Speaking
Knowing how to extend answers in IELTS speaking is the single highest-value skill in the test, because a short answer is not a small mistake. It is a refusal to supply evidence. The examiner can only assess the language you produce, so an answer that ends after four words has effectively been left blank. This page gives you a formula you can apply to any question, on any topic, without preparing the topic in advance.
Examiner: Do you enjoy travelling?
Candidate: Yes, I do.
Nothing there is wrong. That is the problem. There is no vocabulary to reward, no structure beyond the simple present, and no evidence of fluency. The examiner has learned only that you understood the question.
The fix is to answer the follow-up questions before they are asked. Every question hides three or four more inside it.
Candidate: I do, yes — (why?) mostly because I like the feeling of not knowing how anything works for the first few days. (where have you been?) I have not travelled as widely as I would like, mainly around Europe and one trip to Vietnam a few years ago. (which was best?) Vietnam is still the one I talk about, partly because it was the least like home, and partly because I went on my own, which I had never done before and would recommend to anybody.
Aim for roughly thirty seconds per question in Part 1, and around a minute in Part 3.
Read this answer, then look at how it is built.
Do you think traditions are important?
Yes, I do, because they give us a sense of connection with the past. That matters because it brings people together and reminds us of a history we have in common. However, I believe traditions also have to stay flexible — they should reflect the present as well as the past. Only by doing that can any tradition keep its relevance.
Four moves, in order:
Why do you hold that view? Here: it connects us to the past.
So what — what follows from it? Here: it brings people together.
What would somebody who disagreed say, or what needs qualifying? Here: traditions must stay flexible.
And if that qualification holds, what is the consequence? Here: the tradition stays relevant.
The formula does two things at once. It produces around sixty seconds of speech from a single opinion, and it forces you into the grammar the examiner wants to hear: reasons, results, concessions and conditionals.
Do you think smoking should be banned?
Yes, I do, (why) because of the health risks involved. (so) Those risks fall not only on the smoker but on anybody nearby, and eventually on taxpayers, since the treatment has to be paid for by somebody. (but) Of course, there is a real argument about personal freedom, and prohibition of any kind tends to create an illegal trade. (then) If that happened, you would simply move the problem from the health service to the police, which is not obviously an improvement.
Now that we live in a digital age, should we stop following traditional customs?
I would argue that traditional customs can sit alongside a digital culture perfectly well, (why) because both are reflections of the society that produced them. (so) If that is right, the sensible aim is to find ways in which the two support each other rather than treating it as a choice. (but) There are undeniably points at which they conflict, particularly where a custom restricts what technology now makes possible. (then) Where that happens, I think the older practice usually has to give way, since tradition should not become an obstacle to development.
The speaking test behaves like an ordinary conversation. If you state an opinion and stop, you have broken the conversational contract, and the examiner will hear it as an incomplete answer.
I do not think people should automatically be entitled to three holidays a year.
That is a position, not an answer. Compare:
I do not think people should automatically be entitled to three holidays a year, because there are businesses that simply cannot spare the labour. As I see it, two is a reasonable statutory minimum, with anything beyond that offered as an incentive rather than an entitlement.
Whenever you state an opinion, in speaking or in writing, immediately ask yourself why. The answer to that question is the rest of your sentence.
Below is a candidate talking about studying abroad. Every sentence is true, correct and far too short. Expand each one aloud, then open the suggestion to compare.
New Zealand is a great place to study. It is an English-speaking country with several well-regarded universities, so you get a solid education and constant exposure to the language at the same time.
There is so much to do — it is the home of a good deal of adventure tourism, so if you have any interest in bungy jumping or skydiving, this is the place to try it.
There are a lot of international students, especially in the larger cities, which can make it surprisingly hard to practise your English. I often catch myself spending an entire evening speaking my own language without noticing.
My advice would be to live in a homestay, because that way everything has to happen in English. You end up learning far more than you would in a classroom, simply because it is almost twenty-four hours a day.
Some international students think New Zealand is boring. I suspect that is because they have come from cities where entertainment is laid on every night, so they have never had to think about entertaining themselves.
I agree with something a friend told me years ago, that only boring people get bored. There is not much point travelling if you want everything to be the same as it was at home — the whole purpose of studying abroad is to find out how other people actually live.
It can be genuinely exciting to discover the cultural differences between countries. Before I came here, for instance, I had never encountered the idea of cooking food in a pit in the ground.
I do not think much of the food, though — a lot of it is heavier than I am used to, and portions are enormous.
I much prefer food from my own country, but I suspect that is mostly familiarity rather than any real judgement. It is simply what I grew up eating.
Overall, though, I have really enjoyed it. My English has improved, obviously, but I think I have also become more independent and a good deal less certain that my own way of doing things is the only one.
Respond to each statement below using Why, So, But, Then, and time yourself. Sixty seconds each. There are no model answers here on purpose — the point is to produce your own.
There is no need to settle into a career before the age of thirty.
Visa rules should be relaxed for international students.
People who cause serious traffic accidents should lose their licence permanently.
Single-sex classes make learning easier.
Nobody should eat meat.
University education should be free at the point of use.
Everything on IELTSforFREE stays free. If you want your speaking assessed rather than self-checked, IELTStestONLINE adds speaking assessments, writing assessed against the four criteria, and a support tutor who answers your questions.
Quick question, 10 seconds
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When are you planning to go?
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