出国留学成风潮，雅思考试领风骚。在梦想道路上蹒跚行走的“烤鸭”们，是不是正在为不清楚官方政策、评分标准、考试安排等问题而苦恼？11月3日下午，英国大使馆文教处专家Andy Sheridan做客 “对话教育名家”微访谈，从官方角度为大家的问题做出权威解答。

来自英国大使馆文教处的雅思专家Andy Sheridan

雅思官方微博：Hi. My name is Andy, the Examiner Professional Support Manager for North and Central China. Basically, as well as speaking / writing marking, I am responsible for examiner recruitment, training & monitoring, and heavily involved in the standardization of speaking grading。

LATTYBABY : I took the test for four times, but always failed for speaking part, the score is 6,5.5,6.5 and 6. But I need to go 6.5 , I would like to know how can I improve my speaking part? Thanks!

雅思官方微博：The IELTS speaking component is designed to assess a persons ‘natural’ speaking level. By this I mean that producing some good memorized language will only get you so far, relying on memorization will actually do you more harm than good.

麦瓜瓜酱油 ：口语如何提高？我组织语言的思维总是会慢半拍。

雅思官方微博：For example, if I were to talk in Chinese using memorized phrases I wouldn’t sound very natural, my fluency and pronunciation would be affected (two of four the areas the examiner is listening for).

kissingzhen ：I’m about to take the IELTS test three month after, but my speaking needs to improve, and I wanna get brand 7 or higher. How and what can i do in the last three month?

雅思官方微博：It’s not only what you say, but also how you say it. There's no way to trick through the IELTS speaking test, you must improve your speaking. Yes, learn words, and grammar, but you need to practice how these can be used quickly and appropriately. The only way is to practice!

熊二围脖 ：Hi Andy, I am struggling with writing, and I need 7 for that part, how can I achieve that, what would be your suggestion?

雅思官方微博：Writing: As with speaking, you need to improve your general English in order to do well in all aspects of IELTS. No matter how good your English is, you also need to make sure you have fully understood and answered the question. Also, have a look at the public band descriptors.

kissingzhen ：Currently, I assess my listening, and I can reach brand 7. If I hope to get a higher brand, for example, my aim is 8, and what can I do? By the way, I do dictation almost every day (VOA). Thanks.

雅思官方微博：Hi. I think your dictation practice will help a lot. Listening to VOA / BBC world service is good for you to hear a range of accents and generally should improve your skills. Keep up the good work!

HeySunshy ：I'm confused about the listening part. When I pay attention to the questions, I can not grasp the meaning of what is the radio saying. I can not keep focusing on the both if is it feasible doing the questions when the radio is over?

雅思官方微博：Hi. Not really. You have time to read through the questions before each section, and you should! This will help you to understand what you are listening for, and then answer as you go. You can also make notes on the booklet, and confirm your answers during the final 10 minutes.

Elsa_雪 ：Hi Andy, I will do IELTS on 5th November, and this is my first time to do IELTS. But I still struggle with my reading part. Could you give me some advice about how to prepare before the exam? Thanks.

雅思官方微博：Reading skills are something you can learn and develop. If you have a good teacher they can help you. Skimming and scanning for information is a skill that can help you save time and locate the information you need efficiently. Reading the questions first might help you too!

cn_la：Hi Andy, I took IELTS exam once and in the 2nd part of speaking test I find a little hard to talk 2 minutes, is there any skill? Thanks.

雅思官方微博：Hi. Again, practice. You actually have up to 2 minutes to talk. If you run out of things to say, you can just say you have finished.

赵嘉慧v：HI Andy ~ could U tell me how to prepare the speaking part? Last time I talked a lot, I feel good, but got 5.5. Thanks.

雅思官方微博：Hi, relax, the speaking test won't hurt you! Listen to the questions and answer them. Don't try to hard, just be yourself. The more vocabulary you learn the more clearly you can make yourself understood; but use your language naturally.

HeySunshy：I'm confused about the listening part. When I pay attention to the questions, l can not grasp the meaning of what is the radio saying. I can not keep focusing on the both if is it feasible doing the questions when the radio is over?

雅思官方微博：Hi. Not really. You have time to read through the questions before each section, and you should! This will help you to understand what you are listening for, and then answer as you go. You can also make notes on the booklet, and confirm your answers during the final 10 minutes.

蔡燕玲Aileen：Hi Andy! Do the judges in the speaking test really that subjective? Is it really rare for a student to get 7.5 or 8 in speaking? Thanks a lot^^

雅思官方微博：They are very subjective. You might be surprised to learn that there are more 7.5 / 8s than you realize。

Sally_on_parade：Hey Andy! What should we do if we fail to understand the questions after they are repeated more than two times? And what if we do understand the question, but just have no clue what to say about certain questions?

雅思官方微博：Examiners won't repeat questions too often as this isn't to your benefit. They will move on to another a question so that you can produce language rather than keep you struggling on something you don't quite get. Don't panic if this happens, just move on。

Sally_on_parade：Is it okay if we just express our limited opinion on the topic so the examiner will have something to evaluate our language ability?

雅思官方微博：You will be asked a range of questions covering a range of topics. If you can't think of what to say, then just say so and move on to the next question。

路贺宇：Hi Andy, I am wondering if u can give me some information about the different between the speaking part1 and part 3,I have been thinking they are the same, how long should I talk to the examiner?

雅思官方微博：Simple. Part 1 is a very direct question and answer session based on familiar subjects. Part 3 is more abstract, not just talking about yourself, but what you and others might view about a particular issue. The examiner will also be having more of a 'discussion' here.

Don’t worry about the length of your answer, but don't be worried if the examiner starts moving you to another question. They aren't being rude here, they just want to try and see if you can talk about another question as well.

想去UK的Cici酱：Hi,Andy. I'm confused with my speaking part. Are there some useful tips to communicate better with examiner? What should I do if i made some mistakes in grammar inadvertently? Should I correct it immediately? Thanks a lot.

雅思官方微博：A mistake is a mistake. You can correct yourself, that's fine, but try not to do it too much as this will affect your fluency and the development of your ideas. You don't need to rush you response, speak when you are ready.

小梅子Miley：Hi, Andy! I am a high school student, so it is quite tough for me to talk some questions about government or society questions in part II or III. Could u tell me how to deal with this problem? THX.

雅思官方微博：The IELTS test isn't generally recommended for people under 18. But the examiner will grade the questions in Part 3 to suit the candidates ability and move on if the candidate can't think of what to say on a subject.

L-i-eo：Hello Andy, during the speaking exam, I feel the fluency and the accuracy are two conflicting aspects of my performance (as well as the speed vs. the goodness of my writing). What are your suggestions on balancing them?

雅思官方微博：Good question. You need the balance. I would suggest to everybody that to see what you are trying to achieve, have a look at the public band descriptors for both speaking and writing.

宸心可见的窝窝：My teacher always told me to recite some passages or texts improve my oral English. What is your opinion? How to make my expressions more natural?

雅思官方微博：Memorizing ‘answers’ is not recommended. You won’t sound very natural and your answer might not actually match the question. Clearly you won't score highly if you rely on this method in the speaking / writing module. Yes, learn the language but practice appropriately.

雅思官方微博：Well, that's all I have time for today. It's been a pleasure and I hope we can do this again sometime. Finally, .good luck to all of you! Andy.