speaking practise -Johnson

[Johnson zhang]

In this post, you will find a few recordings of me answering some example IELTS questions.

Please note, I probably would give myself enough time to pre-rehersal an answer before recording. That means I will perform better in all those audio tapes than I possibly could under strict exam conditions.

Btw, I have consistently scored 7.5-8 in speakings. I aim for a higher one.

,
Johnson

*Ryan's edit - Listen to Johnson's speaking here: Thanks Ryan

[lmoore]

Hi, Johnson,
Thank you for sharing about your friend, Amber. I only wish I could cook that well! My husband wishes I wouldn’t cook much of the time. .. 
Your pronunciation is very clear, and you are very fluent in your speech. I would suggest that you really focus on saying the letter “r,” like in “person,” “sort,” “culture,” etc. There were very few pauses. You were very easy to understand.
As far as organization and structure go, I would encourage you to not say something like you’re going to break it up into sections and then to repeat the questions before each section. I understand that you were working from notes, but I would really encourage you to work on using transitions, such as “first,” next,” “in addition,” “moreover,” “finally,” and “in conclusion” as you practice.
Your vocabulary was great. I heard words and phrases like “genuine interest,” and “chef.” The more specific you can be, using words like, “chef” instead of “cook,” for example, the higher your vocabulary score will be. General vocabulary words that you use over and over again will not be looked up on highly. You will get a better score using synonyms.
Your grammar was quite good for the most part, too. I did hear a few things:
-can be break into different portions – can be BROKEN into different portions
-she makes food so that people around her enjoy – enjoy IT
Keep up the good work as you continue to practice!

[lmoore]

Hello, Johnson,

I wanted to address your second recording about your favorite magazine. I agree that “The New York Times” is a great source of news and information, but I do want you to know that it is not a magazine, but a newspaper.

That being said, your pronunciation of the letter “r,” which I mentioned last time, holds true for this recording as well. Also, when you said “place,” it came out “plaze.” Additionally, you said the word “innovative,” but you dropped a syllable and said “invative.”

Again, you were very fluent, but work on using some transitions. I noticed you used some to contrast “Time” and “The New York Times,” so that is a step in the right direction.

Vocabulary was really nice in this recording. I heard “subscription,” “reputable,” “comprehensive,” “genres,” “superb journalism,” and many more high-level vocabulary words.
Some grammar notes:
-I usually read magazine online. – MAGAZINES
- “The New York Time” – THE NEW YORK TIMES
- it’s interesting FOR me - You said it right first, and then changed it to FROM me. Then, in another sentence, you said FOR again. FOR is correct.

Best wishes as you continue to practice!

[Johnson zhang]

Hi imoore.

You sounded cute the way you mentioned your cooking wasn't that good. lol

thank you so much. You went out of your way to help me.

I completely agree with all things you mentioned in your posts. About the "R", no one had pointed that out for me. I've been sorta intentionally pronouncing R more clearly. if it is working, I am not sure....

I've added one more recording on my website. If you can be bothered, I'll be happy to hear what you think about this new recording.

thanks again
johnson

[lmoore]

Hi, Johnson,
Your life sounds a bit like mine as far as work goes. I must have ten “jobs.” It makes life fun, though.
Your talk was not very concise. Remember, you just have a couple of minutes to answer these questions. You did better this time by not responding to individual questions. This time you spoke more conversationally, which is good. You also used more transitions, such as “regarding,” but a few more would have helped your speech stay organized. For the purposes of IELTS, it felt like you were giving too many details and that there were too many conversational pauses of “uhs.” This caused you to wander off track from time to time.
A few notes:
-It sounded like you said “person” trainer instead of “personAL” trainer.
-You were confused about how to put “regular” and “part-time” into the same sentence. You could say, “on a regular, part-time basis,” or just “on a part-time basis.” People will understand that you are working there regularly. If you aren’t working there long-term, you would say, “on a temporary, part-time basis.”
-my friend contact me – This is in the past, so it should be, “my friend CONTACTED me.”
Best wishes as you continue to practice!

[Johnson zhang]

I have uploaded a new recording.

[lmoore]

I'm sorry, but I don't see the recording here. Could you upload it again?

[Johnson zhang]

sorry.

Can you find it here?

[lmoore]

Hello, Johnson,

Thank you for uploading your new recording. This sounded quite good. It was a bit long for an IELTS exam situation, but it did thoroughly answer the question. You particularly spent perhaps too much time discussing the fact that you don’t know that much about the topic.

As far as organization goes, you included nice transition words, such as “overall,” “although,” and “for example.” You discussed the situation from both the viewpoints of people living in the city and those living in the country, even while acknowledging that there are problems that all people in the country face.

Your vocabulary is really good. Here are some of the words that I heard: frankly, bold, traffic congestion, waste disposal, city sewage, sheer size, density.

Regarding pronunciation, there was not really any difficulty with any of the words that you said that I could detect.

Here are some notes on grammar:
less problems – FEWER problems (“Problems” is not a non-count noun.)
living country areas – living IN country areas
don’t remember any statistic – statisticS
live in country – live in THE country
sheer size of city – sheer size of THE city
on “Time” magazine – IN “Time” magazine
which sort of create a sort of unfair system on the people – CREATES

Best wishes as you continue to practice!

[Johnson zhang]

Hi imoore

thanks again for your kind help! I will remember all the mistakes in this recording and try to not let them happen again.

I had noticed I stuttered a lot in the audio tape which I cant seem to find a good way to overcome. I find these kinda of questions just can catch me unprepared as I often struggle to give a coherent answer in an exam. For example, i was once asked, since I have lived in two cultures for years, how do I compare them.... a seemingly simple question, but a really tough one.

The length of time I at occasions was given in the exam was longer than I thought! for example , the culture question, I was at least allowed to talk for 4-5 minutes as a result of an often very short part 1 session. I sensed examiners wanted to challenge me right way.

As you have pointed out, I now believe the best way to answer difficulty and big questions is that to use a structure in a way my answer would be like an essay response with differences in language styles.


thanks again

[saqibali]

any update on your speaking?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/IELTS-No ... 3123916148