How Not To Answer Your Ielts Exam

From working with mainly Chinese students the last five years, the most common element I have found with students is a belief they must remember what to say in their speaking exam.

With many websites offering support for the latest exam questions, students would write lists of all of them and rehearse an answer. This never works as not only might you face an entirely new question on your exam day, but you also run the risk of sounding robotic. If your examiner notices this, they will probe you for further details to ensure they are seeing your natural speaking ability.

I`ve always encouraged my students to think for themselves, to clarify with their examiner that they are unfamiliar with the topic question - even as a native speaker, I do not know every topic which may come up in the exam, we all have our own areas of preferred interest. In these moments, state to your examiner the topic in question is not something you are familiar with but can share your own thoughts and feelings about it.

To break down this fear of the unknown, I`ve produce a categorisation of questions. Going through ten years of exam questions, study book were created with self-check guides, key tips, pictures and also cultural references to make you more aware of the country you are opting to study abroad in.

The pre university English speaking exam should not be viewed with complete dread and fear. Nerves are to be expected, this is a sign you are taking your studies seriously! Through my teaching approach and belief, however, such exams are far better when you approach them with greater self-belief and confidence, using your own passions and interests.