Nev L.

Many students struggle when it comes to having a conversation with native speakers. In reality, the only way to improve fluency in English speaking is by massive amounts of listening, and then practising speaking. The following are a few tips for improving your English speaking skills. 

Don’t forget that listening is the basis for speaking! When you also want to practice speaking, here are some recommendations on how to improve English speaking skills.

First of all, it’s useful to get trained by a native speaker. If you are living with native English speakers, then you chat with them, talk to them. If not, then joining a club or a volunteer organization can be a great way to know people informally and to engage in conversation. 

If the above option isn’t possible, then consider choosing a private tutor. Yes, another way to enhance your English speaking skills is to involve yourself in English language courses.

You can also watch movies or TV in English, with subtitles during your leisure time. Listening to songs or a speech given by a native English speaker will help you become familiar with the rhythms and accents. Once the sounds are familiar, you can try imitating them.

Hope this helps you!

As we all know, IELTS results are given on a nine-band scale and scoring 6 means there are inaccuracies, misunderstandings and inappropriacies. Writing section is marked on four criteria, i.e., Task achievements, Lexical resource, Coherence and cohesion, and Grammatical range and accuracy. So, here are a few simple tips for you to follow.

1. Understand the question asked by the interviewer. It's not going to help you if you don't answer accordingly. Keep to the topic, avoid writing anything about unrelated subjects.

2. Make sure your spelling is correct because you'll lose marks for mistakes.

3. Get a list of vocabulary for each writing task.

4. You need to work on complex sentence structures to get a good score.

5. Linking words are very important. It would be best if you showed the examiner the range of linking words to connect each of your sentences.

6. Use paragraph clearly.

7. Avoid copying whole sentences from the questions.

8. Start your preparation early and make sure you keep track of your progress.

9. Always listen to news and documentaries on various topics in English, also read books.

10. If possible, seek professional guidance and ask for feedback to improve the weak areas.

11. Excercise with full-length tests under realistic situations for several weeks before the test date.

Hope this helps you!

There are various strategies for the IELTS writing test to score better. Amongst all, here are some suggestions for you to follow.

a. Before you start writing, you must plan and prepare your answers. Always know the question asked, understand it properly and then answer. If your answer is diverted from the question asked, then you will lose marks.

b. Make sure your spellings are correct and get a list of vocabulary for each writing task. Also, you need to work on complex sentence structures to get a good score.

c. Linking words are very important in writing test. It would help if you showed the examiner the range of linking words to connect each of your sentences. 

d. Use a mix of sentences that make sense and monitor your word length. It is imperative to allocate your time properly. 

e. Make sure whatever you are writing is also understandable and has an impact on the question for that you need a lot of practice.

f. Analyse each question carefully and frame it accordingly. Do mock tests regularly and manage your time for each question.  

g. Seek an IELTS trainer guidance and feedback for improvement. Ensure that you leave no room for error in the exam hall.

Hope this helps. All the best!

Try reading English texts written by native speakers. It will be a challenge at first, but it will be more interesting once you can do it. Practice every day and don't be afraid to listen to something several times to reach a new or unusual vocabulary in there. It's effortless to find free English podcasts online, videos and many more. 

If you can't find English magazines or books, use the Internet to read the news in English every day. Give yourself a reason for studying. Don't be shy in front of the examiner. Enjoy the chat with them. Speak your ideas with confidence and showcase your language skills. Simple ideas which are explained using excellent English can get you to score band 9. 

Remember your past experience and interpret accordingly. Always speak from your heart. Your English is better when you do that. Learn to express yourself using your own language. Sharing your experiences related to topics can be impressive. It is pretty obvious that learning a language takes a lot of effort, but it will be easy if you start liking what you do.

But remember the first thing you need to do is to learn to think in English too. Without it, you’ll always be translating from your native language to English and will take longer to get good at speaking in English.

IELTS is a popular English language proficiency test conducted multiple times in a year for global migration and higher education. It has 4 modules viz. Writing, Reading, Listening and Speaking. Coming back to your question, the IELTS speaking exam is recorded for several reasons. Some of the reasons are:

1. Security: Recording the test ensures integrity and helps maintain transparency. This can prevent any unethical or banned activities such as partiality, bribery and more from taking place. Overall, recording the speaking section will make sure the test run fair and square.

2. For Evaluation: The test-takers save a copy of the recording which they can revisit, in case the student wants a reevaluation. This can be done when there is a huge discrepancy between the scores.

3. For examiner: Examiners are evaluated multiple times a year to see how they conducted the test and if the score they gave was accurate to the standardized method. IELTS Speaking recording also helps them ensure that examiners are sticking to prescribed practices.

4. Training: The British Council offers training to every examiner before they are given the jurisdiction to conduct IELTS exams. Hence for training purpose, these recorded videos come in handy. 

This approach ensures better transparency in the system and can help examiners improve their skills. It can also help the examiners evaluate without having to depend on their own memory.

Hope this helps!