Category Archives: Speaking

Best IELTS Grammar for Writing and Speaking – Articles.

depositphotos_7932028-Quill-pen-and-ink-well-with-paper-scrolldepositphotos_12630060-Two-businessmen-standing-and-talking-with-speech-bubbles-on-white-backgroundIn order to get the best IELTS score you can, it is important to concentrate on all areas of your English Language learning; Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.

If you look at the IELTS Writing and Speaking Band Descriptors in the links section in the bottom right hand corner, you will see that one of the criteria the Examiner focuses on is grammar.

In the light of this, I’ve decided to dedicate today’s post to an area of grammar that almost all my students (past and present) find troublesome; articles.

I’m going to divide this post into three sections; the indefinite article, the definite article, no article.

The Indefinite Article.

A and An are called the indefinite article.

  • We use a when the word begins with a consonant sound and an when the word begins with a vowel sound.

e.g.  a cat, an elephant

a university (the word begins with the  consonant sound /j/.

an hour (the word begins with a vowel sound /aʊ/.

The difficulty with words beginning with ‘h’ is that in British English, the ‘h’ is sometimes pronounced as a consonant sound (/h/) and is sometimes silent so is pronounced as a vowel sound.

The following words are pronounced with a silent ‘h’ in British English; hour, honest, honour


  • We use a / an when we are talking about something for the first time.

She is wearing a red dress and a black jacket.
They have a dog.

  • We use a / an to say what kind of person or thing someone or something is (often with an adjective, or to say it belongs to a particular group.

They have an enormous house.

An Aston Martin is a very expensive car.

A shark is a fish, a whale is a mammal.

A bicycle  is a vehicle.

  • We use a / an to talk about someone’s job.

My wife is an actress.
He works as a real estate agent.

The Definite Article.

The is called the definite article.

  • We use the when we are talking about something that has already been mentioned.

She is wearing a red dress and a black jacket.  The dress is very stylish.
They have a dog. The dog is black and white.

  • We use the when we are talking about a specific person or thing, or if there is only one, or if it is clear which one we are talking about.

He chose a book and started to read. — one of many books
He chose the book that his sister had recommended. — a specific book
He took the newspaper and started to read. — there is only one newspaper.
Can you turn on the computer? — it’s clear we are talking about the computer in this room
She has to see the doctor on Friday. — it’s clear we are talking about her usual doctor
She needs to see a doctor. — not any specific doctor
Icarus flew too close to the sun — there is only one sun
The best city I’ve ever visited is Rome. — there can only be one best city.

  • With school, university, prison, hospital, church, bed, work and home we use the when we are talking about a particular one, and no article when we are talking about the idea of school, university…

The church on our street is very modern.  — a particular church
I go to church every Sunday — the idea of church, not a particular building
My husband works at the hospital outside the city centre.
She had to go to hospital.
He hasn’t finished the work I asked him to do yet..
I wasn’t feeling well yesterday so I didn’t go to work.
The home where I grew up is bigger than the one we live in now..
I had to work late and didn’t get home until 8pm.

  • We use the with singular countable nouns to talk about a type of thing.

The crocodile is very dangerous. — this type of animal
The crocodile in the river is very big. — a particular one
She plays the guitar. — not a particular guitar but this type of instrument
She bought the guitar she is playing in Spain. — a particular one

  • We use the + adjective to talk about a group of people (including nationalities).

I always give money to the poor.
The unemployed receive money from the government.
The Brazilians play excellent football. .

  • We use no article with continents, countries, regions, cities, streets, mountains, lakes and parks.

Asia, Germany, Texas, Sydney, Main St., Mount Everest, Lake Geneva, Hyde Park
— we use the if the country contains Kingdom, Republic, State, Union

the United Kingdom, the People’s Republic of China

  • We use the with plural names of people and places.

The Wilsons, The Netherlands, The United States, The Virgin Islands, The Alps

  • We use the with oceans, seas, rivers and canals.

The Pacific Ocean, The Mediterranean Sea, The Nile, The Suez Canal

  • We use the with north, south, east and west to talk about the location of a place within another place, but no article to compare the location of two places.

Sweden is in the north of Europe.
France is north of Spain.
— we use no article with northern, southern, eastern and western:
Greece is in southern Europe

No Article.

  • We use no article when we are talking about people or things in general.

Avocados are very good for you. — avocados in general
The avocados growing on the tree in my garden are almost ready to eat. — specific avocados.
Italian women are very stylish. – Italian women in general
The Italian women at the party after the fashion show were very nice. — specific Italian women.

  • With school, university, prison, hospital, church, bed, work and home we use the when we are talking about a particular one, and no article when we are talking about the idea of school, university…

The church on our street is very modern.  — a particular church
I go to church every Sunday — the idea of church, not a particular building
My husband works at the hospital outside the city centre.
She had to go to hospital.
He hasn’t finished the work I asked him to do yet..
I wasn’t feeling well yesterday so I didn’t go to work.
The home where I grew up is bigger than the one we live in now..
I had to work late and didn’t get home until 8pm.

  • We use no article with continents, countries, regions, cities, streets, mountains, lakes and parks.

Asia, Germany, Texas, Sydney, Main St., Mount Everest, Lake Geneva, Hyde Park
— we use the if the country contains Kingdom, Republic, State, Union

the United Kingdom, the People’s Republic of China

Reminding yourself of these rules and implementing them will help improve your grammar for the IELTS Writing Test and the IELTS Speaking Test.

Here’s to the best IELTS score possible!

Best IELTS preparation – The IELTS Speaking Test.

depositphotos_12630060-Two-businessmen-standing-and-talking-with-speech-bubbles-on-white-backgroundIt’s important to remember that the questions in the IELTS Speaking test are of a general nature and do not require any specialised knowledge.  You have to be ready to talk about anything and of course, you’ll be doing it in English!

The best way to start is to download my free report, Speaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor where I give more in-depth tips than in this post.  Next, read through this post to pick up other tips and strategies.

I usually recommend that my students become interested in everything that goes on around them and think about it in English.  Every time you’re having a conversation in your own language, ask yourself, ‘How would I say this in English?’ Make a list of 20 everyday topics and see if you can talk about them in English.  Here are some examples; the weather, your favourite TV programme, your favourite food, a terrible day, a wonderful day etc.

Part 1

In part 1 of the IELTS Speaking test, you will be asked questions about yourself and about familiar topics. Make sure you can talk about the following:

  • your home
  • where you live
  • your family
  • your job (or the course you are studying)
  • your interests and hobbies.

Have a look at my post ‘IELTS Speaking Test Part 1 Sample Questions and Answers’ for more in-depth information.

Part 2

In Part 2, you have to talk about a topic for1-2 minutes.

First of all, think of any topic that interests you and you know about and talk about it for two minutes.  Make sure you time yourself so you know what two minutes feels like.  Check out my post ‘IELTS Speaking Test Part 2 Sample Question and Answer’ to listen to my example (Band Score 9!) of a two-minute talk.

Once you can talk for two minutes about topics you know about, the next step is to choose a topic from one of the topics in my post ‘IELTS Speaking Test Part 2 Sample Questions’ and practise talking for two minutes about that topic.  Again, you should time yourself.

In both cases, you should allow yourself one minute before you begin talking to make notes.  I also think it’s a good idea to record yourself.  When you listen to the recording, see how often you repeat yourself or hesitate.  Your ultimate aim is to speak fluently without much hesitation and without repeating yourself.

Part 3

It is difficult to practise for this part of the speaking test as it is much more flexible.  I suggest you converse with native English speakers as much as possible.

Ask a native English speaker or a friend who speaks good English to actually practise part 3 with you.  A good idea is to show them a topic from part 2 and get them to ask you questions related to that topic area.

Remember that this part of the test lasts 4-5 minutes. See my post ‘IELTS Speaking Test Part 3  Sample Questions and Answers’ for more tips.

In order to improve your English speaking skills, you really must ‘practise, practise and practise.’ If you would like to do a practice IELTS Speaking test with me via skype, please contact me.

Here’s to the best IELTS score possible!

How can I do self-study practice IELTS Speaking Tests?

depositphotos_12630060-Two-businessmen-standing-and-talking-with-speech-bubbles-on-white-backgroundIt’s certainly true that this is one of the limitations of IELTS self-study; evaluating your own speaking skills.  When you do practice IELTS Reading and Listening Tests, you can evaluate your level through the number of answers you get correct, when you do a practice IELTS Speaking Test,  you need evaluation from a native speaker; preferably an English language teacher with IELTS experience.

I do, however, have some tips for getting the maximum benefit from doing a practice IELTS Speaking Test.

Before we start, we have to think about why we do practice IELTS tests.  One reason is to get an idea of what the test is like and of the different task types etc.  The other is the same as any other activity you do in the English language; to improve your English.  Before I talk about my guidelines, I cannot stress the importance of doing as many practice exercises as possible in order to improve your English.

Over the years, I have taught from many different IELTS books and I always recommend that my students purchase Adams & Austen IELTS books. These books contain so many useful practice exercises for IELTS, which help you improve your English, and also IELTS practice tests.  They also have some great ideas for phrases you can use in your Speaking Test.

OK, so on to my tips for doing practice IELTS Speaking tests.

The IELTS Speaking Test

  • First of all, get yourself a study buddy.  You can practise part 1 of the Speaking Test together; taking it in turns to ask and answer questions.  I suggest that you role play one of you being the examiner and the other being the candidate. You might like to keep the ‘interview’ time to 4-5 minutes as this is the length of part 1 of the Speaking Test.
  • You can practise part 2 alone.  I suggest that you read the topic card then give yourself one minute to prepare (exactly the same as in the exam) and then set a timer to two minutes when you begin speaking.  This works even better if you record you talk so that you can listen back to it and think about ways to improve.
  • Your study buddy will come in useful again when practising part 3.

Of course the best way to do a practice IELTS Speaking Test is with a native speaker; preferably an English language teacher with IELTS experience. If you would like to do a practice IELTS interview with me via skype, please feel free to contact me.

Here’s to the best IELTS score possible!

Practice IELTS Speaking Tests.

depositphotos_12630060-Two-businessmen-standing-and-talking-with-speech-bubbles-on-white-backgroundHere’s a practice IELTS Speaking Test I found at Oxford University Press:

Click here for Parts 1, 2 and 3.

You can read further sample IELTS practice Speaking Tests with answers in these posts:

part 1
,        part 2,          part 3.

If you have any questions about the test or would like to do the test as a practice interview on skype, please feel free to contact me.

Here’s to the best IELTS score possible!

Another Best IELTS sample speaking test

depositphotos_12630060-Two-businessmen-standing-and-talking-with-speech-bubbles-on-white-backgroundI thought you might like to listen to a practice IELTS Speaking Test interview I recently conducted over skype with a regular visitor to this site.

The practice speaking test we did  was taken from 101 Helpful Hints for IELTS General Training Module by Garry Adams & Terry Peck.

We used the following topic for Part 2:

Describe an organised event that you have attended

(for example: a concert, a show, a sports match etc.)

 You should include in your answer:

  • when you attended the event and what you saw
  • where the event was held
  • why you chose to see this event

……. and what you remember most about the event.

You can hear the interview here.

part 1

part 2

part 3

Here’s to the best IELTS score possible!

Incidentally, Joshua took his IELTS Test 3 days after our practice Speaking Test (it was his third attempt) and he achieved the Band Score he needed.  Well done Joshua!

Best IELTS Speaking Test Tips.

depositphotos_12630060-Two-businessmen-standing-and-talking-with-speech-bubbles-on-white-backgroundMany of my general Best IELTS Test tips are relevant to the IELTS Speaking Test; particularly those about controlling your stress and nervousness levels.

For more thorough and more detailed speaking test tips, I recommend you download my free reportSpeaking Test Tips from an IELTS Tutor’. In this post I will give you some basic sensible tips for the IELTS Speaking Test.

  • Your Speaking Test may be on the same day as the other tests, it may be on a different day. In either case, you should make sure you arrive in plenty of time.
  • I usually recommend that my students arrive in plenty of time, get their ID checked by administrative staff, make sure they know where their interview room is and how to get there and then to try and relax!  Take a book or magazine with you to read; in English would be ideal as long as you promise not to get stressed by any vocabulary you don’t understand!
  • OK, once you’re called for your interview, try not to be nervous (even though you will be!); just remember that the Examiner wants you to speak English to the best of your ability and so do you.  You’re both working towards the same goal so just be yourself and ‘show the Examiner what you’ve got’!
  • Remind yourself of the criteria the Examiner is looking for and see my free report for more detail on what the criteria actually means.
  • If you don’t understand what the Examiner has said to you, ask him to repeat the question.  This is a positive thing; don’t you also sometimes ask for clarification in your own language? You are assessed on your speaking ability; if you understand the question, the better you will be able to answer it.
  • There are no ‘right’ answers; you are assessed on ‘how’ you answer the question.
  • My free report has more detailed tips on the three different parts of the Speaking Test.  For now I will just say that in Part 1, you should give detailed (but not excessively long, irrelevant) responses; don’t just answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
  • In part 2, use your planning time to think about your answer.  Remember you have to speak for 1-2 minutes on your topic. Although in my opinion, it is preferable to aim for 2 minutes, if you spoke for say 1 minute 37 seconds and your talk was coherent, with vocabulary and grammar to the best of your ability, you wouldn’t be penalized.
  • In part 3, don’t worry if the questions seem ‘difficult’.  This section is designed to find what English language teachers call your ‘linguistic ceiling’, in other words, the questions push you linguistically as far as they can.
  • Once the Speaking Test is over, don’t ask the Examiner ‘how was it?’  He / She won’t be able to tell you.  The best thing you can do now is jot down some notes on what parts you think you did well / badly so that if you do need to sit the test again, you know what to work on.  Put your notes away in a safe place and try and forget about the test until you get your results two weeks later.

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Here’s to the best IELTS score possible!