IELTS Speaking Tips

 The four official marking criteria:

 Pronunciation
 Vocabulary
 Grammar
 Fluency/ Coherence
 General mistakes to avoid
 Vocabulary
 Overusing words like “good, nice, beautiful,
interesting, delicious…”
 Learn to paraphrase
 Can you say some positive & Negative words
(adj.) to describe a person?
 Well, Clever and smart, Bored and boring
 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
 How 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(gaining tender life), .
 Season of new life/rebirth
 Summer:
 Hot, rainy, wet (lots of rain), stormy, humid, sunny,
stuffy(airless), sweltering(boiling), sauna-like
 Learn to use a variety of descriptive 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
 Autumn/Fall:
 Cool, crisp, mild, cozy, clear sky, golden season,
azure(bright blue/) sky
 Golden season, season of harvest

 Winter:
 Cold, freezing, snowy, icy, short days, long nights
 Silver season, Christmas season
To compare two or more things
 Always think in terms of
 Cost/price
 Features (what makes it really what it is)
 Effects/ feelings
What are the differences between a
house and an apartment/flat?
House Flat

Price Expensive Cheap

(affordable)

Space Spacious Cramped

Location Far from town Near town

 Do you often go shopping? What do you buy?
 Common answers: Yes, I go for shopping. I buy
foods, drink, clothes, shoes etc. (listing things)
 Better answer: I often buy lots of different
things from food to drinks, from clothes to
shoes. Anyway, I enjoy shopping, ‘as it brings
me great joy.
 Food

 Avoiding overusing the word “delicious”

 Flavor: spicy, hot, sweet, sour, bitter, salty
 Cooking methods: boil, fry, steam, roast,
bake, grill,
 Topic/Cue Cards

 Four categories
 People
 Place
 Object (concrete and abstract)
 Event
 People Cards
 Who the person is/ name and relation
 What the person looks like/ physical description
 What the person is like (character and
personality)
 What the person does/has done/ contribution
 When and where you met this person
 Why you like/dislike/admire/choose to talk about
this person
 Character and Personality
 Kind, warm-hearted, easy-going, faithful,
honest, responsible, accountable,
trustworthy, reliable, compassionate
(sympathetic), humble
 A giving person, a man of his word, a
“me, me, me” person, an angel of mercy,
 Good character/personality impresses or
touches you
 You have learned a life lesson from them
 Story
 When---Time
 Long time ago?
 Several years ago? Many years back?
 Just last year?
 A few months ago?
 A couple of days ago?
 Feeling High or Down?
 Feeling:
 Sad, excited, thrilled, down(miserable),
frustrated, depressed, etc.