The IELTS Speaking test involves a personal interview with an IELTS examiner. This causes a lot of students to get a bit nervous.
That’s only natural. It’s hard not to be nervous when you don’t know what to expect and the thought of sitting with an examiner is a bit intimidating.
Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking test provides you with an important opportunity to get your nerves under control and become comfortable speaking with the examiner.
In this post, we will tell you how to approach Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking test as a key piece of your broader IELTS Speaking strategy!
Key takeaways
- use Speaking Part 1 strategically to settle in and gain confidence
- don’t waste valuable preparation time memorizing topics and templates- master the question format instead
- practise using the 3 tips provided below to guide your preparation
Related Resources
To get a better sense of what the Speaking Part 1 task involves, watch our video below:
IELTS Speaking Part 1: Overview
The IELTS Speaking test has three parts. If you want a summary of all three parts, click this link for a quick overview of the entire Speaking test.
IELTS Speaking Part 1 has been designed by IELTS to provide you with an opportunity to settle down and settle into the interview. It starts off gradually with some housekeeping ‘formalities’ and ‘warm-up’ questions before you get down to business. These first few questions are not graded, but they are still important, and we will tell you why below.
After these warm-up questions, the examiner will ask a sequence of related questions that are graded. It is important to note that Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the IELTS Speaking test are not graded separately. The examiner grades your overall performance of all three Parts in combination. This means that even if you get off to a bumpy start, you can recover and perform more strongly as you go along.
Becoming familiar with the questions you will be asked on test day will make a huge difference! See a hundred examples we’ve curated to help you:
So, use Part 1 to settle yourself down and gradually become more comfortable and confident before tackling the other more challenging Parts of the Speaking test.
To do this, you need to understand the question format. Speaking Part 1 follows a question-answer format designed to test your ability to communicate opinions and information on everyday topics. You will be expected to talk about a range of simple topics and answer a range of simple questions. Part 1 will take about 4 to 5 minutes.
IELTS Speaking Part 1 Strategy: Settle in and build confidence
The whole of the IELTS Speaking test is about 15 minutes long. If you are prepared and confident, it will go smoothly. Part of your preparation is to have a strategy or plan as part of your mental preparation. If you approach the IELTS test like training for a marathon, you can think of your IELTS Speaking Part 1 strategy as pacing yourself at the beginning of a race.
The goal you want to achieve in Part 1 is to settle yourself down, become comfortable with the examiner and answer their questions giving clear and straightforward answers. This is important because it will help you set yourself up for the more challenging Part 2 and 3 of the Speaking Test.
‘Settling in’ involves becoming at ease with your IELTS examiner (who will be pleasant and helpful) and the setting you are in (test centre or online). To do this, you need to learn the Speaking Part 1 process to reduce the chance of any ‘surprises’. Knowing ‘what comes next’ means that you can focus on your answers and build your confidence rather than anticipating the unknown.
The best way to find your rhythm is to be prepared and aware of the question-and-answer format. Preparing for IELTS is as much about mastering the test format with good preparation as it is about demonstrating your knowledge of English. By being prepared on test day, you will be more confident and in control.
Tip #1: Learn The Part 1 Process
To put our ‘settle-in’ strategy into action, you need to learn each step of the Part 1 process so that you can anticipate what will happen in this part of the interview- step by step.
Step 1: Starting with the House-Keeping Questions
The process begins when your name is called while you are waiting for your interview. You will be shown to the interview room (or you will meet your examiner online).
The examiner will greet you (in a friendly way). Take a deep breath, remind yourself to be calm, smile and greet your examiner politely using a strong, clear voice. From there, the examiner will let you know that they have started recording the interview. After this, the examiner will:
- ask for your ID
- ask your full name
Use your responses as an opportunity to calibrate your tone. Think of each response you give as a small ‘win’ as a way to gain more confidence.
Step 2: The ‘Warm-Up Questions
The next step is the ‘warn-up’ questions. Your answers to these questions are not graded by the examiner. This gives you an opportunity to step-up the quality of your answers and further boost your confidence.
The two or three ‘warm up’ questions are often about:
- your home
- the place you grew up
- whether you are studying/or what you are studying
- your job or profession
Don’t set out trying to impress the examiner, just aim to answer these questions in complete well-formed sentences. This will help you find your ‘groove’.
Step 3: The Speaking Part 1 Questions
After all of that, the examiner will get down to business. You can expect that the examiner will ask 3 to 4 questions on 2 different topics.
In Part 1 of the IELTS Speaking test, you will be asked a series of very similar questions, but on a wide range of different topics. The questions will be about you and your everyday life.
You can expect a sequence of questions such as these:
- Do you like… something; for example, your home town?
- Why do you like it, or…
- Why don’t you like it?
- Do you play a sport?
- If yes, what sport?
- Why do you like it?
- If not, why don’t you like sports?
- Do you have any hobbies?
- If yes, what sport?
- Is it important that, or… Is it important to you to… do something?
- Why is it important… ?
- How long have you been doing it… ?
- Why is it important… ?
You can see that there is a pattern in these questions.
- the first in the sequence is a broad probing question
- your response, yes or no, gives the examiner to ask a more detailed question asking you to extend your answer and give reasons why or why not?
- this more detailed question will prompt you to give an opinion and a more in-depth answer to support your opinion
More Examples of IELTS Speaking Part 1 questions:
- Do you travel often?
- Do you like travelling? Why?
- Did you travel with your family as a child?
- Where do you want to travel next?
- Why do you want to go there?
- What do you like to do when you travel to another country?
Tip #2: Don’t Waste Your Time Memorizing Topics and Templates
One sure way to add to your anxiety by placing the unnecessary burden on yourself is to try to memorize Speaking Task 1 topics and templates. Frankly, you don’t have time to memorize a whole bunch of Speaking Part 1 topics- nor do you need to. There are other more important things you need to devote your energy to in preparing for IELTS preparation.
It is highly unlikely that you will be asked a question that you can’t answer off the top of your head. Instead, you need to master being prepared for the types of questions you will be asked and how to answer them appropriately.
Let’s analyse a Part 1 questions sequence together:
|
Examiner Question 1: Let’s talk about films or movies. Do you like watching movies? |
|
Student Answer: Yes, I do like watching movies. I have enjoyed them my whole life because I remember when my parents took me to my first film. That is a fond memory. |
Critique: This is a good answer because the student: Gave a clear ‘yes’ response, then, gave an opinion, (I have enjoyed them my whole life…) then extended their answer and then gave additional information (their childhood memory).
| Examiner Question 2: What do you like about films and movies? |
| Student Answer: I like films because they tell stories. I have always enjoyed watching or listening to good stories about other places or other peoples’ lives. |
Critique: This is a good answer because: The student gave an opinion and clear reason why – note the use of the word ‘because’ (I like… because films tell stories), and then briefly expanded on this (insight into places/people).
| Examiner Question 3:What don’t you like about films and movies? | Student Answer: Something I don’t like is that going to the movies can be quite expensive. By the time you buy the ticket and a drink or snack, you can end up spending quite a lot of money. | |
| Critique: This is a fine answer because: the student gave their opinion about something they don’t like, and extended their answer giving a reason why | ||
| Examiner Question 4:The success of streaming services is putting some movie theatres out of business. What do you think of that? | Student Answer: I think that it is a bit sad because going to the movies at a theatre with other people in the audience feels like an ‘event’ to me. Watching Netflix just doesn’t have that same feel to it. | |
| Critique: This final question is a bit more challenging because it asks a slightly more complicated ‘social’ issue (as the final question often will). The student’s answer is quite good because they related their answer to a personal opinion and gave an extended reason why. | ||
Tip #3: Keep it Simple!
You can see from the examples above, the student’s responses were simple and clear without being too short, on the one hand, or overly complicated on the other. The student did not use any unnecessarily overblown vocabulary.
One of the IELTS Speaking criteria that IELTS examiners use to assess your performance is ‘lexical resource’. This refers to the natural and accurate use of vocabulary. If you have read our blog post about some of the top 10 things IELTS Speaking examiners look for, one of the points made by the examiner is ‘unnatural use of language’ or the unnecessary and awkward use of big words. Just speak naturally, and keep your answers simple.
A final related tip our examiner has shared is use because a lot. This tip is invaluable because using because is like a prompt to yourself to extend your answer. For example, I like [something] because…
Here’s another video that might interest you:
Next Steps
So, what should you do now? Go to e2language.com and practise!
To improve your IELTS Speaking score, we recommend that you practice all the IELTS Speaking practice activities, assessments and mock tests on the E2 website. Even though the IELTS Speaking test might seem challenging initially, if you use our methods, tips & strategies, you will master all Parts of the IELTS Speaking test. Start a free trial of our IELTS Test Preparation course and improve your Speaking and other English skills with the help of our experts.
About the author:
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