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Here is a sample of an SGI student at the beginning of her course doing part 3 of the IELTS speaking test. Click here to listen to part 1 and here for part 2. Below are some tips and comments about the student’s answers. IELTS Speaking PART 3: The Discussion In part 3 you have 4 to 5 minutes to discuss the topic from part 2 in more detail. This part is designed to stretch you as far as possible to see just how good you really are. The examiner has a couple of related sub-topics and question ideas but adapts the questions to you. This means that if you are a low level you will get easier questions but if you are band 8 then you will start with quite difficult ones which get even more difficult. By difficult I mean the ideas, the question and the language you need to use to answer them. Questions:
- What effect has the internet had on the way people generally communicate with each other?
- And what about information on the internet, how reliable to do you think that information from the internet is?
- What about news on the internet, is that reliable?
- Why do you think that some people prefer to use the internet for shopping?
- Why doesn’t everyone use the internet for shopping?
- Are there any kinds of products that are easier to buy and sell online?
- Is there anything that’s not suitable to sell or buy online that, any kinds of things that are not appropriate?
- What about supermarket shopping, do you think that’s a good idea?
- Do you think shopping on the internet will be more or less popular in the future and why?
General Tips for IELTS Speaking part 3 Try to give longer answers than in part 1 and explain what you mean with examples. If you don’t understand a question ask the examiner to repeat it or to explain it in a more simple way. Listen to the type of question you are asked and answer it appropriately, don’t always say “yes…” because it probably won’t be a Yes/No question in this part. Avoid giving personal information and examples, this should be an abstract discussion. LISTEN TO IELTS SPEAKING SAMPLE ANSWER PART 3 Here are some sample questions for part 3 of the speaking test with differences structures to help you answer them. Q1: And what about information on the internet, how reliable to do you think that information from the internet is? Well, in my honest opinion Well, to be honest Well, frankly + I have to say that I’m of the opinion that it’s my opinion that + the vast majority of information on the web some of the information found on the web a very small percentage of information taken from the web + is completely reliable is particularly unreliable lacks any reliability + For example, just look at Take X as an example, X is a case in point, Q2: If we move on to talk about the internet and shopping. Why do you think that some people prefer to use the internet for shopping? There are many reasons but the main one is that It’s quite simple, I’m not really sure but I guess that shopping online saves time and money you can find far more online than in any shops there’s so much choice and you don’t need to travel anywhere Not to mention that What’s more And we shouldn’t forget that not everyone lives nearby big chain stores. people do everything else online so why not their shopping too? lots of shops actually encourage online shopping as it cuts their costs. Q3: Is there anything that’s not suitable to sell or buy online, any kinds of things that are not appropriate I’d have to say that I’m convinced that I tend to think that + X is/are particularly unsuitable for sale and purchase via the internet X should not be sold online we should be able to buy and sell everything online + because first of all…secondly… because we all know that.. Student’s IELTS strengths She is willing and confident enough to tackle each question and really seems to want to speak. She manages to answer every question and gives quite detailed answers. She uses a variety of phrases for giving her opinion. She rarely pauses or has to think of what to say. She uses some good vocabulary and attempts to use varied grammar. Her pronunciation is understandable even though she has noticeable accent. Some tips to improve IELTS Speaking She should work on her sentence construction and general grammar with a native speaker. She needs to use varied tenses, structures and phrases to give answers. She must learn more vocabulary to help her express herself and talk in-depth about lots of topics. More pronunciation work like learning and practising ‘th’, word stress and the rhythm of English. Some idioms and phrasal verbs would help her get a higher band so she could try learning a few about typical IELTS topics.
