Module 1

Welcome and Overview

The test is divided into 3 parts:

1. Part 1: Questions about you.
2. Part 2: Speak for up to 2 minutes about a certain topic.
3. Part 3: More abstract questions related to the same general topic you talked about
in Part 2.

What is the IELTS Speaking Test?

1. It is not an intelligence, knowledge or IQ test; it is a SPEAKING test.
2. You are tested on fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

The key to success:

1. Fluency
2. Coherence
3. Pronunciation
4. Grammar
5. Vocabulary

What happens when students go into “test mode”?

1. Get very stressed.
2. Become formal.
3. Think intensely about each answer.
4. Try to impress the examiner with their “high level” grammar and vocabulary.
5. Focus on sounding very clear.

What are the results of this?

1. Make lots of small mistakes due to stress. (6 for GR and VOCAB)
2. Speak like a robot. (6 for FLUENCY/PRONUNCIATION)
3. Lots of hesitation, repetition, and pauses. (6 for FLUENCY)
4. Include an unusually high amount of inappropriate grammar and phrases. (6 for
GR and VOCAB)
5. Ignore higher level pronunciation features at the expense of clarity. (6 for
PRONUNCIATION)
How can we solve these problems?
1. Preparation. The more you are prepared, the more confident you will feel.
2. Relax. The examiner is not a recording device, they are human.
3. Treat the exam like a conversation, not a test.
4. Remember it is a speaking test, not a knowledge test.
5. Have confidence in your English level.
6. Mimic native English speakers, especially their pronunciation.

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Module 2
How to think like an examiner and what you need to do to get a 7+

4 Marking Criteria:
1. Fluency and Coherence (25%)
2. Pronunciation (25%)
3. Vocabulary (25%)
4. Grammar (25%)

Fluency and Coherence:

1. Answer the question being asked.
2. Speak smoothly and at a natural pace without unnatural pauses or hesitations.
3. Develop your answers appropriately. (REE – Response; Explain; Elaborate)
4. Organise and structure your answers appropriately.

Fluency and Coherence Dos:

1. Speak at a natural pace.
2. Avoid unnatural pausing, hesitation, and repetition.
3. Fully develop your answers.
4. Structure your answers.
5. Use appropriate cohesive devices.
6. Answer the specific question.
7. Natural flow of language and interconnected ideas.
8. Use connected speech and contractions.
Fluency and Coherence Don’ts
1. Overthink the answer.
2. Correct your mistakes too much.
3. Search for language too much.
4. Repeat the same points over and over.
5. Stop in Part 2.
6. Speak unnaturally slowly or quickly.
7. Insert formal or academic linking words.
8. Overuse linking words.
9. Give very short answers.

What will not give you mark?

1. Speaking very quickly.
2. Not making any pauses or hesitations.
3. Giving “good” answers.

What does a very good candidate sound like?

1. Speaks without any effort at all.
2. Give very well-developed answers.
3. They do not research for either language or content. Any small hesitations are
content related.
4. The listener does not have to think about what the person is saying because
everything is very well signposted.

You must do BOTH:

1. If you get a low score in one of them, you will get a low score for both.
2. For example, if you get an 8 for fluency and a 6 for coherence, you will get a 6.

The difference between Band 7 and 8 is:

1. Band 7 students tend to hesitate, pause or repeat ideas/phrases to a higher
degree.
2. Band 7 students will have hesitation relating to both language and content,
whereas a Band 8 is nearly all content related.
3. Band 7 students have mixed control of linking words, whereas Band 8 students
make rare mistakes in this regard.
Pronunciation
1. Speak clearly, so that the examiner can understand everything without making any
effort.
2. Have control of higher level pronunciation features, such as sentence stress, word
stress, intonation, connected speech.

Pronunciation Dos
1. Speak clearly: make sure you can make all of the sounds of English clearly; the
examiner should easily understand every word.
2. Understand and use correct word and sentence stress.
3. Use natural intonation.
4. Speak in full sentences.
5. Use connected speech: linking of sounds, weak sounds, contractions.

Pronunciation Don’ts
1. Say everything so clearly that you don’t use connected speech. Allow your native
language to interfere with clear use of English.
2. Try to use an American or British accent.
3. Speak with no enthusiasm or feeling.
4. Speak in small chunks of language.

Vocabulary
1. Express meaning both accurately and precisely, using words that are both
appropriate and accurate.
2. Use a variety of vocabulary.
3. Use topic-specific and idiomatic language accurately.
4. Can talk about a variety of topics.

Vocabulary Dos
1. Use topic-specific words.
2. Use “less common” words and phrases.
3. Use idiomatic phrases when appropriate.
4. Use suitable/appropriate words and phrases.
5. Use vocabulary accurately.
6. Use appropriate collocations accurately.
7. Pronouce words correctly.
8. Paraphrase when you cannot express a word or idea.
Vocabulary Don’ts
1. Repeat the same words again and again.
2. Force complex words into your sentences without knowing them 100%.
3. Use idioms that are wrong or inappropriate.
4. Learn lists of “academic” words.
5. Keep quiet when you are unsure of a word or phrase.
6. Get nervous or think that you are going to do terribly if you get an “unfamiliar”
topic.
7. Try to use words you do not know 100%
What will not give you more marks?
1. Using lots of high level/complex/academic words or phrases.
2. Using lots of idioms.

Grammar
1. Produce “complex” sentences.
2. Use appropriate grammar structures and tenses.
3. Produce error-free sentences.

Grammar Dos:
1. Try to use as many “error-free” sentences as possible.
2. Use “complex” sentences.
3. Use a variety of appropriate structures.
4. Use tenses correctly.
5. Follow the 100% rule.

Grammar Don’ts
1. Try to use as many different structures as possible.
2. Try to impress the examiner with complex grammar.
3. Make basic or systematic errors.

What is it not?
1. Perfect grammar.
2. Using every single structure and tense in the English language.
Vocabulary and Grammar
1. Remember that it is a speaking test, not a grammar and vocabulary test.
2. The goal of speaking is to communicate clearly, not list long and complicated
words and phrases.
=> CLARITY IS KING, FOCUS ON COMMUNICATION

What does a very good candidate sound like?

1. Each structure or tense is used in response to the question asked.
2. Minimal errors.
3. Any errors are not basic or systematic.

Module 3
Everything You Need to Know About Speaking Part 1
Look at Speaking Part 0 – Format of Speaking Part 1 and what to expect – Common topics – Why some
people mess this part up and how to avoid this – Developing our answers – Preparation

Last module: learned about the 4 marking criteria that examiners use to mark your test –
broke each of the four down into simple language – found out exactly what you need to
do (and what you should not do) to get a band 7 or 8 – the difference between Band 7
and 8 for each

Speaking Part 0:
1. This is the part when you meet the examiner before the actual test begins.
2. First impressions should not count, but they really do.
3. Remember that the examiner is doing a job and is a human being. Don’t worry if
they don’t seem very friendly.
4. You will not be marked officially on this part of the test but is worth knowing what
to expect.

Speaking Part 0 Questions:

1. What’s your full name? -> “My name’s …”
2. What can I call you? -> “You can call me …”
3. Where are you from? -> “I’m from …” (DON’T ASK BACK)
 4. Can I see your ID please? -> “Sure, here you are” (DON’T SPEAK WHILE THEY ARE
CHECKING)

Speaking Part 1 Format

1. It will last around 4-5 minutes.
2. If you answer the questions properly, there should be 3 topics.
3. You will be asked 3-4 questions for each topic.
4. You will normally be asked around 12 questions in total.
5. Your first topic will be either: Work/Study, Hometown

Speaking Part 1 Common Topics

1. The 3 most common topics are: Work/Study, Hometown, Your home
2. You will only be asked about one of these.
3. The other two topics will be about YOU. This means that they can ask anything
about you.
4. There are NO common topics.
5. It is impossible to predict what you will be asked.
6. The questions are about you, so it’s impossible to get them “wrong”.

Why do some people mess Part 1 up?

1. They prepare memorised answers.
2. They give very short answers.
3. They give very long answers.
4. They think too much about the answers.
5. They get stuck when they get an “unusual” topic or question.
6. They seem like they don’t care or don’t want to be there.
7. They are so nervous that they can’t perform properly.
8. They talk to the examiner like they are a recording device.

How to avoid it?

1. Answer the questions naturally and spontaneously.
2. Develop your answers appropriately.
3. Do not give a speech.
4. Remember these questions are about YOU, so there is no need to think deeply
about the answers.
5. Expect the unexpected.
6. Pretend like you care.
7. Take this as an opportunity to relax and get into a groove.
 8. Treat the examiner like a human being.

Key Skill – Develop Your Answer

1. Big mistake: giving very short answers.
2. However, developing your answer does not mean talking as much as possible.
3. Your answers should be not too long or not too short.
4. If you are including more than 3 sentences, it is probably too long.
5. A very simple way to make sure that you develop your answers is to simply: answer
the question -> add an extra piece of information.

Extra Info 1: Explanation

1. This is the most obvious way to add extra information and we can do it simply by
adding a word like “because”
2. Example: “How often do you read?”
-> “I read every night before bed” X
-> “I read every night before bed because I find it difficult to get to sleep and reading
fiction relaxes me and switches off my brain.”

Extra Info 2: Contrast

1. Another obvious example is contrasting by using a word like “but” or “although”.
2. Example: “Do you read every night?”
-> “I normally read Monday to Friday.” X
-> “I normally read Monday to Friday but at the weekend I tend not to read at all
because I go out on Saturday and Sunday night with friends and I’m not in the mood to
read when I come home.”

Exra Info 3: Combine Details

1. Very simply, we combine two things by adding the word “and”.
2. Example: “Do you read every night?”
-> “I normally read Monday to Friday.” X
-> “I normally read Monday to Friday and I also like to read during the day on Saturday
and Sunday as those are my days off and I have more free time to relax.”
Extra Info 4: Past Comparisons
1. We use the phrase “used to” to compare the past and the future.
2. Example: “Do you read every night?”
-> “Not anymore.” X
-> “I used to read all the time, but since I became a father, all of my time is spent
looking after the new baby, so I don’t have time.”

Extra Info 5: Future

1. Use “will” or “be going to” to talk about the future.
2. Example: “Do you read every night?”
-> “Not at the moment. Maybe in the future.” X
-> “Not at the moment, but I’ll definitely try to read more next year when I have more
free time in the evenings.”

Extra Info 6: Examples

1. An easy way to develop your answers is to add an example.
2. Example: “Do you read every night?”
-> “Yes, I do.” X
-> “Yes, I do, like last week I got into a really good book called LMAO and I couldn’t wait
to get into bed each night and read it.”

Extra Info 7: Frequency

1. You can use words like “usually”, “never”, “always”, and “more often than not” to
extend your answers.
2. Advanced tip: Use one of the many frequency idioms.
3. Example: “Do you read every night?”
-> “No, not often.” X
-> “Once in a blue moon I’d say because I’m normally so tired by the time my head hits
the pillow, I’m out like a light.”
Preparation
1. You must talk to people.
2. Engage in small talk.
3. Ask someone to ask you questions.
4. If you really are alone (you are probably not) then you should look at past papers
and record yourself.

Module 4
Part 2 Strategy

Common Topics:
1. There aren’t any.
2. Remember that they want to know what YOU know about the topic, not an expert
analysis of the cue card, so you can’t “know nothing” about the topic.
3. Most people who say they “know nothing” normally know quite a bit about the
topic.

Why do people not do well?

1. Don’t speak for 2 minutes.
2. Read their notes, rather than talk.
3. Run out of things to say.
4. No structure to their answers.
5. Think they know nothing about the topic.

Most people think that you must talk about the bullet points and the bullet points only;
HOWEVER, you can also talk about:
1. The bullet points … but also …
2. Introduce the topic
3. Description
4. Your opinion
5. Examples
6. Past
7. Present
8. Future
9. Anything else …
Strategy:
1. Look at the cue card and then decide which of the bullet points you are
comfortable talking about.
2. Add other things you are more comfortable talking about from the list provided on
the last page.
3. Make short notes for a plan. Keep these briefs. They are just prompts.
4. Use these prompts to give a fluent answer. If you don’t need them, don’t use them.

Example:

Let’s assume that you only want to talk about:

1. Introduce
2. The first bullet point
However, you can also talk about:
1. Description
2. Opinion (give your opinion)
3. Past (how you got it)
4. Present (how you use it right now)
5. Example

Cohesive Devices:
1. Introduce: “Today I’m gonna talk about …”
2. Description: “To get into the details of …”
3. Your opinion: “Personally, I’d have to say …”
4. Examples: “Like …”
5. Past: past structure depending on situation.
6. Present: “At the moment …”
7. Future: “In the future + will/be going to”
Preparation:
1. This will not come easy to you immediately and it does require practice.
2. When you get the hang of this, it will be very easy for you to produce a 2-minute
talk on any topic.
3. You simply find lots of Part 2 questions and practice using this technique.
4. Start slow and improve gradually.
5. Record yourself.
6. The goal is to be able to talk for 2 minutes while only looking at notes for cues.

Module 5
Everything you need to know about part 3

Format:
1. You will be asked questions relating to the same topic as Part 2. “Relating to”, not
exactly the same.
2. It will last 4-5 minutes.
3. The questions will be more abstract. They will be about ideas, not about you.
4. This part is designed to stretch your abilities to the limit. You will get difficult
questions.

Main reasons why people don’t do so well:

1. They give short answers.
2. They try to finish quickly.
3. They get stressed or upset when they get a question they don’t know how to
answer.
4. They do not fully understand the question.
5. They don’t think about the actual question being asked.

How to avoid common issues?

1. Use my technique for extending your answers.
2. Treat this as the most important part and finish strong. Practice speaking for 15
minutes in English.
3. Expect difficult questions and answer them as best as you can.
4. Ask the examiner questions if you don’t understand, but only 2 questions are
allowed.
5. Be aware of the 7 most common types of questions and answer accordingly.
 6. Get used to discussing ideas, not yourself, people, or events.

7 most common questions:

1. Opinion
2. Evaluation
3. Future
4. Cause and Effect
5. Hypothetical
6. Compare and Contrast
7. Past

Opinion:
1. Very simply, you will be asked what you think about something.
Example: Do you think that students should use Chat GPT?

Evaluation:
1. You will be asked to comment on someone else’s opinion.
Example: Some people think that paper books are bad for the environment. Do you
agree?

Future:
1. You will be asked to speculate about what will happen in the future.
Example: Do you think people will read more books in the future?

Cause and Effect:

1. You may also be asked to discuss what has caused a certain situation and what
effects this has.
Example: How do online retailers affect the type of books people buy? What effect does
this have on the book market?

Hypothetical:
1. You will be asked about an “unreal” or imaginary situation.
Example: If you were a book publisher, what genre of books do you think would be most
successful?

Compare and Contrast:

1. You will be asked to compare and/or contrast two or more things.
Example: Do you believe eBooks or paper books are more suitable for students?

Past:
1. You will be asked about how things were in the past or how things have changed
from the past up until now.
Example: How has the way people purchased books changed in the last 25 years?

Grammar and Functional Language:

1. There is specific grammar and functional language for each of these types of
questions.
2. Knowing this type of grammar and functional language is key to answering this
correctly and confidently.

Developing your answers:

1. You need to give well developed answers for Part 3. Much more than Part 1.
2. Your answers’ structures will depend on the type of question you get asked.

Part 3 Strategy:
1. Answer the question.
2. Explain your answer.
3. Give examples to support your answer.
4. Show the other side/concession.
5. Think of it like a Task 2 Writing main body paragraph.

Preparation:
1. Get a partner to ask you questions and record your answers.
2. Do this by yourself by looking at a list of real questions and record yourself.
 3. Start off slowly and think about the type of question and the grammar and
functional language needed to answer it.

Module 6
Key Skills and Systems

VOCABULARY
Common misconceptions about Vocabulary:
1. You must use “advanced” or “complex” words.
2. You must use idioms regularly.
3. You cannot repeat any words.
4. You should learn lists of “academic” words.
5. You should learn lists of words related to “common” topics.

“Advanced” or “complex” words:

1. Students often use these words without actually thinking about what this means.
2. What is “advanced” word?
3. Anyone can look up a big word in a dictionary, but very few people can actually
USE it. This is what the examiner will look for in the exam.

Idioms regularly?
1. Listen to how native English speakers talk to each other. How regularly do they use
idioms?
2. It is fine to use idioms but only if you use them appropriately and accurately. Very
few non-native speakers can do either.
3. If you use an idiom in response to every question, you will sound ridiculous.

Cannot repeat any words?

1. Try going the rest of the day not saying the word “the”. Can you do it?
2. It is always better to use a range of words and phrases. Paraphrasing and varying
your language will help you, but only if you know how to do those things.
3. If you can’t think of an alternative, stick with the word or phrase you know.

Learn lists of “academic” words?

 1. The speaking test is supposed to be like a normal conversation you would have
with someone. Think about a conversation you would have with a colleague or
classmate. Would you use very academic language?
2. Learning a list of words will help you understand a word, but it will not help you use
that word.
Learn list of words relating to “common” topics?
1. How many common topics are you likely to get? Home/hometown, work/study,
like/dislike? That’s about it.
2. There are hundreds of possible topics, so you can either: waste your time learning
words and phrases for them all OR exhaust yourself trying to do so.

How to learn vocabulary effectively?

1. Actively listen and read.
2. Note down any new words.
3. Learn them 100%: synonyms, pronunciation, collocations, grammar.
4. Take risks using your new words and note your mistakes. Treat mistakes as
opportunities.
5. Review regularly.
6. Be patient.

Areas of Focus:
1. Idiomatic language
2. “Less common” words and phrases
3. Collocations
4. Paraphrasing and synonyms.

Idiomatic Language:
1. Does not mean just idioms.
2. Containing expressions that are natural and correct. (definition of idiomatic
language)
3. This can mean idioms, but also phrasal verbs, colloquial expressions and slang.
4. They should not be a priority. You can still get a high score and not use an idiom.
Using them does not mean you will get a high score automatically.

Idiomatic Exercise:
1. Note down 10 idioms and phrasal verbs that you feel very comfortable using.
2. Try to focus on ones that can be used in many situations.
 3. For example, “once in a blue moon” or “over the moon” work in many different
situations.
4. “put up with”, “look up to”, and “make sure of” work in many different situations as
well.
5. Make sure you know how to use these idiomatic expressions 100%.
6. When you feel 100% comfortable, start to add more.
7. You do not need that many to impress the examiner.
“Less common” words and phrases:
1. The phrase “less common” vocabulary is used in the marking criteria, but what
does this actually mean?
2. It refers to any words or phrases that examiners do not expect you to use. In other
words, the kind of natural words and phrases that native English speakers would
use.
3. You are probably very comfortable using “less common” words and phrases, but
you don’t know it.
4. You have constantly been told that your vocabulary is not good enough, therefore
you always think that you need more “advanced” vocabulary.
5. Have confidence in your current ability and use language naturally.
6. Focus on communication, not vocabulary and your vocabulary will actually
improve.
7. You can always improve, but this takes time, so show off your current ability, not
what you think you should be.

Collocations:
1. These are two or more words that normally go together.
2. We would say “make the dinner” or “cook the dinner”, not “produce the dinner”.
3. This is one of the ways in which the examiner will be able to tell if you can actually
use the words you use.

Collocations Exercise:
1. Record yourself doing a speaking test.
2. Listen back and analyse your collocations.
3. Did you make any common mistakes?
4. Could you have used a simplier word or phrase?

Paraphrasing and Synonyms:

1. If you can express the same thing but in many different ways, you are an
“advanced user of English”.
 2. The examiner will be looking for your ability to do this.
3. There are two ways you can do this: reformulate when you cannot think of the
correct word or phrase (if you can’t think of the word or phrase, don’t worry, just
say it in a different way) OR reformulate the question (you don’t have to do this all
the time, but if you can see an opportunity, do it. You don’t have to change every
single word, just some of them)

Paraphrasing Exercise:
1. Get some past papers from any official sources.
2. With a partner, or by yourself, try to paraphrase each question.
3. Record youself and listen back.
4. You will start to notice that you are more successful with some than others.

GRAMMAR
What does the marking criteria say?
1. You should use a range of grammatical structures.
2. Use complex sentences.
3. Produce error-free sentences.

How do students misinterpret this?

1. You should use a range of grammatical structures.
-> “I must use as many different tenses and structures as possible.”
2. Use complex sentences
-> “I must produce sentences that are “complicated” or “high level.”
3. Produce error-free sentences
-> “My grammar needs to be perfect.”

Why do these assumptions are wrong?

1. “Using as many different tenses and structures as possible” is not how someone
actually uses language. You use language to communicate, not to show the person
how many tenses or structures you know. You should use the appropriate
structures, at the appropriate time.
 2. “Produce sentences that are complicated or high level” is nonsense. Neither I nor
the examiner know what this means. “Complex” does not actually mean complex,
it just means including multiple bits of information.
3. “My grammar needs to be perfect” is totally unnecessary because everyone,
including IELTS teachers, makes mistakes when speaking. As a non-native English
teacher, IELTS expects you to make mistakes. If you did not make mistakes, you
could not communicate.

How to get a very low score?

1. Be obsessed with grammar.
- There are certain countries that are obsessed with grammar and use a “grammar
first” teaching method.
- These countries do not do very well in the speaking test.
- These students spend hours or even days thinking about small grammar points that
they will probably never see again.
- They spend most of the test thinking about grammar and it cripples their
communication.

My strategy:
1. Grammar should be your lowest priority. It is important, but not as important as
you think.
2. Do all you can to minimize mistakes but accept that you will make them.
3. Focus on communication first.
4. Use a range of long and short sentences.
5. Answer the questions as they are asked, and you will use a range of structures and
tenses naturally.
6. Identify your common mistakes and fix them.
7. Be ready to answer the most common types of questions.

Common Tenses:
1. A very effective technique is to simply copy the verb tense that the examiner used.
For example:
Examiner: What do you normally do on the weekend?
-> On Saturday and Sunday, I normally just relax with my family.
 2. Present Perfect Continuous
Examiner: How long have you been working as a doctor?
-> I’ve been practicing as a GP for 5 years now, ever since I finished my residency at St.
Mary’s hospital in London.
3. Present Continuous
Examiner: What are you studying at university?
-> I’m reading philosophy at the moment, but I might switch to economics next year
because a degree like that has better job prospects.

4. Present Perfect
Examiner: What has the government done to improve education?
-> The government has invested millions of pounds in bulding new schools.
5. Future
Examiner: How will the workplace change in the future?
-> I believe that more people will work from home.

Common Grammar Structures:

1. Opinion: I believe that…
2. Evaluation: I couldn’t agree more that…
3. Superlatives: The most/least/verb + est
4. Cause and Effect: … because… as a result… resulted in… due to…
5. Hyphothetical: would + infinitive/2nd conditional
6. Compare and Contrast: comparatives
7. Frequency: adverbs of frequency

PRONUNCIATION
What pronunciation features are tested?
1. Individual sounds
2. Clarity
3. Word stress
4. Sentence stress
5. Connected speech
6. Intonation
How will the exminer judge your pronunciation?
1. The first thing they will listen for is clarity.
2. In other words, can they understand what you are saying?
3. They will not be judging your accent.
4. They will then listen for higher level pronunciation features.

Clarity:
1. If you are not clear you will struggle to get a high score. If the examiner can’t
understand what you are saying, then they won’t be able to judge anything.
2. This is rarely a problem above 7+.
3. There could be 2 problems: Mispronunciation of certain sounds/First language
interference.

Band 6:
1. “Can generally be understood throughout, though mispronunciation of individual
words or sounds reduces clarity at times.”
2. If the examiner cannot understand some of the things you say, you risk getting a 6
for pronunciation.

How to sound clear to the examiner?

1. The British Council have an interactive phonemic chart:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/teaching-resources/teaching-secondary/
teaching-tools/phonemic-chart
2. You can also find the phonemic spelling of any words in any good dictionary.
3. If you want to know how a word sounds, you should go to https://howjsay.com/
4. The real key is realizing that pronunciation of individual sounds is not mental, it is
physical.
5. In order to make the correct sound, you must make the correct movements and
shape of the tongue, jaw, teeth, and lips.
6. Pronunciation of individual sounds is simply pushing air out of your body and
shaping it in a certain way with the above parts of your body.
(https://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu/)

How to say any word clearly?

1. Look at how the word is spelled phonemically using an online dictionary.
 2. Find out how each of these sounds like using the phonemic chart.
3. Listen to how the words sound using https://howjsay.com/.
4. Use sounds of speech to find out how to make each sound.
5. Use voice recognition technology to check if you are saying the word correctly or
not.

Check for common problems:

1. You need to identify your common errors and fix them. Every country has some
common problems.

CLARITY FIRST!
1. Being understood by the examiner is your number 1 priority
2. Focus on fixing this if it is a problem.
3. If not, which will be the vast majority of you, then we can move on to the higher
features.

Stress – Word stress

1. Stress is when we emphasize (say strongly) certain words or syllables.
2. Every word is made up of syllables and normally one or more of these are said
more strongly than others.
3. You must get used to identifying these stressed syllables within words.
4. If a word sounds strange, this means you need to focus on it.

Sentence Stress:
1. We normally stress the important words in a sentence to convey meaning and
highlight key words.
2. We can stress a word by saying it louder, longer, or higher/lower (don’t combine all
three at the same time)
3. There are normally two types of word in a sentence: Content, Function
“I met him a while ago when he was home from University”
4. Emphasizing different words can change the meaning of a sentence. This is called
“shifting” stress.

Weak Sounds:
1. Native English speakers do not say each sound equally.
2. Most of the sounds are said very weakly.
“Can I help you?”
“Do you want to go to the cinema?”
3. We make the sound weak by changing the vowel sound to /Ə/.

Connected Speech:
1. Listen to how native English speakers talk and compare it to your style of talking.
2. You will notice that lots of sounds link together.
“Let us talk about connected speech.”
“Do you want to listen to me talking like a native?”

Intonation:
1. This refers to the natural rising and falling in tone that you normally hear from
native English speakers.
2. Most IELTS students sound very flat, especially if they are ceciting memorised
answers.
3. A change in inonation can affect what people mean, even if they are saying the
same word.
4. Think of how someone says “nothing” when you ask if something is wrong.
5. There are several ways our voices can change in tone including
- fall
- rise
- flat
- fall-rise
- rise-fall
6. Intonation reflects our mood, so can be tricky in an exam situation.

How to improve?
1. Good pronunciation can take years to improve.
2. That is why the requirements for band 7 are so low.
3. That does not mean you can’t improve your score in a shorter period of time.
4. It is as much about exposure to the language as the production of the language.
Exposure means simply surrounding yourself with native English speakers.
5. This can be simply the TV, a podcast, or movie.
6. The more you hear a variety of native English, the better you will be.
7. To take it a step further, you must notice and raise your awareness.
8. Micro-listening is very good for this. You do this by listening to a short piece many
times.
9. You notice and note down everything you can about the pronunciation.
 10. Mimicking (shadowing) is a great way to improve your pronunciation.
11. Combine this with your favourite TV show or movie and you will find this
process very enjoyable.
12. Finally, recording yourself will really help with pronunciation.
13. Don’t be afraid to take risks and make lots of mistakes.

FLUENCY
What is fluency?
1. It is the ability to maintain a natural flow of language without unnatural hesitation,
pausing, or repetition.
2. The keyword above is underlined.
3. It has nothing to do with talking quickly.

What is coherence?
1. Coherence is the logical organizaiton, development, and connection of ideas.
2. Discourse markers/cohesive devices are only a small part of it.
3. It has nothing to do with putting a linking word at the start of every sentence.
4. It has nothing to do with “ideas”.

In order to get a higher band, you will have to think about:

1. Staying on topic.
2. Answering the question.
3. Developing your ideas and speaking at length.
4. Speaking at a natural pace.
5. Speaking without unnatural pausing, hesitation, or repetition.
6. Organizing ideas logically.
7. Signposting your language.

Why do you need to worry about both?

1. Your score will be the lowest you get out of the two.
2. Lots of people focus on linking words or cohesive devices and this actually lowers
their score for fluency.

How to get a higher score for fluency?

1. There are two types of pauses, hesitation, or repetition (PHR)
- language related
 - content related
2. You need to think about both of these if you are to avoid PHR.

Language related PHR:

1. Some countries have far worse problems with this than others.
2. Certain countries stress how important grammar and vocabulary are to their
students and this stays with people all their life.
3. My advice is: stop worrying about this in the test. You will not improve your
grammar and vocabulary by thinking very hard about it and your fluency will really
suffer.
Content related PHR:
1. At this level, this is far more common than language related PHR.
2. This is especially a problem with people like doctors who are used to giving
complex answers that must be correct.
3. There is no “correct” in the IELTS speaking test.
4. If soneone asks you a question in Part 1, it is about you, so there is no incorrect
answer.
5. It does not matter what you say, as long as you answer the question.
6. If they ask you what your favourite colour is, just pick any colour you can think of.
7. It’s also fine to make things up since it is not an honesty test.
8. For Part 2 and Part 3, they are not expecting a definitive answer to the question.
9. It is not a knowledge test. They want to know what YOU think about it.
10. I could do the test and just be asked about things I have never heard of
before and get a 9.

The psychological part of PHR:

1. Nerves and stress will affect this part of your score.
2. When I talk to students their fluency is always high, but when they go into “test
mode”, their fluency suffers.
3. Know that you are better prepared than 99% of the students.
4. Pretend you are talking to a friend, even if the examiner does not seem very
friendly 💀.

Part 1 development:
1. The key here is that your answers should not be too short, but not too long. 2-3
sentences is about right.
2. Very simply, answer the question and then add some more detail.
3. You can do this by including
 - explanations
- examples/personal experiences
- reasons
- effects
- comparisons
- detail
- concessions

Part 2 development:
1. The key here is talking for the full 2 minutes.
2. The examiner will stop you, so just keep talking.
3. If you stop, you will lose marks.
Part 1 organization:
1. Do not worry about organization in this part of the test.
2. Just answer the questions naturally with a bit of development and you will be fine.
3. These are just everyday questions about you, so no need to worry about
organization. If you answer the question, organization will flow naturally.

Part 2 organization:
1. You should do all of your organizing in the 1-minute preparation time.
2. This will allow you focus on just maintaining a nice flow of language for 2 minutes.
3. Use the strategy I suggested and combine it with the list of cohesive devices.

Part 3 organization:
1. This is the part where organization is the most important.
2. You will be discussing abstract ideas; therefore, it is more difficult for the listener to
understand what you are talking about.
3. Keep the listener in mind at all times. Ask yourself: “can the listener understand
what I’m saying?”
4. You can do this by using explanation, examples, and cocessions.
5. Your primary job remains answering the question.
6. Use my part 3 strategy and the discourse markers in this course and you will be
fine.

Signposting:
1. It is when we indicate to the listener where we are going next.
- “like” -> I’m going to give you an example
 - “actually” -> i’m going to state a fact or a correction
- “basically” -> i’m going to simplify something for you
- “the thing is” -> I’’m going to make an important point.
2. You are not going to use very formal language like “moreover” or “with regard to”.
This is not how normal people talk.
3. It should be informal/semi-formal

Signposting for Part 1:

1. Do not worry about this at all. We rarely use signposting when answering personal
questions.
2. If you use them naturally, it is great but focus on just answering the question
fluently.

Signposting for Part 2:

1. You should learn the normal, simple cohesive devices for each of the main things
you are going to do in Part 2.
- Introduction: “I’d like to talk about abcxyz”
- Description: “In detail/As for the details”
- Example: “Like”
- Personal experience: “Personally”
- Past: “In the past”
- Future: “I think we’ll probably see/Maybe there’ll be”

How to improve?
1. Talk to people.
2. Record yourself with language focus and fluency focus.
3. Do a preactice test for real.
4. Practice development and organizing using my strategies.
5. Learn some simple, easy to use cohesive devices and be ready to use them for the
most common functions.
6. Think of everything in English.
7. Push yourself out of your comfort zone.

PRACTICE and FINAL TEST DAY

Did you understand everything?
1. Probably not, but don’t worry.
 2. You should not go and look at the complete course again. This is a form of
procrastination.
3. Look at the tests for each module. Focus on the things you got wrong.
4. Focus on anything you find confusing.

Consolidation:
1. Now is the time to review the notes you should have been making throughout the
course.
2. Writing things in your own words is a great way to consolidate.

Getting the most from my course:

1. Do not cherry pick.
2. Do not mix with another course.
3. Follow it exactly.
4. Don’t ask “Yes, but…: questions.

Establish your weaknesses:

1. Don’t waste time trying to improve everything. Only improve your weak areas first.
2. You will probably know your weak areas already.

Exam day:
1. 24 hours of English.
2. Get a good sleep.
3. Have a good breakfast and pack a lunch with plenty of energy drinks and snacks.
4. Get there early. Make sure you know exactly where you are going.
5. Do not worry about the examiner.
6. You must put on a performance for 20 minutes.
7. Speak to the examiner like you know them.
8. When it is over, celebrate and move on.