A simple guide to help you prepare for IELTS Speaking Part 2
The IELTS Speaking Part 2, also known as the "Long Turn," is where you talk about a topic for 1-2 minutes. This guide is here to make your preparation easy and effective.
How to Prepare:
1. Learning Vocabulary:
Start by learning new words related to common topics like family, hobbies, travel, and daily routines.
Practice using them in sentences to boost your confidence and improve collocation.
Always pay attention to what words go together e.g. seek advice (not: find advice).
2. Revising:
Go over past topics and practise talking about them.
Pay attention to your pronunciation and intonation.
If you practise a lot, you won’t be affected by nerves so much on test day.
3. Practising Speaking Fluency:
Engage in conversations, even if it's just with yourself in front of a mirror.
Play the 1 minute game. Challenge yourself to talk about things for 1 minute without hesitating or repeating yourself. You can pick any object/ person or situation for this game.
Do conversation classes with a tutor or teacher. Discuss topics that could be in the test.
4. Improving Answer Coherence:
Organise your thoughts logically.
Start with an introduction, discuss main points, and conclude.
Make notes with the key points/ events in your story.
Use the bullet points from the task rubric.
5. Improving Grammatical Range:
Practise using narrative tenses when telling stories. Include the past perfect and past continuous.
Practice using 2nd and 3rd conditionals.
Have a few stock expressions e.g. Not only….but…./ Had I known, I wouldn’t have…
Topics to Focus On:
Focus on common areas like:
Personal Life: Family, hobbies, routines.
Education and Work: School, job, future plans.
Travel and Leisure: Holidays, favourite places, experiences.
Cultural Activities: Movies, music, books.
The test tends to focus on these topics, but be prepared for the most wide range of topics possible. To see many examples of IELTS Speaking Test Part 2 questions go here.
Structure Your Answer:
When you're speaking in IELTS Part 2, it's like telling a short story. Here's an easy way to organise your thoughts:
1. Introduction (Around 20-30 seconds)
Use a fixed phrase to start, such as: "One time/ thing/ person that sticks in my mind is..." or "The first time/ thing/ person that comes to mind is..."
Briefly introduce the topic. For example, if discussing your favorite hobby (painting), you could say, "The first hobby that comes to mind is painting. It's something I really enjoy doing in my free time and I’ve been doing it regularly for several years now."
2. Main Points (Around 40-60 seconds)
Next, share the main details. Imagine you're painting a picture with your words. Describe the who, what, when, where, and why.
For example, if we're still talking about hiking, you could say, "I usually spend my weekends in the countryside, where I love to go on long walks along trails. It helps me relax and disconnect from the stress of everyday life.”
Think about real life examples you can include. For example: “In fact, I recently went for a long hike with some friends. We decided to take a trip to the south coast because my friend, Jenny, had found a beautiful trail that went along the coast as well as through some picturesque villages.”
3. Connect Ideas (Around 10-20 seconds)
Use connecting phrases to link your ideas together. Simple phrases like "What’s more," or "Furthermore," help make your story flow smoothly.
For instance, "What’s more, I often go for walks around my local area, just to get some fresh air and get away from all the computer, TV and mobile phone screens at home."
4. Conclusion (Around 10-20 seconds)
Wrap up your story by summarising what you've said. You could say something like, "All in all, hiking has become an important part of my life, and it’s something I really enjoy."
If you’d like to see model answers for IELTS Speaking Test questions, including part 2, go here. Thanks, and best of luck preparing for IELTS Speaking Part 2.
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