Is IELTS Part 2 Speaking difficult?
The second part of the IELTS Speaking test can be the most difficult section for many candidates, even Native Speakers.
But don’t despair.
If you understand the test and have a few strategies to hand, it can also be the easiest part, and the most enjoyable. 🙂
There is a valid reason for this part of the IELTS test which helps both you, the candidate, and the examiner.
One reason for Part 2 is to allow the candidate speak at length and meet the fluency criteria.
A second reason is to allow the examiner to grade your ability for the follow up questions in Part 3.
They are trained to listen carefully for language range, grammar accuracy and pronunciation is normal speech.
They can then chose the best question sets in Part 3 that allows you to display your real language ability. So it’s important to fill that 2 minutes the best you can.
Part 2 IELTS Structure
You are given a set of prompts and a question.
The prompts are not particularly challenging, but follow a pattern to give you ‘ideas’ and ‘structure’ for your 2 minute talk.
This gives the examiner ‘a further opinion‘ to your level, ready for Part 3.
One way to do well in this section is to try and relax.
A relaxed candidate always performs better and responds well.
If you don’t understand something, always ask the examiner to repeat the prompt question.
The examiner can’t help you directly, but repetition might help you understand the prompt better.
Other tips are
- Don’t give the examiner an opportunity to ask ‘can you say anything else about that’.
- Speak for the full 2 minutes until the examiner stops you.
- Don’t hesitate too much, you are allowed to make some mistakes, it’s natural.
- Connect your sentences and use the structure given in the prompt.
- Attempt to use complex sentences rather than short, simply ones.
and
- Don’t be afraid to correct yourself.
What if you really don’t understand the prompt or even worse the prompt doesn’t apply to you?
If you’re preparing for IELTS, and feel you cannot answer some of the speaking questions properly, simply because they really do not apply to your current life experience, then don’t worry as you’re not alone.
For example:
Q. Talk about an object you own that is especially valuable or important to you.
Problem: I have a quite spartan lifestyle and I don’t have any emotional attachment to any objects I own.
Q. Talk about an object that has had great influence in your life, and explain how it influenced your life.
Problem: While I could talk for hours about books that I love, I don’t really feel that there is a book that has truly influenced my life.
IELTS Speaking Topic: Something you have taught someone
Describe something you have taught someone.
You should say:
what the situation was
what you taught
who this person was
and explain how this may have helped this person
So, I want to talk about something I have taught someone, the person I want to talk about is my daughter, Rebecca and the subject is learning to love books. So, Becky, that’s her short name, is now 11, but since the age of about 2 and half, I read to her every night from some kind of book before she fell asleep. I did this when she was very young because I wanted to create an interest in books, and I believed it would help her at pre-school.
So, in the evening we would look at picture books, or show and tell books, like any parent might do, I suppose. Although this was tiring after a long day at work, I felt it was very important as I REALLY wanted her to love books. Then, as she got older, we began to read phonic books, the books that help children learn the strange spellings and sounds in English, and I think really this helped at infant school. Later on, we progressed onto short stories, which we read over and over again! I can see now that she’s really got into books. Although there may be days where she doesn’t look or pick up a book, when she does, she often reads it from cover to cover and usually in one go.
So, how did this help this person? Well, I wouldn’t say she is gifted, but she was certainly advanced in reading when she got to school and she has proved to be really good at spelling, much better than I was at that age. Her teachers also commented on her creativity and her imagination. I can’t take the credit for that, I think it’s just how children develop, I mean she doesn’t enjoy maths so much.
So, while I know that I’ve only helped to teach her to read, I recognise that her schoolteachers did that, that’s their job, I like to think I have taught her to love books, knowledge and reading.
Solution to this problem
IELTS is a test of your language ability, not intelligence or knowledge.
You may think the IELTS test is an interrogation, but you don’t really need to answer with the truth.
However, I would feel more comfortable with the be honest approach, even if it does not directly answer the question.
You would probably be able to answer more naturally, and therefore be more fluent.
Which one do you think is a better strategy?
You can use tips and information on this website to help make it easier to obtain a higher score, but remember you still need to work at learning the language to be successful.
Please share to someone you know and in the meantime take a look at my Facebook Page and Website for IELTS answers and you can also join my Facebook Group here too.
Good Luck
Jonathan
I’m Jonathan
I’ve taught IELTS and University English in more than a dozen universities and schools around the world.
I’m a parent, traveller and passionate about language teaching and helping students achieve their dreams.
Whilst living in Austria or working in Asia, I run IELTS courses to help students get to where they want to be.
If you are serious about IELTS, connect with me to see how I can help you.
