The IELTS speaking test takes between 11 and 14 minutes and is in the form of an oral interview between the candidate and an examiner. During the interview you will need to answer questions asked by the interviewer,speak at length on a topic selected by the interviewer and give and justify your opinions on a range of issues related to that topic.The interview has three main parts:

•       some general questions about yourself,

your life and your interests

·      a short talk on a particular topic

·      a discussion of issues linked to the talk in part 2

in order to improve your IELTS score you should relax and speak as confidently as you can. Candidates who are not able to participate fully in the conversation may not achieve their potential band score. This may be because they haven't been able to demonstrate the level of language they are capable of producing.

Learn how the Speaking component is assessed: 

The aim of the test is to assess your ability to communicate effectively.The interviewer considers this ability in four different ways:

•   Fluency and Coherence:This measures your ability to speak without too many pauses and hesitations. It is also to do with how easily and clearly your ideas can be understood.

•   Lexical Resource:This refers to your use of words and the range and accuracy of the vocabulary you choose to use. Not only how you select words but also how well you use them will be considered.

•   Grammatical Range and Accuracy:The variety of grammar you use and how correctly you use it are both judged by the interviewer. So, the range of tenses as well as the appropriate use of them is important in all parts of the Speaking test.

•                Pronunciation: Here it is not only individual words but the whole sentences which are considered. The interviewer will be considering how easily they can understand what you are saying.

Be prepared to answer the questions in part 1 of the interview of the IELTS Speaking test. It starts with an introduction in which the interviewer asks you basic questions about yourself and asks to see your identification. The interviewer will then go on to ask you further questions about yourself, your family/hometown, your job or studies and a range of similar topics areas that are familiar to you.This section of the test lasts 4-5 minutes and in it you may need to give longer answers to questions to ensure you display your best ability.What is being tested is your ability to:

•   provide full answers to all questions

•   give longer responses to some questions

•   give information by describing and explaining

Sample questions: The interviewer will ask for general information about topics such as

•   Your country of origin

•   Your hometown

•   How long you have lived there

•   What you do: work or study

•   Your interests and future plans

It is not possible to predict what topics may be discussed at this point in the interview;

•       Family and family relationships

•       Modern and traditional lifestyles

•       Traditional or modern buildings

•       Tourism and tourist sites

•       Celebrations and cultural activities

•       Schooling and the education system

• City and country living

if you find this difficult there are good online IELTS speaking course that can help you and give you  valuable feedback.

IELTS Speaking Word Linking

Clear speech  is very important in the IELTS Speaking test

When we speak naturally we don’t n pronounce a word, stop, then say the next word in the sentence. Fluent speech flows with a rhythm and the words bump into each other. To make speech flow smoothly the way we pronounce the end and beginning of some words can change depending on the sounds at the beginning and end of those words.

Linking is a way of joining the pronunciation of two words so that they are easy to say and flow together smoothly. In English there are different ways that this happens Consonant to Vowel linking - when the first word ends with a consonant sound and the second word begins with a vowel sound.

When you write English you see the space between the words, but when you are speaking fluently it is  difficult to hear those spaces because usually they aren’t there at all, and often when two words come together we naturally do things to make them flow easily and these things quite often the sound spelling of a word will change. I few take the phrase ‘ a cup of coffee ‘ but when we put them together as a part of a sentence, different things happen. We could say cup of coffee very slowly  but usually we join the words together like cupevkofe

Linking your words together in your IELTS Speaking test will make you sound more natural and fluent. Remember it is the sounds that link not the letters, e.g. like is links together because the final sound of like links with initial sound of is to give likis.

When a word starts with a vowel and the previous word ends in a consonant sound, we link the two sounds together in continuous natural speech or if one word ends in a consonant and the next word start with a vowel, the final consonant links together with the vowel.

Fried egg becomes fry degg

Ice cream …….I scream

Swith off …….choff

Now try this

What _I like most _about Toronto is the fact that it’s near the lake because _I love the water. I always try to go there_ at weekends. I also think_ it has good facilities. There is plenty to do, particularly for single people as there_ are many good restuarants _and theatres. There _are_ also many parks and _islands _off the lakefront where residents can take_ a short ferry ride for_ a few dollars.

Or this

Word linking is_ important to get_ a high a score_ in _

IELTS Speaking test. There_ are some good_ online Ielts courses available.

IELTS Speaking Tips

Hi and welcome to my IELTS Speaking  blog. I will be sharing ideas about the IELTS test and also about Pronunciation and Speaking tips. As I am now to blog writing it might seem a bit stiff but hopefully I will get the hang of it soon and you will find it useful. I have been teaching ESL for many years to hundreds of students from all corners of the globe. Recently I have been teaching IELTS online to students who want to work or study in Canada or the US. The IELTs is a very difficult exam and needs a lot of preparation even if your English is good the exam is very specific so I would advice everyone to get practice to increase your IELTS score.

It is very important to have teacher who is familiar with the latest changes to IELTS and who give you lots of feedback or criticism. Feedback is something you can’t get by self study or from doing an online course unless it is in real time with a real humans. The teacher can give you important speaking strategies allowing you to get the best score on your IELTS Speaking. Part 1 is the least important part and you should give short answers not more than a few sentences. For example, “Do you live in an house or an apartment?” Don’t ramble on about where you live and the examiner will have to stop you as this par this only a matter of seconds. You might say "I live in an apartment with my family in Toronto". The second question might be “Will you live there in the future? Again just a a sentence  like “No, actually, when I pass my IELTS I hope to move to Calgary and buy a house next year”.

Some students who haven’t taken a good course might speak for a few minutes and waste valuable time on a question that has a low impact. 
The examiner has to follow script so don't chat or ask any questions for Part 1 and Part 2 because they can not answer any questions.
The second part IELTS Speaking Part 1 talks about familiar topics e.g accommodations, daily routines, entertainment, family food, holidays, interests, shopping, studies and  work. try to give extended answers by giving reasons, examples and any other extra information the is relevant. Do not memorize long speeches as this will sound unnatural and will lose you marks.
If you were asked "Do you enjoying going shopping? "
A suitable and were might be:  I like going shopping with my sister. There's a big shopping centre in the town where we live and we often go there at the weekend to look around the shops and have coffee. There's an ice rink there too so we sometimes take my little brother, but he doesn't like shopping! If I need to get something expensive like new shoes I'll go with my mom because she can pay for them.

IELTS Word Count

Word Count

Word count is very important. Task 1 is 150 words and Task 2 is 250 words, if you are below these number you will be penalized. However, if you write too much you are wasting valuable time. To avoid wasting time counting each word, practice writing essays on a regular 8 x 10 paper,  see how many words you write on a line and  know well in advance how many lines you need for Task 1 and Task 2 .  Remember preparation and practice means higher band score. For more tips check out www.looplanguage.com 

IELTS Speaking

IELTS Speaking  is the most difficult part of the test for many people.   Study the format of the test and practice your timing. Listen carefully to the examiner's questions and don't talk too much. Practice speaking into the bathroom mirror is a simple solution to get confident.