what museum would you like to visit?
mmm
do you like chocolate?
no
what is your favorite wild animal?
I have no idea
hi there it's Asiya if any IELTS speaking questions catch you off-guard
and you don't know what to say this video is for you
right now I'd like to share with you some tips and techniques that will help you answer any question okay let's get started
in the IELTS speaking test you are asked general questions about your life experiences and opinions
examiners are not trying to ask you anything controversial and they're not expecting any
specialist knowledge either there are times however when you may be asked about something
you have no experience of or when your answer is a simple no how do you deal with situations like
this will tell the examiner a lot about your ability to use English for band 6 or 7 score
you will be expected to speak at length and for an 8 or 9 you will be expected to speak fluently
but what about if you don't know the answer or the answer is no the first thing to remember when
speaking English and this is not just in exam situations never use one word answers native
speakers especially in the UK only use one word answers if they are upset annoyed and want to
be unfriendly for example if you ask your partner are you mad at me and they reply no the answer is
clear using one word answers even has a name it's called grey rocking so if you're asked do you like
playing sport don't just say no the bare minimum you should reply is yes I do or no I don't and in
the exam you should follow up with an example or a reason this could be yes I do I especially like
watching football with my friends we often meet in a pub to watch a game on Saturday afternoons or no
I don't I prefer playing sport myself I find that playing basketball tennis is much more fun than
watching others play there are times when you may be asked about something you haven't experienced
this is nothing to worry about you have two options first you can explain why not for example
have you ever had a very bad travel experience I've never actually had a bad travel experience
perhaps that's because I don't travel much you see I have a dog a cat and two goldfish
so traveling is a challenge when we talk about these non-experiences use the present perfect
with never to start the sentence your other option is to talk about other similar experiences
in this case we usually give other examples using the past simple continuous or perfect
as a matter of fact I've never had a bad travel experience although I had a terrible holiday
once I was about 15 years old and we stayed at a hotel that had no hot water and no electricity or
I can't recall ever having a bad travel experience however I remember a time when I had just finished
my exams and a group of friends and I went and so on most likely your examiner will interrupt
you soon after that in part one there is no time to tell long stories so try to keep your examples
to a couple of sentences here are some useful expressions for when you haven't done something
I've never actually done that but as a matter of fact I have never done that however I can't
actually recall doing that although although you won't be asked anything that needs expert
knowledge you may be asked something you have never thought about or don't have an opinion on
however you will lose marks for task achievement if you can't give a full natural-sounding answer
so here are some answers that are not acceptable I don't know that I have no idea what the solution
is to use fillers these expressions give you time to think and are a natural part of any language
in this situation after using a filler you will have to give your opinion or you can use the first
or second conditional these are sentences with if to talk about hypothetical unreal situation
what would happen if parents overly encouraged their children the first phrase is I've never
really thought about that but I've never really thought about that but perhaps their children will
get stressed and start to underperform instead another alternative is this is a tough one I think
that's a tough one I think parents who encourage their children too much are going to end up
pushing them away that's a tricky one but in my opinion that's a tricky one but in my opinion
too much of anything is bad the children are going to get stressed and in the end
they aren't going to thank their parents you can also say well I'm not exactly sure but maybe if
well I'm not exactly sure but maybe if parents push kids too hard the children will just resent
it next well to be honest that's something that I've never considered before but if
well to be honest that's something I've never considered before but if I were in
this situation I wouldn't be encouraged I would just feel stressed these fillers are great but
don't overuse them if you can give a direct answer to the question go ahead and give it
if you are using fillers try to vary them because you know there are already stories
about candidates beginning each answer with this is a good question so don't be one of them you
should also practice answering typical questions well there are too many IELTS Speaking topics and
questions to practice answering all of them but every IELTS speaking exam begins with one of these
topics your family your hometown your home or your work studies and preparing your answers for these
topics can help you get a good confident start I actually have a PDF guide with common questions my
sample answers and some useful vocabulary for these topics and you can download it via the
link in the description just remember that all your answers should sound natural not memorized
practice learn the vocabulary but don't learn your answers by heart there may be times when
you don't know what to say because you didn't hear or understand the examiner he or she will
be happy to repeat the question and will probably say it in a different way to help you understand
you should always use friendly English even when you're stressed because this is part of
task achievement so don't use one word requests like what repeat ah instead say sorry I didn't
catch that would you mind repeating it or I wonder if you could say that again please
would you mind saying that again please
if you need a specific word repeated oh the examiner is probably going to paraphrase anyway
use the following expressions I'm sorry I'm not sure what social media means
or I'm a little confused by fake news could you explain what that means please many questions ask
you if you agree or not or if you like something or not saying yes is relatively straightforward
saying no is trickier when we say no we need to give a polite answer and provide more information
this could be a reason or you might want to say why you would or wouldn't like to do it
before saying no we often make our response softer and less direct by using these phrases
the question is would you say your town is a good place to live
so the first word is actually actually no I wouldn't it's a little too quiet for me
I would like to live in a place where there were more bars cinemas and more things to do you can
also begin by saying as a matter of fact as a matter of fact I'm not too keen on my city it's
not very exciting and I'd like to live somewhere that had more interesting career opportunities
the next one is well in actual fact well in actual fact it's not so good it's too busy and there is
too much going on there I'd prefer living in a place that is quieter greener and offers a
better work life balance please note that we can use actually at the start of a sentence
like in the first example or before the verb for instance well I haven't actually lived in
my current city for very long but before moving there I lived in another typical way of saying
no is to use not very plus a positive adjective this is rather than saying your city is boring
and dull you can use a positive word also if you're going to say something negative it's
good to balance it with something positive or talk about how the situation could be improved
for example what's the most interesting part of your town or village
actually my town isn't very interesting it's small and most of the residents are retired it is
in a beautiful part of the country though and all around the lovely walks and places to go and relax
or as a matter of fact my town isn't too exciting and what it needs are some better facilities for
younger people things like some lively bars and a few more cinemas and clubs balancing is not just
a good way to be less negative but it also means that you can extend your answers you can also use
linking words that will make your speaking more cohesive and help you get a higher band score for
instance our question is do you make plans every day as a matter of fact I don't make many plans
however I do have a general idea of what I need to do for example yesterday I and so on or not really
I don't like making too many plants although I have a good idea of what things I need to
do on a certain day for instance or no never but despite this I'm very well organized once I went
practice using these techniques and you get better at answering unexpected IELTS speaking questions
actually even if you can't answer a couple of questions smoothly try not to worry about it
examiners assess your ability to communicate in English and not your ability to quickly
come up with ideas by the way don't forget to download the PDF guide with questions answers
and vocabulary for the topics used at the beginning of your exam it's right here and
thank you so much for watching me today good luck with your preparation and your exam bye