Dear candidates,

I am busy writing new material for the speaking modules and I am interested in learning what you find most difficult in your preparation for the speaking test or just speaking English in general?

Here are a few suggestions:

Vocabulary - finding the right word or phrase to express what I want to say.
Grammar - making mistakes with verb tenses
Pronunciation - people don’t always understand my accent
Fluency - trying to sound natural by speaking more quickly

If any of these problems sound familiar or you have other difficulties that you would like to share and get advice on, please write and tell me!

Jenny
The iPASS Team

Hi there,

In order to achieve a 7 you are not expected to speak as a native speaker although you should be reasonably fluent which means that you should not be making unnatural pauses which put a strain on the listener or cause a breakdown in communication.

Remember, short pauses are part of natural speech, in order to give us time to think about what we want to say, to choose the right words and to articulate them accurately. This is perfectly acceptable.

In the Speaking module that corresponds with Yuko’s interview there are a number of techniques you can practice in order to improve your fluency.

I hope these will help you.

Good luck in your exam next week!

Jenny
The iPASS Team

That’s brilliant news! Well done! I’m glad the ipass material helped you to get the band score you required. Best of luck with the nursing in the States!

Jenny

Congreatulations..Newbie,
You did it. As my own experience that I sit for the test in Thailand,in speaking module was the most difficult for me but I did it as well with 7 . Therefore,I ‘d like to share with others that understanding questions is the key. If you don’t understand..don’t panic..ask the examiner to clarify and then answer plus add some idioms as relevant to the topics.
Thank you Jenny and team to give a better chance to people in practicing English!

Thank you for adding this advice. Have you seen the new iPass video with Helia from Iran? On two occasions she asks the examiner to repeat the question but in both cases she remains calm and is able to continue without any breakdown in communication.

We will be uploading the exercises to go with Helia’s video later this month and one of the areas that we focus on is how to use certain techniques to improve fluency and avoid too many pauses and hesitations.

We are also thinking of adding a podcast of a native English speaker doing an IELTS interview. Do you think this would be a useful exercise - to listen to a native speaker doing the test?

As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.

Jenny

Hello. Ipass

I join this website about a week a ago. Am sure you guys can help me to fix my problem . My grammar is so bad and how you are going to help or advice me to build up my writing skill?  .
Don’t laugh at my broken grammar LOL

Thanks

Hello Marta,

If you would like personal feedback on your writing there are two ways you can do it at iPass.

Either you can sign up and become a Key Member and send us up to 4 compositions as part of your subscription or you can purchase an individual writing task for €10.

Please go to our sign up page or our special offers page for all the details.

Or, you could enter our forum writing competition. Each entry will receive personal feedback on their writing and also have the chance to win a free Key Membership worth €34.95!

Best wishes,

Jenny
The iPass Team

Jenny,

Thanks fot the infromation and i will go a head to sign up to become a key member . I also send you 4 compostions as you said .

Thanks
Marta

Hello Jenny..I have taken the IELTS exam recently>I already got an average band score of 7 but sad to say that i didnt meet the requirement score for speaking..My major problem is the way I talk,i think i am too fast.I tried to control it but it actually became worse when i was already on the actual exam.Tell me how to improve my speaking skills..Thanks in advance.

Hi Iorim,

I don’t think you would be penalised for speaking too quickly unless it was affecting your pronunciation or your grammar and your speech was becoming unclear or inaccurate.

It is often the case that we speak more quickly when we are nervous so it is particularly difficult to control in an exam situation.

Have you tried recording yourself? This could be a good way to actually hear what you sound like when you are speaking English and to identify what type of errors you are making? Are they pronunciation errors or grammatical errors? If possible, play the recording to someone else, preferably a native speaker, to get a second opinion.

I think you have arranged to set up a chat with two other iPass members using Skype. This could be a great way of practising your spoken English in a relaxed way and to see how others respond to what you are saying. Are they able to understand you? If not, they can tell you what the problem is and help you to correct it.

I hope this helps.

Good luck and let me know if the Skpe chat is successful as it could be a good opportunity for other iPass members too.

Best wishes,

Jenny
The iPass Team