IELTS SPEAKING TEST 

It is important that you are relaxed when taking this test. It is understandable that you will be under
considerable tension created by the examination situation. Nevertheless, take a deep breath, and try
to look self-assured. The examiner is trying to assess your language communication capabilities.
He/she will not be able to assess you unless you speak up The test is designed to give you ample
chance to answer a variety of questions. It does not matter if all the things that you say are not true. 

Answer in complete sentences. Keep talking until the examiner interrupts you or goes to the next
question. Start speaking within the time it takes one to count to 5. If you need time to think say
something like "That's an interesting question." or just repeat the question in a form like "You'd like
me to tell you about (topic)." 

Do you have anyone who speaks English to train with? (You don't need anyone proficient as long as
they can read a bit.) Hand them the list of speaking questions and have them ask questions at
random. 

If you get stuck on vocabulary try to describe what you mean. Don't sit there knitting your brow and
allowing the tension to rise. "Oh, the word I'm looking for has slipped my mind." is a good phrase to
introduce a description if you can remember it. If you get utterly lost, say something like, "I'm afraid
I've talked myself into a corner. Let me start over." or better "I don't think I should continue in this
vein. Let me say it in a different way." and start answering the question in a different way. 

You will be assessed on the following criteria: 

- ability to communicate effectively 

- ability to use appropriate vocabulary and structures 
- ability to take initiative in a conversation 
- general fluency 
- organization of thoughts and points 
- content (totally relevant/ sometimes irrelevant/ totally irrelevant) 

This test is divided into 3 different sections. Initially you will be asked the so called "warming up"
questions such as your name, the place you come from, etc. Here you should demonstrate your skills
in providing extended answers rather than just an outright YES, NO or other similar one word
answers. Attaining fluency takes plenty of practice and so make it a point to converse in English with
others. Another aspect is to THINK IN ENGLISH. Let your thoughts be in English rather than in your
own language. 

Don’t learn chunks of answers. The examiner is trained to spot this and will change the questions. 
Develop your answers as much as possible. 
Speak more than the examiner. 
Ask for clarification if necessary. 
Remember it is not a test of knowledge and there is no single answer, but ensure that you give your
opinion. Don’t worry if you feel it is not sophisticated enough. 
The areas covered are fairly predictable and not infinite so practise at home by recording ideas onto a
tape recorder 

In the second part of the test, the examiner will give you a topic on which you will have to speak for 2
minutes. You will be given 1 minute to prepare your talk. Don't be afraid to jot down your points in a
piece or paper and plan your answer. Then start talking ! If you do not plan your answer, you may
end up running out of ideas for the talk. 

During the Examination : 

Let your volume be normal, not too loud 
Do not speak too fast else you will run out of topic material or the examiner may not understand you 
Maintain eye contact with the examiner 
Do not show any signs of nervousness even though internally you might be 

Here are some samples questions which could be useful. Try answering them. 

1. What is the meaning of your given name? 

2. Does your name affect your personality? 
3. Tell me something about your hometown. 
4. What are the differences in accent between your hometown and (test city)? 
5. What is the character of the people like in your hometown? 
6. What is people's favourite food in the region where you live? 
7. Are there any traditional festivals in your region? 
8. Tell me something about a local Festival. 
9. How have weddings changed in recent years? 
10. Describe a traditional wedding ceremony. 
11. How do (Nationals) usually celebrate birthdays? 
12. Are there any traditions concerning the birth of a baby? 
13. How do you like (test city)? Compare it to your hometown. 
14. What place do you like best in (city)? 
15. What places in (your city/test city) should a foreigner visit? 
16. What places would you recommend a visitor to go to in your region/hometown? 
17. If you had the choice, where would you choose to live in (your country)? 
18. Which parts of (your country) would you recommend a foreigner to visit? 
19. Tell me something about your family. 
20. Which is the worst place you've been to in (your country)? 
21. Who takes the greatest responsibility for bringing up your child in your family? 
22. Which is the best place you've been to in (your country)? 
23. Who does most of the household chores in your family? 
24. Are the traditional sexual roles within the family changing? 
25. Why is the divorce rate increasing so rapidly? Is it a problem? 
26. What is your opinion of the (some problem) situation in (your country)? 
27. How are children disciplined in (your country)? 
28. Is it acceptable for couples to live together without marrying? 
29. If you had the choice, would you have a son or a daughter? 
30. Would you bring your child up any differently to the way your parents did? 
31. Who is your favorite musician? 
32. Do women still have too heavy a burden in their day to day life? 
33. Is the increasing influence of American culture largely a positive or negative thing? 
34. What, according to you, has been the greatest change in recent years? 
35. What, according to you, has been the most problematic change in recent years? 
36. What, if you are a lecturer what changes have you seen in education over the past few years?) 
37. Who should bear the responsibility for payment of tuition fees? 
38. What can be done to improve education in rural areas? 
39. Have recent changes affected your job in any way? 
40. Do you agree with private education? 
41. What can be done to close the gap between urban and rural areas? 
42. If you had the power, what reforms would you carry out within education? 
43. Describe a typical working day for you. 
44. How do you see yourself in ten years time? 
45. If you had the opportunity to change your job, what would you do instead? 
46. If you had one million (local currency), what would you do with it? 
47. If you could start your life again, would you do anything differently? 
48. Do you have any ambitions? 
49. Which country/place would you most like to visit? 
50. What changes do you think (your country) will see in the next few years? 
51. Will any possible future changes affect your job in any way? 
52. How do you think you will cope in (your host country)? 
53. What do you do in your spare time? 
54. What will you do if you fail the IELTS? 

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These tips will help:

1. Unless your pronunciation is particularly poor, don't waste time on pronunciation lessons. It is much
more beneficial to spend the time acquiring a good range of vocabulary and structure.

2. This is easy to say, but don't be nervous. Think of is like this: if you are really nervous and can't speak
then your score will be poor. If you are confident and speak freely, you will have no idea what your score
will be - it could be great!

3. Remember your job is to give the assessor something to assess - if you only say 'Yes' or 'No' during the
interview, the assessor won't be able to give you a good score. Your job is to give the assessor as much
as possible to consider. This means speaking as much as you can. Don't go off topic and don't talk about
anything that comes into your head, but speak as much as you can. The assessor will stop you when he
is ready.

4. Remember the assessor won't prompt you to speak. If you don't say enough he/she will go onto the
next question. If you continue not to say enough, the interview could be very short!

5. Don't ask the assessor what questions mean. All he/she can do if you don't understand is repeat the
question. You can though ask the examiner to repeat a question if you are not sure you understood it.

6. As with the writing test, don't show off. Some candidates the interview as a way of showing the
assessor what you know. They use sophisticated vocabulary and difficult grammar without really
knowing how to use both. The result will be a decline in how well you speak and your score will go
down.

7. Extend your answers by giving reasons: 

a. "I don't really like going to the cinema." 
b. "I don't really like going to the cinema because it's expensive and I don't like crowds very much."

Phase 1 Tips 

8. In the first phase of the speaking test, the assessor will ask you questions about yourself. Research the
topic! The assessor might say "Tell me about your parents' jobs." If you don't know anything about
them, you will be stuck. It can be surprising how little people know about their own situation.

9. Consider this phase of the test meeting someone for the first time and telling them about yourself.
Try to be relaxed and keep the conversation going.

10. Don't worry about lying - this is not a test of if you are a good person. If the assessor says "Tell me
about your hobbies and interests" and you reply "I don't have any" then you aren't saying enough to
allow the assessor to assess you. In situations like this, lie. Make up the wildest story you can imagine.

Phase 2 Tips 

11. In Phase 2 of the speaking test. You are asked to make a presentation on a topic. It will always be
something person, like talking about a holiday you went on. After the test, many candidates suggest
they didn't know about the topic which is why they couldn't answer the question. Clearly, this can't be
the case. What they mean is they couldn't answer the question because they couldn't think of what to
say. If this is the case for you, during the one minute you have to prepare, brainstorm your answer. For
example, the assessor my ask you to talk about a holiday you really enjoyed. On you piece of paper,
write down questions words: 

Where? 
When? 
Why? 
What? 
Who with? 
How? 
Etc.

When you have asked the questions, answer them: 

Where? Chiang Mai 

When? last year 
Why? celebrate end exams 
What? climbed mountains / saw hill tribes 
Who with? uni friends 
How? bus from Morchit Etc. 
If you then 'expand' (say as much as you can about) your answers you should fill up your two minutes
easily. 
12. One of the things you must do in both phases of the speaking test is show a range of grammar
structures. In phase two you might be asked to talk about a holiday you had. This is the answer: 

'We went to Thailand for our holiday last year. First we went to Bangkok and saw the Grand Palace.
Then we went to Ayuthya and saw the ancient city. After that we went to Chiang Mai and met the hill
tribes. Finally, we went to Chiang Rai and saw the hill tribes, too." 

Although grammatically perfect, there are only a few sentence structures used. We could change this by
changing the order of things: 

"Before going to Chiang Rai and seeing the hill tribes we visited Ayuthya and went to the ancient city." 

This adds another structure to the answer 'Before + Verb + ing' - this will improve your score. Take some
time now to look at the answer above and consider as many ways possible including more sentence
structures.  

13. You can't ask the assessor direct questions about a presentation topic, but it is permissible to 'scope'
what you can talk about in a presentation. For example you can as I talk about the hill tribes in Chiang
Mai?" The assessor will answer 'Yes' or 'No'. 
Phase 3 Tips 
14. Phase 3 is where the final score is given to a candidate. This is the part of the test where you must
excel. Do the best that you can here without trying to hard or getting yourself into problems. Although a
number of sources suggest that scores are averaged between the three phases of the speaking test, this
stage is where the 'ceiling' is established - you can't get a higher score than your performance in phase
3.
15. Phase 3 is much more like a conversation between you and the assessor. Here he/she doesn't have a
script and can ask you anything he/she wants. If you go off topic, the assessor will make attempts to
make sure you stay on topic - there's no point in rehearsing a speech! 

16. Amongst other things, in Phase 3 you will be asked to speculate about the future, give and opinion,
suggest a solution to a problem, or describe a process or procedure. Try to come up with a complete
answer. If you are asked how you would solve traffic problems worldwide, don't just talk about buying
more buses; consider where the money for the buses would come from, explain how you would raise
the money for the buses and persuade people who to use them. This will certainly impress the
assessor.  
17. Make eye contact with the assessor. Although theoretically you could speak great English with your
head down, the fact is you may not come across as confident. Although there is no mark for confidence,
you need to present yourself in as positive way as possible.