THE FLUENCY AND COHERENCE SECRET
👉 FAQ 1: IF I LEARN ANSWERS FROM THE IELTS SPEAKING SAMPLE ANSWERS, DOES THAT MEAN THAT I MEMORISE ANSWERS? WILL I HAVE A LOWER BAND SCORE BECAUSE OF THAT?
Well, everyone says that you should avoid memorised answers in IELTS speaking because examiners can spot such answers easily. That’s right. But don’t be so afraid. It is clear that all learning requires memorisation. Just don’t confuse memorising answers with learning words, phrases, and even parts of the answer which you can easily adapt and change while you speak.
BAD APPROACH: If you learned the whole answer by heart, but you don’t understand what you are talking about. You just learned a sequence of sounds. As a result, you won’t sound natural, you will sound mechanical. If you forget some part of the answer and continue from some point, your answer will make no sense. For example, I learned the answer in some fictional language: ‘Thjiihb jjjiiu dsagm bhjkll kkiiufc llpppoh jj hffdd sss dsdfhb hhhh’ I don’t have any idea of what this answer is about. All I can do is learn all these sounds by heart. If I forget any part, I don’t even know how that will influence the meaning. Any experienced tutor and examiner will easily recognise such answers.
GOOD APPROACH: You read some answers in the "IELTS Speaking Actual Tests" https://t.me/prodos/3009 or in the "IELTS Assistant" app https://t.me/prodos/2979 learn some good phrases, some parts of the answer, even the whole answer. But the most important thing is to understand what each expression or phrase means, which words to emphasize, where to make pauses. Thus, you will sound natural even if you tried to learn the whole answer because you will change and adapt your answer while you speak. Also, even if you forget some part, you will say something appropriate because you will understand what exactly you are saying. So, it’s okay to learn answers as long as you understand them!
👉 FAQ 2: IS IT BAD TO USE FILLERS IN THE IELTS SPEAKING TEST?
Fillers are the words such as “well”, “um”, “like”, or “you know”, frequently combined in the phrase “like, you know . . .” These words are essentially meaningless, but they help you avoid hesitation while answering questions. And they are frequently used by people in their everyday conversations. Therefore these words will help you sound more natural, which is good. However, you will definitely have a lower band score if you overuse them.
👉 FAQ 3: CAN SPEAKING TOO FAST AFFECT MY IELTS SPEAKING BAND SCORE?
Absolutely! It can, and not for the better. Fluency and coherence account for 25% of your mark. One part of it is intonation. If you speak too fast, you are likely to sound MECHANICAL. As a result, you might be marked down.
👉 FAQ 4: HOW CAN I IMPROVE FLUENCY AND MAKE MY ANSWERS SOUND MORE NATURAL?
One way is to record your answers and listen to them. If they don’t seem natural to you, an examiner won’t like them either. So you should keep practising until you are satisfied with what you hear.
#speaking
#examtip
👉 FAQ 1: IF I LEARN ANSWERS FROM THE IELTS SPEAKING SAMPLE ANSWERS, DOES THAT MEAN THAT I MEMORISE ANSWERS? WILL I HAVE A LOWER BAND SCORE BECAUSE OF THAT?
Well, everyone says that you should avoid memorised answers in IELTS speaking because examiners can spot such answers easily. That’s right. But don’t be so afraid. It is clear that all learning requires memorisation. Just don’t confuse memorising answers with learning words, phrases, and even parts of the answer which you can easily adapt and change while you speak.
BAD APPROACH: If you learned the whole answer by heart, but you don’t understand what you are talking about. You just learned a sequence of sounds. As a result, you won’t sound natural, you will sound mechanical. If you forget some part of the answer and continue from some point, your answer will make no sense. For example, I learned the answer in some fictional language: ‘Thjiihb jjjiiu dsagm bhjkll kkiiufc llpppoh jj hffdd sss dsdfhb hhhh’ I don’t have any idea of what this answer is about. All I can do is learn all these sounds by heart. If I forget any part, I don’t even know how that will influence the meaning. Any experienced tutor and examiner will easily recognise such answers.
GOOD APPROACH: You read some answers in the "IELTS Speaking Actual Tests" https://t.me/prodos/3009 or in the "IELTS Assistant" app https://t.me/prodos/2979 learn some good phrases, some parts of the answer, even the whole answer. But the most important thing is to understand what each expression or phrase means, which words to emphasize, where to make pauses. Thus, you will sound natural even if you tried to learn the whole answer because you will change and adapt your answer while you speak. Also, even if you forget some part, you will say something appropriate because you will understand what exactly you are saying. So, it’s okay to learn answers as long as you understand them!
👉 FAQ 2: IS IT BAD TO USE FILLERS IN THE IELTS SPEAKING TEST?
Fillers are the words such as “well”, “um”, “like”, or “you know”, frequently combined in the phrase “like, you know . . .” These words are essentially meaningless, but they help you avoid hesitation while answering questions. And they are frequently used by people in their everyday conversations. Therefore these words will help you sound more natural, which is good. However, you will definitely have a lower band score if you overuse them.
👉 FAQ 3: CAN SPEAKING TOO FAST AFFECT MY IELTS SPEAKING BAND SCORE?
Absolutely! It can, and not for the better. Fluency and coherence account for 25% of your mark. One part of it is intonation. If you speak too fast, you are likely to sound MECHANICAL. As a result, you might be marked down.
👉 FAQ 4: HOW CAN I IMPROVE FLUENCY AND MAKE MY ANSWERS SOUND MORE NATURAL?
One way is to record your answers and listen to them. If they don’t seem natural to you, an examiner won’t like them either. So you should keep practising until you are satisfied with what you hear.
#speaking
#examtip
idp, academic module. 13.03.2019
Part 1
First part questions were related to hometown(why do I live exactly in Tashkent), colors, to be honest I don’t remember others but this were typical questions for part 1.
Part 2
Describe a complaint that you made and you were satisfied with the result. You should say:
When it happened
Who you complained to
What you complained about
And why you were satisfied with the result
Part 3
What products or services do people in your country like to complain about?
Who complain more in country young or older people?
Is it necessary for companies to set up customer service?
Do you think customers' complaints will improve products or services?
Writing task 2:
Mobile phones and the Internet play an important role in the way in which people relate to one another socially.
Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
Those who have passed speaking with Tim, please help me understand how he marks candidates? (I mean does the band given by Tim coincidences with mark you
Part 1
First part questions were related to hometown(why do I live exactly in Tashkent), colors, to be honest I don’t remember others but this were typical questions for part 1.
Part 2
Describe a complaint that you made and you were satisfied with the result. You should say:
When it happened
Who you complained to
What you complained about
And why you were satisfied with the result
Part 3
What products or services do people in your country like to complain about?
Who complain more in country young or older people?
Is it necessary for companies to set up customer service?
Do you think customers' complaints will improve products or services?
Writing task 2:
Mobile phones and the Internet play an important role in the way in which people relate to one another socially.
Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
Those who have passed speaking with Tim, please help me understand how he marks candidates? (I mean does the band given by Tim coincidences with mark you
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🌻How to connect English words to sound like a native speaker
Speaking Band descriptors @mockTashkent.pdf
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Speaking Band descriptors
Interesting Facts About England😍
🔴 Mistaken Identity
🔹England is often mistaken for the entire United Kingdom or Great Britain. This often offends people from other countries like Scotland and Wales.
🔴Being Armed
🔹Police in England carry guns only in the case of emergencies.
🔹You are allowed to only shoot a Welsh with a bow and arrow inside the city walls of Chester that too after midnight.
🔴 The River Thames
🔹The Thames River is the longest river that flows through England. The river is slightly shorter than the River Severn. It flows a distance of around 346 kilometers.
🔹The Thames River has 200 bridges and tunnels across its 346 kilometer course.
🔴 London Eye
🔹The Ferris wheel is the largest one in Europe and each rotation takes a good 30 minutes.
🔹Seven years and hundreds of skilled labourers were required to make the London eye, a reality.
🔹The total weight of the wheel and the capsules comes to a super heavy 2100 tons. Each capsule weighs 2,100 tons and there is a total of 32 capsules. These interesting facts about England related to London are worth knowing.
Sponsored
🔴 The Big Ben
🔹The real name of Big Ben is the ‘Clock tower’. The big bell was nicknamed so and the name stuck as it was more attractive.
🔹The most important tourist attraction is the Big Ben.
🔹‘omine Salvam Fac Reginam Nostrum Victoriam Primam’ is the inscription found in gold at the base of each of the clock dials. It translates to O Lord, keep safe our Queen Victoria the first.
🔹5 mile radius is how far the Big Ben, which chimes every fifteen minutes, can be heard.
🔴 London Underground
🔹The London tube has turned 150.
🔹The tube has an average speed of 20.5 miles per hour including stops at the station.
🔹Waterloo is the busiest tube station as 57,000 passengers enter during the peak hour.
🔴 London Bridge
🔹The vintage lamps that light up the bridge are made from canons melted. The canons belonged to none other than Napoleon Bonaparte.
🔹The bridge is home to hundreds of bats, which have made it selves very comfortable in the nook and cranny of the bridge.
🔹The LED lights that have been installed are energy efficient and have contributed towards the bridge going green.
🔴 First Gas Company
🔹The London and Westminster gas and coke company became the first gas company of the world. But the world’s first public street lighting with gas happened in 1807 when it was installed in the Pall Mall.
🔴 The Liverpool Cathedral
There are few interesting facts about England related to the Liverpool Cathedral, here they are:
🔹The Liverpool cathedral is the newest cathedral of Britain. It was completed in 1978.
🔹It stands to be the second longest church after St.Peter’s Basilica.
🔹It is also the biggest cathedral of Britain.
🔹Castles, RESIDENCES, museums
🔹‘The Theater’ was the first public theater built in England.
🔹Two million years of civilization’s treasure is what the British Museum houses.
🔹The Windsor castle is the oldest and largest royal residence still in use in the world.
🔹The Berkeley castle is the oldest castle still inhabited by the family who built it. Robert Fitzharding started building the castle in 1153 and founded the Berkeley family.
#facts
🔴 Mistaken Identity
🔹England is often mistaken for the entire United Kingdom or Great Britain. This often offends people from other countries like Scotland and Wales.
🔴Being Armed
🔹Police in England carry guns only in the case of emergencies.
🔹You are allowed to only shoot a Welsh with a bow and arrow inside the city walls of Chester that too after midnight.
🔴 The River Thames
🔹The Thames River is the longest river that flows through England. The river is slightly shorter than the River Severn. It flows a distance of around 346 kilometers.
🔹The Thames River has 200 bridges and tunnels across its 346 kilometer course.
🔴 London Eye
🔹The Ferris wheel is the largest one in Europe and each rotation takes a good 30 minutes.
🔹Seven years and hundreds of skilled labourers were required to make the London eye, a reality.
🔹The total weight of the wheel and the capsules comes to a super heavy 2100 tons. Each capsule weighs 2,100 tons and there is a total of 32 capsules. These interesting facts about England related to London are worth knowing.
Sponsored
🔴 The Big Ben
🔹The real name of Big Ben is the ‘Clock tower’. The big bell was nicknamed so and the name stuck as it was more attractive.
🔹The most important tourist attraction is the Big Ben.
🔹‘omine Salvam Fac Reginam Nostrum Victoriam Primam’ is the inscription found in gold at the base of each of the clock dials. It translates to O Lord, keep safe our Queen Victoria the first.
🔹5 mile radius is how far the Big Ben, which chimes every fifteen minutes, can be heard.
🔴 London Underground
🔹The London tube has turned 150.
🔹The tube has an average speed of 20.5 miles per hour including stops at the station.
🔹Waterloo is the busiest tube station as 57,000 passengers enter during the peak hour.
🔴 London Bridge
🔹The vintage lamps that light up the bridge are made from canons melted. The canons belonged to none other than Napoleon Bonaparte.
🔹The bridge is home to hundreds of bats, which have made it selves very comfortable in the nook and cranny of the bridge.
🔹The LED lights that have been installed are energy efficient and have contributed towards the bridge going green.
🔴 First Gas Company
🔹The London and Westminster gas and coke company became the first gas company of the world. But the world’s first public street lighting with gas happened in 1807 when it was installed in the Pall Mall.
🔴 The Liverpool Cathedral
There are few interesting facts about England related to the Liverpool Cathedral, here they are:
🔹The Liverpool cathedral is the newest cathedral of Britain. It was completed in 1978.
🔹It stands to be the second longest church after St.Peter’s Basilica.
🔹It is also the biggest cathedral of Britain.
🔹Castles, RESIDENCES, museums
🔹‘The Theater’ was the first public theater built in England.
🔹Two million years of civilization’s treasure is what the British Museum houses.
🔹The Windsor castle is the oldest and largest royal residence still in use in the world.
🔹The Berkeley castle is the oldest castle still inhabited by the family who built it. Robert Fitzharding started building the castle in 1153 and founded the Berkeley family.
#facts
A 5-Step Method to Improve Your Listening Skills (5)
by JAMES GRANAHAN
Now that’s the groundwork explained, here’s my five step method to improve your listening skills.
A 5-Step Method to Improve Your Listening Skills
Step 1: Listen to the Audio – No Reading!
The first step in this method is to simply listen to the audio alone. Don’t read the text in advance and don’t follow along with it as you listen. The point here is to focus solely on your aural skills and see how much you can understand without any visual aid.
Of course, unless you’re already at a very high level, this can be very difficult. Rather than trying to understand every single word, it’s better to focus on trying to understand the ‘gist’ of what’s being said.
Step 2: Repeat!
It’s not time to look at the text just yet. Many learners make the mistake of turning to the text too quickly. However, the point here is to practice your listening skills so just stay focused on listening for the time being.
On the first listen, you’ll probably have identified one or two key words or ideas. As you repeat the audio, listen carefully and see if you can pick out and words or phrases you may have missed the first time. By now you may already have some idea what this piece of audio is about, so use the context to your advantage. If you can’t figure out exactly what’s going on, don’t worry. Just note down any keywords you do understand or words that seem important.
At this stage, I’d suggest listening at least three more times. With each listen, you can add a little more to your comprehension. Your goal should be to try and use all of your current knowledge in the language to understand as much as possible from the audio before you read the text. When you feel you’ve reached a point where there’s nothing more you can take from the recording, it’s time to move onto the next step.
Step 3: Get Reading
Now it’s time to look at the text. Read through it and check how much you understood from your listening. Did you get the ‘gist’ of it?
As you read through the text, identify any new words you come across. See if you can guess the meaning of the words from their context; otherwise, look them up in a dictionary. If there are any new words that you think will be particularly useful for you in conversation, write them down and add them to your list of new vocabulary to learn.
Pay careful attention to these words and be sure to listen out for them when you repeat the audio.
Step 4: Listen With the Text
Once you’ve read through the text a few times and looked up any words you didn’t understand, you should be confident about its meaning. Next, I suggest listening again a couple of more times while you read along with the text.
This is the one time during the process that you’re using aural and visual stimuli together, so take advantage of it. Try to connect the written words to the sounds and pay special attention to phrases or groups of words and how they’re pronounced.
If there were a lot of new words in the text you’re working on, trying breaking the audio down into smaller chunks as you continue to repeat it. Rather than repeating the whole recording at once, you can work through paragraph by paragraph if you prefer.
Step 5: Listen Again Without the Text
Finally, go back and listen again a few more times without the text. By this point, you should be able to understand almost everything quite well even without the visual aid of the text.
Over the next few days, it’s good to listen back to the clip again whenever you have a chance. Download the recording to your phone so you can have a quick listen any time you get a few free minutes. With each extra repetition your comfort level will grow. Because you’re now able to understand the words and phrases you studied without any visual aid, you’ll also find it easier to recognise this vocabulary when it comes up conversations or in other recordings you listen to.
🎧 @eng_listening
by JAMES GRANAHAN
Now that’s the groundwork explained, here’s my five step method to improve your listening skills.
A 5-Step Method to Improve Your Listening Skills
Step 1: Listen to the Audio – No Reading!
The first step in this method is to simply listen to the audio alone. Don’t read the text in advance and don’t follow along with it as you listen. The point here is to focus solely on your aural skills and see how much you can understand without any visual aid.
Of course, unless you’re already at a very high level, this can be very difficult. Rather than trying to understand every single word, it’s better to focus on trying to understand the ‘gist’ of what’s being said.
Step 2: Repeat!
It’s not time to look at the text just yet. Many learners make the mistake of turning to the text too quickly. However, the point here is to practice your listening skills so just stay focused on listening for the time being.
On the first listen, you’ll probably have identified one or two key words or ideas. As you repeat the audio, listen carefully and see if you can pick out and words or phrases you may have missed the first time. By now you may already have some idea what this piece of audio is about, so use the context to your advantage. If you can’t figure out exactly what’s going on, don’t worry. Just note down any keywords you do understand or words that seem important.
At this stage, I’d suggest listening at least three more times. With each listen, you can add a little more to your comprehension. Your goal should be to try and use all of your current knowledge in the language to understand as much as possible from the audio before you read the text. When you feel you’ve reached a point where there’s nothing more you can take from the recording, it’s time to move onto the next step.
Step 3: Get Reading
Now it’s time to look at the text. Read through it and check how much you understood from your listening. Did you get the ‘gist’ of it?
As you read through the text, identify any new words you come across. See if you can guess the meaning of the words from their context; otherwise, look them up in a dictionary. If there are any new words that you think will be particularly useful for you in conversation, write them down and add them to your list of new vocabulary to learn.
Pay careful attention to these words and be sure to listen out for them when you repeat the audio.
Step 4: Listen With the Text
Once you’ve read through the text a few times and looked up any words you didn’t understand, you should be confident about its meaning. Next, I suggest listening again a couple of more times while you read along with the text.
This is the one time during the process that you’re using aural and visual stimuli together, so take advantage of it. Try to connect the written words to the sounds and pay special attention to phrases or groups of words and how they’re pronounced.
If there were a lot of new words in the text you’re working on, trying breaking the audio down into smaller chunks as you continue to repeat it. Rather than repeating the whole recording at once, you can work through paragraph by paragraph if you prefer.
Step 5: Listen Again Without the Text
Finally, go back and listen again a few more times without the text. By this point, you should be able to understand almost everything quite well even without the visual aid of the text.
Over the next few days, it’s good to listen back to the clip again whenever you have a chance. Download the recording to your phone so you can have a quick listen any time you get a few free minutes. With each extra repetition your comfort level will grow. Because you’re now able to understand the words and phrases you studied without any visual aid, you’ll also find it easier to recognise this vocabulary when it comes up conversations or in other recordings you listen to.
🎧 @eng_listening