Make Your Independent Speaking Response Interesting

You are graded on three areas of your speaking: Delivery (pronunciation, pausing, intonation, etc.), Grammar & Vocabulary (variety of sentences, correct vocab use, advanced vocabulary, etc), and Topic Development.  To score well on questions 1 and 2 you need to speak well in all of these areas.

Here are three tips to help you do well with grammar, vocabulary and topic development. 

1. Use interesting vocab

Don’t use generic, boring words like good, nice, and beautiful. Those are words that you learned in your first English class. Try to use more interesting vocabulary or try to use words that help the listener imagine what you are explaining.

Do use the 5 senses to explain what the thing or the experience was like that you are talking about.

Example: I prefer the beach because of the rich taste of salt in the air. I like to feel the warm sun on my skin and the cool wet sand in between my toes. 

2. Use a variety to sentences.

Don’t use only simple sentences (S+V)

Do use a variety of sentence types: simple, compound, complex

Negative Example: I like the beach. The beach is nice.  The sun shines at the beach. There is water at the beach.

Positive Example: I like the beach because the sun shines often, and there is always water to play in. When I went to the beach last summer, I learned how to surf. Now surfing is my new favorite sport.

3. Use personal examples

Don’t only give reasons to support your answer.

Do give reasons and examples from your own life experience

Negative Example: I like the beach because it’s nice. Also, because there is water there. Another reason is I can get a good tan at the beach.

Positive Example: I like the beach because there is a lot of water there. In my childhood, I grew up in the desert region of my country. There was a lot of sand, but not very much water. The first time I went to the beach I was overwhelmed by the size of the ocean. It was big like the desert, but instead of sand it was all water. 

To get more information about my online classes click here.