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?”

A Little Step to Understand on Things Should be done in Writing IELTS

In completing the first task in writing IELTS, test taker should remember that he or she has to describe “only” information or data in the visual information chosen for him or her. It means that test taker may not add his or her opinion about the information. Besides, there are some important things to emphasize in completing task one.

Crumbling the Fear in Dealing with Task 1 Writing IELTS

Are you afraid in describing visual information like graph, diagram, or chart? Well, test taker might actually get the fear because he or she has no idea on the word choice that should be used. Talking about visual information, there are some vocabularies that test taker can hold as a ‘secret code’ to get the hidden treasure. The followings are some words that test taker can pick for finishing a battle with task 1 writing.

Aware of Some Traps in Writing IELTS

Indeed some traps given in writing IELTS. In task 2 of writing test for example, test taker who gets the motion seems to get a kind of pressure in giving his or her best ideas on the related topic. Actually, the real point is not on ideas that are proposed by test taker. Therefore, test taker must not worry so much on the idea for writing itself. For example, test taker gets the motion to write “Is an English teacher has to be a graduate student of English department?”. In this case, the point is not on the pro side or contra side. It should be noted by test taker that the examiner does not care on test taker’s choice. So what the examiner care about?

How to Manage Data in Writing IELTS

Data is important in building paragraphs for describing the visual information. Nevertheless, its function is only for supporting ‘the big picture’ of visual information. Test taker must be careful in inserting the data, especially if it is related to number. Sometimes, test taker does not pay enough attention then makes a simple but fatal error such as writing “480 people were failed to get the expected driving license in USA in 2009”, when he or she should write “480 thousand people were failed to get the expected driving license in USA in 2009”.

Getting to Know Better about Types of Questions in Task 2 Writing IELTS

In task 2 writing IELTS, test taker will not deal with any visual information. Instead, test taker gets a topic that should be described in 40 minutes. The topic is in one of the following possibilities:

Punctuation in writing

In written English, punctuation is vital to disambiguate the meaning of sentences. For example, "woman, without her man, is nothing" (emphasizing the importance of men) and "woman: without her, man is nothing" (emphasizing the importance of women) have greatly different meanings.