Today is the festival of Halloween, a day when children and adults dress up in scary costumes, decorate their homes and watch horror films. But for many IELTS candidates around the world, the speaking test can also be pretty scary.
In this post, let’s look at five common scary IELTS myths (false beliefs or ideas).
Scary myth 1: The examiner is your enemy
Not true! Examiners are doing a job and want you to do well. However, they must also be 100% objective, so do not try to be too friendly with your examiner in the hope that you will get a higher band.
Scary myth 2: You need an opinion on everything
Not true! You must answer every question but you don’t need to have an opinion on everything. If the examiner asks for your ideas on a particular topic and you cannot invent an opinion, you can always express a lack of opinion and/or use a time filler to give yourself time to think about what to say.
Scary myth 3: The examiner is also evaluating your ideas
Again, this is not true. The examiner is only evaluating your ability to use English. There are no good and bad ideas in the IELTS speaking test. Just try not to say something offensive!
Scary myth 4: You must only use formal English
Wrong! The examiner is evaluating your ability to use everyday ‘educated’ English, not formal English. So don’t use words and expressions like moreover, I beg your pardon, hence, thus, etc.
Scary myth 5: You cannot ask the examiner to repeat the instructions
Wrong again! The examiner is allowed to repeat the instructions twice and you may also ask for a definition or synonym if you don’t understand a particular word. Here, you can watch an examiner talking about this.
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