How to improve your IELTS Speaking at Home

00:12:37
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61izqh7ZBww

Summary

TLDRThis lesson teaches how to improve English speaking skills independently at home. The main steps include obtaining a list of common speaking topics, brainstorming ideas rather than writing full answers, expanding vocabulary with a word list, and recording yourself answering questions to assess your fluency, vocabulary use, grammar, and pronunciation. It emphasizes listening to your recordings to identify weaknesses and focusing on key areas such as fluency, paraphrasing, grammatical range, and pronunciation. By regularly practicing and correcting mistakes, learners can enhance their speaking abilities and achieve a higher IELTS score.

Takeaways

  • 🎯 Get a list of common speaking topics for practice.
  • 🎧 Record your answers to practice speaking directly.
  • 🔍 Focus on fluency, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation during review.
  • 🗣️ Avoid hesitations like 'um' and maintain a natural flow.
  • 📜 Use different words to express similar meanings for better vocabulary.
  • ⏳ Incorporate a variety of tenses to show grammatical range.
  • 🔄 Write down your answers to identify and correct mistakes in grammar and vocabulary.
  • 🔊 Pay attention to word pronunciation and practice intonation.
  • 📝 Use free online resources for pronunciation checks.
  • 🤔 Identify your weaknesses through self-assessment and continual recording.
  • 🔄 Continual practice is essential to remove weaknesses and reinforce strengths.
  • 🔎 Regularly review and listen to recordings for self-improvement.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    This lesson focuses on self-improvement of spoken English at home, particularly useful for those preparing for IELTS exams. It begins with obtaining a list of common speaking topics and brainstorming ideas without writing them down. The next step involves expanding vocabulary, encouraging the use of varied and precise words to express similar meanings (e.g., using 'boiling' instead of 'hot'). The third step is to practice speaking by recording answers to topic questions, which helps identify weaknesses. The recording phase is crucial as it checks for fluency, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, all of which are equally weighted in exams and must be focused on individually.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:12:37

    The lesson continues by delving deeper into analyzing certain aspects post-recording. Fluency involves length of answers, avoiding hesitations, and preventing silence. For vocabulary, it’s about showing range and paraphrasing effectively while listening for mistakes. Grammar analysis includes using a variety of tenses and complex sentence structures, while correcting errors is crucial for improving scores. Pronunciation is also key, involving correct word pronunciation, clarity of individual sounds, and using intonation to make speech engaging. Finally, the importance of continuous practice, identifying weaknesses, and consistent recording is emphasized for improvement. Ultimately, persistent practice leads to better performance in IELTS speaking exams.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • How can I improve my English speaking skills at home?

    By practicing with a list of topics, recording your answers, checking for fluency, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, and identifying areas for improvement.

  • Why is it important to record my answers when practicing speaking?

    Recording allows you to identify weaknesses in fluency, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation by listening to your responses.

  • What should I focus on when checking my recorded speaking answers?

    You should focus on fluency, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, each of which constitutes 25% of your exam marks.

  • How can I expand my vocabulary for speaking topics?

    By creating a word list for each topic and using a range of synonyms to enhance language use and impress examiners.

  • What are some techniques for improving fluency?

    Ensure the length of your answer is sufficient, avoid hesitations like 'um' or 'uh', and maintain a natural flow without long pauses.

  • How can I practice pronunciation?

    Check word pronunciation using online resources, focus on individual sounds, and practice intonation to make your speech more engaging.

  • Why is it important to use different tenses in answers?

    Using a variety of tenses demonstrates a wide grammatical range and can improve your band score.

  • What role does intonation play in speaking?

    Intonation makes your speech more engaging and helps convey the importance of different points.

  • What does paraphrasing mean in the context of vocabulary?

    Paraphrasing involves using different words to convey the same meaning, showcasing a broader vocabulary range.

  • How should I handle making mistakes during practice?

    Listen to your recordings, write down your answers to spot mistakes, and focus on correcting them in future practices.

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  • 00:00:01
    hello in this lesson I'm going to show
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    you how to improve and develop your out
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    speaking at home so many students tell
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    me that they cannot improve their
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    English because they don't have a
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    foreigner to talk to so I want to show
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    you that it is possible to improve your
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    speaking at home on your own for free
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    now the first thing I want you to do is
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    to get a list of topics the common
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    topics for speaking part one speaking
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    part two and speaking part three if you
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    cannot find a list please go to my IELTS
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    blog WWH live.com
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    and you will find a list of common
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    topics difficult topics and the
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    questions as well so you need to get a
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    list of these topics and develop ideas I
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    don't want you to write down your
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    answers I want you only to develop the
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    ideas so for example if the topic is the
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    topic of whether you can develop ideas
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    about the kind of weather you like what
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    you do when the weather is like that
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    also how the weather makes you feel
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    different kinds of weather or maybe the
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    transportation problems that come
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    because of that weather so just develop
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    ideas that you can use for that topic
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    the next thing number two is a word list
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    so vocabulary if you have the topic of
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    whether you need to have a range of
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    vocabulary for that topic so for example
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    hot weather hot is a very low band score
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    but you could use boiling scorching
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    sweltering there's a whole range of
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    vocabulary that you can build to impress
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    the examiner for that topic so you need
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    to get that list of vocabulary and learn
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    it
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    number three your next step to
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    developing your speaking get the topic
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    whether choose probably about let's say
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    six questions for that topic take your
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    telephone and answer the questions
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    recording your voice it's very important
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    that you do the recording rather than
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    writing the answer when you write
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    answers usually you think more about the
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    grammar you think more about the
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    vocabulary and often you make less
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    mistakes when you speak it's direct so
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    when you record your answer this gives
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    you a chance to find your weaknesses
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    finding your weaknesses is very
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    important so that you can improve so you
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    need to record your answers to those
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    questions on your phone after that I
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    want you to listen to your answers
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    listen and check now there are four
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    things that I want you to check for I
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    want you to check for fluency vocabulary
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    grammar and pronunciation this is what
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    the examiner will check you on now each
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    one in the exam is 25% of your marks so
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    that all equal they are all very
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    important and the examiner is going to
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    check your answer for each one now let's
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    have a look at what you need to check
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    for each one fluency what does that mean
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    well the first thing that you need to
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    check is the length of your answer did
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    you give a very short answer or could
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    you develop it a little bit more when
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    you develop your answer a little bit
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    more that is a higher balance score
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    you're offering the
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    more language but you're showing the
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    ability to speak fluently so develop
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    your answer more higher band score
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    another thing that you can check for
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    your fluency is how many times you say
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    [Music]
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    these are hesitations and we don't want
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    hesitations in our answer so you need to
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    check how many um how many hours that
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    you have if you have a lot that's a
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    problem I'm afraid and you need to find
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    a way to practice more so that you get
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    rid of the UNH's
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    and us so we've got the length of answer
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    and the UM and earth another thing that
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    you can check for fluency is how many
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    times you are silent often when students
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    start speaking they can't remember what
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    they want to say and suddenly they stop
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    it is not good to stop and be silent in
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    the middle of your answer you need to
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    fill it you need to keep speaking
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    naturally with a good flow and that will
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    give you a good van score so those are
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    three things that you can check in your
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    answer for your fluency now the next
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    thing is vocabulary what do we need to
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    check in the vocabulary for your answer
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    well obviously the first thing is the
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    range and the range means how many
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    different words are you using I'll give
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    you an example so paraphrasing are you
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    repeating the same words again and again
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    or are you using different words to
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    describe the same thing so again we use
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    the example of hot you could say boiling
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    scorching sweltering those are three
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    different words that we can use for the
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    meaning of hot so you need to show a
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    good range
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    vocabulary that's from your word list
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    and you need to paraphrase and show the
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    ability to use different words for the
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    same meaning when you paraphrase well
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    you are looking at bounce cross 7 and
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    bounce Co 8 another thing you can look
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    at with the vocabulary of course are
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    mistakes
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    now one way that you can check your
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    mistakes is by when you listen to the
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    your answer listen and write down the
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    words that you say that way you can
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    check more carefully if you're making
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    any mistakes with words are you using
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    the wrong word are you using the wrong
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    noun with the verb what problems do you
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    have so check that in your answer
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    another thing to look at of course
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    grammar and with grammar you need to
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    check again the range so for example the
  • 00:07:49
    range of tenses are you giving only
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    present simple now I know maybe the six
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    questions that you have are present
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    simple questions but that doesn't mean
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    that you can't give another tense so for
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    example what kind of weather do you like
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    I just love hot weather scorching
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    weather last week it was perfect so it
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    was a present simple question but I gave
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    a little bit of past simple in the
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    answer so you can practice doing that
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    and develop the technique of putting
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    different tenses into your answer
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    another thing you can look at is
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    sentence structure and that means how
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    complex are your sentences are you using
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    a lot of short sentences so
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    forget listen to your answer write down
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    the words that you're using and then
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    check how complex the sentences are you
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    can perhaps start using some linkers and
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    start extending the sentences and of
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    course another thing for grammar again
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    mistakes this is very important the more
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    mistakes you make the lower your ban
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    score will be so remember that the
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    examiner is listening for mistakes with
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    vocabulary and grammar so please check
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    what mistakes you're making and correct
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    them and practice and of course the last
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    one is pronunciation so what I what is
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    the examiner looking for for
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    pronunciation well the first one of
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    course is word pronunciation are you
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    pronouncing those words correctly if
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    you're not sure about that you can go
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    online there are free dictionaries
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    online so that you can listen to the
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    pronunciation of the word so check that
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    and make sure your words are correct
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    another thing are individual sounds so
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    for example Shh are you pronouncing
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    these sounds correctly and again you can
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    find practice online for that and one
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    other thing for pronunciation is
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    intonation intonation is if your voice
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    is going up and down or if you are
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    speaking like this if you're speaking
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    very flat this is not good for your bank
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    score you need to learn to use
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    intonation in your voice we often use
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    intonation to make something more
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    interesting or to show when something is
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    important so you
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    practice that at home and try to improve
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    it now the last part the last thing once
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    you have got your topics and your ideas
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    you've got your vocabulary for the topic
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    you have your questions and you record
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    them you listen and you check your
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    answer don't forget you can write down
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    the answer to check what you say write
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    down the words you're using check your
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    fluency vocabulary grammar and
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    pronunciation and then after that
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    practice practice and practice find your
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    weakness get rid of your weakness
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    improve your strength in your practice
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    and record again don't forget to keep
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    recording your voice keep recording your
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    answers get used to that
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    I know it can feel uncomfortable to sit
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    in a room alone and record but really
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    it's good practice you need to do it
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    right well that's all for this lesson I
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    really hope that you practice this at
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    home honestly the more you practice the
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    better your IELTS will be particularly
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    if you check your answers correctly well
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    keep practicing good luck and I'll see
  • 00:12:33
    you in another IELTS lesson
Tags
  • English speaking
  • IELTS preparation
  • self-improvement
  • fluency
  • vocabulary
  • grammar
  • pronunciation
  • self-recording
  • practice tips
  • language learning