This is the IELTS Energy Podcast episode 1545.
How is IELTS Writing Task 2 similar to Speaking Part 3? welcome to the ielts energy podcast from all ears english downloaded more than 35 million times with examiner trained ielts wiz aubrey carter and lindsay mcmahon the english adventurer if you are stuck with a low score our insider method will help you get the score you need to unlock your dreams Get your estimated band score now with our two-minute quiz at allearsenglish.com slash myscore.
If you only have a month or two to prepare for IELTS, then you need to find as many efficiencies as you can.
Today, learn how your preparation for writing task two and speaking, part three can overlap to save you time.
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Hey, Aubrey, question for you today.
Okay, let's hear it.
All right, when's the last time you killed two birds with one stone?
Okay.
We're not killing birds.
We've talked about this idiom on the Allers English episode.
It's like so violent, actually, but it just means accomplishing two things at once, right?
Yes, yes.
And I often kill two birds with one stone.
Anytime I listen to a podcast while doing the dishes or folding laundry.
Bam, two birds with one stone.
Boom, you get everything done.
In our content-heavy world, there's a lot to consume, right?
Yes.
Yes.
And this is interesting because you everybody out there listening you can kill two birds with one stone when you are studying for IELTS, because much of what you need to learn and practice for writing task two also applies to speaking.
Part three
So good to know.
So good to know.
I love it when we find little shortcuts or smarter ways of learning and preparing.
Absolutely.
Right.
I love this shortcut.
So today we are going to teach you four ways that these two parts of the exam are similar.
And knowing these tips will help you with your preparation.
You'll be more efficient.
So that you know, as you are preparing for task two, you're also preparing for part three.
So smart.
Such a smart topic for today.
But first though, before we go any further, we want to say a huge thank you to those who reviewed us in Spotify.
Right, Aubrey?
Yes, absolutely.
A shout out to Isaac, who said good content to level up your English.
Awesome.
And Jorge, who said nice episode, really useful.
Thank you for these comments in Spotify and for the ratings, the reviews.
We appreciate these.
Yeah, wonderful.
Guys, let us know what you think about the show.
Leave a comment, leave a question, get active in Spotify.
We also have to report a poll for our listeners.
Yes.
We had a key poll.
I was really interested about the results for this one when we asked it.
It was, how much time do you have to study for IELTS?
The options were either one to two months or six months or more.
What were the results, Lindsay?
So the results for one to two months was actually 75% of our listeners.
So most people are here listening in a few months out from their exam, Aubrey.
Yeah, it makes sense.
Every now and then someone has more time, quite a bit of time to prepare.
But most of you are in that boat of having one to two months and needing to get as much done as possible.
So an episode like today's is especially useful.
We want to be efficient with our time.
Oh, my gosh.
When you have 30 days or 45 days or 60 days, there's just no time to waste, right?
Because you're also living life differently.
You've got families.
Maybe you've got elderly parents you're caring for.
There's a lot going on already.
And then you add IELTS on top of that.
So we're here for you guys today.
Exactly.
Every minute you prepare, you want to be super useful.
So let's dive in with our tips here.
All right.
So what would be tip number one?
Aubrey, what is similar between the two?
The first similarity is the question topics.
Writing task two and speaking part three are asking about similar things.
So, for example, you may be asked about the environment education technology society, issues that are more broad, like this.
So these are things we can prepare for in terms of getting the knowledge by listening to smart podcasts like The Economist, maybe right.
Exactly.
So let's give some examples of questions that you might see as your writing task two topic or that you might be asked on speaking part three.
What are the advantages of working online as one?
What are the effects of social media would be another one.
What else, Aubrey?
Or what can be done to improve crime rates?
So it's interesting because these types of topics you need to be ready to brainstorm and write an essay about them or impromptu, be able to speak about them as well.
Yeah, I think a good litmus test is, as you're hearing those questions now, do you already have ideas where you could essentially start talking?
You have ideas.
Maybe you're not sure what vocabulary words you need to use or how to structure your answer if you're getting started with IELTS.
But do you have ideas bubbling up in your head already?
If not, we have an information gap to fill.
Right.
Exactly.
Right.
And then you should be listening to some of those podcasts Lindsay mentioned.
You need to be filling your head with ideas.
You need to be thinking of your opinions on these topics so that you're not starting from scratch.
Right.
You're learning vocabulary and you're starting to think about what.
What is my stance on these issues?
Love it.
What's something else about speaking part three and writing test two that are similar?
Yeah, the vocabulary that you will need to use, right?
IELTS speaking part three is not like daily conversation.
It's very different from part one, which are more informal questions that you'll use informal vocabulary for.
You can't speak on part three as if you're speaking to a friend and expect to score highly.
Okay, good to know.
So there's a lot of slangy type things that I'm not going to use on these last parts of the exam, right?
Right.
We won't really use idioms on both speaking part three and writing task two, because so many of them are quite informal.
You will use more academic, elevated vocabulary, both for this section of the speaking exam and your writing task two essay.
Anything else we need to know here?
Yeah, let's give a few options here of less common words that you would use instead of some of the very common options.
So, for example, instead of get if you are talking about, you know receiving something use the word obtain.
This is a band nine verb that not a lot of students use.
So anytime you're saying you know I need to obtain my driving license, if you're talking about yourself, if you're talking about crime rates, for example, you could talk about cities needing to obtain policies that are more effective.
Yeah.
Or, instead of the word use, which is a little too average every day, we could use the word utilize right.
It's very similar.
It should come to mind when you think of use.
It just up-levels the game a little bit.
Makes it more formal.
You want to have these in your arsenal.
If you're about to say use on part three, that you can immediately switch and say utilize.
Just this more formal academic language that will be higher scoring.
Yeah.
And instead of pros and cons, Aubrey, what could we say?
Instead of pros and cons, instead of pluses or minuses, what are some other options?
There are more formal ways to say that, right?
Benefits and drawbacks, for example, or advantages and disadvantages.
So for a lot of chunks like this, we'll have more casual conversational options.
And then the more formal option that you should use on speaking part three and in writing test, two essays.
Yeah.
And I find that one pro tip.
This might help for some listeners.
It might sound strange for others, at least on speaking part three, what I find is when I want to be more formal, I actually can put myself into better posture and sit up a bit more.
And I find myself producing higher level language.
It does make a difference, right?
If you're more polished with your posture, you start speaking in a more formal way.
You do.
Like you go into a job interview, you don't slouch, right?
With your shoulders caved in, you know, you would sit up straight.
You would have your legs situated properly.
You'd have your hands nicely folded.
This is going to elicit higher level, more formal vocabulary.
So try that tip if it works for you.
That's a great point.
Yeah.
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That is a lot of money.
We made this podcast so we could help students like you from all over the world prepare correctly for the IELTS exam.
So you don't have to pay to take this expensive test over and over.
We also know that you absolutely must be sure of your score before you go in for your exam, so you're sure to get the score you need.
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All right, we are back.
What would be the third thing that these two test sections have in common, Aubrey?
All right.
They both require linking words.
Now, this is interesting because it's not that intuitive to use linking words when you're speaking.
Right.
Especially, like you were saying, if your shoulders are hunched and you're speaking conversationally with a friend.
We don't always use linking words.
Right.
But they are required by the scoring system and speaking part three is is the best way to include them where you are speaking more formally in this more formal structure to include those linking phrases that you need for your fluency and coherence score.
Yeah, this is the part of the test that could feel a little artificial, right, Aubrey?
But we have to play the game.
We have to play the game, right?
It's not conversational.
It's really the way you would speak if you're giving a speech a more formal representation at work, right.
So it will feel a little foreign if you're used to those everyday conversations.
And same for writing task two.
The examiner is looking for linking phrases for you to connect your ideas so that writing flows more smoothly.
So incredibly important to know exactly what the examiner is listening for because frankly, that's all that matters.
All right.
Exactly.
So then what could we use for linking?
Yeah, let's share some high-level linking words, because sometimes students are tempted to just use like then next, which are very low scoring right.
You need these more academic, more formal sounding linking phrases.
So, for example, if you are sharing additional information, you could say moreover or what is more.
I like that.
Or you could say nevertheless or nonetheless if you're making kind of a contrast phrase.
Exactly.
Or if you're sharing the consequences of something you could say either consequently or in consequence.
These are all band nine linking phrases that up leveled and boost both your vocabulary score and your fluency and coherence score.
Yeah.
So Aubrey, you're saying that we could have all the greatest ideas in the world from the smartest podcasts in the world for this part of the test, but if we don't use linking phrases, it could really lower our score.
Is that right?
Exactly, right?
It's specifically in the scoring system for both of these sections of the exam that you must use linking phrases in order to connect ideas.
So don't leave this out.
It can really pull down your score if you don't do this.
So good to know.
And there's a fourth one I bet our listeners are going to want to hear about.
What is the fourth thing that speaking part three and writing task two have in common?
Yeah, the content that you need to provide in your answers.
So writing task two.
Don't forget, we've shared this on the podcast.
You must always provide your opinion.
And speaking part three, your answers will be better if you're providing strong opinions.
If you're sort of hemming and hawing and saying, I don't know.
I haven't thought about that.
I'm not sure what I think.
You're probably not going to share a lot of high scoring, interesting details.
So the stronger opinions that you can support will be higher scoring answers.
So important.
And I think a lot of people might think they shouldn't do this, because they don't do this in a formal academic essay, right?
Good point.
In a university, but that's not true, right?
Right, not for IELTS.
IELTS is not academic university writing, right?
You are specifically asked to share your personal opinion.
You're asked to draw on personal experiences to defend, to provide examples for that opinion, right?
And speaking part three.
Often the questions will specifically and directly ask you for your opinion on certain issues.
So we need to support our ideas by clear and specific details, examples.
We can use those personal examples, right?
Or use stuff you've heard in the news.
You can also lie and make up an opinion that it's not your opinion.
If it's just easier in the moment.
No one's going to go for it.
The examiner doesn't care.
They don't care what your opinion is.
They don't care if you're telling the truth.
They are looking for those interesting details.
So often.
It's easier to share details if you are just telling the truth about your personal experience.
But if you really haven't thought about something or don't care, you could just share a strong opinion and share details that would support it.
And that's going to be a high scoring answer.
That's it.
That's all you need to do.
Again, coming back to exactly what the examiner's looking for, right?
Yeah.
So our Poll question in Spotify today is one of these questions that you could be asked about on writing task two or speaking part three, that you should have thought about in advance and thought about what is your opinion.
So it is, do you think there are more advantages or disadvantages to social media?
These types of things you want to have thought about ahead of time, have an opinion and be ready to support it.
Mm hmm.
So choose more advantages or disadvantages.
Let us know what you think in that poll.
And Aubrey, where should we leave our listeners?
Hopefully we're not killing any birds, but not literally.
Yeah, but we are.
It is very smart to, you know, get a few things done at the same time.
And this is a good example of how you can with your preparation time.
Exactly.
Most of the things that you are doing to study for speaking part three can also be used for your writing task.
Two essays.
So definitely think about the vocabulary.
It is, you know, there are multiple uses for it here.
You don't want to have like a separate book for these.
You're going to use the same vocabulary, the same strategies on both of these parts of the exam.
Excellent.
So good.
This has been an interesting episode today.
I
Because we don't have all the time in the world, right?
Exactly.
Make the best use of your time.
Study for both of these at once.
Yeah, I love this.
We know your time is precious.
You often, most of you probably have 30 to 60 days before you have to take the IELTS.
So make every moment count.
All right.
Sounds good, Aubrey.
Thanks for being on the show today.
I'll see you soon.
Awesome.
See you next time.
Bye.
Thanks for listening to IELTS Energy.
Hit subscribe now, and don't forget to find your estimated band score at allearsenglishcom.
Slash myscore.
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