IELTS Speaking: Mistakes to avoid in Part 2

IELTS Speaking Part-2 or you can also say "The Talk" where you will be provided with the topic card and will be a maximum of one minute preparation time on which you have to speak about 2 minutes. You have to start preparing as soon as you receive the card and will be informed by the examiner about the time. The topics will be based on your life experience or about yourself. The topics may include art, book, communication, daily routine, exercise, family, etc. You can write notes and can refer to them for your help and the examiner will ask you about two or more questions on the same topic. 

So, this was a quick summary for IELTS Speaking Part 2, if you haven't read the previous topic then before going further do read the previous article to have deep knowledge and to understand the topic more clearly.

As far we are now aware of IELTS Speaking Part 2, let's understand what are the common mistakes we make during the talk and how can we avoid them to boost our performance. 

In this article, we will cover three major topics-:

• Marking Criteria
• Common Mistakes
• Solution

There are four Assessments Criteria for IELTS speaking test

Fluency & Coherence: This refers to how clear and structured is your speech. 
You can increase your marking for fluency and coherence by connecting your sentences to each other and by linking the desired word & sign points. You need to extend your answers up to the mark with all the relevant details. Apart from this, you need to speak smoothly and continuously with pausing at the correct time. 

Lexical Resource: This refers to how good is your vocabulary. You can increase your marking for lexical resources by using a wide range of vocabulary, discussing different topics freely, and keeping in mind to use the appropriate words. You can speak formally or semi-formally and have to choose the words accurately. At last, always try to use idiomatic language.

Pronunciation: This refers to how naturally you sound. You can increase your marking for pronunciation by pronouncing the words as clear as possible. Practise your speech and work hard on the words that you spell incorrectly. Always remember to use correct intonations and try to be as simple and easily understood by the examiner. 

 Grammatical Range of Accuracy: This section refers to how good your grammar skills are. To increase your marking for GRA always try to avoid grammatical mistakes and try to use advanced grammatical structures as much as you can, examples can include- passive voice, direct speech, different tenses and unconditional sentences, etc. 

Do remember that each of the criteria has an equal weightage of 25%. So give your equal efforts on every topic and don't skip any of them. 

Let's clear it with an example. 

Topic- Describe a beautiful place to visit in your country.
"Keep in Mind-
Take a minute to prepare for the talk.
Take notes if you like and don't forget to include reasons and examples.
Then speak for 2 minutes."

Then you should say-:
Where the place is and how to get there.
What you can do after reaching.
Explain why you recommend this place.
As we get to know about different criteria, now let's have a look at the Common Mistakes that commonly everyone makes.

#1-One of the gravest mistakes that you can make is not speaking for 2 minutes in this talk.
Reasons-

•     Not preparing the talk in the logical structure. 
•    Shortness of Cohesive Devices.
•    Not utilising your preparation 1minute time well.
•    Completed your talk in a short period of time. 

#2-Always remember that talking more is not the same as talking correctly, many students do not have enough content to speak.
Reasons-

• Failure in brainstorming your ideas.
• Not utilising your preparation time well.
• Completed your talk in short duration of time which is less than 2 minutes.
• Not organizing your talk in a logical manner.

#3-Memorising your answers and reading your notes continuously.
Reasons-

• Failed to follow the desired structure of sentences.
• Absence of linking sentences properly.
• Being nervous or underconfident.
• Diverted or not focused.

#4-Going off the topic and making illogical structures.
Reasons-

• Never practising the topic before.
• Not utilising the preparation time well.
• Absence of linking properly structured sentences.

#5-Overthinking while speaking and going silent.
Reasons-

• Stressed out or very nervous during the talk.
• Too tricky or too complicated topic.
• Not heard about the topic before.
• Lack of gathering idea at random of the topic given.

"Every individual make mistakes but the best one is the one who learns from those mistakes."

Now comes the question, how to avoid these mistakes. Below are the different ways which can help you to boost your performance in speaking part 2 by not doing the mistakes which we discussed above.

Generate Ideas
Before your test make sure to thoroughly acquaint yourself analyzing and conceiving with different question prompts like what, when, how, why, where. Just speak with the flow about live and hypothetical examples supporting your idea with linking devices. 

Follow a proper structure
The objective of the IELTS is to test your English language fluency. So try to have an introduction or opening sentence. Make sure that your answer at least has some length. Support your answers using question prompts and try to boost your answers using conditional sentences.

Practise your talk by self Recording
Many students in the midst of their interview feel nervous and lose sight of the question asked to them and tend to go off on a tangent. So, before appearing for the interview practise your talk as much as you can and try to record it. This will make you realise your mistakes and you can work better on it. 

Stay Calm and be Focused
The interviewers aren't expecting you to be a brilliant orator, it would be very effective if you talk normally as you talk to your friends. There is nothing like familiar or unfamiliar, easy or tough but with good eye contact with the interviewer and a decent smile on your face with a polite talk, you can conquer any topic.

Short Success Mantra- Acquaint yourself with the test format and pattern by taking as much practise set as you can. Don't go off topic and try to be straight forward and simple as you can. 

Keep in mind to have a command over your vocabulary and do not use the same words over and over again. Choose the synonym that you can actually pronounce. 

There's nothing tough you think about. The questions asked are only about yourself and no one knows you better than you, not even the interviewer. 

So Stay Calm!
Stay Focused!
Happy Learning!!