网友CinderellaMM：in the part 3.  if  the  interviewer ask me the  questions  that  i can't  understand .what  can i do ?  just guess?  

John：Don't just guess.  If you do, and guess wrong, you'll look very silly, and the interviewer will still know that you didn't understand the question.

Instead, ask the interviewer to repeat the question.  In Part Three of the interviewer, the interviewer will generally rephrase the question in a different way, or explain it in more detail.

Here are some ways that you can ask the interviewer to repeat the question:

"I'm sorry?"
"Excuse me?"
"May I beg your pardon?"
"Pardon?"
"Could you repeat the question?"

网友hoho2004：HI, john.i was a student at neworiental in the past winter vacation. in the interview provided, i barely got a score of 6.5 in the speaking section, the lowest in my overall examination. one of my problems seems to be ,as the interviewer said, the lack of idioms.  then,could you kindly give me some suggestions on that? thanks very much for your help! 
    
John：In fact, idioms are not very important on the spoken exam.  What I assume your mock interviewer was emphasizing was the correct usage of vocabulary.  Many students will try to use very advanced words in the interview but end up using them incorrectly.  It's better to stick to words that you know.

Since you feel more comfortable with the other sections of the test, I would suggest that you spend more time preparing for the speaking test.  Some people spend the least time practicing for the part that they are the least confident about.  No wonder it's their weakest section!  If you want to improve your speaking, you've got to open your mouth and speak every day--even if it's just for 10 minutes a day.

Good luck!

网友sars：hi, john, how can I prepare the IELTS speaking test in short time? my aim is to get the score 6 in speaking section. last time the examiner asked my some tough questions that I never think about. the 51ieltsl result is good, but the speaking result is really damn.

John：As I'm sure you know, the most important thing is to practice speaking each and every day.  I imagine you're tired of hearing people tell you that in such vague terms, so I'll be more specific.  If I were you, and I had 40 minutes / day that I could devote to preparing for the IELTS Speaking Test, this is what I would do:

1. Spend ten minutes/day practicing one practice card for Part II.
    a. Give yourself one minute to prepare
    b. Record yourself speaking for 1-2 minutes (use a tape recorder or a 录音笔)
    c. Listen to the tape and try to notice your bad habits and/or mistakes.
    d. Record yourself speaking about the topic one more time, this time focusing on eliminating the mistakes that you identified.

2. Spend ten minutes/day working to improve my pronunciation by listening to and repeating a set of pronunciation tapes.

3. Spend ten minutes/day reading aloud (perhaps from a textbook or a magazine).

4. Spend another ten minutes a day talking about topics that might come up in Parts I and III.  (You can do this alone or with a friend, but try to practice speaking with another person at least 2-3 times/week.)

Of course, if you have more than 40 minutes then you can expand your practice regimen.

网友snyangky：Dear John, I have got some trouble and I need your help! How many topics do I have to prepare? If the interviewer ask me one topic, can I talk about something else that has sth. relationship with it? If I want to get 7, what abiities must I get? Thank you very much!!!

John:As far as your question about how many topics you need to prepare, there is no set number.  I would suggest that you practice as many topics as you have time to practice, and that you familiarize yourself with the types of questions that come up in the interview.

网友snyangky：Thank you for your reply!!! But I found that maybe it is not enough time for me to prepare for the topics, because I have to prepare listening, writing, reading at the same time. I have got some practices on the three parts, and speaking is just the part whichI don't know my real level! How can I get it?

John：You're right that one of the things that makes the Speaking Test so terrifying for many students is the fact that it's hard to know what level you're at before you take the test.  This is also true for the Writing Test.

Part of the reason that you have a better idea how you'll do on the listening and reading sections is that you can take a practice test and grade yourself.  It's harder to grade yourself on the writing and speaking sections.  There are, however, some places, such as the New Oriental School in Beijing, where you can take a model Speaking Test with a foreign examiner.  I'm not sure where you're from, but perhaps you can find somewhere to take a model interview.  If you can't find a school that does model interviews, perhaps you have a English-speaking friend who would be willing to do an interview for you.

In the end, no matter what you do it's still difficult to really know for sure what your level is.  Your best hope is to work as hard as possible and simply do as well as you possibly can on the test.

John

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