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.