Hi, my name's Pete Jones
and I've been helping IELTS candidates
through YouTube videos, my IELTS blog,
and my free online IELTS course for many years now.
For this video, I asked a student, Alvin from China,
to talk about an IELTS Speaking Part 2 topic
for two minutes.
Alvin got a Speaking band score 5.5
a few weeks before we made this recording,
and after we finished the video,
Alvin wanted some feedback on his speaking
before he took another test.
The IELTS Speaking Part 2 topic that I gave Alvin
was to describe a restaurant that he enjoyed going to.
So, I'm going to talk about
the restaurant which I enjoyed before.
In my memory, it is the most impressive...is in...
The restaurant is in Yunan.
When I was six years old, I went to Yunan
with my mum and families.
That is... actually... that is my first time
went out for a trip and...
I'm very exciting and,
when I got to there, I feel... I feel happy
and pleasure.
The restaurant named Yunan Restaurant.
Actually, it's contain hotel and restaurant and
swimming pool.
It's located in...
I didn't remember exactly but
it's close to a sea and it's very beautiful
when I sleep in the hotel.
I can eat many kinds of food in that restaurant.
For example, dishes, Chinese local dishes and
many special foods in Yunan
because Yunan is a very deep culture area in China
and...
That's make me very happy.
Thank you.
Do you often eat out in restaurants?
No, not really because my mum usually cook the food
that's my favourite.
So, you've just heard Alvin talking about
a restaurant he enjoyed going to,
and what I'd like to tell you now
is that this type of task,
describing a past experience,
is probably the most common type of
IELTS Speaking Part 2 task.
I told Alvin this,
and I'm telling you this now,
because a really common mistake to make
in the IELTS Speaking test
is to forget to use the past form of verbs
when describing a past experience.
If you think you make this kind of mistake yourself,
the first step to avoiding it
is to notice when you, or others, make it.
So to give you some practice,
I have a question for you.
Do you think Alvin said he 'feel' or 'felt' happy
when he went to the restaurant?
Listen again and notice if Alvin used
the present form or the past form of the verb 'feel'.
As you've just heard,
Alvin used the past form of the verb 'get',
he said 'When I got there',
but he used the present form of the verb 'feel'
when he should have said 'felt'.
If you listen back to everything that Alvin said
about his trip to the restaurant in Yunan,
you'll notice that he often used
present forms of verbs incorrectly
to describe past events.
So, for Alvin to improve his IELTS Speaking band score,
one thing he needs to do is
remember to use the past form of verbs
to talk about the past.
If you get an IELTS Speaking Part 2 task
that asks you to describe a past experience,
and remember that this is
probably the most common type of
IELTS Speaking Part 2 task,
a tip is to write the word 'PAST'
in capital letters on your notes
in the one minute preparation time
before you start speaking.
If you do this,
when you look at your notes,
you'll be reminded to use the past form of verbs
to talk about your experience.
For more IELTS tips,
subscribe now so you don't miss my next IELTS video.
Just before I go,
I'd like to thank New Zealand Language Centres
for providing this great location
for making this IELTS video.