Everything You Need To Know About The International English Language Testing System Speaking Exam
The IELTS examination is used to test the command of non-native English speakers on the language. It is used by many universities for admission and also by some governments in immigration. The test comprises of four sections: Listening, writing, reading and speaking. Among all these, the IELTS speaking section is probably the most misunderstood section.
Many people are comfortable with the other three sections but are terrified of the speaking section. To overcome the fear, one must know how the section is actually structured. It consists of three sub sections, a short introduction on familiar topics, a long talk and a detailed discussion.
The first section is on familiar topics which could be something about yourself, your home, town, village, school or any topic that you are comfortable with. This topic lasts for around three to four minutes. The examiner would ask questions related to something that you know very well and you need to answer them.
The second section is on a longer conversation where you would need to speak continuously on some topic for about a couple of minutes. As long as you are calm, the two minutes is hardly any time to talk about anything. Typically you would be expected to describe a personality or a place of something that you connect with.
The last section is a discussion part. Here you would be expected to discuss with the examiner on some topic. The topics are never too complicated or tough. They are not even about something where you need to know a lot of facts. If you get some idea about the topic and can string in a conversation around your opinions and thoughts about it, that would work.
The entire speaking section lasts for about 10 minutes and it will be over even before you realise. The way the sections are structured, you get to ease into the conversation with the examiner which makes you more and more comfortable as the final section on analysis comes. So the entire test goes of very smoothly.
While taking IELTS speaking test, remember that no one is going to check the veracity of your answer, it is more about your command over the language. So are being graded on how well you can phrase sentences, your grammar and punctuations. Many people fear that they may give wrong answers, but in reality those fears are unfounded.
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