How to take IELTS preparation as a professional in the IT/Business/Freelancing/any job sector (Part -1)
For part 2 click here
It is a dream of most non-native English speakers to be fluent in English speaking and sound like a native speaker. I was in a quest of taking my speaking skill to the next level, and most importantly acquire self-confidence in mind. During the lockdown period of COVID -19, when the whole world was staying at home, doing home office, and practicing new skills, I started my IELTS preparation to hone my English skill. After taking my IELTS test, many people want to know the pathway for their preparation at home.
What is IELTS to me- IELTS is not only about an english test, rather its a learning of time managment and self confidence.
Pathway for a good ( Band 7–9 ) in the Speaking
IELTS speaking is all about storytelling. To obtain a good band score according to SPEAKING: Band Descriptors, during storytelling, you must consider
- Fluency and coherence
- Lexical resource
- Grammatical range accuracy
- Pronunciation
Template to plan the Speaking Part-2 response
According to the topic of the Cue Card, you will get 1 minute to design your response, and 2 minutes to deliver your response. For beginners, it's really a tough task to plan the response. I also got difficulties during my early preparation. Then I found a pattern after exploring the Cambridge IELTS preparation books from TEST 8 –TEST 14.
The pattern in speaking cue card: Share your experience on different topics
Example:
Cambridge Book 11/ TEST 1: Describe a house/ apartment that someone you know lives in
Cambridge Book 11/ TEST 3: Describe a weather that was good when you visited somewhere
Design response with this template
About 10 sentences are quite enough for delivering your responses in 2 min.
- Introduction
2–5. Past[Cover 1st and 2nd point of cue card]
6–7. Topic related characteristics [Cover 3rd point of cue card]
8–9. Opinion [Cover 4th point of cue card]
10. Conclusion
10 sentences for time management and gain confidence
- I would like to talk about …
- I/It is/was…
- I/It was [doing/enjoying] … and/but
- I/It is/was
- I/It has/had [done/experienced]….which
- It is/was like
- Next/Also, When you[think/feel]… then you
- So, if I want to say…[paraphrase the 4th point of cue card]
- In my opinion, + third conditional [If + past perfect, would/wouldn’t have + past participle]
- What else, that’s all I have to say..thanks
Prepare an answer to a sample question
Describe a house/apartment someone you know lives in.
You should say:-
Whose house/apartment this is
Where the house/apartment is
What it looks like inside
And explain what you like or dislike about this Person’s house/apartment.
Response with template answer
- I would like to talk about the apartment of my friend.
- I was staying there during my last visit to Dhaka.
- It was a nice apartment with 4 units on each floor.
- I had never seen such a nice archaic design of any buildings before.
- It is like a skyscraper and there is a swimming pool, garden, and a common walkway for all the members of that apartment.
- Also, When you see the interior design of the living room, then you will think to have such a room for your own.
- It actually resembles the good taste of my friend.
- So, what I like most about the apartment!
- In my opinion, If I hadn’t visited the balcony, I would have missed the utmost beauty of the city from there and that remains still the same in my mind.
- What else..that’s all I have to say..thank you.
That’s it for this part. I am trying to improve my speaking skill also till now. Pronunciation is a key factor for improving speaking. In the next part, I will share some key pronunciation tips to achieve a high band score on IELTS final test day. I achieved Band 7 in my speaking module by practicing those pronunciation tips.
For part 2 click here
