The IELTS Exam’s speaking section is split into three parts: The Introduction and Interview, the Long Turn and the Discussion and today we will be taking a look at each part to discuss what it entails.
The Introduction and Interview is the first part and will start as soon as you sit down and your examiner finishes introducing themselves and checks your ID documents. This is your chance to get comfortable with the environment and the examiner assessing you as they will be asking your opinions and thoughts on general, everyday topics and experiences that all humans share so that you do not have to think about too much so it’s the perfect opportunity to let stress go and just speak from your mind. This will genrally last for 3-4 minutes after which comes the next section.
The Long Turn, also generally known as the Part 2 or the “Q card section” is the second section of the IELTS Speaking test and perhaps the one most candidates find themselves struggling with. The examiner will give the test taker a card with one main question and four follow up questions to go over and they will be given one minute to prepare. They will have to speak for around two minutes and in doing so, make a show of strength of sorts for their language headlining their fluency, correct grammar and intonation, vocabulary and topic knowledge.
After the long turn section comes the Discussion, this is generally based on or relates in some way to topic two. This is when the examiner will provide you a more abstract question rather than the specific ones before and give you the room to explore and speculate about the issue, diving into deeper depths. You will be expected to form opinions and questions, support your discussion with information you have learned before, from the people around you or supporting evidence that you can use from your own past experiences. This is also the overall longest part of the speaking test.
In the next blog, we will discuss what the different parts of the writing test are and how you should prepare for them. I hope you found this interesting and helpful. Stay tuned by subscribing to this blog with your email and if you have any questions, please drop us an email at info@ftiuae.com and we would be very happy to answer them!