IELTS Speaking Section
The speaking test takes 11-14 minutes and consists of an interviewwith an examiner.
The interview is recorded.
The speaking test has three parts:
Section 1Introductionandinterview / Examiner introduces him/herself and checks your name.
The examiner then asks you questions on general topics. / 4–5 minutes
Section 2
Individual long
turn
/ Examiner gives you a written task card. You have 1 minute to think (take notes) before you have to speak for 1–2 minutes.
Examiner asks one or two questions at the end of your talk. / 3–4 minutes (including
1 minute
preparation
time)
Section 3
Two-way
discussion / Discuss with the examiner more abstract issues and concepts which are thematically linked to the topic of your talk in Part 2. / 4–5 minutes
Following are some of theIELTS speaking topicsof previous exams of IELTS speaking module, Section 1.
1. What are you studying?
2. Do you have higher education?
3. What do you like about your studies?
4. How often do you use English?
5. What languages can you speak?
6. What subject would you like to study at university?
7. When does the academic year begin?
8. Have you ever lectured at university? Can you tell me about it?
9. Have you ever done a research? What was you research on?
10. What's your field of study?
11. What do you find difficult about your field of study?
12. What do you like about it?
13. What subjects will you take when you go to university?
14. Which courses are you doing this term?
15. How do you find them?
16. How's your course going?
17. How many modules does the course consist of?
18. How many other credits do you need to complete this course?
19. Do you think you're going to do them successfully?
20. Which exams do you usually find difficult?
The following are the topics for theFree practice topics of IELTS speakingmodule, Section 2.
1. Introduce yourself.
2. Describe your hometown. What is special about it?
3. Compare your hometown with another town.
4. Describe your country�s education system. What is your attitude toward this system? Do you think it�s effective?
5. Describe the organization you work for. Where is it? What does it do? What is your job function?
6. Describe the process of taking a job in your country.
7. Compare the role of men and women in your country.
8. What is Brain drain? What are the causes and effects of it?
9. Discuss why you would like to visit a particular country. When are you going to visit it and why?
10. Discuss the factors affecting people to have more or less children in your country.
11. Describe a traditional dish in your country. What are the ingredients?
12. Describe the traditional Architecture of your country. Is there something special about it?
13. Compare traditional houses with modern houses in your country.
14. Discuss why you like a special kind of book, music, sports, or film.
15. Give reasons why the divorce rate has or has not increased in your country.
16. Describe a traditional instrument in your country.
17. Describe an important festival in Iran. When is it? What do people do then?
18. Describe the ethnic mix in your country.
19. Describe a traditional garment in your country.
20. What is your favorite color? Why? What is the relationship between the colour of clothes and the personality of people? What is the relationship with mood?
21. Describe a historical place in your country. Where is it? What is special about it?
22. Talk about mass media. Newspapers and their attractions for you.
23. Describe a traditional /children�s/international/card game.
24. Why do people play games?
25. What is your greatest wish/ one of your
wishes?
26. What don�t you know about your future?
27. Why do people collect things? Do you collect anything?
28. Describe an invention before or after computer. Should the governments support inventors? Why do inventors invent?
29. What is fashion? Do you follow fashion? Why do people follow fashion? How do people in your country follow fashion?
30. What is the process of obtaining a driving license/passport/etc. in your country?
31. Describe one of your photos. Where, when and with whom did you take it?
32. Describe the present situation of Tourism in Iran. What is the future of Tourism like in Iran?
33. Name a book, film, or a piece of music that you like most and say why.
34. Describe IT or a databank system.
35. Why always women cook and men do not in your country? Which is a better cook, a man or a woman?
36. Compare your time with your parents�. What is the same and what has changed since then?
37. How has traveling changed since 100 years ago?
38. Describe your best holiday, party, event in your life. When was it, where and why?
39. Talk about the best present you have ever had in your life. When, why and who gave it to you?
40. In what occasions do people give presents in your country?
41. How do you choose a gift for your friends?
42. What do people do in 4 seasons in your country?
43. What do governments do in case of disasters? What should they do?
44. Talk about the most populated area in your country. Where is it? What is its population? Why is it so populated?
45. Describe a competition you have entered. What was your stand?
46. What is the role of public artworks?
47. Describe a city you have visited and impressed you so much. Why was it so impressive?
48. Compare Iranian eating with other countries.
49. Compare a person who has been in a foreign country with someone who hasn�t.
50. What is capital punishment? Is it necessary to control crime?
51. What do you think will be the world�s greatest problem in 100 years time?
52. What do you think pastime and hobbies will be in 100 years time?
53. What do you know about the wildlife in your country? Who is responsible for its preservation?
54. What do you know about Global Warming? What is Greenhouse Effect?
55. Shopping: who does the shopping in your home? Do you go shopping?
What have you found difficult in shopping?
56. Describe a child that you know. Who is he/she? Your relation, what does he/she like, and how has he/she influenced you?
57. School pressure on children. Is there any in your country? What can be done if there is?
58. What was the most interesting (impressing) period of time in your life? Describe it.
59. What do you think about children's school age? Advantages or disadvantages?
60. What time are children considered to be adults in your country?
Following are the latest IELTS Speaking Topics for IELTS Academic and General Students appeared in subsequent IELTS Exams. These speaking topics definitely help students preparing for IELTS.
Topic No: 1Describe your country�s education system. What is your attitude toward this system?
Topic No: 2Compare the role of Men and Women in your Country?
Topic No: 3What is brain drain? What are the causes and effects of it?
Topic No: 4Discuss why you would like to visit a particular country. When you going to visit it and why?
Topic No: 5Discuss the factor affecting people to have more or less children in your country.
Topic No: 6Describe the traditional dish in your country. What are the ingredients?
Topic No: 7Discuss why you like special kind of book, music, sports or film.
Topic No: 8Describe the ethnic mix in your country
Topic No: 9Describe a traditional garment in your country.
Topic No: 10Describe an important festival in your country. When is it? What do people do then?
Topic No: 11What is fashion? Do you follow fashion? Why do people follow fashion? How do people in your country follow fashion?
Topic No: 12Describe your best holiday, party, event in your life. When was it, where and why?
Topic No: 13In what occasions do people give presents in your country?
Topic No: 14What do people in 4 seasons in your country?
Topic No: 15What is capital punishment?
Topic No: 16Compare your time with your parents�. What is the same and what has changed since than?
Topic No: 17Talk about most populated area in your country. Where is it? What is its population? Why is it so populated?
Topic No: 18What do you know about Global Warming? What is Green House Effect?
Topic No: 19Describe the first toy you got. Who gave it for you? When? How did you like it?
Topic No: 20What is the role of Public Artwork?
Please note, these IELTS speaking topics are just for reference, there is no guarantee that these topics will come in your IELTS speaking test.
In IELTS Speaking section 1 you start with personal questions such as about yourself, your family, your home or your work/study. So, sit down with your dictionary and try and think of all the vocabulary you would need to completely describe all parts of your life, home, family and work/study. Then sit down with a piece of paper and write down every question you can think of about these ideas. Try and come up with about 20. You can then practice them in 2 ways:
i)Get a friend to ask you the questions and practice giving long, full answers. Do this again and again. It doesn't matter if you do the same question frequently, as you will give better and better answers with more and more information. The more often you practice this, the better you'll get.
ii)If you don't have a friend who can do this, then you can do it by yourself. You just look at your list and imagine that someone has asked you the question. Then, off you go. You can do this sat at home, you can talk to the cat, the mirror or do it driving on the way to work. It may feel a bit strange at first, talking by yourself, but it works and you will improve. You don't have to do either method i or ii, you can mix both. It all helps.
In the second part of Section 1 you have to answer questions on themes of general interest. These are not complicated but are more demanding than the ones that you did in the part before. Let's say for example that the theme the examiner chooses is travelling. The examiner will have a set of questions to ask you. How many he asks depends on how long you talk for in your answers. The first question could be:
Do you enjoy traveling and why/why not?
Then this could be followed by:
Where would you like to travel to and why?
You can find other sample themes and questions in IELTS Practice Now Question Papers and from other sources. Once you have an idea of the types of theme and question, you can start to make your own examples and practice answering them in the ways (i and ii) above. I have done this with classes and it works very well. Students doing this, more often than not, come up with actual themes and questions from the test itself!!
SpeakingSection2
Preparation and practice for Section 2 is similar to the practice in Section 1.You have to talk for 1 to 2 minutes in English. Speaking for this time in your own language is quite hard, so in a foreign language it is harder. The reason it is hard is that you don't often talk uninterrupted for 1 to 2 minutes about anything, whether it is in your language or English. So, how do you get better at it? By practising it again and again. Let's say that your task is as follows:
Describe a favorite holiday destination that you like.
You should say:
- When you first went there.
- Howyougetthere.
- What you do when you're there.
- And explain why this place is so special for you.
So, you can see the format of this section. The practice procedure is as before. Check out other question types and soon you're be able to develop your own. Then practice them with someone or by yourself. Soon, talking for 2 minutes without stopping won't be a problem. Remember you don't have to talk fast or without breaks. They want you to talk normally. Talk at a normal speed, pause to take breaths and take time to consult your notes to give yourself ideas about what to talk about next.
The follow up question to end Section 2 is not so important that it needs to be practiced as it only requires a few words as an answer. An example question from the examiner for the subject above could be:
"Do you think I would enjoy a holiday in this place too?"
The candidate would just be expected to say something like:
"Oh yes, I think so."
Or:
"May be not. It might be too hot for you."
You can see that nothing very long is required.
At this point I'd like to explain about the 1 minute preparation time and the notes that you can write during it. First of all, use your preparation time and make notes. Before you begin your monologue, you will have 1 minute to prepare for it. Some people think that they don't need the time at all and will start straight away. Very often these people will dry up early and be at a loss about how to continue. Use your time. Someone starting straight away does not get any advantage at all over someone who takes the full minute to prepare.
So, what should you write in your notes? First of all, don't try and write out your whole talk word for word. You don't have enough time. Looking at the question above (which is a typical layout for this section) you can see that there is a main question (Describe a favorite holiday destination that you like.) and then 3 mini-questions following (Say when you first went there, how you get there what you do when you're there and explain why this place is so special for you).
These questions are here to help you as they give you ideas to talk about and give your talk a bit of structure. However, it asks you to talk about these things so you should talk about them. In your notes quickly jot down one or two ideas for each of the questions, so that they will remind you about things to talk about when you look at your notes during your talk. Finally, if you have time, maybe make a note of something from your own experience connected to the talking theme. When you are talking about something from your own experience, it is easier to talk at length. For example, for the question above, you could be just finishing and still have 45 seconds left to talk. You could be saying why the place is so special to you. As you run out of ideas you could give an example out of your own experience. You could say:
"Actually why I like the place so much is shown from something that happened to me the last time I was there. I was in a restaurant having some food and..."
The subject of your story doesn't matter as you are still on the subject of your talk. Themain thingis to keep talking.
SpeakingSection 3
Section 3 really carries on from where Section 2 left off. The examiner will ask you questions that are thematically linked to the subject that you talked about in Section 2. For example, for the question we looked at above about a holiday destination, the examiner might choose to ask you questions about tourism and the airline industry. The examiner will have a set of questions to ask you. How many he asks depends on how long you talk for in your answers. None of the questions will be of a technical nature or require any specialist knowledge as that would be unfair, but you will be expected to give your opinion on what is asked you.
So, let'slookatsomeexamples.
Tourism
- Can you predict any major changes that could happen in the Tourist Industry over the next 50 years?
- Can you compare the tourist industry in your country today with the tourist industry when your grandparents were young?Can you identify some of the factors that have led to the Industry success of the airline industry?
- Can you suggest any ways in which air travel could be made safer?
- You can see that the questions here are more analytical and require more thought than the questions in the previous sections.
Section 2, Practice test 1
In this part you have to speak for 1-2 minutes about a topic.
Look at the topic below for one minute. You may make notes if you wish
Talk about yourself having a healthy lifestyle.
Pleasesay:
- What stops you from having a healthy lifestyle?
- What are the disadvantages of not having a healthy lifestyle?
- What can you do in order to have a healthier lifestyle?
After 1 minute, please speak into the microphone. You should speak for 1-2 minutes.