hi there it's asiya you know i've already lost count of how many times i've taken the ielts exam
but i definitely talked to several different examiners and
could get a real view of what ielts speaking exams are like
today i'd like to share this experience with you and tell you about the strategies that
can help you not only survive this test but also get a higher score okay let's get started
from my experience i can tell you that partly your experience depends on your examiner's personality
for example let's call him examiner number one he had a little chat with me before the exam started
he asked my name and where i lived and why i was taking this exam others didn't do
that however there is a way to know for sure if a question is part of your exam or it's just a chat
the exam officially begins when the examiner asks you if they can record it whatever is recorded
is assessed another thing that stood out uh was that that examiner had no hesitations about
interrupting me and did that quite often generally your examiner may interrupt you for
different reasons for example they manage time so they may need to move on to the next question
or they just want to push you a little to see how well you can cope with counter arguments
in this case they may ask is it always so why do you think so in this way they encourage you to
prove your point and demonstrate your skills i must say that all those interruptions
felt a bit intimidating but you should know that they don't affect your score directly
be prepared that you may be interrupted and just try to switch to the next question straight away
of course if the examiner asks the same question again this means that you are not answering it
it may happen when you're stressed just try to concentrate and answer it directly the second
time around another thing about my examiner number one was that he showed no reaction to what i was
saying he had a complete poker face so there was no encouragement examiner number two was different
basically i was sitting in the corridor waiting she opened the door and called me
before i could say hello she said this exam is recorded like okay no chad however she was very
gentle during the exam smiled and naughty to show that she was following what i was saying and when
she wanted to interrupt me she showed that she wanted to speak so i could quickly finish my idea
and let her ask me the next question of course if i just kept on talking she would have to stop me
so if you see that your examiner wants to speak let them the first two examiners were
british and i took those exams in london examiner number three was canadian that's when i took the
ielts indicator test online from home by the way soon there will be an ielts academic test
you can take from home it's called ielts online and i'll tell you more once i know more
but i was telling you about my examiner she was much more outgoing laughed and even joked a bit
that was nice but even if your examiner is very friendly you shouldn't lose your concentration
they all mark you using the same criteria and i'm telling you this to show that the atmosphere
during your exam may be different but you should be prepared for this and not let it
affect your performance whether your examiner is friendly or moody whether they are smiling at you
or looking somewhere else you're always marked the same way ielts speaking tests
are assessed using four criteria and a number of requirements you can find all of them in
the document called ielts ban descriptors ultimately examiners assess how effectively
you can communicate in english and if you can express your thoughts on a variety of topics
clearly and naturally for your ielts speaking strategy it means this first of all don't try to
be formal of course you should be respectful and avoid slang or any rude language but you should
still speak informally like people do for example if i'd say my birthplace is a former capital
of kazakhstan called al-mati this answer would sound weird because people don't speak this way
be more natural i was born in almaty this is the former capital of kazakhstan
and don't try to be original you're not required to stand out or say something remarkable
it's okay to give boring answers for example how do you usually spend your evenings well
i try to go to the gym a couple of times a week sometimes i meet friends or go shopping
but on most days i just cook dinner and watch some tv maybe it's not fancy but that's what a
lot of people do me included next don't try to be smart a common problem in ielts speaking is
i don't know what to say and i regularly catch myself on this thought sometimes i do struggle
to come up with an idea for part 2 story but in most cases what it really means is i don't
have anything interesting or smart to say that i think would be worth listening to just say
whatever comes to mind don't future it your ideas and knowledge are not assessed if your friend
asked you this question you would say something right the next advice is don't try to give
complex answers it's true that your vocabulary and grammar are assessed the more words you
know and the more grammatical structures you use the higher your ultimate score is
however you shouldn't try to hack this exam don't try to deliberately choose complex words or think
that you must find a place to use that past perfect passive tense you were learning last
night instead concentrate on answering questions naturally and to the point and your skills will
shine through next learn to manage time your examiner is responsible for managing time however
your test will go more smoothly if you feel how much you need to say if your answers are too short
you're not demonstrating your english if they're too long there will be a lot of interruptions
which may be distracting in my online courses i even give pre-recorded tests with gaps after each
question and when students take those tests they learn how long their answers should be obviously
some answers can be shorter and some longer but after all time limits are the same for everyone
you could try taking a timed test on your own part one must be between four and five minutes long
take a stopwatch and ask yourself questions on three topics around 12 questions and try to answer
all of them in about five or six minutes but definitely not less than four minutes part two
the instructions say that you must talk for between one and two minutes
you should aim to talk for two minutes to fully demonstrate your english
set a timer and talk until your time is up by the way you don't need to finish your answer
part three is a discussion which means that the examiner will be helping you develop your answers
by asking some follow-up questions it must last between four and five minutes
at home take five or six main questions and try to answer them in five or six minutes my next
tip is to practice answering recent questions even though the database of ielts questions
is large certain topics are reused over and over find questions from recent exams and practice
answering them if your exam is soon practice answering those you find particularly difficult
and don't learn your answers by heart you'll be penalized
i actually have a collection of recent ielts writing and speaking topics and you can download
it in the pdf format on our telegram channel the link is in the video description below
thank you so much for watching me today good luck with your preparation and your exam