In the second episode of our IELTS 101 series, Nick and I introduce you to the IELTS speaking test. If you are just starting your IELTS preparation, then this is a great chance to understand what happens in each part of the test and what the examiner is looking for in your performance
You can find the full episode notes for this episode and a transcript of the conversation at http://podcast.myieltsclassroom.com/
Episode Notes
In this episode, Nick and I will start by taking you through all of the essential IELTS speaking test facts so that you clearly understand what the test involves and how your speaking will be assessed.
In this episode, you will learn
Hopefully, by the end of the lesson, you will not only know what to expect in each part of the test, but you will also know how to approach each part to maximise your score.
Useful Links
Rate and review My IELTS Classroom
If you are on Apple Podcasts, help us to help more people just like you by rating and reviewing our show. Reviews let other students - just like you - find our information-packed episodes and start their IELTS journey in the best possible way.
Remember, My IELTS Classroom offers a range of IELTS services:
In the second episode of our IELTS 101 series, Nick and I introduce you to the IELTS speaking test. If you are just starting your IELTS preparation, then this is a great chance to understand what happens in each part of the test and what the examiner is looking for in your performance
You can find the full episode notes for this episode and a transcript of the conversation at http://podcast.myieltsclassroom.com/
Episode Notes
In this episode, Nick and I will start by taking you through all of the essential IELTS speaking test facts so that you clearly understand what the test involves and how your speaking will be assessed.
In this episode, you will learn
Hopefully, by the end of the lesson, you will not only know what to expect in each part of the test, but you will also know how to approach each part to maximise your score.
Useful Links
Rate and review My IELTS Classroom
If you are on Apple Podcasts, help us to help more people just like you by rating and reviewing our show. Reviews let other students - just like you - find our information-packed episodes and start their IELTS journey in the best possible way.
Remember, My IELTS Classroom offers a range of IELTS services:
spk_0: 0:00
way.
spk_1: 0:03
Welcome to my ill scars from the podcast where two
spk_0: 0:07
ex examiners talk alot of things isles I'm Shelley Corning on I'm the clothes on
spk_1: 0:13
today. I'll
spk_0: 0:14
see 101 speaking test. What does the speaking test involved? What
spk_1: 0:20
will happen on your test day on how well
spk_0: 0:23
the examining judge your performance.
spk_1: 0:31
Hello. Welcome to today's episode. How you doing, Nick?
spk_0: 0:35
I'm really good today. Thank you. How are you getting on?
spk_1: 0:38
I'm fantastic. I played our first episode for some of my students and they absolutely loved it. So I'm super excited to get starting with today. I think today should be good because we're both X speaking examiners. So this should be our specialist topic.
spk_0: 0:53
Should be. Well, let's see if it is.
spk_1: 0:55
I hope so. Again, just to be clear, this is part of our isles 101 Siri's where we give basic information the students who were just starting their aisles preparation. So if you've been setting out for a long time again, I recommend that you jumped forward toe Episode six where you can hear Nick and I chatting about some more complicated isles topics. Although you are very, very welcome to stay if you want to. We're still gonna have a lot of fun. But if your new toe isles if you know nothing about the speaking test Fantastic. You are absolutely in the right place. So I think what Nick and I going to do today is we're going to take you through what happens on exam day. So from the moment the examiner opens the door to the minute you leave the test, But before that, we thought we'd like to take you through some of the basic information about the test. So, Nick, why don't you go through some of the isle speaking basics?
spk_0: 1:55
Okay, so the aisles speaking test is a 12 to 40 minute face to face interview with an examiner. A really person on that test is broken into three parts. The test is exactly the same for the academic on DH general training students, which we mentioned last week. So in part one, the Examiner will ask you questions on up to three topics. All the questions require you to talk about your own life on on kind of familiar topics like daily habits. Things that you like were hobbies, things like that then in part to the Examiner, will ask you to speak for between one and two minutes about a particular topic that is given to you on what is called a cue card. You'll have one minute Teo. Prepare before you speak and you're allowed to make notes during this time. And then finally, the hard part, Part three. You will have a discussion off a more abstract nature with the Examiner, and the questions in Part three will be based on the same topic as part two. So if your topic in Part two is about tourism or a place that you travelled to, then your questions in Part three will be connected to this topic to tourism. When the exam is over, the examiner will give you a score from 0 to 9 in four different areas, So the 1st 1 is fluency and coherence on. That is essentially how easily you can speak and be understood. The next one is lexical resource, which is the level of your vocabulary. The 3rd 1 is grammatical range and accuracy. So how many grammatical constructions do you use and do you use them correctly on finally pronunciation, which is how easily you can be understood and how you can use your voice to express yourself.
spk_1: 4:00
Fantastic. So that's the basic information about the test. But I think the best way we can help you to understand what will happen on Test Day is to take you step by step through the 15 minutes off your test. So let's imagine it's your test day. You're the students were feeling nervous. You registered with the administration, and now you're sitting waiting for the daughter open on for the Examiner to call your name on for the test to start. Honestly, I feel a bit sick, even imagining what that's like for a student. It's obviously very, very frightening. But when the door opens on, the Examiner calls your name. What's gonna happen, Nick?
spk_0: 4:45
So actually, there's a little bit of variation here, depending on the centre, so it could be the Examiner who calls your name. Or it could be an administrator who will take you to the Examiner. But either way, what happens is somebody will come and get you be at the Examiner or the administrator, and you will have a short walk to your room to your cabinet, where the exam will take place one on one with the Examiner.
spk_1: 5:11
Right? And I think so. When the Examiner or, you know, once you enter the room, do you think at that time, you know, What should you say at that time? Should you sit down quietly? Should you start speaking to the Examiner? Then what would you advise being that very, very first stage.
spk_0: 5:28
So I think the only real thing that you need to say is hello or good morning or good afternoon. You don't want to be thrusting your passport in the examiners face, but you just smile. Be friendly. Say hello. Sit down. You don't even have to say anything. You can just quietly take a seat. The Examiner will show you where to sit on DH. Yeah, you don't really have to do anything here.
spk_1: 5:54
That's what I mean. I just think exactly that. Just smile. Say hello and just try and stay. Relax. Is the test hasn't started? That's true. Yeah, on the important thing is that although the test hasn't started, the Examiner has probably already started recording the interview. So, you know, that's for the official. You know, I'll just needs to hear everything that happens in the test room. So they can't just start chatting to you about the weather or anything, because everything has to be done in the official way, which is very, very straight. If you're an examiner on, then right at the beginning of the test before the test starts, the examiner needs to record some official information. Can you remember? I mean, it's like a little script, and we say it so often. Do you remember exactly how that goes?
spk_0: 6:40
You really challenging? You know, this is the English language. So you have already got it wrong. International English language testing system, conducted on a day date. Introduced the student.
spk_1: 6:55
Yeah, I think you have to say that the name of the test sentir conducted on this's the speaking test for the international legal testing system conducted on at on. Then they record the name of the student,
spk_0: 7:08
then their own name as well. That's
spk_1: 7:10
right. Yeah, on DH. Then once that's done now it might have centre. My trainer taught me we should stand for that part. E o. I quite like it because if you stand for that part, I think the student understands the test hasn't really started on then and then I only sit down when I say good morning and good morning is the key because good morning is really the time when the test starts, right? That's when we start the stopwatch on the 14 minutes of the test stuff. Now, I think this is also important after the, you know, after I say good morning, my name is Shelly Cornick. I'm gonna ask you, the student, What's your name? What's the purpose of that question
spk_0: 7:55
that is basically just to confirm the identity of the student? It's not a question which near which needs a long answer. My name is, for example, Susan below. My father is Ken Barlow and they decided me to call. They decided to call me this because blocked No, just my name is and say
spk_1: 8:16
and say your name on DH. You don't need Teo and you know, I've had situations, but I've pronounced the student's name wrong when I was recording the official information. If you're examine, it does that you know, you don't need to say you pronounce my name wrong. Correct them is just We only ask that question so that we have an official record s again, Don't you know, I don't think the test is really started Until the Examiner says in this first part, I'd like to ask you some questions about yourself on at that part. You could just activate your brain. You start of on DH. Section one starts for part, one starts. So, as you said in the part one fax, part one is all about you. And it could be lots of different topics, right? Like like you said, it could be about hobbies. It could be. Do you wear jeans? What the weather is like in your town? What do you eat for breakfast? But the very first set of questions you are given are always on one or two toppings. Write one of those two topics,
spk_0: 9:25
so you'll either be asked about where you live. So you'll be asked to describe, for example, maybe something connected with your flat or house or the area that you live in all. You'll be asked about what you do, so whether you work or whether you are a student and then the questions will be connected with your job or with your university costs. That's
spk_1: 9:46
right and did the questions very right. Like every every question. Pack has got a different type of questions, but it's always those two topics. So because those questions are, all those topics are predictable. Do you think it's a good idea for students to memorise some answers to those questions?
spk_0: 10:05
It's a very bad idea to memorise answers to any part of the aisles test, in my opinion.
spk_1: 10:12
Good. Why?
spk_0: 10:13
Just because, you know the Examiner will be able to tell if your answers are memorised because you won't possibly won't fully answer the question. Oh, the way you speak will be very different from the answers to the other questions. So it will become obvious that you've memorised an answer. It's not a good idea.
spk_1: 10:35
I think that's why I mean, I think you know is very strange. If you ask a student, what do you like about the town? Wait, you live and then they start telling you, you know, London was founded in 14 44 by Henry Henry, Just Is that what you like about your town? I mean, I just relax, you know, obviously, if you've got a difficult job, you should know how to you know what the name of your job is in English and a few words that could describe what you do. I think knowing that is a good idea. But definitely don't rehearse a one minute speech about your hometown or your job because, well, you don't have much time for those first questions. They are very short, okay? And so then, after the examiners asked you about your hometown or your job there, then going to choose two more topics for you from I think they've got Maybe I think you've got 12 or 14 different topics that we can choose from each topic. There's gonna call what we call frames has got four questions. So if your topic is smiling, you might have four questions on smiling on. Then four questions on social networking websites. Is it important that the Examiner asked you every question neg?
spk_0: 11:57
It's not important,
spk_1: 11:59
right? So I mean one thing that I you know, if one of the first question students always asked in especially for part one, is how long should my answer B. I know. On some websites, they say, Oh, you know, your answer should be one or two sentences. I mean, do you think that's good advice?
spk_0: 12:17
Personally? No. I don't think one or two sentences is enough. Especially one sentence is definitely not enough,
spk_1: 12:23
right? I agree. And But, you know, I understand the idea behind that advice. I think the idea is, you know, in this section, if you think about it, there are 12 questions for five minutes. So, you know, that's about my maths isn't great. But what's that? That's about, like 30 seconds,
spk_0: 12:41
rightly, 30 seconds.
spk_1: 12:42
So So you don't have, like, a massive amount of time to speak, But I just hate the idea off a student sitting in the test room and counting their sentences, you know, to say to a student between two and five sentences. You know, I don't think about that when I'm answering questions. I just think answer the question naturally. Definitely. Some of the questions, you know, have got very sure answers. Some of them, naturally, have got longer answers. I think. Just be natural on. Definitely learn to stop when you finished. I think one of the biggest mistakes I see, students think that they should keep on speaking to show the Examiner that that they're fluent, but actually answer the question. Stop. Wait for the next one. Yeah, Yeah, we've actually I mean, we've all really nice block post about how to do that on our block. That's block dot my I's classroom dot com. You'll also there be able to find a transcript on dis show notes for this episode. So maybe go and have a look there if you want some more information. But I would say we just want to be natural. Really? What about in terms of difficulty? There were three parts in the exam. Do you think how difficult is part one compared to part two and part three?
spk_0: 14:01
I honestly think part one is the easiest part because the questions are very straightforward. They are vory not very simple, but they are much simpler than the questions in part three for sure on DH there, asking you about things that you should know about so
spk_1: 14:15
right, because your life
spk_0: 14:16
is your life. You're talking about yourself, your experience and you know, if you haven't, for example had an experience that they talk about in part one, then you are perfectly allowed to explain that you haven't had this experience and say why? You know, you don't have Teo give sort of positive answers all the time. You can. It's like a discussion. I always like to imagine that part one. It's kind of like you imagine that you're a new person in university, are in a job, man. The other students are workers are just asking you questions about your life.
spk_1: 14:52
I think that's a really great way of explaining what it should feel like. They are just sort of like nice, neutral personal questions. Nothing too personal but kind of interesting. Although I think that does bring us on T. The only way I feel part one can be a bit difficult is that some of the topics can sometimes feel a little bit silly. I'm not sure of the right words. You know, You ask a 40 year old man who's taking the test, watch your favourite colour. They kind of look atyou like, Are you crazy? I don't know. I'm 40 years old blue, but I think that I would just say for part one. Sometimes the questions are a little bit strange. When was the last time you looked at the sky? I mean I don't know sometimes, Philip, maybe the test writers were a bit drunk on a Friday when they come up with some of the topics. But just answer them. You could just say I think I looked up at the sky before we entered the test centre finished, You know, you've answered the question. So yes, I would say definitely in terms of difficulty. Task one is the
spk_0: 15:59
and I think as well what I would say if you do get a really strange or silly question in Part one, you just laugh and smile about on DH. Tell the Examiner you think it's ridiculous, because it will just help you relax and you'll forget about the stress of violence. I think
spk_1: 16:15
I mean, for some of the questions, is almost strange. If students don't laugh, you know, so I think that is absolutely right. Try to relax. Youth used Part one as a chance to understand the test. The test environment. Relax on, then you know you're ready then for the more difficult part.
spk_0: 16:38
Hello, my name's Michael. I studied with my child's classroom because it has every aspect of the English grammar that is needed for the aisles exam.
spk_1: 16:47
They ar Rahman from India. I chose to study with my eyes. Custom begin. So their exports and funny as well I don't you
spk_0: 16:57
will never get old. I study was my Isles question because the lessons really engaging in front. And in my opinion, the course is the best one out day on the Internet.
spk_1: 17:15
So let's move forward, then, to Part two. Now you will know that part two starts because the Examiner will say the words now in this part. I'm going to give you a topic, and I'd like you to talk about it for 1 to 2 minutes. So that's the prompt. That Part two is starting and in part to the Examiner, is going to give you a cue card. So I guess the question Nick is what is a cue card?
spk_0: 17:44
Well, it's not a piece of card.
spk_1: 17:46
That's exactly what it is.
spk_0: 17:49
It's a booklet, actually, Yeah, of a four papers. No card. It's not small. It's just a regular. A full sized piece of paper in a book on it will be folded to the correct page. So before did to your question,
spk_1: 18:04
That's right. So and then on that book, there will be a topic that your job is to talk about for 1 to 2 minutes. Now we say 1 to 2 minutes. But really, for a high score, you do want to talk about that topic the two minutes on on the cue cards, it will always say described. And then you have the main topic. So, for example, it may say, describe your idea off a perfect house on below that there are what we often call the three bullets. So it's three pieces of information it asked you to include. So it might say you should say where this house would be, what this house would look like on DH, what special features the house would have on. Then there's a final instruction on. Explain why this house would be perfect for you. So that's the information on your cue card or the book. But the students can make notes. Should they make the notes on the booklet?
spk_0: 19:06
No, no, no. They get given a piece of paper as well. Yeah, so you get you get given a separate piece of paper and a pencil or even two pencils in case one of them breaks do that sent
spk_1: 19:18
you must You must have more money than I. Ok, so the Examiner will give you the cue cards. And as they give you the cue card, they will speak out loud what you need to do. So they will say, I'd like you to describe your idea off a perfect house and when they finish them, that that's when you're one minute preparation starts. So do the students have to make notes in that One minute?
spk_0: 19:47
They don't have to write anything. They don't have to make notes. But I would strongly advise that students do make notes.
spk_1: 19:56
Yeah, I agree. So what kind of things would be good? I mean, we'll have a lesson about this or an episode in the future, but what kind of things would be good for notes? I usually tell my students to think of high level vocabulary. That's a good thing to do, or just any ideas that will help them if they get lost while they're speaking to sort of like trigger further point. Is there anything else you would tell your students to make notes off? I
spk_0: 20:20
mean, for this writing notes, every student is different. Our brains work in different ways, so it's impossible to say what is a good like What's the perfect way of making nails? I always think it's especially if it's a storey that you want to tell that having a clear beginning in a clear beginning, middle and an end can help you keep in sof rhythm. Basically been rhythm, so you know when you're going too long. Oh, you're not saying enough. Just having a few words the beginning of the storey and so on middle. I think I
spk_1: 20:50
think that's really good advice. And then you know the other really important thing. And I think this is something which surprises students is surprised me when I found this out for the first time is that you know, the card says, describe your idea of a perfect house on men. It says you should say and it's got a list of four things which we called the bullets. Do you have to include all of that information?
spk_0: 21:13
You actually don't have to include any of that information.
spk_1: 21:16
Yes, I think that's really important. And I actually think sometimes when students try to include that information, it interrupts their fluency. I think we've discussed before When students sometimes asked themselves the questions so a student might say, Where would this house be? Well, this house would be in the Bahamas, and you're, like, kind of Look, look around the room. Who were they asking? When I train my when I practise will train my students for cue cards. I don't give them any bullets because I often think that although the bullets can help you sometimes to maybe understand the topic to trigger your ideas, true following them can actually make you sound. Not as natural as if you just said Okay, I'm going to describe my perfect house. And you sat there and you just described it. Yeah, I agree. Exactly. So you know, don't worry. What about if you don't finish your description before the two minutes finished? So if the Examiner interrupt, you have stopped you before you finish your description. Is that a problem?
spk_0: 22:26
It really depends on whether you've answered the question. Okay? Because if you answer the question fairly quickly, you get to the point very quickly, and then you sort of adding extra information. But it's still relevant and still natural. Then I think that wouldn't really be a problem with the Examiner cutting you off two minutes, Theo, Do you agree or
spk_1: 22:46
yeah. I mean, I think I'd go further. I think I would say your goal is to get the Examiner to interrupt you. Because if the examine interrupts you, you have spoken for two minutes. And that is really your only job.
spk_0: 23:00
How is it? I will say if the question is something like described an incident that happened in a supermarket on DH. You start your storey. Well, it was a Sunday.
spk_1: 23:13
It was
spk_0: 23:13
minus 35 outside in Siberia, on me and my mom decided to go to the supermarket. We'll put on our jackets way. You know, if you if you d'oh, you make a really long storey. But you don't actually answer the question and tell me the incident that happened in the supermarket. Then you've no answer. The question.
spk_1: 23:33
Yeah, I think that's right. Yeah. If you spent a minute describing where you bought your jacket on, it wasn't market. I agree. We do definitely want to describe what is given to us. I think you're right. But, I mean, I just I would just say Don't worry if you don't finish your description. As long as you have spent two minutes describing your ideal house, It doesn't matter if if you haven't told me about the swimming pool when I interrupt you Right now, this is the other really important thing. And I'm so tired of reading this on different Facebook groups and on YouTube videos. Does the Examiner ever write down the scores at the end ofthe this section? Never. Thank you. Never. Never. Never, Never. So if you know when you start speaking and you see the Examiner writing down something, what are they writing?
spk_0: 24:28
They are right down the time.
spk_1: 24:31
Yes, the time. Because if you and I was examiner, you must make sure that each section off the test is the correct time. This's really important. You could lose your job. If you know if you let a student speak for more than two minutes, you could lose your job. Or if you interrupt them before two minutes, you could lose your job. That's another question. Actually, can can the Examiner stop you before the two minutes?
spk_0: 24:59
And if you are still speaking, then No,
spk_1: 25:02
that's right. They will only ever stop before two minutes if you tell them that you want to stop. If you say I finished, then the Examiner will continue with the test, but they will never interrupt you before two minutes. If you think that's happened, you should complain that the individual test, but to be honest often shouldn't think the Examiner stopped them early. But it's just two minutes, is feels like 20 seconds in the real test. It goes really quickly. And then I guess the final thing is sometimes after the part to the Examiner may ask you what we call a rounding off question. So it might be a question like if it's describe your idea of a perfect house, have you ever seen a house like this? Or do you think you ever will have this house like this? Um, how long should the students answer to those questions be?
spk_0: 25:58
Well, I've I've I've got some people I know who say that it should just be one word, yes or no. And then Mom continue. But you definitely don't want to start another storey and start speaking for 20 seconds again.
spk_1: 26:11
Yeah, I mean, I agree. I mean, I think have you ever seen a house like this, you could just say No, I haven't. Thank you. Let's me. But that those questions are really I don't really understand the purpose of those questions. I think it's for students who finished very early. There may be to give them a chance to speak a little bit more. But if you have spoken for two minutes, don't worry about that question. Just just I think yes or no is good advice. Question. Okay, in terms of difficulty, obviously, Part two is more difficult than part one. What would you say? Do you think students struggle speaking for two minutes? Or is it something that becomes easier with practise?
spk_0: 26:51
I do think it's a real challenge on it is very. It feels very unnatural, yes, but I also do think like you said, it does become easier with practise on, even if it's just, you know, at home, on your own or into the mirror. Yeah, just practise, practise practise, and it just becomes easier and becomes more natural. I think originally is very difficult,
spk_1: 27:14
but I think you've kind of hit the nail on the head. That, although is I mean it is weird to talk for two minutes without the person you're speaking to interacting with you in any way. But this is the one part of the test that you can practise on your own. But and you know, if you again if you go to the blogger, I've got lots of examples of different cue cards. You can sit down and you could just give yourself one minute to prepare talk for two minutes. And I think if you just did that for 10 minutes each day, if you did three Hugh cards a day for a month, I think by the end of the month, you would find it relatively easy. Definitely to keep speaking, So your fluency will be good. And then you could start focusing on the grammar, the pronunciation on the Lexus, right, So you could get the fluency first. Great. So you're gonna know that Section two ends because the examiner's gonna ask you for the cue cards on the pencil and paper back. So that tells you part two is finished on DH. Then they're going to say, we've been talking about your idea of a perfect house, and now I'd like to ask you one or two more general questions about that. Now we're into part three now. I don't know about you, Nick. I like part three as an examiner, because is the first time in the test that we have some freedom to ask you some questions. Yeah, right. So I would say, you know, part one. The only thing we can say to a student if you know, if I asked a student, do you wear jeans and they say No. Thie. Only question. We can ask to get them to speak. Mohr is Why? Why? Why? Why? No. Why write like and sometimes the students look at you like you're crazy. She wedgies. No. Why? I don't know. Three is kind of a relief, because now we do have questions to ask the students. But we can also are some follow up questions. So if part one is about asking questions to the student and part three is about asking questions, how are they different?
spk_0: 29:25
Well, part three is a much more interactive I would say section. So the examiner will listen to your answers and then maybe ask questions of his own. So, for example, if you If you talk about a topic on The Examiner, feels like you could maybe clarify your point or explain your point a little bit. He may ask you a follow up question.
spk_1: 29:48
That's right. And it's all about the follow up questions. I also think that, as we said, the topics are different. The topic is always connected to part two. So if you know if it was described an ideal house, you might now be talking about architecture in towns. Or how do we plan towns? So just the topic is much more difficult. Also, what we ask you to do is also much more difficult. In this section. We're gonna ask questions where you need to compare things where you need to give an opinion way need to maybe suggest something will predict the future. Do you think of any other sore functions that we ask here? What are the advantages
spk_0: 30:26
and disadvantages so very, very kind of similar questions to the writing essays actually aren't they?
spk_1: 30:34
Exactly, exactly. And I think students who have problems with ideas for essays also sometimes struggle in Part three, and I think it's important to know that a lot of teachers say, Oh, your ideas are important in Ayotte's That's not true.
spk_0: 30:52
That's really not true.
spk_1: 30:53
No, it's it. There's no right or wrong answer, so you can agree or disagree. You know, if you tell me men are more intelligent than women because they have bigger brains, right? I might not agree with you, but
spk_0: 31:08
it is your opinion.
spk_1: 31:09
That is your opinion. And you can have an opinion. However, you are judged by the quality off your ideas, particularly between a seven and an eight. So I think we often see that with teenagers, right?
spk_0: 31:24
Yeah. I think poor teenagers who are taken ill tests to go study abroad 17 18 years old. They very often don't know very much about the world around them, which is not their fault. They're still very young. And, you know, if you're getting questions like questions about whether you think space exploration will bring us any benefits in the future thing, this isn't really a topic that teenagers have had much time to think about. So my advice to anybody who's 17 18 even up to 20 years old or 21 would they be prepared for some soft philosophical, scientific, geographical questions that maybe you might find a little bit hard. But what can we do in that part? Do you think to help?
spk_1: 32:13
Well, I think a lot of it is just as you said, these questions are very similar to the essay question. So it is just about practise. I think it's about actually just thinking about some of these topics before you sit your test. I also think it's learning. Teo, you know part of isles is showing that you can speak when you don't have an opinion. Sometimes is being able to just keep going and communicate. Why you don't know something about that topic or to start speaking and come to an idea as you speak. These are very high level speaking qualities, which you could have. But I do think you can vastly improve your chances of getting a very high score by grabbing hold of the Cambridge books, looking at past papers going onto a website like ours, where we've got high quality questions and just practise thie. Other thing is, and we mentioned before, the Examiner is going to interrupt you in this part of the test. Andi, if you're not prepared for that that can come as a shock. Yeah. Okay. You know, a lot of I think some teachers tell students for this section, you know, try and give two and two or three ideas for each question. The truth is, we often don't have time for two or three ideas for each question in five minutes. And this should feel like a conversation on when you have a conversation with someone you don't say, firstly, lovable. But second, like that's not how turn taking works be prepared to be interrupted. That's a good thing. Be prepared for difficult questions. I also think that's a good thing. Usually the more difficult the question is, the higher your score is going to be because the Examiner is really pushing you exactly. Um, right. And then suddenly the Examiner is going to say to you, thank you very much. That is the end of your speaking test. You're probably gonna feel shocked because it probably felt like the exam, too, at one minute and not 14 minutes. So what, then, when the When the examiner says to you, Thank you very much. That is the end of the speaking test. What should the chute student do that neck.
spk_0: 34:28
The students should just say thank you and then leave and say, Have a nice day. But often they'll say we're already Is that a? Although act surprised I quite like, I
spk_1: 34:42
think. I think the only hard thing is that is that you can't react with them because I also want to go like Yeah, well done. You can go outside now. Enjoy. I often say, you know, enjoy the rest of your day. But we're being paid to be professional. This is a speaking test. The examiner is never going to tell you their score. Yes, please do not ask the Examiner.
spk_0: 35:05
Well, actually, that only ever happened to me one time.
spk_1: 35:08
It's never happened to me. Although I've heard that it happens more to native teachers in our test centre is never happened. What did you say when that happened?
spk_0: 35:16
I just said you'll get your results soon.
spk_1: 35:19
I mean, I think that is not good ideas. It doesn't leave a very good last impression. Do you think? I don't think so. Would not Teo asked what the score is? I think it's just
spk_0: 35:28
I thought you meant from my sight.
spk_1: 35:30
You extremely polite. Alright on then. I think this is the other important thing. The test is were called it right? So in other Cambridge tests, if you remember in the last episode we said Cambridge who write the test, they also produce many other English tests in a lot of other English tests like First Certificate, there's one examiner who's having the conversation with two students, actually, and then there's a second examiner who sits in the corner and gives the schools. So a lot of students think, you know, why is the test being recorded? Is it because another examiner is gonna listen later and give you scores? No, no, no. It's going to be the person who gave you the interview. Who did the ask you the questions. As soon as you leave the room or fairly quickly after you leave the room, they are going to sit down and they will give you a score for each of the marking criteria, so you will get 0 to 9 for fluency, incoherence for electrical resource, grammatical range and accuracy on DH four pronunciation on DH. Unfortunately, in the speaking test, the average is rounded down, so you need a seven. You need a minimum 7777 or you could get 8776 But the average needs to be seven. If you get 777 but a six for pronunciation, that's a 6.5. Oh, you know, is that house I don't know. We can't change that. That's just that's just the rules, Really. Unfortunately,
spk_0: 37:09
I I'm from Pakistan. I studied with my eyes classroom because it is one of the most comprehensive course that you would not find anywhere else. Another thing which
spk_1: 37:26
I liked about the scores, is that, ma'am Shelly, each
spk_0: 37:30
is every aisle concept in a simple and humorous manner which, if you engage in the fourth throughout your
spk_1: 37:37
eyes way Okay, so I think we have pretty much covered everything about the test. Have you got any other advice, Nick, that you would give students before we finish today?
spk_0: 37:55
And I think the biggest piece of advice that I would have for anyone would be just Teo. Try as hard as you can. Try not to be nervous. Try to relax, just just smile. Just be friendly and just understand that this is not don't think of it like a test of your English. Think about that. Think about it like you're going to meet a nice, friendly native speaker of English and just have a little chat. I
spk_1: 38:20
think that's great advice. I actually sometimes think that some students would perform much better if they did know preparation for speaking because they try and learn lots of strange expressions that they tried to use. You know, you'd do much better if you just showed up. Answered the questions naturally. Yeah, as long as your English is good enough that you can answer the questions. Obviously, you know, lower level students need more support, but for high level shoots, I think that is definitely the best advice you give someone. I think also you once told me another good piece of ice is Don't arrive too early at the test centre.
spk_0: 38:57
Yeah, I think if you if you arrive too early, sometimes it can actually contribute to making you feel nervous. As you watch all your other three other test takers disappear off into the rooms and you're just sat there waiting for an hour or two hours can make you feel nervous. Definitely.
spk_1: 39:14
That'd be torture. I think artists enter. They sit directly outside the room and I sometimes think they can probably hear a bit like Charlie Brown. Just the sound of the voices, which would make me feel really nervous. So yeah, I definitely think don't turn up too early. Okay, so that was our introduction to the aisle speaking exam. You now know what happens in each part of the test how the Examiner will interact with you on DH, how they're going to give you your final schools. You've also got some good, simple tips about how to complete each part of the test. Although we're gonna have future episode with a lot more details. So if you haven't already, please subscribe. Because in the next episode we're going to look at the listening test.
spk_0: 40:05
So it's like, Hello, Children will computed these discussion. Discussion will be about cats and dogs on having ramos pets. So it's like kind of safe, kind of new
spk_1: 40:17
drawing is that's exactly what it is. But that was a very, very good Scottish accent. I will not do mine. So that's what we'll be discussing in the next episode to make sure you don't miss it, remember to subscribe to us on iTunes, stitcher, Google play or any podcast provider on We'll see you next week.
spk_0: 40:43
My Iove classroom podcast is production of my I R Classroom Limited. Nick and I do not represent eyelets on Everything you heard in this episode is our own personal. You can find the show notes and transcript for this episode on our block. That's blogged dot my ions classroom dot com. And if you're looking for our video courses speaking lessons on marking service, you can find that at www dot my i's classroom doctor. If you have a question or query or just want to chat, you can email Nick and I at hello at my iob dot com Fi music is by heartbeat on. Our artwork is produced by David. Have a great week. Study hard and remember, thiss is my Isles classroom. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week