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