IELTS Speaking: how to talk for 2 minutes

Students often ask whether it's necessary to speak for the full 2 minutes in part 2 of the speaking test. The instruction is: speak for between 1 and 2 minutes, so it's not strictly necessary to speak for the full 2 minutes. However, my advice is that you should try to keep speaking until the examiner stops you.

Here are some tips to help you keep talking:

1. Go through the bullet points on the task card in order.
2. Try to develop each point, even easy ones. For example, if the first bullet point for the topic "describe a person" is "who is it?", don't just say "I'm going to describe my father". Add more information, such as your father's name, age, what he looks like, where he is now, how often you speak to him...
3. Give examples and tell stories (click here for more advice about this).

Comments

[Nipa Vithlani]

Dear SIR,

i w'ld like to know what if a person like me ends up essay with around 300 words and task 1 with around 180 words.Do i get negative marking???secondly I try to compact the size but I am not able to do??? Also I am able to complete the tests on time.

[Nipa Vithlani]

Dear sIR,
I am doing well with Speaking but am not able to speak continuously for 2 minutes.I fumble and then get depressed so stop talking.How can I help myself??

[venu]

Hi,

I'm posting on this site for the first time.
i would like to ask you what should we say if we are asked about the weather in our country and what type of climate is it like in your country?

Thank u

[Adel Ansari]

Hi venu,
I will say like this about weather:
My country is sunny and mild place. However, it has four season with four different weathers. The Winter days are mainly cold and include snow and rain. The amounts of rainfall or snowfall are increase or decrease each year.

[Venu]

Ok thanks adel

[RRaveen]

Hi,

Im having trouble to get band in IELTS 7 in Listening,writing and speaking. I have taken exam two times and get same band in the both attempt(L:6.5,S:6.0,W:5.0 and R:5.5. Please help me how could I improve and 7 all the modules, please.

Thank you

[Simon]

FROM SIMON:

Just a quick reminder that I can't answer all comments individually any more. Please read this message which explains my new system:

http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2012/02/message-from-simon-about-comments.html

[Martin]

Hi Nipa,
The instructions for Task1 and Task2 clearly ask to write AT LEAST 150 and 250 words respectively, which means that your score will not be affected if you exceed the number of words you write. About your difficulty of speaking for 2 minutes continuously, try to follow Simon's advice and practice as much as you can. I would also suggest to record yourself and practice by speaking to real people (family, friends, or tutor).

Hi Venu,
You can check on Wikipedia about your country's weather/climate. Here is an example for London's climate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London#Climate; the examiners are obviously not expecting you to speak like that, but I'm sure you can get some ideas from there.

Good luck!
Martin

[Albert]

Hi Simon,
I took the IELTS exam last month. After my speaking part 2, I noticed the examiner wrote "8.0 s" on his notebook. What does this mean? My final score is 7, and I guess my part 3 really screwed up the whole speaking test. I didn’t have many great ideas about those part 3 questions.

Is part 3 the most important part in the speaking test? If my part 1&2 are good(like around band 8), and I didn’t do well in part 3, then my final score will be severely affected, right?

Also, did the speaking test is graded just as the writing test --- Each 4 aspects of the grading criteria are graded respectively and then do an average to get candidates’ final score?

I really lack great ideas about each kind of topics in speaking, and I think it’s just true for writing also! Because I find that many part 3 questions are just like a paragraph in writing --- do you agree with me? So I am considering buying your ebook because it will not only be helpful for my writing, but also for my speaking.

[RN]

Hi Guys,
Can anyone comment on the following essay for writing part 2. Your comments would be most appreciated.
Full time university students spend most of the time studying. They should be doing other activities too. To what extent do you agree or disagree.

In today’s world, majority of the prospective full-time university students are spending most of their time studying. As such, I completely agree that they need to spend time doing other activities too. This will be shown by looking at how physical wellbeing and family life is important along with education.

For one, pupils need to spend time on physical activities. Take Shanghai, for example. Students in Shanghai are well known for their high education. This is demonstrated by the economic contribution they make to their country’s benefit. The drawback here is that, these pupils are becoming obese by spending most of their time on studying, and not doing any sport. Thus, as can be clearly seen from my example there is a need of physical exercise as well.

In addition to this, Students need to concentrate on family relations. To illustrate, in America, pupils often traverse longer distances and live at student residences in order to commit to full-time studies. This leads to a strain in their family relations. Living with family allows them to have a sense of empathy and makes them a responsible person. This makes it clear why pupils need to indulge in other activities as well as in education.

In conclusion, after looking at how important physical health and relations are in students’ lives; it has now been proven that pupils need to spend time on other activities as well. It is predicted that this continues to be followed into the foreseeable future.

[Rony]

HI Simon And Friends,
Yesterday, I got very interesting speaking topic. I would like to share with all..

That's a topic.....

" Describe the furniture in your house. Please say

- What type of furniture is it, modern or traditional?
- What is it made of?
- Who bought that furniture?
- How do you feel about that furniture? "

Plz Share all your idea so it will helps other.

Rony

[jay]

hi Rn

I got this topic at last saturday exam...

[RN]

Hey Jay,

So how did u go with this topic in the exam? Also, do u think my answer makes sense?

[jay]

Hi rn

YOu seem to get good idea about this topic..

but I wrote both side in exam...mean partly agree..so I got more idea ......

[cagla]

Hi Nipa Vithlani,

I think you should not be sad about it. I got the IELTS exam on 18th February and my speaking result is 7.5.

In September 2011 I was struggling with this issue as well,however, I realized that it just needs practice.

If you are not able to speak 2 min, it is probably because you limit yourself. Try to create a story about the topic and make it a little bit longer.

If the question is about gift, why did you choose it, why do you like it etc.
You can start your story with it was your cousin's birthday and you asked your friend to join him for searching a good gift, first he didnt want to come but when you got sad, he was not able to refuse your offer. You met in front of a big shopping center, although he was a bit late, nevertheless you didnt get so angry, then you went in ..

I hope you understand what I mean.. Try to start with a story which can make it longer.

Please also dont forget that you need to practice yourself quite often to improve your speaking.

You can start with reading Simon's advices and try to do all speaking exercises on the website.

Regards

[Simon]

Great advice Cagla! (see below)

[Khoa Viet]

Hi there,

I just got the result from my recent test. Frankly, I'm not quite happy with the Speaking Test result. I think the problem came from part 2 where I didn't talk up to 1 min as the topic was unfamiliar with me. I only got 6 for the test.

I am not sure if there is a heavy penalty for not talking up to 1 min, and wonder how much I did lose from that.

Regards,

[ZIAUL HUDA]

Hi Simon,
If we have a topic, like describe a person.
Can I describe my father, who is no more with us.Can I say my father was 75 years old, when he left all of us alone. He was a secondary school teacher.

[Harsha]

Dear all,
Is there anyone interested to practice speaking with me? I need to score 7 in each band and have attempted couple quite a lot time this frustrating test.

My skpe id is harsha.shakya

Hi Simon, Is it possible to show the latest blog on top instead of the old one. Thank you for your consideration.

[eesha]

hi,
recently i hve cmplted my ielts speaking test. i jst gave a wrong answer in 2min topic, remaining part i did well.does it effect my score.

plz help me.