Tips for cracking the IELTS speaking
- For a start, we need to assess the present level or grade of the candidate.
- Once the assessment is done accommodate the candidate in an appropriate group where he/she is quite comfortable at i.e., whether he/she is at a beginners, intermediate or already an advanced person. There are certain rigid parameters under which the assessment is made, they are mainly- Fluency, Pronunciation, Vocabulary, Grammar and Population of ideas. Where each and every parameter carries equal importance.
- For a person assessed at the beginners level would quite obviously be suffering from some or the other confidence or motivation issues as to where he/she should start- this is the stage where an expert guidance or counseling from a faculty/trainer of Seek Academy becomes of utmost importance. If not done correctly can lead to candidates procrastinating or becoming anxious during preparation. Because looking at the amount of preparation content/material already available online and offline, getting anxious is quite normal in today’s information age. In order to overcome this anxiety/phobia, provide the candidate with headers of very simple nature to work on like their favorite food or a toy they relished as a child etc., to which they should come up with certain discrete and distinct ideas without putting any kind of time constraints initially- developing in them a habit of free thinking firstly. Once the population of ideas is complete make them elaborate each idea for atleast 3-4 lines. So for example if the candidate populated let say 10 ideas, then upon elaboration of those 10 ideas they would automatically be able to generate a content of atleast 30-40 lines. Which by any standard is quite sufficient for delivering a speech of the duration of two minutes even. Hesitation while initiating a speech can be offset by allowing the beginners candidate to speak no matter the parameter under which the person is weak at. This will allow his/her mental and physical faculties to develop naturally for a start that can lead to advanced level expertise very quickly if fueled with a confident beginning, based on coverage of simple topics with precision and care at the start.
- For those candidates already through with the beginners level content, they should work towards polishing or improving their skills further based on the parameters already stated above, which demands continuous self assessment or external feedback. Upon assessment/feedback they will become aware of the areas they are still weak at. Accordingly, they should chalk out the right mix of tasks and practices/guidance from Seek faculty to get the grey areas under total or partial control atleast.
- Initial learning be it beginners or intermediate actually happens for natural reasons quite fast, but in order to groom the candidate for an advanced level needs frequent turns of self assessment or expert feedback. To score perfect or near perfect scores takes high level of exam pattern awareness alongside continuous practice to hone each single parameter already discussed.