IELTS Speaking -- why many candidates fail??

Ielts speaking:

There 4 criteria for assessing IELTS such as :  1, Fluency and Coherence    2, Vocabulary   3, Grammar accuracy  4, Pronunciation.

All of these are EQUALLY WEIGHTED but still why many tutors focus just on parts of it?  I think this criteria is an overrated one and at the same the most misunderstood or ignored one as well.

I often get enquiries  from some 'Ielts students' those believe that SPEAKING TEST is all about the idioms and phrases.It was very hard for me to convince these students that in IELTS idioms and phrases are not only going to help them, but also lose score or attract penalties. WHY?

Please read further if you are curious enough.

Your IELTS speaking test is in less formal ( semi-formal) mode but it doesn't mean any informal idioms of phrases can be used to impress the examiner/s. For example, the phrase 'nitty-gritty' (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/nitty-gritty)    which means = nit·ty-grit·ty  (nt-grt) n. Informal =The specific or practical details; the heart of a matter.It is very clear that dictionary states that the phrase is informal so using these types of idioms only attract penalties. Also, it is not recommended by many examiners.

Let us see what some examiners have to say about this.

However, the more formal the vocabulary and the more complex the grammar is, the higher the IELTS score. In the case of vocabulary, for instance, the scoring scheme gives higher scores when “less common” or “uncommon lexical items” (words or phrases) are used - which is what

formal vocabulary is. Visit http://tinyurl.com/4uddkz to see the scoring scheme ( David Park/ British council)

Never use colloquial English or slang. Colloquial English is a type of informal English, and it includes words such as gonna or wanna, and phrases such as ain’t nothin’ and dead as a doornail. Dictionaries usually mark colloquial words and phrases with a label like “colloq.” Because colloquial English and slang are usually spoken rather than written, they’ll make your academic writing sound too conversational and so less

credible.(David Park) http://www1.ccs.k12.in.us/teachers/downloads/cms_block_file/44243/file/36397 IELTS Speaking Part 2: formula phrases

A student asked me whether the following formula is useful for speaking part 2:

I guess I could begin by saying something about (point 1) and I think I would have to choose...

Going on to my next point which is (point 2), I really need to emphasise that (explain point 2).

And now with reference to (point 3), the point I want to make here is that (explain point 3).

And so finally, if I have time, in answer to the question of (point 4), really I should mention that...

So, are these 'formula phrases' a good idea? My answer is no!

As an English speaker and ex-examiner, I find these phrases annoying. It's obvious that they are memorised, and they do not address the question topic. Please don't expect the examiner to be impressed by this kind of thing.

There are a couple of benefits to learning a formula: it gives your answer some structure, and it might make you feel more confident during the test. However, the disadvantages are greater:

Your focus is on the phrases you have memorised, when it should be on answering the question with relevant ideas.

The examiner thinks that you are using memorised phrases because you are unable to produce good language spontaneously. In other words, your use of long formula phrases suggests that your level of English is lower.  (http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/ielts-speaking/page/2/ )

The key to a high speaking score isn't your use of 'complex' grammar structures, big words or idiomatic phrases. The key is to speak as naturally as possible, and real examples or stories help you to do this. (http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/ielts-speaking/)

By and large, using any informal idioms such as 'GIVE A SHOT' ( http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/give+it+a+shot )should be avoided at any rate.

Idioms and IELTS

Dominic: What about IELTS and idioms? Would you recommend IELTS candidates use idioms in the test?

Peter; Idioms can be difficult to understand, and even more of a challenge to use correctly. Not surprisingly, the examiner won?t be expecting to see much evidence of idiomatic English until advanced level. A general tip if you?re preparing for the exam is to make every effort to learn topic-based vocabulary on subjects that often come up. And it?s a good idea to sprinkle these with one or two idioms that you?re absolutely confident you can use appropriately.

One of the best ways to prepare for the Writing Paper is to become familiar with the kind of texts you are expected to write. As you read these examples look out for the use of idiomatic language. This will give you an idea of which phrases are less colloquial and more appropriate for semi-formal/formal use. For example, you probably wouldn't find someone complaining that they are cheesed off (angry) in a letter of complaint but possibly might read that they want to get something off their chest? (to tell someone about something that has been a concern for some time) and it wouldn't raise eyebrows (cause surprise or shock) to find the writer claiming that they had been sold something under false pretences? (dishonestly). (http://topfrenchnewspapers.vhssite.info/529/getting-your-head-around-idioms-dominic-coles-ielts-blog/ )

Stick to what you know and, again, don't try so hard: foreign accents and some *mild* interference from your native language are expected and not penalised as long as they don't get in the way (e.g. as long as you don't revert to using your native language instead of English).

Remember this is a test about your ability to communicate in English, not a test about your inner thesaurus or your knowledge of big words. Saying 'I'm particularly fond of enacting nutritional intakes of Neapolitan baked dough with sundry ingredients' does NOT impress the examiner more than 'I like pizza' does.

Try remaining formal: they don't expect a posh RP enunciation but I've seen and trained some people who've, again, tried too hard, and fell into using very informal language (e.g. slang, idioms, acronyms, shortened forms) just to prove they understand English well, but that's not good for this case. An IELTS interview is not a casual talk with your m8s while in the pub watching football and yelling at the ref, d'you Adam it?

"However, IELTS speaking test focus on the formal expression not idioms or slang". (Read more: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-language/review-of-the-ielts-speaking-task-english-language-essay.php#ixzz2TFtAsV5L )

Avoid slang or very informal language. We only use such language with our close friends. (http://www.teacherjoe.us/IELTSSpeakTips.html )

To sum up, Ielts speaking test is not a platform to  impress your examiner or using some idioms or phrases for the sake of using it but naturally speak English in a semi-formal tone.Whoever teaches against this misleads students as they are inept to teach IELTS according to the stipulated criteria. It is so pity that many students get into the trap and waste their money. An experienced tutor or service should be able to present BEFORE and AFTER (verifiable) certificates of their students( rather than their verbal claims) in order to prove the quality of teaching. By the bye, how many of these charlatans had Ielts?  Perhaps, just some claims.

Refer this one as well:

http://www.idp.co.th/IELT/A_SeekGoodSpeakingTestAdvice.aspx

Hope you will kill these IELTS myths and ghosts!

Make sure you want to use the idioms such as ' hey, you've got ants in your pants' after reading this.

Godspeed!

Intonasi dan Kecepatan Berbicara dalam IELTS

Banyak orang yang berasal dari beragam negara memiliki intonasi yang kurang sesuai karena gurunya pun memiliki intonasi yang kurang sesuai pula. Di banyak situasi, menjadi monoton lebih baik ketimbang memiliki intonasi yang buruk. Yang terburuk adalah saat seseorang naik dan turun terlalu banyak dalam setiap kata. Hal lain yang sebaiknya dihindari adalah mengakhiri kalimat dengan intonasi yang tinggi.

Untuk memperbaiki intonasi yang kurang sesuai, anda sebaiknya ingat untuk memulai dengan suara yang sedikit keras dan mengakhirinya dengan perlahan. Anda tak bisa melakukannya dengan cara lain. Sebaiknya anda mendengarkan rekaman audio dengan pembicara bahasa asing. Anda akan mendengar intonasi yang benar. Setelah mendengarkan rekaman audio, rekamlah suara anda dan dengarkan. Apakah terdengar sama? Jika tidak, maka cari area mana yang tidak sama dan lakukan perbaikan.

Saran ini sangatlah sepele, namun intonasi cukuplah mudah diperbaiki. Anda dapat memperbaiki intonasi bicara anda hanya dengan sedikit usaha. Jika anda memiliki teman yang merupakan pembicara bahasa Inggris, anda dapat melakukan perbaikan dengan berlatih bersama. Merekam suara anda sendiri dan mendengarkannya mungkin membosankan, namun memiliki intonasi yang tepat dapat mengalahkan kebosanan itu.

IELTS: Seperti Apakah Grammar Bahasa Lisan ?

Guna meraih kefasihan bahasa Inggris, mempelajari grammar dapat memperlambat kemajuan anda secara signifikan. Grammar tingkat dasar sangatlah diperlukan, namun terlalu fokus mempelajari grammar akan mempersulit kefasihan anda berbicara menggunakan bahasa Inggris dalam rentang waktu yang sewajarnya. Grammar paling efektif untuk meningkatkan kecakapan komunikasi dan menulis, namun hanya berlaku bagi mereka yang sudah memiliki dasar yang solid dalam kefasihan bahasa Inggris.

Salah satu kesamaan di antara semua orang di seluruh dunia adalah bahwa mereka belajar cara berbicara sebelum mempelajari grammar. Berbicara adalah langkah pertama bagi semua pelajar bahasa Inggris. Maka jika anda orang baru dalam bahasa Inggris, silahkan fokuskan kecakapan berbicara dan mendengarkan anda lebih dulu ketimbang mempelajari grammar. Setelah dapat berbicara dengan lancar, anda akan tahu betapa mudahnya grammar. Namun hal ini tak akan berguna jika dilakukan sebaliknya. Fasih dalam berbicara bahasa Inggris akan membantu anda dalam mempelajari grammar, namun mempelajari grammar TIDAK akan membantu anda dengan kecakapan berbicara anda.

Situasi nyata IELTS – Wawancara

Sekilas part 3 tes speaking IELTS. Ini adalah bagian tersulit dari tes. Situasinya adalah penguji menanyakan sebuah pertanyaan yang membuat anda perlu berpikir. Di bagian pertama, anda tak membutuhkan waktu berpikir, di bagian kedua anda memiliki sejenak waktu untuk mempersiapkan diri.  

Di bagian ini anda harus berpikir langsung – seperti saat wawancara. Berita baiknya: anda telah melakukan pemanasan selama 10 menit sebelum anda tiba pada bagian ini dengan melatih kecakapan berbicara anda di bagian 1 dan 2. Beberapa kepiawaian wawancara yang dapat membantu anda pada bagian ini adalah:

• Pewawancara yang baik umumnya tidak terburu-buru pada jawaban – seringkali mereka mendiskusikan pertanyaannya terlebih dulu sebelum memberikan jawaban mereka. Hal ini memberikan anda waktu berpikir dan membuat jawaban anda cocok.
• Pewawancara yang baik cenderung meringkas jawaban mereka saat jawabannya terlalu panjang/kompleks.
• Pewawancara yang baik tidak takut mengatakan mereka tak tahu jawabannya – mereka biasanya mengatakan alasan ketidak tahuan mereka, namun mereka tak akan menjatuhkan diri dengan mengungkapkan sesuatu yang tak mereka ketahui.

4 Tips Aksen Bagi Penutur Indonesia

Bahasa Indonesia memiliki bunyi dan pola pengucapan tersendiri. Saat seorang pembicara bahasa Indonesia mempelajari bahasa lain, pola bicara ini bersikap seperti penghalang pengucapan bahasa Inggris. Hal ini pun akhirnya menghasilkan bahasa Inggris yang beraksen, seperti “aksen bahasa Indonesia”.

Pembicara bahasa Indonesia cenderung memiliki kesulitan yang sama saat memproduksi bahasa Inggris lisan dan jika anda berlatar belakang bahasa Indonesia, mungkin tips berikut akan berguna bagi anda guna meningkatkan kemampuan bahasa Inggris lisan anda.

1. Ada beberapa bunyi dalam bahasa Inggris yang berbeda dengan bahasa pribumi anda dan bisa jadi sulit untuk diucapkan. Misalnya, bunyi “r” yang menjadi masalah umum bagi pembicara bahasa Indonesia. Untuk membuatnya terdengar dengan benar, lidah anda haruslah dalam posisi yang tepat. Untuk membuat bunyi “r” ujung lidah ditekuk ke atas dan ditujukan ke langit-langit mulut.
2. Kecepatan bicara anda dapat mempengaruhi  pengucapan anda dalam bahasa Inggris. Anda mungkin harus memperlambat bicara anda agar lebih mudah bagi orang lain memahami apa yang anda ucapkan.

Cara menjawab sesi Reading Cambridge 4, test 4, no. 36-40

Pertanyaan nomor 36-40 (YES, NO, NOT GIVEN)

Cara saya menjawab pertanyaan sesi YES, NO, NOT GIVEN pada Cambridge 4, test 4. Mungkin cara ini juga cocok bagi Anda. Ada 2 langkah :

1. Temukan kata kunci pada bacaan,
2. Setelah menemukan kata kunci, bacalah dengan teliti. Terkadang dibutuhkan kemampuan Paraphrase untuk menemukan jawaban yang tepat.

Pertanyaan no. 36:

Personal liberty and independence have never been regarded as directly linked to health-care.

Bacaan:

People are not in a position to exercise personal liberty and to be self-determining if they are poverty-stricken, or deprived of basic education, or do not live within a context of law and order. In the same way, basic health-care is a condition of the exercise of autonomy.

Jawaban: NO

Pertanyaan no. 37:

Health-care came to be seen as a right at about the same time that the limits of health-care resources became evident.

Bacaan:

Just at the time when it became obvious that health-care resources could not possibly meet the demands being made upon them, people were demanding that their fundamental right to health-care be satisfied by the state.

Jawaban: YES

Pertanyaan no. 38:

In OECD countries population changes have had an impact on health-care costs in recent years.

Bacaan:

The second set of more specific changes that have led to the present concern about the distribution of health-care resources stems from the dramatic rise in health costs in most OECD countries,…

Jawaban: YES

Pertanyaan no. 39:

OECD governments have consistently underestimated the level of health-care provision needed.

Bacaan:

… in OECD countries as a whole, health costs increased from 3.8% of GDP in 1960 to 7% of GDP in 1980, and it has been predicted that the proportion of health costs to GDP will continue to increase.

Jawaban: NOT GIVEN

Pertanyaan no. 40:

In most economically developed countries the elderly will have to make special provision for their health-care in the future.

Bacaan:

… in most OECD countries, accompanied by large-scale demographic and social changes which have meant, to take one example, that elderly people are now major (and relatively very expensive) consumers of health-care resources.

Jawaban: NOT GIVEN

Ref. Cambridge Practice Test for IELTS 4

IELTS: "Social and Campus Life" (Speaking)

Tes area Speaking adalah tes keempat dalam rangkaian tes IELTS. Tes ini dilakukan setelah tes area Listening, Reading dan Writing dilakukan, biasanya dilakukan pada siang hari di hari pelaksanaan tes.

Tes area Speaking adalah tes yang berbentuk wawancara yang dilakukan sekitar 11 sampai dengan 14 menit. Bagian pertama berlangsung sekitar empat sampai lima menit.

Menyebutkan Perbedaan Formal dan Informal

Jika anda sedang mempersiapkan modul untul IELTS Academic, baik Task 1 ataupun Task 2 dalam tes Writing adalah formal. Bagi kandidat General Training, task 2 dalam tes Writing selalu formal, dan Task 1 bisa formal atau informal.

Seperti yang telah diketahui, Task 1 untuk modul GT adalah surat, dan jika topiknya meminta anda menulis surat pada seseorang yang anda kenal, maka surat tersebut dalam bentuk informal – dan sebaliknya jika ditujukan pada seseorang yang tidak anda kenal, maka sebaiknya formal.

Perbedaan antara gaya formal dan informal lebih pada kosakata. Kata-kata informal adalah yang digunakan dalam percakapan sehari-hari dan formal adalah yang biasa digunakan dalam buku, kontrak, surat bisnis dan essai. Jika tugasnya meminta penulisan formal – hindari penggunaan kosakata informal. Jika tugasnya meminta penulisan informal, seperti surat untuk teman, hindari penggunaan kata-kata formal yang “berat”.

Terlepas dari kosakata dalam penulisan informal sangatlah baik menghindari kata-kata seperti “I”, “you”, “we”, kecuali anda mengungkapkan sebuah pendapat. Misalnya dalam sebuah essai ketimbang menulis “You would find it difficult to get a job without proper qualifications”, tulislah sesuatu seperti “One would find it difficult to find a job without proper qualifications”, atau anda dapat menulis “Finding a job without proper qualifications would be rather difficult”.

Bagi anda yang tidak tinggal di Negara berbahasa Inggris dan tidak berbicara bahasa Inggris dalam keseharian akan sulit menyebutkan perbedaan antara kosakata formal dan informal, yang dapat anda temukan pada daftar berikut. Anda dapat menghapalnya dan menggunakannya dalam tulisan anda sambil berlatih – dengan demikian kemungkinan anda menggunakan kata yang tepat dalam tes yang sebenarnya dapat meningkat.

Formal	Informal
Inform me	Let me know
Cancel	Drop
Contact	Get in touch
Obtain	Get
Apologise	Say sorry
Postpone	Delay
Request	Ask for
Compensate	Make up
Establish	Set up
Discover	Find out
Handle	Deal with
Investigate	Check up on
Tolerate	Put up
Increase	Go up
Children	Kids
Many / Much	A lot of
Many / Much	Heaps of

Catatan Penting: memahami dengan tepat penggunaan bahasa formal dan informal akan lebih mempermudah anda dalam meraih nilai lebih pada sesi writing dan speaking.

IELTS Kampung Inggris

Belajar IELTS

IELTS Speaking Test - Speaking Fluently

See how important fluency is in IELTS Speaking Test - Speaking Scoring Indicators (Scoring The Independent Speaking Response). So here we will learn to speak fluently.

IELTS Speaking Test Exercises - Pronunciation # Part 6 : Word Stress

In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a phrase or sentence. The term is also used for similar patterns of phonetic prominence inside syllables. The word accent is sometimes also used with this sense. (wikipedia)

IELTS Speaking Test Exercises - Pronunciation # Part 5 : Tongue Twister

A tongue-twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly, and can be used as a type of spoken (or sung) word game (wikipedia). Tongue twister is one of good way to make us exercise our pronunciation.

IELTS Speaking Test Exercises - Pronunciation # Part 4 : '-ed' form & '-s' ending

The letters ed are added to verbs to change the tense (from present to past). Sounds of -ed could changed because of phonetic symbol on its word pronunciation. There are some rules:

IELTS Speaking Test Exercises – Pronunciation # Part 3 : Consonants

A consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a closure or stricture of the vocal tract sufficient to cause audible turbulence. The word consonant comes from Latin and means "sounding with" or "sounding together", the idea being that consonants don't sound on their own, but only occur with a nearby vowel. Consonants may be voiced or unvoiced (voiceless). The 'th' in 'the' is voiced, but in 'breath' is not. (wikipedia)

IELTS Speaking Test Exercises – Pronunciation # Part 2 : Vowels

Vowels

definition: The word vowel comes from the Latin word vocalis, meaning "speaking", because in most languages words and thus speech are not possible without vowels. In English, the word vowel is commonly used to mean both vowel sounds and the written symbols that represent them. (Wikipedia)

IELTS Speaking Test Exercises – Pronunciation # Part 1 : Symbols

Pronunciation refers to the ability to use the correct stress, rhythm and intonation of a word in a spoken language. Learning pronunciation will give us some advantages in speaking test. For basic example, lets see the word 'pronunciation'. It should be /prəˌnʌnsɪˈeɪʃ(ə)n/ but some of you may read it as /prəʊnaʊnsɪˈeɪʃ(ə)n/, because we are more familiar with word 'pronoun' /ˈprəʊnaʊn/ or 'noun' /naʊn/. You will hear very different sounds when you listen native speaker speaks those words.

Crucial 15 minutes in IELTS Speaking Test

In IELTS, all skills of language are tested, including speaking which is tested at the end of the test session. Test takers need to wait up their chance to have it because they need to do it one by one. Test takers have to deal with native speaker who gives some questions during the test. Time provided for this speaking test is for about 15 minutes. In its implementation, the examiner has prepared a tool to record the result of the test. In order to be successful in the test, it is very important for the test taker to know about the parts of the test for smoothing the flow of the speaking test.

Conquer the Second Part of Speaking in IELTS

After completing the first part of speaking test, test taker has to deal with the next part which is more complex than the previous one. The rule of this session is quite different as well because there is a card used as the media. There is also a topic that will be given so that test taker needs to give some explanations related to the given topic. Test taker gets one minute to prepare for the answer and 1,5 until 2 minutes to speak about the topic in the card. It is okay if the test taker wants to make notes.

Making the Last Part of Speaking IELTS as the Best One

The last part of speaking section in IELTS is two-way discussion or topic discussion. The duration of this part is for about three to four minutes. Examiner gives some questions which are linked to the previous part. For example, if in the second part test taker gets a topic on tourist resort, then examiner might ask some questions such as “What do you think about mass tourism?”, “What is the positive thing of tourism for the local people?”, or “What are the solutions for coping the environment’s problem regarding the high level of tourism?”

Grading Criteria in Speaking IELTS

When we talk, sometimes, we do not apply effective and efficient factors. In some opportunities, we only speak without having a clear idea. We just talk! But you may not apply it in IELTS’ speaking section. In this context, you have to be able to grab the examiner’s attention that you are deserved to get a good score in speaking section because you have fulfilled the criteria of it well.

Pengaruh Nilai Setengah Pada Sesi Speaking IELTS

Sebagaimana telah anda ketahui, sesi Speaking pada IELTS saat ini diukur dengan cara yang berbeda sejak nilai setengah diperkenalkan. Anda mungkin bertanya – apa perbedaan Nilai 5.5 dan 6, apa yang harus saya tingkatkan untuk meraih nilai tambahan setengah? Berdasarkan pada situs resmi IELTS, inilah perbedaan antar band score pada tes Speaking: