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- The Tenth Day of Christmas – IELTS Speaking – how to knock the examiner’s socks off!
The Tenth Day of Christmas – IELTS Speaking – how to knock the examiner’s socks off!
Twelve Top Tips for IELTS
We’re coming towards the end of our Christmas season now. Today is the tenth day of Christmas we’re into the new year yet still a little in party mood. Some people will most likely start to take down their Christmas decorations today although others may want to stretch the Christmas season as much as they can and squeeze even more brilliance out of it. Many people start to think about the over-indulgence that has happened and go to the gym or take long walks in the countryside. A long country walk and a stop at a pub for lunch is a lovely activity on a cold winter’s day especially if there is a warm fire and still some Christmas cheer around.
The next two months are often bleak so we love to enjoy as much as we can of the Christmas season before facing the dark cold days of January and February.
Today is the tenth day of Christmas; now we’ll look at the speaking exam.
Speaking is the one part of the test that is entirely in your hands (writing is too but that is not as immediate). Speaking is all about communication – this is the main focus. If you communicate well on the topics even if you make a few errors in grammar and vocabulary you should get a good band. But, it is important that you give the examiner enough of your language to enable them to give you a good mark.
I remember when I was an examiner sometimes students would speak quite well but only say very little. In this case I couldn’t give them bands 7 and 8 even though I suspected that they could achieve these bands – the examiner can only mark what you give them and if you don’t answer fully then that is not good communication. So it’s important to maximise the time you have to speak without the whole thing becoming a monologue. Communication is two-way and you have to remember this.
Getting the balance right is a skill you need to learn and this is something we work on in the speaking part of our courses. How much is enough and how much is rambling or not enough. You need to understand this so you can perform at your best.
I’d love to help you with this.
I’m setting up Exam Support calls at the beginning of January where you can meet me on Skype and look at the possibility of working with me and my team in 2018 to make sure you get really ready for your IELTS high band score when you take your exam.
To get one of these Skype appointments you need to complete this questionnaire:
I also have a special Christmas gift – but you have to complete the questionnaire and book one of the Skype calls.
Berni xx
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