Part 1

In this part of the IELTS Test, you are required to talk about straightforward things: what you do (student or working, for example), where you live, and your opinions on things you encounter every day.

Mistake Number 1: Giving short answers

Avoid giving answers using a single word or short phrase. Expand on your answers.

Examiner: Do you live in an apartment or a house?

Candidate: I lived with my parents in a large house near the city, but I've recently moved. I now rent an apartment with one of my closest friends. The apartment is small, but it has a beautiful garden. It's great.

Mistake Number 2: Using memorized answers

Questions asked in Part 1 of the IELTS Test are often repeated. You will frequently encounter questions such as:

- Do you live in a house or an apartment?

- Are you a student, or do you work?

Practicing answers to these questions before taking your test is a good idea, but make sure that you are not memorizing answers. Storing information can create additional pressure on yourself. Believe in yourself, know that your preparation will pay off, and you will be able to answer these types of questions as naturally as possible.

Form your ideas in your mind and let your language and vocabulary describe those ideas.

Mistake Number 3: Adding memorized words to answers irrelevant to the question

Remember - there are no "magic words" that will get you a band score of 9 in the speaking test. Think of vocabulary and phrases as relevant and irrelevant.

Part 2

In this part of the IELTS Test, you will be given a cue/task card. You will have one minute to prepare and two minutes to speak.

Mistake Number 4: Thinking you can't deviate from the cue card

The cue card and prompts are there to guide you. You do not need to stick to them strictly.

Say you have a cue card that looks like this:

Describe a website you often browse. You should say:

- what type of website it is

- how long you have been using it

- what you use it for

And explain why you often browse this site.

If while you are talking, you mention the first time you used the internet (which is NOT contained in this cue card), for example - this is completely fine, and you will not be penalized. You may have deviated from the cue card, but you still talk about the basic idea/topic.

Mistake Number 5: Not having a plan

If you do not have a strategy for tackling Part 2 of the IELTS Test, you may end up repeating yourself when speaking, which is problematic because you are not showing the examiner a wide range of language.

Before test day, make sure you have a strategy or "basic template" that will allow you to stay on topic and make use of a wide range of grammar and vocabulary.

Part 3

In this part of the IELTS Test, you will have a conversation with the examiner. Questions asked by the examiner will be related to Part 2. If Part 2 requires you to speak about a website, the examiner will likely ask you more complicated questions about the internet. For example: How has the internet changed social behaviour?

Mistake Number 6: Thinking you cannot ask for clarification / Thinking you cannot ask the examiner to repeat a question

Typically, the examiner will ask you to:

- Talk about an attitude: What does your generation think about _____ ?

- Provide a reason: Why does society _____ ?

- Speak about change: How has _____ changed over time?

- Classify: Is _____ a type of _____ ?

- Place something in a category: What types of _____ are there ?

- Compare: Which is more important: _____ or _____ ?

- Effectiveness: What makes _____ effective ?

- Define: What does _____ mean to you ?

If you don't understand a particular question: ask the examiner to repeat the question. Asking the examiner to repeat the question is much better than speaking off-topic or using vocabulary which is not relevant to the question.

Ask the examiner: "Can you please repeat that?"

Mistake Number 7: Thinking grammar is the most important thing

In Part 3, you want to make sure you extend your ideas and use more complex grammatical structures - but: do not force/strain yourself to make perfect grammatically correct sentences/answers. Placing too much emphasis on your grammar may end up hurting your pronunciation and coherence scores.

Using a wide range of accurate grammatical structures is important, but not at the expense of showing off a wide range of vocabulary and dynamic pronunciation.

Mistake Number 8: Not giving answers you have carefully thought about

The questions in this part of the test are pretty intricate/deep to allow you to show the examiner a wide range of ideas and vocabulary. To express thoughtful ideas, you will need to make use of less common language. Buy yourself time to think about what you want to say.