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HOW I GOT A BAND 9.0 in the IELTS SPEAKING EXAM | Sharing My Techniques That Can Help You
Nov 3, 2022
In this video, you will learn the techniques or the strategies that I used when I took the IELTS Speaking exam. The techniques that are mentioned in this video are what I used that helped me get a band 9.0.
I really spent time understanding the IELTS Speaking exam and more importantly the band descriptors such as Grammar Range and Accuracy, Lexical Resource, Fluency and Coherence, and Pronunciation. Because I came prepared - that's being equipped with strategies and knowledge, I was able to communicate my thoughts with my examiner confidently and naturally.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:24 - GRAMMAR RANGE & ACCURACY
0:48 - Technique 1 used in Part 1 (Grammar & Accuracy)
01:37 - Technique 1 used in Part 2 (Grammar & Accuracy)
03:09 - Technique used for creating an organized monologue in Part 2
04:51 - Technique 1 used in Part 3 (Grammar & Accuracy)
06:12 - Technique 2 (Grammar & Accuracy)
07:43 - LEXICAL RESOURCE
07:51 - Technique 1 (Lexical Resource)
09:42 - Technique 2 (Lexical Resource)
10:39 - Technique 3 (Lexical Resource)
11:22 - FLUENCY AND COHERENCE
11:32 - Technique 1 (Fluency)
12:29 - Technique 2 (Fluency)
13:35 - Technique for Coherence
13:53 - PRONUNCIATION
14:30 - BONUS TIP!!!!
15:10 - What I think you should do!
These techniques helped me a band 9.0, and I hope my techniques can help you too.
Disclaimer: These techniques helped me succeed, however, there is no assurance that you can also get a band 9.0 if you follow these techniques. It's still all up to you on how you present yourself to the examiner and how you communicate your thoughts. All the things mentioned in the video are based on my experience, opinion, and knowledge.
#ieltsspeakingband9 #howigotaband9ieltsspeaking #ieltsband9
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0:00
Hello everyone, welcome to IELTS Dragon. My name is Julius and I got a band 9 in the IELTS speaking exam
0:08
I only took it once and I am not a native English speaker. So today I'll be sharing with you the
0:14
techniques that I used in every criterion in the IELTS speaking exam that helped me get a band 9
0:21
Let's begin. First off is grammar and accuracy. Well, I did not only use basic grammar
0:29
but I also used advanced grammar. Well, to be specific, I used conditional tenses and inversion
0:38
So, how did I use conditional tenses and inversion in my answers? Well, let me start with conditional
0:47
tenses. In part one, I simply used the first conditional tense. When do we use the first
0:54
conditional tense in the first place? Well, basically, we use this when we talk about things
1:00
which might happen in the future. For example, one of the questions I got was, how often do you buy
1:07
shoes? My answer was, rarely. I'm not into buying shoes since I don't have a lot of money. I have
1:15
three pairs of shoes at the moment and I'm happy with those. However, if I make more money, I'll
1:21
surely buy some new shoes. Notice how I used the first conditional tense in the last sentence of
1:28
my answer. By using that tense, I was able to develop a better answer with good grammar
1:36
In part 2, I used the third conditional tense. Let's understand when to use this conditional
1:42
tense. Well, we use this when we talk about an impossible condition in the past and its
1:49
a probable result in the past. It's hypothetical and unreal, and there's always an implication of
1:56
regret. The cue card that I got was, describe a person who has been an important influence in your
2:03
life. So, how did I use the third conditional tense in my monologue? Well, somewhere in my monologue
2:11
I said, if my boss hadn't asked me to work overtime last month, I would have met Angelina
2:18
Jolie in person when she paid a visit to an orphanage in one of the poorest villages in
2:22
our country. Here, I was expressing my regret for not seeing Angelina Jolie using an advanced
2:30
type of grammar, which helped me sound natural and confident of my English grammar skills
2:37
That sounds great. A big plus point for the criterion grammar inaccuracy
2:43
And by the way, we can omit the word if in my answer for the third conditional and start with
2:51
Hadn't my boss asked me to work overtime last month, I would have met Jolie
2:57
And that's what we called inversion in a conditional tense. I'll talk more about inversion later as this is the second type of advanced grammar that I used
3:07
Now, here's an interesting technique which I actually used to develop a better monologue in part 2
3:15
Well, I was just making up a story. It wasn't really true that Angelina Jolie is the person who has been an important influence in my life
3:24
No. So the reason why I talked about Jolie was that before I took the exam, I already prepared the topic
3:34
Describe your favorite actor or actress. During that time, I gathered lots of information or details about who Angelina Jolie is
3:45
what is her contribution to the United Nations things like that When I took the exam and got the cue card describe a person who has been an important influence in your life I realized that I could use the knowledge or the
4:02
information that I gathered upon researching who Angelina Jolie is. And that was really good because
4:08
I was able to talk for two minutes and it was very spontaneous talking about her humanitarian work
4:16
and how it influenced me. Although it wasn't really true because I was just making up a story
4:23
So my point here is be flexible. Study as many topics as possible because you'll never know
4:32
You may get one of those topics that you studied and prepare as many ideas as you can
4:38
because those ideas may come in handy. You'll never know. You may be able to use those ideas
4:46
in developing your monologue. Alright, let's proceed to part 3. How did I use the second
4:53
conditional tense in my answers? This is how I did it. In part 3, I used the second conditional tense
5:02
Let's review the second conditional tense. Well, we use this when we talk about impossible
5:07
or imaginary situations. One of the questions my examiner asked me was
5:13
Do you think you're a good influence on other people? Notice how I answered that question and how I used the second conditional tense
5:23
So my answer was, I believe I am, especially to my friends, family, and to the children in our village
5:31
Actually, I'm a member of an organization that helps less privileged children in our village
5:37
I've participated in feeding programs every now and then and donated some school supplies
5:44
If only I was a millionaire, I would surely help these children more by providing scholarships or financial assistance
5:52
Well, anyway, I still continue to be a good influence on other people in my own little way
5:59
Basically, I used simple grammar in the opening part of my answer
6:03
but I just added the second conditional tense to my answer for me not to sound too basic
6:11
The second type of advanced grammar that I used in my answers that helped me boost my mark in the
6:17
criterion grammar and accuracy was inversion. Do you know what inversion is? Well, let me review
6:25
what inversion is and let me demonstrate how I applied inversion in my answers
6:30
Inversion simply means putting the verb before a subject. This is normally used when making a question
6:40
However, we can use this in special cases to emphasize something for dramatic purposes and for formality
6:49
The first special case is when we use a negative adverb or adverb phrase at the beginning of a sentence
6:57
For example, Rarely had I gone to malls when I was a child
7:05
Little did I know that I had spent lots of my time watching Jolie's movies
7:12
Instead of using a normal sentence construction, I used inversion in some of my answers as
7:19
my strategy to secure a good mark under grammar and accuracy. We can also use inversion for conditional tense
7:29
Take a look at the example. Level up your grammar skills. Don be lazy if you really want to get a good mark in this criterion The next criterion is lexical resource Well I did three important things here to make sure I get a good mark First I minimized using the word very
7:55
Before I took the exam, I spent time learning descriptive words that would best describe a person, a place, a thing, an animal, and even an idea
8:06
I didn't really use the words very beautiful, very small, very tall, very big, very happy
8:15
I avoided using those words because I knew that those words wouldn't really help me
8:21
So what I did was I built my vocabulary. To be specific, I studied synonyms and understood how to use them correctly
8:32
Bear this in mind. You cannot just simply use any synonyms of a particular word
8:38
You also need to spend time understanding how to use them correctly
8:44
Because if not, you may end up using them incorrectly. For example, let's take the word cheap as an example
8:53
That word has different definitions, but let me focus on the three definitions
8:59
First, inexpensive. Second, low quality. Third, disgusting Each of these words has different synonyms and the synonyms are not interchangeable
9:11
When learning synonyms, you have to understand the context of the sentence
9:16
For example, yelling at his secretary in front of other workers is an example of cheap behavior
9:25
The word cheap in that sentence cannot be replaced with the words inexpensive or affordable
9:33
So by understanding the context of that sentence, you will know what's the appropriate synonym to use
9:40
That's how I learned synonyms. The second thing that I did under this criterion was using collocations
9:47
As we know, collocations are words or phrases that are commonly used by native English speakers in their everyday life
9:54
I really spent time learning common collocations because I wanted to sound more natural like a native English speaker
10:03
Also, I spent time learning common expressions such as a piece of cake, if my memory serves me right, the bottom line is it's not my cup of tea, things like that
10:15
Which I actually used when the examiner asked me about online shopping
10:21
So I said online shopping is not my cup of tea. Something like that
10:28
So spend time learning collocations because these words can definitely help you improve your mark in this criterion lexical resource
10:38
The third technique that I used under this criterion was using cohesive devices
10:44
As we know, cohesive devices are words or phrases that connect ideas
10:49
To be specific, I used transitions in my answers, more importantly in part 2 when I developed my monologue
10:59
Because I used transitions, I was able to create an organized monologue
11:06
By using cohesive devices, I was not only boosting my mark in the criterion lexical resource, but also the criterion fluency and coherence
11:17
because basically my answers were coherent. Let's start talking about the techniques that I used under the criterion fluency and coherence
11:28
So how did I achieve fluency and coherence? Well let me start with fluency Before I took the exam I studied with a professional IELTS speaking coach who helped me develop my confidence and improved my English communication skills
11:45
She's amazing because she's able to pinpoint all my weaknesses, which I didn't realize in the first place
11:53
And because of that experience, I learned that it's really important that we need to ask help from someone who is professional in this field
12:02
because sometimes we think that our skills are good enough, but actually they're not
12:09
Well, she's also a Filipino and she's kind of strict, which I really liked
12:14
because her strictness helped me motivate myself to do my very best
12:20
Well, if you have a strict teacher right now, don't take it personally
12:25
Instead, accept constructive criticism and just do your best. After I studied for two weeks with that professional ayat speaking coach, I decided to study by myself for one month, one hour a day
12:40
So what did I do to be fluent? Well, I recorded myself answering part one, part two, and part three questions
12:50
And after that, I took notes of my mistakes, such as repeating the same expressions over and over again
13:00
And I also paid attention to the fillers, such as ums, ah, ah, something like that
13:06
So I wrote down all of my mistakes and re-recorded myself answering the same questions
13:13
I really did my best not to commit the same mistakes because, you know, it's kind of tiring to record again and again answering the same questions
13:23
And that was really tiring. And that was my way of disciplining myself to do my very best to achieve fluency
13:31
And because of that, yeah, when I took the exam, I was really fluent
13:35
As for coherence, well, I just used cohesive devices, which I discussed earlier
13:41
Because I used cohesive devices in my answers, I was able to organize my answers and make the examiner understand my answers clearly
13:52
Let's move on to the criterion pronunciation. Well, before I took the exam, I spent time reviewing the fundamentals of pronunciation, such as understanding the vowel sounds and the consonant sounds
14:06
I made sure to understand the proper placement of my tongue when pronouncing words
14:13
I also reviewed diphthongs and monophthongs. So if you're not confident with your pronunciation skills, then spend time learning those things
14:23
We're so lucky in this generation because there are so many online resources that we can use for free
14:30
One bonus tip which I believe it's worth sharing. Honestly, I studied accent reduction
14:36
Well, well, well, I know accent is not included in the band descriptors, but at that time, I really wanted to sound like a native
14:43
So what I did was I spent time understanding how native English speakers speak
14:49
To be specific, I studied liaisons or connected speech. And that was really helpful because I was able to improve my way of speaking
15:00
So maybe you can give it a shot. You can access lots of online resources about accent reduction
15:08
Yeah, just give it a try. It's very important to prepare before you take the exam
15:14
Study as many topics as possible. Formulate your own ideas. Or you can check my other videos because I shared plenty of ideas
15:23
But remember this, never memorize simple answers because you will surely mess up
15:28
Until next time, have a lovely day. Bye. Thank you
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