Don't memorise answers
Notes
To some extent you can predict the kind of topics that you might be asked to talk about in the IELTS interview. This means that it is quite common for interviewees to prepare answers in advance and learn them by heart. Then, in the interview if the topic comes up they will regurgitate (verb; repeat after memorisation) their answer – whether it answers the question or not. There are several problems with this approach.
Firstly, it is usually very clear that an answer has been memorised as it sounds very unnatural to the examiner. Examiners have a lot of experience interviewing people and they can easily see when something isn’t quite right. If they suspect that the answer has been memorised they will probably interrupt your answer and move on to another question.
Secondly, if you have memorised an answer it is very unlikely that it will actually answer the question directly and this will be another signal to the examiner that something isn’t quite right.
In summary, you should avoid trying to memorise answers, but you can still prepare for the interview by thinking about possible topics and making sure you have the vocabulary and language to talk about the topics in general.
Transcript
Candidate: Yes! Woo! Thanks, Internet. Porto, the country’s second largest city, is in itself full of interest, but the district it heads, though largely industrialized, offers the visitor plenty to see. Along the coast, holiday resorts like the cosmopolitan beach of Espinho... splendid seafood or traditional fishing towns... quaint charm of Amarante, with 17th century mansions... famous for a kind of sweet egg pastries called Bellies of Angels.
Examiner: Thank you. What is the most interesting building in your hometown?
Candidate: The church? The old church. It’s big and some kings have been there and are there engraves…
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Comments
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Best wishes
iman
hi i am rashid from india basically my speaking english is not good so want lean english could u tell me about website where or any idea i can practice my speaking speaking.
can you tell me which website is there to look for the meaning of idoms? Please.
team
Hello,
Here are some pages on LearnEnglish that deal with idioms. However, in my experience a lot of learners of English spend too much time learning idioms. Most idioms are very rarely used in English.
Best wishes,
Adam
The LearnEnglish Team
hello. i am Glory by name, i am trying to learn more and i am also preparing to write IELTS by this august on the 13. i really do need HELPand i will honestly appreciate every help i can get, cos my level in English is so poor. Thanks everyone.
team
Hello Glory,
There is lots of information about IELTS on the official site - have you seen it?
Best wishes,
Adam
The LearnEnglish Team
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best wishes
ahmad fawad
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