starts the recording they'll quickly ask you a few identification questions your name where
you're from and check your passport we discuss these questions in this video what many IELTS
test takers don't realize is that the first set of questions that follows right after is very
predictable it's either about where you live or what you do so let me show you how to give
answers that will tell the examiner that you're a candidate for a high score okay let's get started
the examiner uses this first part of the test to form an impression and during this opening phase
is already making a mental note of your band score could be a good seven or sounds like a six so far
of course your Pand score can go up or down as the test goes on but this opening set of questions is
your chance to show The Examiner your English at its best this is how it all begins for real
now in this first part of the test I'd like to ask you some questions about yourself let's talk about
our first topic your hometown let's look at some sample questions think if these are good answers
or if something could Beed I've hidden a few common mistakes in some of those answers in this
video videos so can you spot them and the first question is do you come from a city a town or
a village I'm from a town about 100 kilm East of the capital city it's on the coast uh so there are
some great beaches and we also have a lot of green spaces like parks and Gardens apart from when I
went to study at University in the capital I've lived there all my life did you learn about the
history of your hometown at school not a lot to be honest I mean nobody famous ever came from there
although we learned a bit about how the town grew from being a small fishing Village to what it is
today a tourist destination because of the beaches and the natural beauty all around is your hometown
a good place for young people I suppose so it can get pretty Lively in the summer there's a
part of town where there are some great cafes and places to hear live music the location is amazing
uh because of the sea being so close and the hills that surround the town it's perfect if you want to
practice all kinds of aquatic sports or go hiking on the other hand it's a bit quiet during the off
season or when there aren't many tourists around a lot of places close down and it make get pretty
boring were these answers any good I think these are at least about eight or maybe even higher
depending on how the student progresses through other parts these were good answers no hidden
mistakes and there are two important points to note first of all with your answers try to be as
spontaneous and natural as possible and also try to give a short explanation or reasons for example
it's generally a good place for young people because of this and that on the other hand and
then give some drawbacks extending your answer remember that the examiner will ask you three
questions and would like this part of the test over in around 90 seconds instead of being asked
about your hometown you may get questions about your home let's talk about where you live do you
live in a flat or a house a house it's where my family lives I live with my parents and my younger
sister uh we moved there uh just after she was born what do you like about your house my room
and the kitchen I spend most of my time in one or the other in the future what kind of house would
you like to live in I've always dreamed about living in a big house with a beautiful garden
and a lovely view of the countryside what do you think about these answers Too Short well not even
close to 90 seconds you know one former examiner once told me that a test taker who doesn't say
much was her worst nightmare so don't be a nightmare you know what would happen in the
real exam well the examiner is is reading their questions from the examiner's booklet remember
that it's not until part three of the speaking test that the examiner has any real choice in
what to say or what questions to ask you in part one the questions themselves cannot be altered the
only follow-up question that is allowed is why or why not so let's go over the first question
again do you live in a flat or a house so the same short answer a house we moved in when my
sister was born why well we needed the space I guess why because uh the house where we lived
before was a bit crammed it only had two bedrooms and so my parents decided to find something bigger
that's better even better if you do it straight away without being interrogated with why question
giving Fuller answers will allow you to link your ideas better and use more complex sentences in
your answers of course even people who are quite talkative might need a little push to speak from
time to time but always try to give some kind of a full answer to each question instead of questions
about where you live The Examiner may ask you about what to do work or study your answer to this
question will determine the followup questions and whether you work or study yourself listen to both
sets of answers because I've hidden there some great lessons everyone will benefit from let's
talk about what you do do work or study I work I've been with a multinational company in the
manufacturing sector for quite a while what kind of work do you do and what what you would call a
financial accountant this means I'm responsible for Gathering and monitoring financial data and
then preparing statements on balance sheets and income as well as forecasting costs and revenues
on a monthly quarterly and yearly basis thank you what's the problem here it sounds prepared almost
like a job description The Examiner won't be interested in all these details and will interrupt
and move on to the next question remember never give a prepared or learned speech you'll be
wasting your time not improving your score also if you're talking about your job or studies never
get too technical or detailed The Examiner wants to test your English not your job knowledge it's
much better to talk in simpler terms let's try again what kind of work do you do I'm a financial
accountant that means I collect and analyze company financial data and other things like
tax and audits to make sure that side of business is running smoothly it's a lot of responsibility
but I like it much better why did you choose to do this kind of work ever since I can remember I was
always good with numbers and when it was time to decide on a university course it cting looked like
something I'd enjoy Also I have an uncle who is an accountant and he T me a few things about the kind
of work it involves and it sounded interesting do you think you work too hard well you have to
work under a lot of pressure and especially if you're closing the month or doing an audit you
find yourself working all hours until late in the evening and weekends too now what if you don't
work what if you study let's go back to the first question let's talk about what to do do work or
study I'm a student this answer is very short so you should try to give more details in the next
answer what do you study chemical engineering in some places they call it process engineering it's
all about finding ways to make industrial and manufacturing processes work perfectly facture
production lines that type of stuff at school uh chemistry was my favorite subject and that's why
I applied to do chemical engineering in fact we don't do much engineering or Much Chemistry it's
more about processes that was just the right level of technicality in the answer next what
is the most difficult part thought about your subject for me writing stuff I'm fine
with numbers and all that but when it comes to writing it's a real pain uh when we have to do
those lab reports it takes me ages to write stuff happy about this answer I'm not it's a little too
informal this test taker does use the word stuff or lot twice in this answer and once before it's
a great little word you can use to replace a noun you don't know once but don't overuse it and let's
also change the very colal or informal it's a real pain to something neutral basically there
is nothing wrong with using informal language but try to mix it with more precise and slightly more
formal language to show The Examiner your range of vocabulary and that you can use more complex
structures let's try again for me it's the written assignments I'm fine with numbers and calculations
but when it comes to writing I struggle we do courses that include laboratory work and we're
expected to write weekly reports on what we've done it takes me ages to finish one that's much
better next how useful will your studies be for you in the future extremely useful I'd love to
work in food production and what I'm studying uh finding ways to optimize processes would
help me to hopefully devise new techniques to increase production I've had an offer to do an
internship in a large multinational company later this year and I can't wait to get some
real hands-on experience these answers showed us an interesting mix of well constructed thoughts
in terms of vocabulary and grammar like finding ways to optimize processes devise new techniques
to increase production and some excellent more informal language I'm fine with numbers it takes
me ages or get some real hands-on experience I have speaking test questions vary here are
a few more possible questions you may be asked sets of questions are changed every few months
and of course they recycled over time you can find detailed answers and vocabulary for most
common and most challenging I speaking topics in our I speaking Library you can also download just
the questions for free on our telegram Channel all the links are in the video description box
below by the way did you know that I examiners ask 12 main types of questions in our speaking exams
learning what these are and how to answer them can really make a difference so watch this video
here and thank you so much for watching me today good luck with your preparation and your exam bye