No time to go to class or not enough cash to pay a teacher?
My 30-day Part 2 Speaking Challenge will encourage you to practise a little each day to get you totally ready for your IELTS test.
I also did a 30-Day Part 1 Speaking Challenge which you can find here.
How 2 minutes of speaking every day can dramatically improve your IELTS score.
Last year I set up a free IELTS Speaking challenge on Facebook and Instagram: ‘30 Days to dramatically improve your IELTS Speaking Score by yourself’.
It wasn’t too difficult, and you can do this yourself at home.
Every day you have to
- speak for 2 minutes on a topic
- record yourself
- listen to your recording
That’s all!
The aim of this challenge is to:
- help you get used to speaking for 2 minutes non-stop
- give you plenty of ideas for when you do the real exam
- help you notice some things about your speaking that you could improve
- build your confidence and fluency
- increase your vocabulary
- improve your grammar
I did all of the Speaking Topics myself and you can find them on my Podcast (see below, with the transcript and videos) to give you some ideas, with listening and pronunciation practice too.
How to do the challenge by yourself
- Print off the PDF of all the questions from the 30-Day Challenge here.
- Put it somewhere visible so that you get a daily reminder.
- Get an App for recording on your phone. I use Voice Recorder but there are plenty of others, or just record on your phone.
- Cross off the days/tasks as you go through them, so that you can feel a sense of progress.
- Listen to your recording and write down one mistake you made.
- Ask someone to listen for you.
What to listen for
It’s not easy to listen for your own mistakes but here are a few things that are easy to spot and improve:
- Repetition – how can you say something different?
- Hesitation – how can you fill the gaps when you’re thinking? (Use fillers like ‘well’ ‘you know’ ‘anyway!’ ‘so’…)
- Grammar – check Past Tenses, 3rd person ‘s’, plural ‘s’
- Natural speech – use contractions e.g. ‘I’m’ rather than ‘I am’
- Vocabulary – could you choose more interesting adjectives e.g. ‘freezing’ rather than ‘cold’?
- Linking words – are you just using ‘but’ and ‘so’? Could you try ‘even though’ or ‘Anyway…’?
- Pronunciation – are there any sounds you have difficulty with? (read this article for more advice on how to improve your pronunciation)
Watch the first week of videos here:
About those bullet points...
Nobody cares about the bullet points in IELTS Speaking Part 2!
Least of all the examiner.
The examiner DOES NOT CARE if you use them or not.
There is NO BAND CRITERIA for TASK ACHIEVEMENT in the Speaking Test.
Need more help with Speaking?
How to get off to a great start with Speaking Task 1: The 30-Day Task 1 Challenge!
Get the full set of videos (Days 8 – 30) in the Members Academy.
What to expect in the IELTS Speaking Test.
Find a list of the best websites and apps to help you prepare for the Speaking test by yourself.
How to use the phonemic alphabet to improve your pronunciation for IELTS (my YouTube video).
Get my full suite of courses and more in the Members Academy - everything you need to prepare for IELTS in one place.
Leave a Reply