Speaking guide
IELTS Speaking Part 2: practise your long turn
In Part 2 you get a cue card, one minute to prepare and up to two minutes to speak. The skill is keeping going, in order, without reading notes. That only comes from saying long answers out loud, many times. Cuenook is practice, not an exam course, and it does not score you.
A sample to rehearse
I'd like to talk about a teacher who changed the way I learn: my English teacher in high school, Ms Aydın. I was in her class for two years, when I was about fifteen.
What made her different was that she never just corrected us. She asked us to explain why we thought something was right, and then let us find the mistake ourselves.
The reason she was so important to me is that she made me less afraid of being wrong. I still think about her whenever I start learning something new.
Change the details to your own, then practise your version out loud.
How to practise it
- Write it firstPut what you want to say into short sentences. Plan in one minute: four short notes, one for each point on the card, then talk for two minutes from them.
- Say it out loud and record itSay it out loud, or to the camera. Notice where you stop in the first take; it should sound like talking, not reading.
- Listen back, then try againListen to your take and try the same script once more. A third take is usually much smoother than the first.
Common mistakes
Instead of Stopping after 40 seconds.
say Add an example or a feeling for each point.
The examiner wants up to two minutes; plan enough to say.
Instead of Learning a memorised answer.
say Rehearse a structure, not a script word for word.
Memorised speech sounds different, and the card may not match it.
Instead of Long silence while thinking.
say Let me think… / What I mean is…
Short fillers keep you speaking while you find the words.
Useful phrases
- I'd like to talk about …
- It happened when …
- What made it special was …
- The reason it matters to me is …
- Looking back, I think …