- Hi there, I'm Michelle
I am one of the teachers here at IELTS Advantage.
Today, I've got a short lesson for you
on how to use the right kind of language
to score a seven or higher in the speaking test.
So we're not gonna talk about
this in any kind of general terms.
We're actually gonna focus on one particular word.
That's it, one particular word.
That's a great word, if you wanna get seven or higher.
And the word is get, yep you heard me correctly, it is get.
Now you might be thinking, well I already know this word,
it's really easy,
like miss don't you know
I need a really high score in the speaking test
so this is gonna be a waste of my time.
And if you think that,
then you probably don't understand
exactly what idiomatic means.
So in the band descriptors
for the vocabulary score to get a seven
something you absolutely have to do
is show the examiner that you know some idiomatic language.
Idiomatic does not mean idioms,
it's a really common misconception.
Please don't use idioms,
please don't waste your time studying idioms,
it will lead to mistakes
and it will not increase your score.
Idiomatic language simply means
expressing things naturally
the way a native speaker would say it.
And native speakers use get all the time.
So what we're gonna do today
is we're going to look at get,
I'm gonna show you some of the different meanings
and uses of the word.
Some you might know some you might not
and then at the end,
I'm gonna give you a couple of ideas
for how you can practice using get and other words like get
so that you can show the examiner
that you have idiomatic language
and you can increase your speaking score.
Then there'll be another little task at the end
for you to complete.
And it'll give you a chance to compare your answers
with other students' answers as well.
So let's take a look now
really in depth at the word get.
So now let's take a really close look at the word get.
I've got 12 different meanings of the word here.
We're gonna go through each one of them.
And I'm gonna give you some examples.
But what I really want you to do
is I want you to think about whether or not you were aware
of this meaning of get
and then also really importantly,
whether or not you ever use it
to express these particular ideas.
So it will start at the top here with obtain or buy.
So let's say that in the morning
I have milk in my tea, and I finished the milk,
so now I'm at work and I'm gonna come home.
So I need to buy some milk on my way home.
But I probably wouldn't say I need to buy some milk,
what I would say is I need to get some milk.
I need to get some milk on my way home.
This is the most natural way of expressing this idea.
So when you think about your own use of English,
would you ever use get to express this kind of idea?
Or would you always use buy?
I need to buy some milk
or would you ever say, I need to get some milk.
If you can use get instead of buy
use get instead of buy, why?
Because it's more idiomatic.
Idiomatic language will increase your vocabulary score
in the speaking test.
Bringing, now bring get do have different meanings
but there is a meaning of bring that means get.
So for example,
let's say we went to the mall, right?
We went to the mall, we went shopping
and it's raining outside
So I don't wanna walk to the car
from the mall 'cause I'm going to get wet.
So my husband is very nice, and what he would say to me is
wait here while I get the car.
You would never say wait here while I bring the car,
that's what it means but he would never say that
he would say, wait here while I get the car.
Receive, so think about birthday presence, right?
So how would you use get
if you're talking about receiving a present
or you might say I got a new phone
for my birthday, understand?
This one, I think that everybody probably knows, right?
So you could say to somebody
I don't know why you are laughing, I don't get the joke.
Meaning that I don't understand, I don't get it.
I don't get it.
I don't get the jokes.
You can get a joke.
You can also just get someone, I don't get you, right?
I don't understand you, I don't get you.
Teachers might ask this of their students.
Do you get it?
Do you understand it?
So yes get means understand,
but I just told you a couple more examples
that you might not have been aware of
like getting a joke, getting someone.
So yes, there are 12 sort of meetings of get here
but there's lots of different ways to use it.
Move somewhere, move somewhere.
Okay, let's say that mom is, I know
mom is downtown and she has got her kids
and she's got some young kids with her
and one of the kids starts running towards a busy road.
Now, what is mom going to shout at the kid?
Mom's gonna shout get back here or get over here.
Which means to move, move where? Next to mom.
So you can move somewhere
but you can also move something somewhere.
So let's say I'm coming home,
I've done the grocery shopping,
So my hands are full,
I've got bags of groceries in both hands
and I come to my front door
and my keys are in my pocket or my keys are in my purse
and I can't get them 'cause my hands are full.
So if I have somebody with me, I might say
can you get my keys out of my bag?
So that's moving something
the keys somewhere out of the bag.
So can you get my keys out of the bag?
So that's the moving something somewhere.
You can also arrive somewhere.
I think everybody is probably familiar with this as well.
So think about, what time do you get home from work?
But when I do mock speaking tests with RVIP students,
so many times I hear students talk about arriving.
Like what time they arrive at work,
What time they arrive home?.
It's not wrong, but it's not idiomatic.
Saying get is idiomatic.
This is going to increase your score.
If you say I get to work, I like to get to work early,
I usually get home at around seven.
This is exactly the kind of language
that the examiner is looking for.
Make somebody or something, do something
let's do make somebody do something.
So let's say that my kitchen tap is leaking.
So the water keeps on going drip, drip, drip, drip.
Maybe some of you can fix your own kitchen tap,
I cannot fix my own, so I have to get a plumber to fix it.
I need to get a plumber to fix it.
You can also make something do something
like close a window.
Let's say the window was stuck.
I couldn't get the window to close.
I couldn't make the window close,
We get the window to close.
You can have the opportunity to do something.
Have any of you ever flown first class? Right ?
When I went on my honeymoon, I got to fly first class.
So that's the opportunity to do something.
When you get in the car with your family
who gets to sit in the front seat?
Okay who gets to sit in the front seat?
You can become.
Now there's lots of different things you can become.
You can get sick, you can get rich
you can get wet or you can get married.
There's loads of different things
that you can become.
To travel somewhere.
So how do you get to work, right?
Do you get the bus?
Do you get the train?
Do you walk?
So what else can you get?
We can get a bus.
This is what need to know
if you're going to use the word properly.
What can you get?
Let's talk about traveling, okay.
So you can get the bus, you can get train.
Can you get a taxi? Yes.
Can you get an airplane?
No, no, you would never get a plane,
but you would get a bus, you get a train
or you could get a taxi.
Answer the phone or answer the door.
So if I'm busy,
and Amazon comes to deliver a package
and they ring the doorbell and it goes, ding dong,
I will shout to someone else at home.
So if it's my husband, he's at home, I will say
can you get the door?
I don't think I would ever say, can you answer the door.
Pretty sure I would never say that.
I would always say, can you get the door?
Same for if you've got a phone in your house
like not a mobile phone,
but the phones that are connected to the wall
the old fashioned kind of phones,
if that's ringing right?
And mom's busy in the kitchen,
mom will shout at one of her kids
can someone get the phone.
So to get the phone is to answer the phone.
So there, we've gone through
a couple of different meanings of get
and you are going to be able to apply this information
with the task that I am going to set you.
So now that we have studied the word get a little bit
I wanna give you some ideas for how you can practice.
So what I want you to do is
I want you to go online and find a blog
written by a native speaker on any topic,
any topic that you're interested in
and read it.
But the important thing is that you read something
where the writer is using informal language.
Then, what I want you to do is
I want you to get a piece of paper,
or if you have a vocabulary notebook
use your vocabulary notebook
and write down every time you see the writer use get
and think about what the writer means
when they use get in that instance.
And then, when you're done
you can do the same thing for make and have and do.
These are other delexical verbs
these verbs that have like
10, 20 different meanings and uses
these words that show the examiner
that you have some awareness of idiomatic language
which is exactly what the examiner is looking for.
The mistake that most students make
is they use the word that you find
if you think of a verb in your own language
and you check the dictionary, right?
And this is not actually the way it native speakers speak.
So do, make, have get.
These are great words, if you are aiming for
advanced seven or higher in the speaking test.
So that's what you can do on your own
in a way that you can work on improving your vocabulary
every single day by yourself.
Now here's what I want you to do now,
and I want you to post your answers down below.
I'm going to ask you three questions
and I just want you to give me
a one or two sentence answer to both of them.
And in each answer,
I want you to use the word get, okay?
So the first one is
tell me three things about your daily routine.
The second is, or number two is,
tell me about something that made you frustrated.
And number three,
tell me about one of your hopes for the future.
So that said those three questions.
Post your answers down below
compare your answers with other students' answers,
If you think another student made a mistake,
that's great practice.
If you can spot the mistake and you know how to fix it
you can of course give each other feedback as well
in the comments.
And it's a great way to help each other learn
and help each other improve your vocabulary.
Only nice comments though guys (laughs)
We're all trying to help each other here.
So if you found this useful
and you would like more help improving
and increasing your IO scores
then remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel right.
Bye-bye.
(upbeat music)