IELTS Speaking Task 2 - How to succeed
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Hi, my name is Emma, and in today's lesson we are going to be looking at the IELTS. The
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IELTS is a test that a lot of ESL students have to take when they want to go to a Canadian
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university, an Australian university, an English university. So when they want to study overseas
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or often times, when they want to immigrate to one of these countries. Okay? So we're
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looking specifically at the speaking part of the IELTS, part two. So the IELTS speaking
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task is split up into three sections. We are going to be looking at section two in this
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video. Okay, so let me first explain what happens
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in section two, and then we are going to look at some tips on what you should do if you
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want to do well on this section, and things you shouldn't do. Okay? So let's get started.
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So, in part two of the speaking component of the IELTS, you will be speaking for about
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two minutes. Okay? So this part lasts for about three minutes, so you have three minutes.
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The first minute you will be handed a question card. Okay?
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So here is an example of a question card. It will tell you, often times, to describe
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something. "Describe a museum that you have visited." It will tell you what you need to
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say. You should say:
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* Where it is * Why you went there
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* What you particularly remember This is just an example. Okay? So it can be
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on different topics, but you will get a card that looks something like this. Okay? So you
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have one minute to look at the question and to make notes, and to think: "Okay, what am
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I going to say?" So that takes one minute, and then after that the examiner will tell
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you: "Okay, you can begin." You must talk for one to two minutes. A lot
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of students actually consider this the hardest part of the speaking component because it's
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not a dialogue. Okay? The examiner isn't asking you questions and you're giving responses,
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and you're going back and forth. In this part of the IELTS, you just talk and you talk for
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one to two minutes. So a lot of students find this difficult because talking for two minutes,
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even for some native speakers, is a little difficult. Okay, so that's what's going to
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happen in this part. Okay? So what are some of the topics you might be
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asked about in this part of the IELTS? Well, topics often covered include: you might be
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asked about a precious item, so you might have to describe a precious item that you
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own. You might have to say something about where you bought it from or: how did you get
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it, what does it look like, why is it so precious? You might be asked about a special day, a
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sporting event that you went to or a concert, a special trip or journey or vacation, people
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who have influenced you. For example: they might ask you to describe your favourite teacher.
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What was she like? Why was she so great? You might be asked about a book, music, a television
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program, a movie you saw or even items of clothing. Okay, so sometimes you're asked
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about historical buildings, you might be asked about a neighbourhood in your city. The key
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thing that you probably will be asked is this question is often about description, not always,
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but usually you have to describe something. And then they usually have three questions,
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they can be: who, what, when, where, why? Okay? So these are the types of questions
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that they ask. All right, so now let's look at some things
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you can do in order to do well on this part of the IELTS. Okay, so what are some of the
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"Dos" for the IELTS, the speaking part? Okay, number one -- very, very important -- take
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notes. You're given one minute where you get to look at the question, and you're given
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a pencil and you can take notes, do it. Take notes. A lot of ESL students, they think,
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"Ah, I don't really want to take notes, it's a waste of time. I know what I'm going to
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say in my head." What happens is while they're speaking, they forget certain key points and
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they go off topic; they don't stay organized. So your notes are very important because they
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keep you on topic and they keep you organized which is one thing you're marked on.
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Okay, another thing that is very important -- actually this --, write keywords. So when
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you're making your notes, don't bother writing sentences of what you're going to say. You
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only have one minute. Just write keywords, important words that will help you to remember
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what you want to say. Okay? It's very important to cover every point that
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is on the card. Okay? So in our previous example it said: "Describe a museum that you have
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visited." And it said: "Where was the museum?" I think it said: "What do you remember most
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about the museum? And why were you at the museum?" So if you get these three questions,
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make sure you answer each question. Okay? And what's a good way to know you've answered
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each question? As you talk, point. So for example: this is to point as you talk, put
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your finger on the point you're talking about. So if this says: "Why did you go to the museum?"
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Point at this while you talk about that point, and then move your finger to the next point
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as you talk about it. This will help you to remember what you've said, and to keep you
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on track. Okay? Another very important thing to do is these
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often ask you about your own experiences. "Describe your favourite teacher", for example.
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Okay? So it's good if you can remember one of your teachers or whatever the question
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asks, it's good if you use your own experience. But maybe, maybe you've never been to a concert,
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maybe you've never been to a sporting event and that's what the question asks. If this
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is the case: lie. Okay? Make it up. If your friend told you a story once about when they
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went to a concert, steal your friend's story. Okay? It's okay to lie and to steal other
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people's stories on the IELTS. The main thing is that you practice -- or not practice --, that
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you speak English. So whether you tell your own story about a museum you visited or if
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you've never visited a museum, pretend you went to the Louvre in France. Talk about how
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you saw the Mona Lisa and how it was a beautiful painting. You can make stuff up, it's okay.
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Okay, the next point of "Dos" is: expand your answers. Okay? So if it says: "Where was the
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museum located?" Instead of just saying for that point: "The museum is in Toronto." Okay,
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that's too short. Expand on this point. "The museum is located in the downtown core of
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Toronto. It's close to the university, some very important restaurants, and the CN Tower."
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Okay, not true, but just... You can expand your answer. Make it long, give examples.
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Okay, another thing that is a good idea: because these questions are often about describing,
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it's good to use your senses, meaning when you have to describe something, imagine it
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in your mind and if you run out of things to say, think about your senses. What did
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it look like? What did it smell like? What did it sound like? For some of these, maybe
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you didn't taste them, like a building, but you get the idea. You can use your senses
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to help you imagine the area better, or the object, or the person.
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Okay, the next point: organize your speech. This is a must. Okay? So some students, when
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they do this part of the IELTS, they talk, and they talk, and they talk, but there's
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no organization. So what you need to do is... it's very good to have an introduction, it's
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very good to have a body, and it's good to have a conclusion. It's almost like you're
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doing an essay, but you're saying it. You want to introduce the topic, then you want
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to address all of the points, the three points, and then you want some sort of conclusion.
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You can say: "So this is why this was a very memorable experience.", "To sum up, my trip
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to Holland was a fantastic experience I'll never forget." Okay? So you want a conclusion
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as well. Okay, like I said earlier, it's good to imagine
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in your head the object, person, or place. This is a very good thing to do. It will help
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you to be less nervous as well. Okay, use introductory phrases. So when you
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introduce your topic, first thing you should say: "I want to talk about blank.", "I'd like
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to talk about blank.", "I'm going to talk about blank." You can use any of these, but
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it's good... This can be your introduction: "I'm going to talk about my trip to Spain.",
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"I'm going to talk about my teacher, Mrs. Fitzgerald.", "I'm going to talk about the
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most precious object in my life which is my pocket watch." Okay? So you can say whatever
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you'd like, but use an introductory phrase. This is a very important point: use transitions.
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So what do I mean by that? Well, transitions help to organize what you're going to say.
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"First of all", "Secondly", "Thirdly", "Finally", these are all examples of transitions. And
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if you're... In this case, you may be talking about what happened somewhere, you might be
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describing an event. "First, we went to the soccer stadium. Then we watched the game.
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After that, we went for ice cream." So you can use these types of transitions: "First",
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"Then", "Next", "After that", "Finally". These will help you in your cohesion marks, so in
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your fluency and cohesion mark. Finally, very important: speak loudly. Okay?
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You don't want to mumble, you don't want to be shy. You want to be confident. So be confident,
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make eye contact when you talk, speak loudly. These are all important tips.
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Another thing: practice. Okay? Practice talking for two minutes. You might have to build up
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to this. For some people, talking for long periods of time is very difficult. So maybe
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speaking English for one minute is really difficult for you. Start with 30 seconds,
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then move that to one minute, then a minute and a half, then two minutes. But you must
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practice speaking for two minutes. One thing that a lot of people do is they think: "Oh,
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okay. I need to speak for one to two minutes in this part of the IELTS." That's true, but
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the closer you get to two minutes the better. So if you're at one minute, that's a little
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bit of a short answer. Ideally, you want to be able to talk for two minutes. Okay? And
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also, don't rush with what you're going to say. Speak nice and at a good rate, so not
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too fast, not too slow. Okay, one other thing I wanted to say about
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"Do", it's not on this list but, often times you will be using the past tense. Okay? So
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for this part of the IELTS, the past tense is very important. Get used to talking about
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past experiences using the past tense. Okay, so now let's look at "Don'ts". Okay,
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so now I have a list of things you should not do. Okay? So these are the "Don'ts", so
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don't do this. Okay, the first one: a lot of ESL students want to do this, they want
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to memorize answers in advance. So they look up a whole bunch of different questions and
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then they write down what they're going to say, and they spend so much time memorizing
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for each question. This is not a good idea because first of all, it's easy to tell when
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you've memorized something; it doesn't sound natural. You're going to lose marks if it
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sounds like you've memorized something. And there are just too many different questions
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they can ask. So don't memorize answers. That's not a good way to prepare.
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Instead, focus on expanding your vocabulary. Okay? Practice talking about museums. What
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words do you need to know where you can talk about museums? Same with objects, teachers
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- how can you describe someone? So try to come up with descriptive words, expand your
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vocabulary. That would be a better way to prepare for this.
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Okay, don't write too much. I told you for the first part of this section, you get to
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write for one minute. Don't write full sentences. It's good to write about one to two words
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per point. So there's about three points, one to two words is good.
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Don't panic. Okay? A lot of students, as soon as they get to this part of the exam, they
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get really nervous and they panic, and their English just goes down. So don't panic. Use
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stress management techniques. Breathe, that's a good thing to do when you're nervous. Okay?
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Imagine you're in a nice green forest or on a nice beach. You can do these things, it
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will help you not to panic. It's also good before the IELTS, I find, before the speaking
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part if you can go on a walk. Walking actually calms your heart, it calms you down; it's
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a good thing to do. Don't focus too much on one point. So there
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are three things you have to address at least. Don't spend your whole time talking about
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the first thing. So for example: if you have to describe your favourite teacher, and the
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first question is: when did you have her as a teacher? Don't spend your whole time covering
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this point. Okay? Make sure you cover each point they ask you to.
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Don't use boring words. Okay? Remember: you're getting marked on vocabulary. You want to
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use interesting vocabulary. So for example: "good", that's a boring word, "bad", again
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a boring word. Use something interesting like: "My favourite teacher was really exciting.
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She was very enthusiastic." That's so much better than just saying: "My favourite teacher
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was good." Okay? Or my, you know, "The museum I went to was bad." No, use something better.
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Don't give short answers meaning you have to talk for at least a minute, make sure you
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do this. It's better to even talk for close to two minutes. Make sure your answers aren't
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too short. So for example: "I once went to the ROM [a museum in Canada], it was a good
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experience. The end." Too short. You need to expand your answer.
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Don't go off topic. So what do I mean by this? Well, if you have to describe the most precious
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item you have, don't start talking about education or technology. Unless it's relevant to what
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you're talking about, don't go off topic. Just talk about what they want you to talk
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about. Okay? This is actually a very important point: a
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lot of students tell me they really worry about their accents. They think: "Oh, I can't
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pronounce things very well. You know, I might mispronounce a word. I have problems pronouncing
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'r'" -- for example, or certain letters, "ch". It's okay if your pronunciation is not perfect.
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The main thing... And if you have an accent, it's okay if you have an accent. Most people
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have accents. So you don't have to worry about your accent. It's also... Well actually everybody
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has an accent. I have a Canadian accent for example. Now, does my Canadian accent mean
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my American friends cannot understand me? No. So it's okay if you, if you have an accent.
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The main thing is that people understand what you're saying. So don't worry about your accent.
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Worry more about enunciating things, about saying things clearly. That's what you want
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to do. And again, grammar is one thing you're marked
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on. Your grammar does not have to be perfect. So if you make a mistake, that's okay, move
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on. Okay? You can mistakes, it's okay if you make mistakes.
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Okay, so I'd like to recommend a website where you can get more tips on part two of the IELTS
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and also practice questions. Again, very important to practice. Practice with a timer. Make sure
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you're speaking for two minutes. Go to www.goodluckielts.com.
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Okay? So www.goodluckielts.com -- here you
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will find more tips. And also come visit us at our website www.engvid.com where you can
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do a practice test on what you've just learned. So until next time, take care.
