Hey! The IELTS cue cards change every 4 months, with 50% of topics being replaced every April, September, and December. This means that it is almost impossible for students to know and prepare for the 50 possible cards that could appear in their test. Honestly, I think that this is a good thing! Part 2 of the speaking test is supposed to test your ability to speak naturally about a topic, not to test your ability to memorise pre-prepared answer.
I think that nothing that fills an IELTS test-taker with fear as much as the idea of being handed a Speaking Part 2 cue card and having NO IDEAS. In fact, just the idea of sitting there for 60 seconds with nothing but the the sound of your own beating heart in your head and the taste of panic in your mouth is the stuff of nightmares 💀. But, fear not, in today’s blog, I want to show you six techniques that you can use to make sure that you ALWAYS have something to say in your two-minute talk.
I want to start this post by telling you something that you might find a bit shocking. Are you ready? In IELTS Speaking Part 2, you don’t need to address all of the bullet points on the IELTS cue card. That’s right, there is no penalty for missing one, or two or even three! 😲
Imagine this. It’s part two of the speaking test. You have been given a cue card that asks you to describe a memorable journey, and you are talking about a road trip you took with some friends across Europe. 🚗 It’s a good story. You have lots to say, and are about to get to the best part of the story – the bit that describes how you got stopped by the police because you ran over a traffic cone….. 🚓. But then you realise, you don’t know the word for “traffic cone” in English…….
Hey! One of the most common IELTS speaking Part 2 topics is talking about your favourite something. On the face of it, it should be easy, so why so many test-takers struggle with these questions? THEY ARE HARD TO CHOOSE!