The speaking part in IELTS is the second most complicated part to clear after the reading section and is bound to raise the anxiety levels in the IELTS aspirants. The nervousness of the section is directly proportional to the uncertainties it involves.
These uncertainties pop up in front of the aspirants in the form of questions that can be asked by the examiner from any nook of the world. Therefore, if you are confused about how to conduct yourself and prepare for the speaking round, then halt here!
This article talks about-
- What is speaking Task 1?
- What is the format?
- What is the purpose of the test?
- What do you need to do?
- Topics asked in speaking test 1
- How to prepare for the speaking section task 1?
What is Speaking Task 1?
Speaking task 1 examines your ability to interact with the examiner. It is mostly about you and your life. Under this, you will be asked general questions like your hometown, family’s occupation, etc.
General Information about Task 1
Time: 4-5 minutes
Number of Questions: 10-12
Topics: The topics are based on your life and experience. In a nutshell, you can talk about your home, family, work, studies, and interests.
You can cast examples from your life experience in this round. There is nothing like a right or wrong answer.
You can be asked questions like:
- What is your full name?
- How can I address you?
- Do you work or study?
- How have people spent their free time changed over the years?
- What do you like about the area you live in?
What is the format?
As mentioned above, the speaking task part 1 lasts for about 4-5 minutes which is aimed at a taking basic interview of the aspirant’s knowledge about his/ her hometown, study, hobby, and family’s occupation. It tests the candidate’s skills in organizing the answer and how he carries forward the momentum completely and satisfactorily. It is a type of small talk interview.
What is The Purpose of the IELTS Speaking Task 1?
If you have come across an IELTS speaking interview, you must have thought:
“No, this is a stupid question to ask!”
No matter how stupid you find the question, you have to answer it.
Probably that’s what the exam is all about!
The Speaking Test 1 aims at testing the fluency, vocabulary, and language you use to answer the question. IELTS is the proficiency test and the motive of a proficiency test is to assess the aspirant’s skills to communicate and organize the answer.
What do you need to do in the IELTS Speaking Task 1?
- Listen to the question carefully
- Know the intention behind the question
- Focus on creating a first impression
- Pretend to be interested in the questions
- Don’t just say Yes/ No, extend your answer to explain your points
- Don’t divert from the topic
- Topics Asked in IELTS Speaking Test 1
In the IELTS Speaking test 1, you could be asked questions on any of the below topics:
Work - What do you do?
Study- What are you pursuing?
Hometown- Where is your hometown, what you like about your hometown?
Routine- What is the first thing you do in the morning?
Birthdays- Do you enjoy your birthdays?
Art- Are you interested in the arts? What art interests you?
Timing- Is being late acceptable in your culture?
Weather- How is the weather in your hometown?
Internet- How do you think that the use of the internet has changed over the years?
How to prepare for the speaking section task 1?
- Know the exam
- Practice speaking sessions with your friend or by watching the videos
- Read a lot
- Master the way of answering the questions
- The task is about 4-5 minutes, stress on speaking about the main points
- Make a good first impression with the right beginning and end
- Practice fluency, vocabulary, and language
- IELTS speaking section is about using the best of language and different ways to express your thoughts.
AIM: To cast an impression on the examiner with your speaking abilities
It is important to be fluent and non-repetitive while answering the questions.
So, let’s move on to how you can improve your speaking ability to hit the score of 8 in IELTS Speaking task 1.
8 Tips to score7+ band in IELTS Speaking Task 1
Explain the idea
Understand the examiner’s question and organize ideas in your mind. Focus on giving to the point answers as it helps in casting the impression and make your answer look complete.
Combine the idea with other details
Combining ideas with other details is always the best strategy to frame your answer. You can answer the question by first answering in yes and no, the reason for that, and why do you do so/ think so.
How often do you go out to watch movies?
Answer: I prefer to watch movies with my friends on weekdays after work. Also, I like to spend time alone watching the same on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and so on. I find movies the best way to explore different lives, countries, and thoughts.
Here in this example, you can see the answer to the question is complete. Apart from that, the last line of the answer seems to lend a thoughtful impression to the examiner.
Well, this is what you call a perfect answer!
Examples
Examples are a wonderful way to frame your answer and enhance it. You can take the example we discussed above and add an example to it to make it look impressive and complete.
How often do you go out to watch movies?
Answer: I prefer watching movies with my friends on weekdays after work and on weekends. I like to spend time watching the same on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and so on. I am fond of exploring sci-fi content and last week; end up watching the entire iron man series once again with my sister.
Here, the answer given is impressive because it is a to-the-point, complete, and innovative answer.
Frequency
If the question demands you to answer in a particular number, then you can answer it how often or frequently you do it.
Contrast the ideas
Answering the questions is good but you can contrast your ideas too using the words “however” or “But”.
Compare the idea with the past experience
Just think about why would you like to cite an example from your past experience?
To make it interesting and engaging!
That’s what you can do here. You can cite an example from the past experience to make your answer impressive and makes the supporting statements look complete.
Talk about the present experience
Speaking or citing the live examples will help you pique the interest of the examiner and offer you a different range to expand the answer in different ways. You can relate the question with present-day events.
Talk about Future possibilities
Repetition of the ideas is something you need to avoid the most when you are interacting with the examiner. Along with impacting negatively, it dissuades you from explaining your point. You can instead talk about future possibilities in your answer to expand your answer.
These are some of the main tips to score 8+ bands in your speaking task 1.
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