IELTS Speaking Secrets Every Student Should Learn

00:11:02
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELxGmf9f_ZM

Summary

TLDRThe video teaches viewers how to avoid pitfalls in the IELTS speaking test, revealing that success depends not on memorizing answers but on dealing with unexpected exam topics. IELTS examiners set traps to identify students' real abilities, and memorized answers are easily discerned. For example, examiners may switch to unusual topics, and scores will then be based on responses to these unforeseen questions, not memorized ones. Real skills and confidence are emphasized over tricks or cheats. The video illustrates points using personal anecdotes and a reference to the film 'Catch Me If You Can', showing that genuine effort outperforms deception. Finally, the instructor provides more tips in an additional video to boost speaking scores effectively.

Takeaways

  • πŸ”‘ Success in IELTS speaking involves avoiding examiner traps.
  • πŸ›‘ Memorized answers can be spotted and lead to failure.
  • πŸ“š Focus on real understanding of unexpected topics.
  • πŸ“ˆ Progressively difficult questions determine higher band scores.
  • πŸ’¬ Use topic-specific vocabulary over memorized complex words.
  • 🎬 Reference to 'Catch Me If You Can' shows effort beats cheating.
  • 🀝 Genuine effort and confidence are rewarded.
  • 🎯 Cheating leads only to traps; real skills are tested.
  • πŸŽ₯ Follow-up video offers four tips to improve speaking score.
  • πŸ’‘ Confidence and genuine preparation are key to passing.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The video discusses the misconception that IELTS speaking success comes from mastering a few topics, whereas the real secret is avoiding traps set by IELTS examiners. To illustrate, the speaker shares a story about his father, who would challenge young chefs by asking them to prepare dishes they disliked. Similarly, IELTS examiners catch students off guard by asking unexpected questions to identify memorized answers. The video advises on responding authentically to unfamiliar topics to prevent penalization by examiners.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:11:02

    In the continuation, the video emphasizes that IELTS examiners increase question difficulty for higher band scores and test candidates' ability to handle complex, unfamiliar topics without automatic penalization. Providing an honest, thoughtful response, even to topics one knows little about, can prove one’s competence. It also highlights examiners' preference for simple, topic-specific vocabulary over complex memorized words and discourages cheating. The movie "Catch Me If You Can" is used metaphorically to illustrate that relying on genuine skill rather than memorized tricks leads to real success, reassuring viewers to trust in their intrinsic abilities for higher scores.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What is the main secret to success in IELTS speaking?

    Avoiding traps set by IELTS examiners for memorized answers is key to success.

  • Why can memorized answers be detrimental in the IELTS speaking test?

    Examiners can spot memorized answers and will then test you on unexpected topics to determine your true level.

  • How do examiners differentiate between various band scores?

    They ask progressively more difficult questions to assess your true capabilities.

  • What should you do if asked a difficult or unexpected question in the test?

    Attempt to give your best, honest answer showcasing how you think about the topic, even if you know little about it.

  • Why is it important to use topic-specific vocabulary?

    It shows your true understanding and ability to discuss various topics rather than relying on memorized complex words.

  • What did the narrator learn from a personal academic experience?

    Despite initial struggles, mastering difficult questions can lead to success.

  • What analogy is used to describe IELTS traps?

    The analogy of a chef being only as good as their worst dish.

  • What lesson is drawn from the movie 'Catch Me If You Can'?

    That real effort and confidence lead to genuine success, avoiding the need to cheat.

  • Why should one avoid cheating in the IELTS tests?

    Because the tests are designed to identify genuine ability and traps are set for those who try to cheat.

  • What can viewers learn from the follow-up video?

    They can learn four simple tips to significantly improve their speaking score.

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Subtitles
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  • 00:00:00
    most people think that the secret to I
  • 00:00:02
    speaking success is learning how to do a
  • 00:00:04
    few things really well but after helping
  • 00:00:07
    thousands of students get a band n and
  • 00:00:09
    high out speaking I can tell you the
  • 00:00:11
    opposite is actually true the real
  • 00:00:13
    secret is Ban n students avoid traps set
  • 00:00:17
    for them by I speaking examiners and if
  • 00:00:20
    you fall for them you will fail this
  • 00:00:24
    video will show you what those traps are
  • 00:00:26
    how to spot them and how to avoid them
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    so that you can m massively increase
  • 00:00:30
    your score and at the end of the video
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    I'm going to reveal the biggest I
  • 00:00:35
    speaking secret that's contained in one
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    of my favorite movies understanding this
  • 00:00:39
    secret has done more to help my students
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    get a band n than anything else and you
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    can learn it instantly the first trick
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    they play is really sneaky and it's the
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    same trick my dad used to play when he
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    worked here as a chef Young Chefs would
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    come into his kitchen and ask him for a
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    job sure my dad would say come back
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    tomorrow cook me something something if
  • 00:01:00
    I like it you can have a job and just
  • 00:01:03
    before they left he'd say is there
  • 00:01:06
    anything you do not like to cook and
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    when they arrived the next day for the
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    cooking demonstration he'd asked them to
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    cook the thing they hated so what has my
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    sneaky father got to do with I speaking
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    if you look online for topics that will
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    definitely come up on test day you'll
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    find these three topics but if you look
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    at the official Cambridge questions
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    you'll find
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    very unusual topics that you weren't
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    expecting you see when I examiners ask
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    about your home or your work or your
  • 00:01:38
    hometown they often get answers like
  • 00:01:40
    this I am over the moon that you ask me
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    about my hometown it is only once in a
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    blue moon that I get to talk about a
  • 00:01:48
    topic that is so close to my heart there
  • 00:01:50
    are a plethora of reasons why one would
  • 00:01:53
    enjoy my hometown let's talk first about
  • 00:01:57
    the 18th century architecture but if the
  • 00:02:00
    examiner was to ask them about a topic
  • 00:02:02
    they weren't expecting such as wigs The
  • 00:02:05
    Examiner might hear an answer like this
  • 00:02:07
    I don't know anything about wigs I've
  • 00:02:10
    never worn a wig in in my entire life
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    and things are going to get much worse
  • 00:02:15
    for this student because the examiners
  • 00:02:18
    are trained to spot memorized answers
  • 00:02:21
    and what they will do if they think that
  • 00:02:23
    you are giving memorized answers for
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    example about your hometown they will
  • 00:02:27
    ask you more and more iCal questions and
  • 00:02:31
    unusual topics and here's the scary part
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    The Examiner has your memorized answer
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    and your answer to the questions you
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    weren't expecting they will not base
  • 00:02:41
    their score on this answer they will
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    base their score on this answer alone
  • 00:02:46
    because as my father used to say a chef
  • 00:02:48
    is only as good as their worst dish not
  • 00:02:52
    their best dish your memorized answers
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    are not your real level your real
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    speaking level is dealing with questions
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    you work not expecting so if you do get
  • 00:03:01
    an unusual question on test day answer
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    it like this no I've never worn a wig I
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    think that people who wear wigs sound
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    and look ridiculous I think they really
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    just do it for attention or to be funny
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    which isn't funny at all to be honest
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    now if you thought the examiners were
  • 00:03:18
    sneaky in part one you're really going
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    to hate them after I reveal their sneaky
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    trap in part three of the test now
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    before I tell you what it is let me tell
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    you why they do it because once you
  • 00:03:31
    understand the why you'll be able to
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    spot it immediately and deal with it
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    much more easily so when I was a kid in
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    primary school I really struggled
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    academically I couldn't even write my
  • 00:03:43
    own name properly I couldn't understand
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    most of the lessons and I wasn't allowed
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    to sit with the other kids but despite
  • 00:03:50
    all this I was able to eventually
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    graduate from one of the best law
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    schools in the world you see when I did
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    a test I got all the easy questions
  • 00:03:59
    wrong but the few really difficult
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    questions at the end of the test that no
  • 00:04:03
    other students could get correct I would
  • 00:04:06
    always get those correct and this is
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    exactly what the examiners are training
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    to do in part three of the speaking test
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    if they believe that you are at one of
  • 00:04:16
    the lower bands let's say a band four or
  • 00:04:18
    a band five they will ask you quite easy
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    questions like these ones but if they
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    think that you deserve one of the higher
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    bonds a b seven eight or even nine they
  • 00:04:28
    will ask you more and more difficult
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    questions notice how in the book here
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    the questions get more and more
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    difficult but the key here is how you
  • 00:04:38
    react to these more difficult questions
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    these questions will come at the very
  • 00:04:42
    end of the speaking test when you are
  • 00:04:44
    stressed you are tired and you just want
  • 00:04:48
    the test to end and when the examiner
  • 00:04:50
    asks these questions often students will
  • 00:04:52
    give answers like
  • 00:04:55
    uh yes
  • 00:04:58
    um I don't know the thing you have to
  • 00:05:00
    remember with these questions is the
  • 00:05:02
    examiner is testing you they are testing
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    are you capable of answering these band
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    Seven 8 and N questions cuz they have to
  • 00:05:11
    separate out the band sevens from the
  • 00:05:13
    band eights from the band 9es one of the
  • 00:05:15
    ways they're try to do that is ask these
  • 00:05:18
    really really difficult questions and
  • 00:05:20
    then see how you react to them so what
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    if you know nothing about the topic or
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    you just find that question really
  • 00:05:27
    really challenging are you going to
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    automat Ally get a low score no let me
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    show you how to cope with those
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    questions so if I was doing the test and
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    I got this question and I know nothing
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    about this topic I am a complete idiot
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    when it comes to this topic I could say
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    something like this to be honest I don't
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    know anything about this topic I'm not
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    from India and I don't know much about
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    cooking but if I had to give an answer
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    um it's very difficult to predict the
  • 00:05:56
    future but what I would say is Maybe the
  • 00:05:59
    AI will change how the restaurants take
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    orders and how they deliver the food to
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    their customers but that's just a
  • 00:06:08
    complete guess now is that the best
  • 00:06:10
    answer in the world no but it is much
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    better than uh and by attempting an
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    answer and telling the examiner what I
  • 00:06:19
    think about that topic even though I
  • 00:06:20
    know nothing about it I have indicated
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    to The Examiner that I am good enough to
  • 00:06:26
    deal with those questions and they might
  • 00:06:28
    then steal the conversation to a topic
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    that I'm more comfortable with and then
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    I can really show them how good I am now
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    the last trap is the sneakiest of them
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    all and it's got to do with how they
  • 00:06:40
    test your vocabulary there are thousands
  • 00:06:43
    of words in the English language and the
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    examiners only have between 10 and 15
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    minutes to test your ability to use
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    English vocabulary so they came up with
  • 00:06:53
    a genius way of testing it in around 10
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    minutes see some words we use to talk
  • 00:06:59
    about this topic some words this topic
  • 00:07:02
    and some words this topic but if we try
  • 00:07:05
    to use these words to talk about this
  • 00:07:07
    topic it doesn't work these are called
  • 00:07:10
    topic specific words and we can use them
  • 00:07:13
    to talk about different topics knowing
  • 00:07:15
    this information is crucial for two
  • 00:07:18
    reasons first the examiners are trained
  • 00:07:21
    to ask you a range of different topics
  • 00:07:24
    on test day so that you can't just
  • 00:07:26
    memorize a list of band nine words and
  • 00:07:29
    put them into every answer and cheat the
  • 00:07:32
    test in that way secondly the examiners
  • 00:07:34
    are more impressed with a simple topic
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    specific word than a more complex word
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    that doesn't really help you answer the
  • 00:07:43
    question this is why so many students
  • 00:07:45
    failed the test when they were expecting
  • 00:07:48
    to get a really high score because they
  • 00:07:50
    memorized lists of band nine words and
  • 00:07:53
    this is why so many of our VIP students
  • 00:07:55
    get a band S8 and N not by memorizing
  • 00:07:59
    lists of high level Bond nine words but
  • 00:08:02
    using the simple topic specific words
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    they already know it's actually impos
  • 00:08:09
    whoa It's actually possible to avoid
  • 00:08:12
    100% of the traps that might come up in
  • 00:08:15
    the speaking test not just the speaking
  • 00:08:17
    test but all areas of the I test every
  • 00:08:21
    part of the I test reading listening
  • 00:08:24
    writing has traps contained within it
  • 00:08:27
    but there is one way that you can spot
  • 00:08:30
    all of them and avoid all of them and
  • 00:08:32
    massively increase your score in the
  • 00:08:34
    movie Catch Me If You Can Leonardo
  • 00:08:37
    DiCaprio plays a criminal that is being
  • 00:08:39
    chased by FBI man Tom Hanks Leo's
  • 00:08:42
    character plays a criminal who pretends
  • 00:08:45
    to be an airline pilot and a doctor and
  • 00:08:48
    a lawyer he also steals money by making
  • 00:08:51
    fake checks and stealing credit cards
  • 00:08:54
    The crucial scene in this movie comes
  • 00:08:57
    when Tom Hanks asks Leo how did he fake
  • 00:09:00
    passing the bar exam the bar exam is an
  • 00:09:03
    exam all lawyers have to take before
  • 00:09:05
    they can become a lawyer it is one of
  • 00:09:07
    the most difficult tests in the entire
  • 00:09:09
    world and Tom Hanks can't figure out how
  • 00:09:12
    a criminal how a con man would be able
  • 00:09:15
    to fake passing this test and here's how
  • 00:09:18
    he did it I didn't
  • 00:09:21
    cheat I studied for 2 weeks and I passed
  • 00:09:25
    you see he didn't need to fake becoming
  • 00:09:28
    a doctor or lawyer or an airline pilot
  • 00:09:31
    he didn't need to steal money to become
  • 00:09:33
    rich he was already talented and smart
  • 00:09:36
    and intelligent enough to do all of
  • 00:09:39
    these things without cheating without
  • 00:09:41
    stealing he just needed to stop cheating
  • 00:09:44
    all of the is traps are used to catch
  • 00:09:48
    cheaters like Leo's character most I
  • 00:09:51
    students don't cheat because they are
  • 00:09:53
    bad people they cheat because they lack
  • 00:09:57
    confidence they are scared that they're
  • 00:09:59
    going to to fail and then they get
  • 00:10:01
    desperate and resort to listening to
  • 00:10:03
    these tricks and cheats and hacks and
  • 00:10:06
    the most fascinating thing is this movie
  • 00:10:08
    is a true story he now actually works
  • 00:10:11
    for the FBI and credit card companies
  • 00:10:14
    have paid him millions of dollars to
  • 00:10:16
    help prevent future criminals taking
  • 00:10:20
    advantage of the system if you believe
  • 00:10:23
    that you're good enough and you don't
  • 00:10:24
    cheat The Examiner is going to give you
  • 00:10:27
    your real score on test day and you'll
  • 00:10:30
    be rewarded with a new life in a new
  • 00:10:33
    country getting paid way more than you
  • 00:10:36
    currently are you are more than capable
  • 00:10:38
    of doing that you just have to show them
  • 00:10:41
    but many of you are probably still
  • 00:10:42
    worried right now and you want some tips
  • 00:10:45
    to help you improve your speaking score
  • 00:10:48
    check out this video where we help
  • 00:10:50
    prianka jump from a band six to a band
  • 00:10:52
    eight by just giving her four simple
  • 00:10:55
    tips it's really going to help you check
  • 00:10:57
    that video out made it acoss didn't die
Tags
  • IELTS speaking
  • exam traps
  • memorized answers
  • unexpected topics
  • topic-specific vocabulary
  • confidence
  • exam preparation
  • cheating
  • real ability
  • speaking test tips