IELTS Speaking Part 2: What You Need To Know

Jan 27, 2019 | IELTS, IELTS Speaking, IELTS Test

IELTS Speaking Part 2 contains the heart of the Speaking test.

How IELTS Speaking Part 2 Begins

Part 2 begins when the examiner says: “Now, I’m going to give you a topic, and I’d like you to speak about that topic for 1-2 minutes”.

The examiner will then give you a piece of paper, a pencil and a question.

As you can see below, the question will consist of a top line, 3 bullet points and a closing sentence…

IELTS Speaking Part 2

If you don’t understand the question, you can do one thing to help yourself. However, you must do take action at the beginning of your preparation time to gain any kind of advantage. Find out more in my video course.

Preparation Time

Some exam candidates write down the question, but you don’t need to since the question will stay in front of you throughout the two minutes.

Use the minute preparation time to make more effective notes. My video course contains advice on making notes.

The Long Turn

Once your minute preparation has finished, the examiner will say “All right, remember you have 1-2 minutes…”. These words signal that you should begin speaking.

Speak in a natural way, not too fast or too slow. Fast or slow speech will remove intonation from your speech and as a result, you will receive a low pronunciation and fluency score.

If you run out of things to say and know that you have spoken for at least 1 minute, you can say you have finished.

As long as you have spoken for over a minute, you could get a Band 9.0. Providing you have spoken with fluency and without error.

Avoid pausing to think of higher-level vocabulary or grammar while speaking. This slows you down and will affect both your fluency and pronunciation.

On the day you should speak almost without thinking. The vocabulary and grammar you use should be part of your active speech.

You can pause in parts of the test without affecting your score. See my course or book a lesson to find out more.

How IELTS Speaking Part 2 Ends

When the two minutes end, the examiner will interrupt you and close this part of the test by saying: ‘Thank you’.

Don’t worry if the examiner stops you halfway through a sentence. Unlike the Writing, this part of the test pays no attention to unfinished thoughts.

The examiner will ask you a final question to round off Part 2. Just give a quick answer, and the examiner will move on to Part 3.

The Topics in IELTS Speaking Part 2

No one can predict what topic the examiner will give you on the day. However, you can employ some strategies to twist the question around to areas where you have a good vocabulary.

The topics in this part of the test do tend to repeat, and unlike in the Writing, you do not need to worry too much if you go a little off-topic.

How to Train to Improve Your Performance in IELTS Speaking Part 2

Your examiner will award you a Speaking score based on the IELTS descriptors. You can find a public version of these here. Read them carefully, the descriptors contain the key to your grade. This means that if you fail to get the score you need, the descriptors can tell you why.

If you can’t interpret them, a skilled teacher can use the descriptors to tell you what you need to do to improve your band score.

You can use our free demo lesson form to request a 20-minute session where we can explain more how we teach.

Don’t forget to download our free e-book on How to Get a Band 8.0 in the IELTS Speaking Test.

Return to the IELTS Speaking Home Page.

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