How to practice and prepare for IELTS speaking part 2 topics
Part 2 of the IELTS speaking exam takes practice, and it is important to remember that to be successful, it’s not just about having a good English level. Part 2 of the IELTS speaking exam requires you to have an idea of how long you are speaking for, as well as be able to prepare your key words and ideas in a short space of time. All of this takes practice, as well as finding the best method that suits you.
“Now I’m going to give you a topic card and, ask you to talk about it for one to two minutes. You’ll have one minute before you speak to think about what you’re going to say, and you can make some notes on this piece of paper if you want. “
These are the words the examiner will say to you after you finish part 1 of the speaking exam, and this is where you want to be confident, prepared, and make the most of your 1 minute preparation time.
Make the most of your 1 minute in IELTS speaking part 2.
After reviewing your topic card and noting any necessary grammar and key words, it is time to quickly decide what you will discuss. Because you only have one minute to prepare, it is not a good idea to spend too much time thinking about this, as you will run out of time and your score will suffer as a result.
Remember in the exam you will have a piece of paper and a pen to enable you to write some key words to help you to remember what to talk about. Again this is something to practice at home and see what works for you. Whatever you write is only for you , and the examiner will not look at any notes you take. This means you can write your key words quickly without having to worry about spelling or good handwriting. If it makes it easier, you can even write the keywords in your own language, or shorthand to save time.
Do not try to write full sentences as you will run out of time and maybe forget some of your ideas. When you are preparing for the speaking exam part 2 at home, you can practice by picking a random part 2 topic, and using the timer on your phone to think of what you would talk about and writing some key words inside a minute.
Practice talking for IELTS speaking part 2
When student practice part 2 in an online class with me, they often ask how did they sound, or what mistakes they made during their talk. This is something very important to think about and practice, as if you don’t realise the mistakes your are making, how can you stop making them? Also if you have to ask how did you sound when speaking in part 2 of the speaking exam, how do you know what you might need to focus on?
Record yourself.
This is again where you can use your phone to practice. Take a random topic , not a topic you think is easy and already prepared. First use the stopwatch on your phone to give yourself 1 minute to look at the topic and write some key words down. Now you can use your phone to record or even better video yourself as you are speaking for between 1.5 and 2 minutes on your topic.
After doing this play back the recording and listen carefully to yourself speaking. Now you are going to hear exactly what the examiner is hearing. As you listen to the recording think of what the examiner is looking and listening for.
- Is everything you say clear and easy to understand.
- Are you making any basic grammar mistakes. (Look at the topic card again and make sure you are using the correct tenses)
- Are you speaking smoothly with a degree of fluency, or pausing too often to think of what you want to say?
- Did you go through all the questions on the card?
After practicing this a few time you are probably going to notice some things you need to work on to improve your part 2 talk, rather than just going through all the part 2 topics.
Practice speaking naturally for speaking part 2 topics.
One of the first things I tell students is to remember that part 2 of the IELTS speaking exam is not a speech and should be approached similarly to telling a short story in a natural conversation setting. Remember part 2 is still all about you, your experience, your feelings, and again this is something you can practice.
Painting a picture.
When we describe something, whether it be a place, a thing, a person, or an experience, it’s important that the person we are talking to has a clear picture of what we are describing in their mind. Let’s have a look at an example.
Describe a small town or village that you visited.
You should say:
- Where it was.
- When you went there.
- What you did or saw there.
- And explain how you felt about it
Very often in the IELTS speaking exam we are asked to describe an experience from the past, as in this example to describe a place we visited. One key thing to remember here is that you are being asked to describe a place you visited, rather than just describing a place. You are describing a memory , an experience you had in the past.
Close your eyes and picture it.
To practice speaking like this, look at the above topic, close your eyes, relax and picture in your mind a small town or village you once visited. Picture that exact day in your mind, the people you were with, the weather, the sky, the smells, the sounds and more. Now start talking about what you can see in your mind and try to paint a picture for others to understand. By doing this you will be able to learn to speak and sound more natural, as well as find it easier to extend your speaking part 2 talk.
“I remember it was a beautiful sunny day, with a clear blue sky. I could hear the birds singing, and everything looked so beautiful. There was a lovely little river running through the village, and i can remember we sat down on the bank to relax, and just enjoy the peace and beauty of this little village. I remember the water was so clean and clear, and we could see lots of fish, which is very different to the river in my city. I felt so relaxed, and remember thinking how i would love to live in a village like this in the future, and would return some day.”
This of course is something you can only do in your own time at home while preparing for the IELTS speaking part 2 exam, and not on the day of the exam. There are of course other ways to prepare for part 2 and these are just some ideas for you to think about. Try some different methods and see what works best for you. If you have any other ideas of preparing for IELTS speaking part 2, please let me know in the comments below.
