keyboard_return Exit
keyboard_arrow_left

IELTS® Speaking 1 Practice 9

settings  Settings
close
BestMyTest IELTS course is developed by a team of certified IELTS teachers from across the globe. Here, you can seek guidance and ask questions directly to our team of experienced instructors.

Get 5 Ask Instructor questions as a reward
for singing up free today.

close Filter
search
 
schedule

In part 1, the examiner will ask you general questions on familiar topics, e.g. home, family, work, studies and interests. This section should help you relax and talk naturally.

Subscribe to take the test

  • library_books Preview Questions
    1. Do you like watching TV?
    2. How often do you watch TV?
    3. What kind of TV programmes do you like to watch?
    4. What are the most popular TV shows in your country?
    5. Has the internet affected your viewing habits?
    6. How often do you read?
    7. Do you like reading books? Why?
    8. Do you have many books at home?
    9. Do you prefer to buy books or borrow them?
    10. What are the benefits of reading?
 

Thank you!

You have completed this part.
Start
Sign up free for more speaking practice content

Get your speaking response scored with audio feedback and a detailed score report.
Take a closer look at the sample speaking review below.

Get a Speaking Review

SAMPLE IELTS Speaking Report

SAMPLE Score Summary
5.5 / 9
Pronunciation
Fluency and Coherence
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Lexical Resource (Vocabulary)
Audio Feedback (Sample)
Audio Feedback (Sample)
  Audio feedback helps with pronunciation, intonation and flow of speech
SAMPLE Criteria Score Reports

Pronunciation   5/9

ā€¢ can generally be understood throughout, though mispronunciation of individual words or sounds reduces clarity at times
ā€¢ attempts to control features but lapses are frequent
ā€¢ mispronunciations are frequent and cause some difficulty for the listener

Pronunciation is about how you form English sounds and how you use natural English intonation. Your pronunciation and intonation can damage your score if it is difficult for the raters to understand what you are saying.

How to Improve

Watch the following pronunciation video lessons to improve your pronunciation.

Vowel Video Lesson
Vowel ÉŖ and i ...
Vowel ɛ and Ʀ ...
Vowel ə and ŹŒ ...
Vowel ɔ and ɑ ...
Vowel ŹŠ and u ...

Consonants Video Lesson
Consonant b and p ...
Consonant d and t ...
Consonant g and k ...
Consonant dŹ’ and tŹƒ ...
Consonant v and f ...
Consonant Ć° and Īø ...
Consonant s and z ...
Consonant Źƒ and Ź’ ...
Consonant m, n and ŋ ...
Consonant l and r ...
Consonant h, w and y ...
...
...

Fluency and Coherence   5/9

ā€¢ usually maintains flow of speech but uses repetition, self correction and/or slow speech to keep going
ā€¢ may over-use certain connectives and discourse markers
ā€¢ produces simple speech fluently, but more complex communication causes fluency problems

Fluency and Coherence is about how quickly you can speak, how much pausing and hesitation you use, and how well you use connection words to develop and organize your talk. You don't have to speak quickly, but just quickly enough to sound natural and explain all of your ideas. Raters want to hear natural rhythm and flow.

How to Improve

To improve your speech flow...

Unnatural Pauses and Hesitations Reduction Exercise

Practice any IELTS question and record your answer. Then listen to your recording and...

Speech Pacing Exercise

An important key to earning a high score on Speech delivery is pacing in your speech. A good pacing means using proper pauses and word stresses. Here is a step-by-step exercise that can help you improve the pacing in your speech:

  1. ...
  2. ...
  3. ...

Grammatical Range and Accuracy    5.5/9

ā€¢ uses a mix of simple and complex structures, but with limited flexibility ā€¢ produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy ā€¢ sentences usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension problems

Correct grammar usage is about how you use English grammar and sentence structure. Raters want to see that you can use what you know correctly. Your grammar doesn't have to be perfect to score high, but mistakes shouldn't interfere with your meaning.

How to Improve

Using right tenses is important in IELTS speaking. Every time you are not sure about what tense you should use, refer to our sample answer and...

Grammar topic Lesson
All past tenses ...
Present perfect tense ...
How to talk about future using right tenses ...
Mixed Verb Tenses in English: Conditionals and IF clauses ...

Lexical Resource (Vocabulary)    6/9

ā€¢ has a wide enough vocabulary to discuss topics at length and make meaning clear in spite of inappropriacies
ā€¢ generally paraphrases successfully

Lexical Resource (Vocabulary) is about how you use English words. Raters are looking for responses that use different words correctly and accurately, and that use a wide range of words that help listeners understand.

How to Improve

To improve your vocabulary in speaking, ...

Key Words Found in this practice
IELTS speaking LessonsCompleted: 0 / 64
Useful vocabulary for Part 1 questions about books

Do you read often?

Yes! I am an avid reader. I read a lot. I usually have a book with me in my bag or in the car seat next to me.

Yes. I am a big reader. I like to read all kinds of books in my free time. I always have notes in my books. And I would call myself a bookworm

Do you read in bed?

Yea! I like to read in bed. I usually like to read science fiction as part of my bedtime reading, but sometimes it gets a little bit too exciting, so I have to read something a little bit lighter or more whimsical.

What kinds of books do you like to read?

I relish books that make me feel emotional. For example, I have just finished this book about a war, and there was a poignant moment at the end of the book when the characters had to say goodbye forever.

I revel in horror books. When I am reading these books, I get a real spine-tingling feeling. I enjoy that.

I kind of like tearjerker books. Sad stories make me appreciate and understand life better. My soul experiences a wealth of sublime feelings when I read these kinds of books.

My favorite kind of books is the one with the unraveling of the plots, so as a reader I have to figure out what is going on. It gets so exciting.

I love books that are informative and thought-provoking. I can learn a lot and gain a fresh insight into something new by reading these kinds of books.

I delight in books that are set in the future. This book genre usually unveils how future technologies can backfire and be used against their makers, and it leads us to think about the relationship between technology and humanity. 

What types of books do you dislike?

I don’t like reading books that are heavy-going. I feel like I will never be able to finish reading these books, so I might as well just stay away from them.

Useful vocabulary for Part 2 questions about books

Talk about the book you are reading now or have read recently. You should explain:

  • How and why you got it
  • How long you it took you to read it or how long you have been reading it
  • What kind of book it is

And elaborate on whether you would like to read something similar to this book and why

I’d like to talk about “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” which is the fantasy book I have recently finished reading.

This book is part of a popular fantasy series for children, but in fact I decided to start reading it to study English. Anyway, it took me a little less than a month to finish reading it. A few weeks is longer than it usually takes me to read books in my own language, but I think it’s a little more difficult for me to read books in English.

As for how I got this book, I borrowed it from the local library after I had finished reading the previous book in the series a few weeks before.

Now, let’s talk about how I feel about this book. I have to say that this book is a real page-turner, and it really grabbed me from the get-go. I couldn’t put it down because the story is so gripping. The characters are also very enchanting and fun to watch. Another reason I like this book is that I can see myself in the character of Harry Potter. I mean he is brave but at the same time reckless and impulsive. He makes decisions based on his gut feeling and what feels right. I am a little like that. I consider myself a rule-breaker, always trying to be adventurous and doing things that others tell me not to do.

In the future, I plan to read every book in the “Harry Potter” series because I’d like to know what happens next. 

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” is a great book to practice English, and it has an entertaining story too. I’ll start reading the next book in the series as soon as I can.

Useful vocabulary for Part 1 questions about TV shows

Do you watch TV a lot?

Not really. I’m quite a busy person. Most of the time, I just put something on in the background while I’m using my laptop. 

I go through phases. Sometimes I am really into a show, and I end up binge-watching it over a few days. At some point, however, I might feel guilty. After all, there are better things I could be doing with my time, so I take a break for a few weeks.

What kind of TV programmes do you watch?

It depends. Sometimes, if I’m tired at the end of the day, I’ll just put on a sitcom or a cookery programme or something. If I am in the mood for something more serious, I opt for drama series and some documentaries.

Useful vocabulary for Part 2 questions about TV shows

Describe a TV programme that you often watch. You should say:

  • What kind of programme it is
  • Why you watch it
  • When and why you first started watching it

In addition, mention whether you think this programme is better than other TV programmes that are on at the same time, and explain why.

Today, I’d like to talk about the American TV series “Games of Thrones.”

Most people have heard of the “Games of Thrones” series, and many have even watched it before. The show has recently been among the most popular American TV series. However, I didn’t watch it when it was aired originally. Actually, it was not until my friend told me about how good it was that I decided to watch it.

I think the “Games of Thrones” has outdone some other TV series because the characters and the writing have been exceptional. The plot had so many great twists and there were no spoilers. Normally, I can guess where the story is going, but with this series, life was full of surprises. They also had a lot of plot threads to resolve. Overall, I think they have done a really good job with it.

I felt like it went downhill during the last season, though. Some storylines just made no sense, and there was a lot of padding. Another problem was that it became too melodramatic. Every episode finished with a huge cliffhanger, like a bad case of soap opera. I hate it when a TV series leaves the storyline hanging in the air and doesn’t explain things properly.

Overall, the “Game of Thrones” has something for everyone to enjoy, and people from all over the world can appreciate the series because its story is so interesting and unique. If you ask me, many viewers including myself will keep watching “Games of Thrones” for a long time to come.

Avid/big reader: a person who often reads books.

Bedtime reading: a book read before bed.

Whimsical: playful and fun.

Poignant: causing or having a very sharp feeling of sadness.

Tearjerker: a sentimental story, film, or song.

Unraveling of the plot: The phrase 'the unravelling of a plot' is used to describe how a writer builds up a story. It is commonly used when describing how the structure of the writing or the vocabulary is used to reveal the plot of the writing.

Heavy-going: difficult to read or understand.

Page-turner: an exciting book.

Gripping:  firmly holding the attention or interest; exciting.

Enchanting: very pleasant or charming.

'Binge-watch' means that you watch a lot of episodes of a TV show in a very short time.

If you say 'I go through phases', and you're talking about watching TV, you mean that there are times when you watch TV regularly, and times when you don't.

If you put something on in the background, you aren't really watching it. Maybe you're half-watching, or you're listening but not watching.

Cliffhanger: A dramatic ending to an episode, when you really want to know what happens next.

Plot threads: Plot threads are like storylines. Many TV shows have many characters and plot threads, which go in parallel with each other. Generally, you want the series to resolve all of its plot threads, meaning that every storyline would have a logical ending. 

Spoiler: Information in a newspaper article, blog, etc. that gives you the latest highlights in a given television programme.

Padding: 'Padding' means something which is added just to fill time. If a TV show has a lot of padding, there's a lot of empty content: 

Melodramatic: overly emotional

close