aubry how are you doing i'm all right how are you jessica i'm good i forgot that i had a mint
in my mouth um and if you're watching us on youtube you guys i just like i smiled
and i like i forgot i had a mint in my mouth and i was like oh no is there food in my teeth
no it almost flies out of your mouth you're like oh sorry that would be gross guys okay anyway we
of course are talking about ielts today um aubry what are we teaching our students today
yeah this is really fun and also so valuable for your score guys we're talking about their own c
and coherence score you need linking phrases but here's the trick some linking phrases are very
informal and some are very formal and you need to know the difference so that you know what to use
on speaking what to use on writing when to use them the tricky thing is they each have meaning
and they each have a certain level of formality and you need to know this before test day
yeah totally um i think the the most common feedback that i give students
in our personal coach classes when we're doing mock speaking tests tests the number one thing
i say is like you need to be more specific right tell me real places real people real
times like support your answers and that means we are providing facts even if it's just like a
an experience i had it's a fact i experienced that you know what i mean um we need to do that for
better fluency and coherent scores but then we also need the transition phrases like you said
but we can't always say like in fact i have been at this job for five years in fact i do love the
color blue right we can't eat them over and over right yeah exactly so um i actually thought of
teaching you guys this stuff this morning because i was going through something in my head i don't
remember what i was thinking about something and just to myself i was like but for reals
and then i stopped and i was like ah students should say that yes for sure i say that to myself
all the time right not like for reals to emphasize but it is very informal certainly wouldn't work
for writing so that's the tricky thing when you guys hear someone say something how do you know
if you can use it on writing or speaking you listen to this podcast that's how
yeah listen to energy by the way hit follow right now wherever you're listening if you're watching
us on youtube hit that subscribe button you guys um so let's give an example how could you guys use
this on the exam so we have to be more informal in speaking part one and part two so in part one
maybe you're asked do you like your neighborhood and i would say um uh yes and no i mean for real
there are homeless people like just within a three block radius seriously there are
a bunch of homeless people around here so i'm using informal phrases to introduce these
inconvenient facts about my neighborhood yes exactly right or if your question on the speaking
exam were tell me a time you had a problem while traveling for part two you could maybe even
start with um how much you love traveling say things you love and then you say but for reals
actually i've been in some dangerous spots in fact one time you tried someone tried to rob me
right so it's a great way to transition from something light-hearted something fun
to something more serious yeah and we could use like three of these phrases together right when
we're introducing the different details like um i for reals was robbed one time in madrid i was in
i don't remember which plaza i was in with my friend carissa and uh like for real these two
guys came up and it seemed like they were trying to flirt with us um but in reality they stole
our concert tickets we seriously we had two tickets to go see an offspring concert that night
and they like for reals took them right exactly right and then if you say but seriously
you know travelers need to really be careful and watch out for this type of thing right so just
like you're saying this isn't repetitive because you're introducing a new idea you're adding detail
it's going somewhere right exactly as long as you don't repeat for real for real for real um
don't repeat it use these different phrases so just to summarize those informal phrases for you
guys before we give you some more formal versions we can say but for reals or for real for reals is
more slangy i say that i totally say that um and then but seriously so that we use to introduce um
a more somber fact not a light-hearted fact right yep exactly and those are all perfect for
ielts speaking especially part one and two to get that variety of vocabulary you guys need for the
seven or higher on your vocabulary score but also writing right you need linking phrases for writing
so we want to share some more formal versions that mean the same thing but that you could use
on writing task 1 and task 2. and honestly like really all of these you could use anywhere on
the speaking test as well so i mean these are super flexible these ones that we're gonna tell
you now they're great for writing like aubrey said they're formal but like seriously i use these just
in normal conversation right like for example the first one in reality i i said that during
one of my previous examples so you can use these even for informal facts and i don't even if you
realized you did it you're just right there like but seriously i use these in daily coverage i know
no i totally meant to do that i'm like i'm really trying to give you guys a lot of examples
right for how we use them all the times yeah for sure okay so let's dive into the first one that's
a little more formal which is in reality which is a great more formal way to transition into any any
fact that is really true right so perfect for task one and task two it is interesting to think about
for general training if your task one letter is informal those first linking phrases are perfect
yeah these are for a formal letter or writing task two um so a note about in reality i feel like um
because you you said it's transitioning into something it is it's offering a contrast um so
in your writing like so let's use this example for task two violence and playgrounds is increasing
however it is important the parents should teach children not to hit back at bullies very
interesting topic and one that um other mothers and i have been discussing a lot because our kids
are all going into middle school this next year and uh there's a lot of fights in middle school
and you want them to be able to stand up for themselves it's so tricky you guys
maybe maybe we'll do a whole episode on our opinions about this because this is a for real
ielts question um but anyway so introducing the context uh in contrast i would say um i
uh formerly i was under the impression that there were far fewer fights these days than
when i was growing up but in reality there are still a high number of fisty cuff incidents
brawls that's a great question um in middle school yeah yes exactly right so you're contrasting
how it was when you were younger to what the reality is now exactly okay let's dive into
this next one which is very similar to say the truth is so this is very much synonymous
right in the same example you could say but the truth is there are just as many brawls
on the playground today as when i was young yeah or if you want to extend that linking phrase
we could say the truth of the matter is so that's even longer it's more impressive higher scoring
um now as a last phrase guys uh this is slightly different right but we're going to explain how to
use it so this last one is on a serious note so remember informally we say but seriously
if we want to introduce um a fact that's that's you know that is serious that is
not lighthearted so here we can use on a serious note if it is a more formal way of communicating
so um on a serious note this this does introduce a an opinion that is somewhat negative or support
for a negative example right so on a serious note i did read recently that um that violence on
campuses has increased by five percent in the last two years or something this would be really great
for part three speaking part three if there's a question about technology for example and you
start off a little bit light-hearted like oh man i'm addicted to my phone so i'm right there with
everyone else but on a serious note this is a real problem for children and we need to figure it out
right these man this is what i love about transition phrases guys transition phrases
are maps that's why in three keys ielts we give you the writing templates and it's basically just
showing you where to put transition phrases and what kind of ideas they introduce that's all you
need like if you practice using transition phrases your speech will automatically become more clear
more organized and more specific as long as you're using the linking phrases correctly but these are
maps not just for you but for the listener right so that's why you have to use these on the test
yes and it keeps you from that repetition of ideas by just summarizing and staying too general
because if you're just answering very generally without specific details
it's there isn't somewhere to put in a linking phrase it doesn't make sense right so instead when
you're armed with these linking phrases you know what they mean and when to use them that forces
you to get in that mindset of using details yep exactly could not have said it better myself um
so guys if you want to check out three keys aisle so remember we have every possible option for you
computer paper general academic no matter what ielts test you have to take
you don't want to take it multiple times right one and done and we guarantee that our course
increases score so check it out guys go to all airsenglish.com k-e-y-s all right rad aubrey
thanks for uh discussing these phrases today yes so fun i'll see you next time bye bye
you