网友CinderellaMM：terrible change~~6 to 5!
Hi~~~John! I was a student of  YJ308 class .during the period ,I took a imitate exam  and my  speaking score was 6 , so i  joined  IELTS exam in January,but  i just took 5.
now, i  don't  have any confidence.  can you help me ? give me some advice how can i improve my speaking? thanks~~
 
John：Sorry to hear that you got a lower score than you'd hoped for.  It's possible that the examiner in your model interview gave you a higher score than your actual level, but it is NOT true, as the poster above suggested, that the model interview examiners always over-estimate your ability.  Generally they give you a pretty good idea of your actual level.  Some students certainly score below six!

As far as how you can improve your spoken English, the most important thing for you today is to make sure that you have a chance to practice speaking each and every day.  Your speaking practice can take the form of practicing with a tutor, practicing with a Chinese partner, or imitating after a tape on your own, but YOU MUST OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND SPEAK ENGLISH EVERY DAY. :)  That's the very simple key. 

I would suggest imitating after a tape for at least 20 minutes daily, and then try to seek out the opportunity to communicate with others in English at least once (and preferably twice!) a week.

Good luck!
John 
 
 
网友Melina：I don't like shopping at all. If the examer give me a topic " describe a shopping place", can I ask him/her to change another one?   Thank you! 

John：It is not a good idea to ask the interviewer to change the subject.  You can still talk about shopping even if you don't like it. 

In fact, you could even mention your distaste for shopping in your answer by starting off your answer by saying something like, "Well, first of all, I hate shopping, but if I were forced to choose a place to shop I would choose..."

Jone：您好！我现在有个外教给我辅导雅思（在伦敦时候是老师在韩国教书两年雅思），那么他夏天走了以后我是不是有必要到新东方再上个口语班呀？帮助有多大呢？我高一。谢谢 

John：I'm not sure exactly what you're asking.  Are you talking about signing up for an IELTS Speaking class or a general speaking class?

Actually, either one would probably be useful, though certainly not "necessary".  If you feel fairly confident about the test, you might be fine just continuing to prepare on your own.  If you feel you'd like to have a better understanding of the IELTS Speaking Exam, or would like to have a chance to have some guided practice based around the topics on the IELTS Exam, then a class might be useful for you. 

Also, attending a general speaking class would be helpful for taking the IELTS to the extent that it would help you improve your spoken abilities.

In the end, it's up to you.  (But let me know if you have any more questions.)