that most of you need to study is the use of the past tense, especially the past tenses of irregular verbs (不规则动词). This is important if you seriously want to get a score of 6.0 or more for the Speaking test. (I write, "most of you" because the average Speaking test score in China is about 5.25 and people at that level are still not very accurate with the usage of the past tense.)

• Always look for opportunities to make complex sentences. It is possible to give extra information in simple sentences but if you want to get a 6 or more for Speaking, try to often show the examiner that you can make complex sentences.

• Probably the most common example of a complex sentence that you should try to use is a sentence using the word, "which". Especially when the examiner asks you to give some examples of something, don't just say a list of words – that shows good vocabulary but the grammar is too simple. Instead, try to add comments to some of the words you say by using the word "which" after some nouns and then add extra information. The best example of this is when examiners ask high school students (or those who have recently finished high school) to say what subjects they study or studied. For example, "Well, I study Chemistry, Physics, which I find quite difficult, to tell you the truth, History, English, ..."

You need to practice making sentences using "which" (as well as other relative pronouns, 联系代词) so that the sentences come quickly in the Speaking test.

• When you give an answer, (in most cases) try to avoid repeating too much of the exact wording that the examiner used in the question. This especially applies to the main noun in the question, including verbal nouns, which represent an activity. ("Verbal nouns" = "gerunds". Examples are "swimming", "shopping" etc.) Instead of repeating that exact noun, try to use a suitable pronoun to replace it. (That's why we have pronouns!) For example, "Do you like animals?" --> "Yes, I like them very much" is much better than, "Yes, I like animals very much." More examples are below –

– "Would you say your hometown is a good place to live?" --> "Yes, I would. It's a very nice place place to live in because ...." (That's better than, "Yes, I would. My hometown is a very nice place place to live in because ...."). In this case, repeating "to live in" is suitable because if you just say "nice place" then that could simply mean, "a nice place to visit".

–  "Do you like traveling by train?" --> "Yes, I quite like it because ..." or even, "Yes, I do because ..." are better than, "Yes, I quite like traveling by train because ..."

– "Do you often use a computer?" --> "Yes, I use one almost every day" is better than, "Yes, I use a computer almost every day."

–  "Does your mother work?" --> "Yes, she works as a kindergarten teacher" is better than, "Yes, my mother works as a kindergarten teacher."

–  "If someone gave you a dictionary as a gift, how would you feel?" --> "Well, I'd feel thankful because ..." is better than, "Well, if someone gave me a dictionary as a gift I'd feel thankful because ...". There's no need to include those words.

– "Do you think schools should take their students to visit museums and art galleries?" --> "Yes, I think they should because .." or, "Yes, I think they should take them there because ..." or, "Yes, I think they should take them to those places because ..." are better than, "Yes, I think schools should take their students to museums and art galleries because  .....".

Giving Information

• In addition to the advice about giving information that is written above, you should understand this: many (if not most) of the questions in Part 1 are not just simple questions but instead are invitations to give information. For example, if the examiner asks you what subjects you are studying or studied in high school, you should freely add information when you name your subjects, including personal information, such as how you felt about some of these subjects. Be talkative! (当爱说话的人！做个健谈的人！)

• Another example of how apparently simple questions are really "invitations to speak" is this type of question: "Do you like sport?", "Do you like art?", "Do you like cooking?", "Do you like to watch TV?"

Since this is a question about your like and dislikes, (or your preferences, or, in the case of other questions, your opinion) you must include at least some information about why you like or dislike it (or have this preference or opinion). If you don't give any information like that, the examiner must ask you, "Why?" This is one of the instructions that the examiner has to follow. If he or she has to ask you that too often, you will be giving a poor impression and will not get a very high score in the test.

You should begin your answer with, "Yes, I do" (or, "No, I don't" or "Not really" etc), then give more information about your feelings, especially about why you feel this way about this topic (e.g., sport or art).

It's possible to add even a little more information after saying something about your feelings but only a little more. For example, you could say what type of sport, art, music or TV programs you like, or when you do something, or how long you have liked it, or how often you do something, or who you do it with, or whatever you feel is suitable extra information for that question.  But, at the same time, know when to stop! For "Do you like... ?" questions, a little extra information is usually suitable, not a long explanation of everything related to your sport, art, cooking etc. habits. To repeat, the most suitable extra information here is something about why you like it and/or what aspects or examples of it you like the most.

Coherence

(= "understandability", clarity, your logic etc.)

• Give direct answers to questions.

• Don't forget, you can like something even when you don't do it very often, for example, swimming at a beach or visiting a zoo.

• If you get a question that asks you, "Do you prefer X, or Y?" then choose either X or Y; don't begin your answer with "Yes" or "No" because a question with "or" in it is not a Yes/No question.

• Giving examples, giving reasons for your feelings & preferences, and including explanations in your answer that tell the examiner why you say some things are the strongest way to make your answers coherent.

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