Harry – IELTS English Boosters

IELTS Preparation September (2021)

The IELTS Speaking module assesses a candidate’s communicative and linguistic skills
necessary for effective oral communication between native and non-native speakers of English in
social, educational and training contexts. It is a natural speaking test, DO NOT RECITE
ANSWERS. Simply be yourself and speak naturally, with the odd mistake, that’s pretty normal.

Harry’s Tip – Many students tell me they write down answers in full, then try to memorise
them, this is counterproductive and will be obvious to the examiner. Your Band Score WILL be
lower, they may think your cheating😭

Test-takers are assessed individually by one trained examiner and all the answers are
recorded. If you ask for a re-score, another examiner will listen to the recording.

You are marked as follows:

1. Fluency and Coherence
The first criterion, Fluency and Coherence, assesses your ability to express ideas clearly
and coherently without long hesitations. The key markers of fluency are speech continuity and
speech rate (Harry’s Tip - see my speaking speed document).

Coherence refers to logical sequencing of ideas, clear marking of stages in a narration, and
the use of cohesive devices. Using, for example, also, firstly etc, these sentence starters help a
logical sequence of speech. (Harry’s Tip - Remember we learnt about connectives in Part 1, that’s
the one👁️‍🗨️).

2. Lexical Resource
Lexical Resource evaluates the range of vocabulary used in your speech and whether it was
used appropriately. You must use a variety of words and expressions and avoid repetitions and
common vocabulary.

Moreover, you must be accurate in the meaning of words you use. (📸Harry’s Tip – Use
only the vocabulary you can pronounce and are sure about 100%)

3. Grammatical Range and Accuracy

The next category, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, refers to the accurate and
appropriate use of various grammatical forms and structures.

You’d better use complex sentences with subordinate clauses in your speech and avoid
mistakes. So, if you are not sure in this or that grammar construction, do not use it. (Harrys Tip -
This is simply the three part structure I teach you for part one 👌)

4. Pronunciation
 The last criterion, Pronunciation, assesses your ability to use features of English
pronunciation, such as intonation and stress. (Harry’s Tip – Remember the first lesson, we use
hand dramatics to improve our intonation? That’s the one 🤳)

Also, the examiner will rate whether it is easy to understand what you are saying or not.
Pay attention that your accent will not be taken in consideration. So, it is not obligatory to have a
perfect British accent to get a high score.

Harry’s note – My first 8.5 Speaking success, was a lady from India with a strong Indian
accent, she scored a huge score….Therefore, don’t worry about your accent, just try to be clear.

Setting up Your IELTS Speaking Desk

On your desk, please prepare the following:

A small note – 8 Adjectives of your choice.

A small note – 8 Connectives of your choice.

The following diagram:

Answer Direct – Connective – Example 1 – Connective – Example 2

Stick them on your screen, so that, when you come to my class, you have
them ready…..

IELTS Speaking – Introduction Questions:

This is your opportunity to impress the examiner with your speaking. Right from the start, go all
out to impress.

Harry’s Secret Strategy to answer Part 1 Questions:

Firstly, don’t tell your life story. You should speak for between 15 to 25 seconds, slowly
and clearly. The examiner will know if you try to script, just remember vocabulary and words
from a mind map.
For each topic in this part, pick out some vocabulary, make a mind map and then try to
answer using the mind map vocabulary you made.
You should aim to say three sentences, as follows:

Example Question- So for ‘What do you do during a weekend break?’ you would say:

Answer - “Well, there are many things to occupy my time at the weekend, I do like gardening
(DIRECT ANSWER), however (1) I normally spend my time catching up on mundane and tedious
housework or homework. (2) Additionally, I try to fill my weekend with some action-packed
practical activities, this helps me unwind after a busy week.

Well, there are many wonderful things I enjoy doing at the weekend. For example, I have to practise my
linguistic skills after classes during the week. In addition, I love to meet up with my wonderful friends in
the coffee shop and catch up.

Do you like ice-cream?

Yes, I absolutely love to eat ice cream, who doesn't like eating ice cream? Especially, strawberry
flavoured ice cream, because, it's absolutely refreshing and delicious on a hot summer's day.
 This answer is brilliant, the part where you reverse a question – Who
doesn’t like ice-cream” amazing technique.

Linking words – YOU CAN USE ANY OF THESE – MIX AND MATCH@#$%

Giving examples Adding Summarising Giving a reason Contrasting ideas

information
For example And In short Due to / due to the But
For instance In addition In brief fact that However
As well as In summary Owing to / owing to Although / even
Also To summarise the fact that though
Too In a nutshell Because Despite / despite the
Furthermore To conclude Because of fact that
Moreover In conclusion Since In spite of / in spite
Apart from As of the fact that
In addition to Nonetheless
Besides that While

Magnificent (nguy nga)

Chaotic

Flabby (nhun mem, thuy mi)

Courageous (can dam)

Part 1 Questions:

Let’s talk about happiness.

Vocabulary - Happy, jolly, funny, excited, exciting, smiling, laughing, emotions and emotional.
Sadness, unhappy, boring and tedious. Occupy.

Expressions - Feeling great, feeling good, looking good,

IDIOMS - Over the moon, Jumping for joy, it’s human nature,

Q. What makes you happy?

There are many things that make me very happy every day, for example, my family, food
and friends all make me very happy. Additionally, I enjoy socialising and spending my time wisely.

Q. What made you happy as a child?

 As a child it was really easy to keep myself very happy. For example, shopping with mum
and buying some wonderful toys and gifts always brought a smile to my face. Additionally, visiting
my lovely grandmother always made me smile because she gave us candy and other sweet gifts.

As a child, many things used to make me happy especially my primary school years. That's
because, I really enjoy playing doctors and nurses with my friends at break time. Additionally,
playing always makes a child very happy.

Q. Did you do something/anything recently that made others happy?

Yes, I did, recently I joined a wonderful charity and organisation in my community. They
directly benefit other people who live here, because, they take care of the environment and
therefore everybody is much happier living in a beautiful place.

Yes, I did do something recently to make my friend very happy. For example, she had an
issue understanding something so I provided information, advice and guidance. She was delighted
to receive this information from me.

Recently, I did lots of housework to help my mother. That's because, she needed me to lend
a hand and I was happy to do so, so, she became very happy that I helped her.

Q. Do you think it is important to be happy?

Being happy is absolutely essential in order for us to have a great mental health.
Additionally, being happy is good for your minds and is infectious to other people, so, wearing a
smile each day when I see my friends makes them smile also.

Q. Can a person be happy all the time? Why?

No I don't think so, although we try to be happy most of the time. However, we do
experience ups and downs in life which prevents us from always being merry and happy.

Part 2 – Tips & Reminders:

Part 2 is a monologue on a given topic. You will be given a TOPIC CARD that contains a topic
and some bullet point prompts. The examiner will give you one minute to prepare and make notes
on a sheet of paper. USE THIS TIME AND PAPER – IT IS ESSENTIAL!!!!!!

Then, you will be asked to speak for one to two minutes. It’s recommended not to stop speaking
before the examiner does it himself.
After you finish speaking, the examiner may ask you a couple of rounding-off questions related to
your speech. In this task, you can be asked about almost everything.

NOTE – The examiner gives you one minute to plan your answer, and to help you prepare for the
topic, the examiner provides you with a pencil and a notepad. You’ll have to answer the questions
given on the topic for one-to-two minutes
What are idioms?

Idioms are words, phrases or expressions which are commonly used in everyday
conversation by native speakers of English. Learning the most well-known idioms will help
make your English sound more fluent.

Idioms are often metaphorical and make the language more colourful. People use them to
express something more vividly and often more briefly. They serve as an image or mental
picture.

Great Idioms:

o What a bore! How boring! How dull…

o I’m bored to tears / bored to death / bored silly / bored stiff.
o I can’t say that I find this very interesting.
o I’m bored out of my mind – there’s nothing happening!
o What a boring film! Wake me up when it’s over.
o This is about as exciting as watching paint dry!

o bored to tears (also: bored to distraction/bored to death/bored silly)

o If you find something so dull and uninteresting that it makes you sad enough to cry,
you are bored to tears.
"I could see that my son was bored to tears by the historical documentary."

o cheesed off
o If someone is cheesed off with something, they are annoyed, bored or frustrated.
"Jenny is absolutely cheesed off with her job."

Expression - I couldn't escape the boredom.

Part 2 Topic Question:

 Describe a time when you felt bored. You should say:

• – When it was?
• – Who you were with?
• – What were you doing?

And explain why you felt bored?

Part 3 Reminders & Tips:

USE AREA – As shown in class…

The last part of the Speaking section is a two-way discussion. The examiner will ask you to
discuss some abstract, non-personal topics usually somehow related to the topic in Part 2.

For example, in Part 2, you are asked to describe a teacher who influenced you. Accordingly, the
topic for discussion in Part 3 will be Education. You might be asked up to seven questions on a
variety of topics.

The questions usually include such words as predict, analyze, compare, give opinion, etc. The
themes for discussion can be the following: Technology, Environment, Education, TV influence,
Leisure activities, Shopping, Sports, Transport, etc.

Part 3 – Use 4 parts: AREA Example:

1 Answer directly – one long sentence, connectives
2. Reason – why you said that in the first sentence…
3. Example – relate to a solid idea
4. Alternative – Opposite view – ‘On the other hand (etc)’

Part 3 Discussion Questions?

Q. When do people feel bored?

Most of the time people feel bored when there is no change in their routine and they are doing the
same thing over and over again. Boredom happens due to monotony in life.

Sometimes, it may also depend on an individual’s mood or if a person does not find interest in the
things he/she is doing.
Q. What can people do when they feel bored?

Answer - When we are feeling bored, there are many options for us to alleviate the feeling of
boredom. Such as, undertaking a range of activities to occupy ourselves.

Reason. Making ourselves proactive and doing things practically, takes our mind off the fact that
we are bored, and occupies our time well, preventing boredom, especially during the lockdown.

Example - as an example, I often undertake cooking, working from home or taking an online class.
These kinds of activities help me pass the time, pampering yourself and exercising are additional
ways to help overcome the feeling of boredom.

Alternative - however, if we don't do anything when we are feeling bored, we are in danger of
becoming more frustrated and raising our anxiety. We can easily become upset, sad or depressed.

People can do a lot of things when they are bored. They can watch a good movie, listen to some
nice music or go for a walk.
They can also talk to their loved one’s or may be play a game with them. Basically they should try
to do something different than usual.

Q. Do people get bored with their daily routines?

Definitely yes, I think it is the leading cause for boredom. There are numerous examples when
people get bored because of daily routines.

For instance, I cannot eat homecooked food for more than 5 days in a row, it makes me feel like
that life is dull and there is no fun. Similarly, the weekend brings a nice change from the boring
monotony of weekdays.

Q. Is it easier for younger people to feel bored than for the old?

I believe so, it could be due to the fact that old people are more experienced and patient as
compared to young one’s.

They have seen most of the things in life so they do not have high expectations, whereas the young
one’s, especially today’s generation is always looking for something to feed their mind. They
easily become bored if they don’t get something new.

Part 2 Topic Card Sample Answer

Introduction
 Being a workaholic person, I feel happy whenever I remain busy.
 However, I feel bored whenever I have to sit idle.
When it was?
 Last year due to the corona pandemic, the government of my country imposed a
strict lockdown.
 Due to that, I had to sit at home for six months.
 The first three months of that period were monotonous for me.
Who you were with?
 My parents and my younger sister was there with me during that period,
What you were doing?
 Since I was not allowed to go out of my township, I spent most of the time inside
the township.
 I would play games on my computer, watch web series, and eat a lot.
 In short, I became a couch potato.
Why you felt bored?
 The preponderant reason for feeling bored was that I did not have too much
productive work to do.
 When we move from our home for any purpose, our life becomes dynamic.
 Because we get a chance to meet a lot of people, from whom we learn new things.
 Then we try those things and add dynamism to our lives.
  Whereas when we sit at home, our life becomes mundane.,because we do not get a
chance to experience new things.
 By performing the same tasks every day, we get into a vicious circle, often finding
it difficult to get out of that.
 The same happened to me. For the first few days, the leisure time I had was a
blessing for me.
 But later on, it turned out to be a nightmare.
 So that period of six months can be termed as the most boring time of my life.

Band 9.0 Sample Answer Ideas.

• There have been many times in my life when I have felt bored but today I would like to talk
about one such day which was really dull.

• It was during the summer of 2020.

• My college exams had just gotten over and I was completely free

• Since it was really hot outside, I couldn’t go out much and was getting bored sitting at home.

• Then one day one of my friends called me and told me about a new Bollywood movie that was
going to release next day.

• The name of the movie was Student of the Year 2.

• I immediately saw the movie trailer on youtube and asked my friend to book the tickets.

• The movie was about a group of college students who get into a competition.

• I thought it was going to be a comedy movie and we would have a good time.

• But as soon as the movie started we started cursing our luck.

• It was one of the worst movies of the year.

• The plot of the movie was completely predictable and there was no laughter in the scenes at all.

• Even the performance of the actors was below average.

• It felt like someone was torturing us.

• As soon as the first half got over, I asked my friend that we should leave the movie and go do
something else.
• Buthe thought that probably the second half of the movie would be more interesting and I
listened to his advice and stayed back.

• Unfortunately the second half was even worse than the first one.

• The jokes were not funny and the script of the movie was really bad.

• Somehow I convinced my friend to leave before the movie ended.

• It was one of the most boring experiences of my life.

Harry’s Top Tips….

IELTS Speaking: if you don't understand

What should you do if you don't understand a question in the speaking test? Here are my tips:

Part 1
In part 1, the examiner is not allowed to help you, but he/she can repeat the question. Just say:
"Sorry, can you repeat the question please?" If you still don't understand the second time, try to say
something related to the topic or any of the words that you heard. Try your best, then focus on the
next question.

Part 2
You are given a task card with the question written on it, so you shouldn't have any problems in
this part. If there is a word that you don't understand on the task card, don't ask the examiner -
he/she is not allowed to help.

Part 3
In this part of the test, the examiner is allowed to rephrase the question. If you don't understand,
just say something like: "Sorry, can you explain that question in a different way please?"

Remember – Smile, relax and make eye contact. Speak slowly and clearly. Watch body language.
It’s a normal conversation…

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PM Describe a creative person whose work you admire You should say: Who he/she is How you knew
him/her What creative things he/she has done And explain why you think he/she is creative
Uncategorized Last Tuesday at 4:14 PM (6) Which do you prefer, fashionable shoes or comfortable
shoes? Uncategorized Last Tuesday at 4:13 PM Yes I have, in the past I bought some shoes online.
However, they are often the wrong size, And I'm really disappointed when I receive them.
Uncategorized Last Tuesday at 4:10 PM I normally buy shoes every couple of months, especially
when the fashion or the season changes, because, I like to stay in fashion and have comfortable
practical shoes. Uncategorized Last Tuesday at 4:08 PM Yes absolutely, who doesn't like buying new
shoes. For example, I like to buy fashionable and comfortable shoes cause they match my outfits.
Uncategorized Last Tuesday at 4:06 PM (1) Do you like buying shoes? Uncategorized Last Tuesday
at 4:04 PM shoes Uncategorized Last Tuesday at 4:04 PM Well, there are many wonderful things I
enjoy doing at the weekend. For example, I have to practise my linguistic skills after classes during the
week. In addition, I love to meet up with my wonderful friends in the coffee shop and catch up.
Uncategorized 11/10/2021 My full is, ABC, however, please call me Anne. I come from Vietnam, from
a wonderful and historical city called Ho Chi Minh city. My city, is a wonderful place to live. I'm a
student I am a third year student studying English linguistics at a wonderful university in Ho Chi Minh
city. I really enjoyed my course of study. Uncategorized 11/10/2021 I'm a student I am a third year
student studying English linguistics at a wonderful university in Ho Chi Minh city. I really enjoyed my
course of study. Uncategorized 11/10/2021 I'm a student I am a third year student studying English
linguistics at a wonderful university in Ho Chi Minh city. I really enjoyed my course of study.
Uncategorized 11/10/2021 intonation Uncategorized 11/10/2021 I come from Vietnam, from a
wonderful and historical city called Ho Chi Minh city. My city, is a wonderful place to live.
Uncategorized 11/10/2021 My full is, ABC, however, please call me Anne.

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