Teacher EMMA

 

Hi there. My name is Emma and in today's video we will be looking at the IELTS, which is a test that ESL students take when they want to immigrate to certain countries such as Canada, Australia, England.

 

It's also a test some universities require students take. So if you want to study at an overseas university, you may have to take this test. So we will be looking at specifically the speaking section of this test, part three. So the speaking task has three different parts to it; part one, part two, part three. We will be looking at part three.

 

Okay, so first I will explain what happens in part three of the IELTS speaking test, and then I will look at some tips on how to do well, and also things you should not do. So let's get started. First of all, it's important to know how long this test, this part of the test will take. It takes between four to five minutes. Okay? And it's different than part two. In part two, the student is expected to speak for about two minutes and there's no interruption. In this part of the IELTS, it's more like an interview. The examiner asks you some sort of question, you respond. They ask you another question or they might ask you to go deeper into the first question. Okay? What types of questions are there? Well, sometimes they'll ask you to predict something, to analyze something, to compare. They might ask you to give your opinion. Often times, you're looking at the future as well. So for example: what sports do you think will be played in the future? Okay? So often --future questions. Part three is based on a theme.

In part two, you're given something to describe often -- it might be a historical building, it might be a teacher you really liked, it might be an object precious to you. Part three continues from part two, so whatever you talked about in part two, you're going to talk about in part three, but at a more abstract level. So what do I mean by this? Well, if in part two you talked about your favourite teacher, in part three you might be talking about education. You might talk about how it is different today than it used to be. Okay? So you might be looking at education. Some of the topics you may look at in part three: technology is very common, education, environment, TV influence, leisure activities, shopping, sports, transportation. So these are all very common topics, and so you'll be asked between four to six questions on these types of topics. So an example you may be asked: "How are education priorities different from those in the past?" Okay? So again, you have to state your opinion for this question.

 

All right, so let's look at some of the "Dos" and "Don'ts" for this part of the IELTS.

 

Okay, so let's look at some of the things you should do. Okay? So there's our smiley face, this is a good idea. The first one is: listen for keywords in the question. Okay? Sometimes you may not understand what the question is... try to listen for the keywords of the question. Do you hear the word "education", "school"? Listen and this will help you to understand the question better. If you still don't understand the question: ask. Okay? This is very important. It's okay to ask the examiner to repeat the question. If you don't understand, you can also ask for clarification. It's better to ask if you don't understand than to answer something completely different and wrong. Okay? So it's always better to ask. When you do answer the question, make sure, again, you don't give these short yes/no answers. Expand, give detail. Okay? Give examples, give reasons. It's very important to support your points. For example: maybe they ask you if girls and boys should go to separate schools. Okay? If you're asked that, you might say: "I think girls and boys should go to separate schools for three reasons. First of all, girls learn better when they're separated from boys. In my own experience, when I was a student, I was always distracted by boys." So you see what I mean? Give details, give examples. Stick to the topic. This is very important. If you're asked about education, talk about education.

 

Don't talk about your pets, don't talk about your hair; stick to education. I think this is actually the most important point out of all of them: think you're... Think you will do well. What do I mean by that? I think the IELTS isn't only testing you on your English, it's also testing you psychologically. Okay? You need to think positively. You need to think you will do well. If you think you will do well, you will definitely do better.