Improve your IELTS speaking skills – 10 tips 10个小贴士

The aim of this lesson is to give you different practice activities for the speaking test. While most of the activities are based on IELTS speaking questions, the idea is to improve your skills and not just practise answering questions. The reason for this is that practice tests are not enough by themselves; if you want to get better, you need to improve how you speak and that means thinking about speaking as a skill.

这课的目标是给你的口语提供多样的练习方法。大多数方法都是基于雅思口语练习，这些方法会提高你的口语技巧，而不仅仅是练习回答问题。原因是仅仅为考试练习是远远不够的。要是你还想更高更强的话，你还得注意你怎么说，这意味着将说话当做一门技巧。

1. Record yourself and then write down your answer 自己录音再写下答案

This is something everyone should try. It is almost certainly a bad idea to write your answer first and then speak it. This is because we speak and write in very different ways and it is a mistake to try and train yourself to speak in the way you write. But you can learn a lot from recording what you say and then writing that down word for word.

这个方法每个人都要试一下！先写答案再说出来一定不是个好方法！因为说话和写作是不一样的，用写作的方式来训练口语是行不通滴~但是你可以通过录下自己的答案，再一字一句地听着写下来，这样会进步很多~

Things you can learn are:

这样你可以了解到：

Do you say enough? Do you give very short answers? In parts 1 and 3, you should say at least a couple of sentences in answer to every question.

你说的足够多了吗？答案会不会太短？在Part1和Part3，回答每个问题至少要说几个句子。

Is what you say organised? Can you see a structure to your answer? Is it possible to put in sentences and paragraph breaks? Do you have some organisation language like “The first point is..”

你是如何组织的？答案中看得出结构吗？能把句子和段落放到这个结构中吗？有没有结构性的语言？

Do you speak too slowly or too quickly? Try counting the words in your part 2 answer. Most of my answers as a native speaker are about 240 words long. You should probably aim for around 200 or so. Less than that and you are speaking too slowly, but if you have more than that, it may be that you are speaking too quickly.

有没有说得过快或过慢？试着数一下Part2 你的答案的字数，一般native speaker能说到240字左右，烤鸭们一般要写到200字左右。如果字数少于这个值，那说明你讲话太慢，如果超过了，说明你讲话太快~~

How long are your pauses? You can pause, but your pauses should generally come between sentences/paragraphs and they shouldn’t be more than 2/3 of seconds

你停顿多久？一般应该在句子和段落间停顿，而且不超过2-3秒。

Did you answer the question?

你回答清楚问题了吗？

Is your pronunciation okay? If you can’t immediately understand what you say, the examiner won’t either!

你的语音可以吗？如果你不能听懂自己在说什么，那考官也不会听懂。

Are there some words you repeat a lot? You probably shouldn’t worry too much about content words such as “television” – native speakers will repeat those a lot when speaking. Rather you should look at more functional words/phrases such as “I think”. It’s very easy to repeat these a lot and it is also quite simple to train yourself to use more variety.

有没有重复很多词？不要担心重复实义词，即使是native speaker也会一直重复，因为你讲的就是这个东西~不过，你应该重点检查功能词汇，比如“I think” ，烤鸭们很容易老重复这些词，不过让自己练习用不同的词也不是难事。

2. Do it first in your own language 先用母语说

This is perhaps an unusual piece of advice. In the speaking, you should aim to be thinking and speaking in English as much as possible and not translating from your language to English. It can, however, sometimes help to practise the long turn part 2 in your own language first:

一般来说，最好是能用英语思维思考，并用英语回答。但是像Part2这种比较长的题目， 先用母语说可能会好一点。

some people struggle to speak in their own language for 2 minutes: they prefer short/concise answers and not longer more discussion type answers. So before you try it in English, make sure you can do it in your first language.

有的人就算用自己的语言说，也会很困难，他们会说一些短句子，而不是讨论型的长句子，所以，在你用英语表达之前，先让你自己用母语能够说清楚。

It helps you understand how long 2 minutes is and how much you need to say to fill that time.

这会帮你了解2分钟有多长，能说多少东西

if you record and listen to yourself in your first language, you will probably find yourself using quite a lot of “structure” language such as “As I mentioned before”. This is a lot of the language you need for part 2.

如果用母语录音然后听，你可能会发现自己用了很多结构性语句，比如“像我之前说到的”，这就是在第二部分你需要用到的！

3. Don’t practise the whole part 2, do it bit by bit 不要一口吃成胖子，练习第二部分，慢慢来

Some people find part 2 frightening because they are worried they can’t speak for 2 minutes. Relax. You don’t have to. It’s much easier than that, you need to speak for不要担心2分钟很长，其实你要说的不过是：20秒+20秒+20秒+1分钟！
20 seconds
20 seconds
20 seconds
I minute
This is because there are always 4 points for you to talk about on the cue card. You want to try practising talking about the first 3 points on the cue card for about 20 seconds each (the who, where, what type questions). Make sure you don’t say “last year”, but you extend that a little . Then all you need to do is talk for 1 minute on the longer question at the end that is almost always about explaining something.

这是因为在题目卡上总是会有4个要点，你可以先练习前三点分别说20秒，不要太简略，稍微扩展一点。然后用最后一分钟来解释。

大学水平直达雅思7分【春季班】>>>

4. Practise by describing photographs 通过描述照片来练习

In the exam of course you don’t get any photograph to help you. It would probably be easier if you did because when you have a photograph, you can see what you need to talk about. The idea is here that if you learn to see pictures as you are speaking, you find more things to say. I suggest:

考试时，并没有照片给你提示，如果有的话可能会容易一点，因为你就知道要说什么了~所以平时可以拿照片来练习，让自己找到更多可说的！以下是几个建议：

find a picture about an IELTS topic e.g. a picture of a wedding – describe what you see 找一些跟考试题目相关的照片
then try talking about the same topic without the picture 然后不用照片试着将同样的事情
in the exam itself, all you need to do is imagine a picture in your head 在考试中，自己想象一张图片
What I strongly suggest is that you look at your own photographs, as what you will need to speak about are your own memories. 而且强烈建议看你自己的照片，因为你需要说的是你自己的memories

5. Read then speak 先读再说！

It helps to practise reading and speaking together because reading gives you words and sometimes ideas. This idea is a very simple one. When you read a passage in English, you should then try and summarise what it says speaking. The ways this works is:

先读英语，然后试着用自己的话把它复述出来。这可以训练你：

To summarise a reading text, you are going to need to use some of the words used in it

总结阅读文本，抓住关键词

If you say the word aloud, you have learnt that word better and are more likely to us fit for yourself in the future

当你大声说出来，能能学好这个词，并且以后自己用着更顺口

If the text is longer, you should find yourself having to list the different points it contains. This should help the coherence of your speaking as you will need to use language like “Firstly…then… next …”etc

如果文章太长，那么应该自己找到几个要点，如果用一些逻辑联系词会让你说起来更连贯

Two extremely good sources for this type of reading is 6 minute English and my favourite Words in the News. It sometimes helps to choose 5 words from the text you are reading that you want to use when you speak.

6分钟英语和世界新闻都是不错的听力资源。可以从中选5个词用在你的口语中。

6. Improve your memory – write your life history 提高记忆力，写自己的故事

Parts 1 and 2 of the speaking test are personal questions about who you are (part 1) and what you have done (part 2). One reason why some candidates have problems is not the language, but that they can’t think of things to say. The solution is simple – refresh your memory about important events in your life before the test.

Part1 和Part2 主要是关于你自己的一些问题，有些烤鸭的问题不在于用什么语言说，而是他们根本想不到要说什么。。那么就在考试前重温一下、回忆一下你生活中的重要事情吧！

The idea is not so much to practise exam questions (it’s hard to predict those), but to practise speaking about your memories of people, events, places and things. Do that and the exam should be simpler as you have memories you can use. Write down some personal memories and then try speaking about them. Some ideas here are:

这不是要练习考试题目，只是练习说出自己记得的人、事、物、地方。如果你能这样做，考试会容易很多。

Think of important/interesting people in your life: Ask yourself: When did you meet them? How long have you known them? Why are they important/interesting? Can you remember something you did together? What about a conversation you had with them?

想想在你生命中重要或者有趣的人：问问自己：你是什么时候遇到他们的？你认识他们多久啦？为什么他们重要或者有趣？你还记得你们一起做的事情吗？你们之间的谈话呢？

Think of important events in your life: Ask yourself: What it was? Where did it happen? Who were you with at the time? What else was happening in your life then? What one thing stands out in your memory about it? How well do you remember it?

想想你生命中的重大事件：问问自己：是什么？在哪里发生的？那时候你跟谁在一起？后来又发生了什么？哪一件事在记忆中最鲜明？你还记得多少？

Think of places you have been to: Ask yourself: Where it was? How did you get there? In what detail can you describe the place? Can you describe the general area it is in? Would you want to go back there?

想想你去过的地方：问问自己：是哪里？你怎么去的？你还能描述多少细节？你能说出大概方位吗？你还想再次到访吗？

Think of your possessions: Ask yourself: How long have you owned it? Where did you get it? Is it special or something normal? How often do you use it? Do you associate with someone else?

想想你的所有物：问问自己：你拥有它多久了？你在哪得到它的？这是个特别的东西还是很一般的东西？你用了多久了？你还跟谁有联系？

7. Practise saying “I don’t know” 练习说“I don’t know”

Another reason why some candidates go wrong in the exam is that they feel they have to give a complete answer to very question and they think of IELTS as some academic test. It isn’t. It’s simply a test of your language. In parts 1 and 3, you may well be asked questions that you have very little to say about. That’s not a problem, there’s always another question coming. The big mistake is to try and give a full answer when you have nothing to say. What happens is that your language becomes confused and so do you, with the result that things get and worse and worse.

很多考生误以为雅思是学术测试。恰恰相反，这只是语言测试而已，第一和第三部分你可能被问到说不了什么的问题，有什么关系？之后还有问题。千万别在你没话可说的情况下试图整出和完整答案，弄糊涂了考官会让你万劫不复。

All you need to do is say you don’t know and explain why and then wait for the next question. This may take a little practice. You want to build a set of phrases such as:

其实你也没必要说你不知道然后解释理由，你可以模仿下面的例子：

Q. What colour is your favourite room and why did you choose that colour?
A. I’m not sure what to say about that. It’s not a question I’ve ever thought about before. I suppose yellow is just my favourite colour and so I painted my room yellow?

8. Talk to a mirror拿个镜子

This is another strange sounding piece of advice, but it can be very practical – especially if you don’t have a speaking partner. The idea is that when you practise speaking, you should sit in front of a mirror and speak to yourself. It can work because:

这个建议听起来有点奇怪，不过真心实用，特别是在缺少陪练的时候。你可以站在镜子面前自言自语，这个方法超有效，原因如下：

Eye contact is extremely important in all parts of the test. As a former speaking examiner for other exams, I can promise you that examiners are influenced by candidates who make eye contact - even though they may not be aware of this. Typically, the candidate who makes good eye contact gets a more generous mark because they seem to be communicating better as body language is around 70% of all communication.

考试中眼神交流很重要，作为一个前任考官，我负责任地告诉你，就算他们没注意到，但是考生的眼神交流一定会影响考官评分。懂得眼神交流的考生一定能得到慷慨的分数大放送，理由就是他们占据整个交流70%的身体语言让他们的交流更流畅。

the other point is that, for most people, sitting and looking at themselves in a mirror is an uncomfortable experience. After that, the exam will seem easy!

还有一点，对大部分人来说，坐在镜子面前看着自己实在窘迫不安，过了这关，考试还不是小菜一碟？

9. Write your own questions写下你自己的问题

This is another activity that I suggest everyone should try at least once. You should of course practise with “real” exam questions too, but there is a lot to be learnt from writing the questions first and then trying to answer them. The way it works is that if you write the question yourself:

这个我建议每个考生至少尝试一次。当然你也是要做真题练习的喽。但是一开始写下自己的问题，然后再尝试回答，也会学到很多。

you are more likely to try and answer it properly and give a full answer because you understand what the question is asking – good practice

你会更愿意去给出完备的答案，因为你非常清楚，这个问题是想要问什么。

you learn to add details to your answers by thinking of more question words. So when you answer the question “Are you a student or do you have a job?”, you are more likely to say “I’m a student at Wuhan University and I have been studying there for the last 3 years” – adding information by thinking of the question “How long” even though you weren’t asked it.

你会打破脑袋想出更多的词汇来增加答案细节。所以呢，比如你要回答，”你是学生还是工作啦？“，你会说，哦，我是武汉大学三年级的学生。虽然问题中没问，但是你加上了念了多久这个信息。

10. Improve your coherence and fluency – easy as 1-2-3 0r 3-2-1 提高你的连贯性和流利度

This is another of my favourite classroom speaking activities. Ideally, you need one or two more people to practise this with, but you can do it by yourself. The idea is that you don’t just practise speaking for 2 minutes. Rather, you start off by speaking for 3 minutes about that topic, then you do the same thing for 2 minutes, then for 1 minute. In the perfect world, you would also speak to a different person each time.

这是也我最爱的练习方法之一。理想状态下，你需要和一到两个或者更多人一起练习，不过你自己一个人也做得到。你不仅仅说2分钟，而是3分钟，以后你再把同样的话说2分钟，然后1分钟。理想状况下，你可以每次对不同的人练习。

How does it work? The first time your answer is probably slightly incoherent and lacks fluency. The next time you speak though, you know what you want to say and, if you have listened to someone else speak, you now have more ideas. The result is that when you speak, you answer becomes more fluent and coherent. Then when you do it for 1 minute, your answer needs to become even more coherent because you now have lots of things to say but not very much time to say it.

这个方法为何有效呢？第一次你的答案可以不那么连贯，也不怎么流利。后一次，你知道你要说什么，如果你听过其他人的，你就有更多的想法啦。结果就是你的答案更加流利连贯。等到你花一分钟来说的时候，你的答案就更连贯啦，因为此刻你有好多好多话要说，而时间却不那么充沛了。

I should add that this activity works best if you have different people to speak to. It works because each time you speak to someone different, it becomes a different conversation – even if you are talking about the same thing. 

如果有不同的练习对象，这项练习就会效果更好。每次你都跟不同的人练习，就等于练习了不同的对话，哪怕你只是谈论同一件事情。