This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1546 Exaggerate for Higher IELTS Speaking Scores.
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.
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Today, learn a smart tactic to immediately increase three of your IELTS scores pronunciation, fluency and coherence and vocabulary.
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Hello, Lindsay.
How are you today?
Hey there, Aubrey.
How are you doing?
Excellent.
Do you like to exaggerate?
Oh, I do.
I yeah, I think I wouldn't be labeled as someone that always exaggerates.
But I think the fact that I'm I'm American and I speak American English means I do.
We love to exaggerate.
Well, just to add interest. right?
It's not like we're trying to lie.
We're just trying to make a story more interesting, more engaging for whoever's listening.
We love to exaggerate.
And if we're verbal people, if we like to speak, then we probably do exaggerate a little bit.
Yeah, exactly.
We're not lying here.
It's just trying to add color to your stories, right?
Exactly.
And exaggerating and going to extremes like this can increase your IELTS scores.
What does that mean, going to extremes, Lindsay?
Going to extremes means taking what you're trying to say and then kind of talking in exaggerated or extreme, the most extreme way about it.
And we're going to give a lot of examples here.
So we'll know exactly what we're saying here.
We're going to give you three ways to go to extremes, to exaggerate with examples for each example.
But this can raise three of your scores on the IELTS speaking exam.
Your fluency and coherence score because you'll have more to say, more details.
Your vocabulary score with that higher scoring, more interesting vocabulary about it.
And also your pronunciation score, because this pushes you to add interesting intonation when you're exaggerating.
Three of your scores.
That seems like a very 80-20 thing to do then in that case, Aubrey.
And I have a feeling a lot of traditional IELTS textbooks do not recommend this.
You know, they just probably don't teach it because maybe it's a lesser known or an I don't know under examined strategy.
Yeah, absolutely.
Right.
But luckily, here on the IELTS Energy podcast we're giving you these great tips because yeah, kill three birds with one stone.
All three of these scores.
Might as well.
Yeah.
I don't like to kill birds, but yeah.
Guys, don't forget to hit the follow button right there on IELTS Energy.
If you want IELTS Energy to drop into your listening library two days a week, don't miss it.
All right.
All right.
Let's dive in with the first way you can exaggerate and that is with the vocabulary you use.
So, for example, if you're asked on part one about hobbies or exercise and you end up talking about an outdoor space or describing a beautiful place, for example, you want to use adjectives that basically mean beautiful or awesome to describe the view, but you need to exaggerate, right.
More than beautiful, bigger, more, less common adjectives.
Exactly.
Exactly.
And that's what we mean by going to extremes.
Right.
So what are some of those adjectives that we can use, Aubrey?
Yeah.
So awe-inspiring, breathtaking, majestic, stunning.
These are all bigger, like more exaggerated than just pretty or beautiful, right?
Yes, and we want to keep the examiner awake and alive and listening to us.
That would be another byproduct of using this strategy that will do that.
Absolutely, right?
So, Lindsay, can you give us a sample, just a few sentences?
If you were asked, on part two, to describe a beautiful place you visited or this could come up on part one if you're asked about a hobby or a way you like to exercise, what could you say using a couple of these adjectives?
Yeah, I could say, back in 2019 I visited Crater Lake, which is in I believe it's in Western Oregon or Eastern Oregon.
And it was stunning.
I'm telling you, we got up at sunrise and the lake was just majestic.
The way the sun came over the lake, it was breathtaking.
I couldn't believe it.
And I just can't describe how awe-inspiring it was.
Amazing.
You're able to use all of them.
And if you didn't notice her intonation, rewind the episode and listen, because it's strange to use a monotone to say it was stunning.
She said, it was stunning.
You need that variation of tone.
These words are going to push you to do that, because it just makes sense to punch those harder to emphasize how beautiful it was.
Yeah.
So that's the first strategy for today is exaggerate with vocabulary.
But there are other ways to do it too, Aubrey.
So what would be the second way to do it?
Yeah.
Second is to exaggerate with superlatives, right?
So you can add the word most to interesting adjectives.
When you go to describe a hike, you could call it the most awe-inspiring hike I've ever been on, for example.
The most breathtaking lake I've ever seen.
This is how we really go to extremes.
Yeah, it's kind of interesting because we don't say the most awe-inspiring hike of all the hikes I've been on.
Just the most awe-inspiring hike alone would be okay too, right?
Yeah, absolutely.
So that's kind of fun.
And then words that end in EST, things like the sweetest, the loveliest, the hottest.
And so this is interesting.
There are grammar rules in English of when are you adding most and when do you add EST to the end of adjectives.
In general, shorter adjectives, we add EST, one syllable.
And then if it's two syllables or more longer adjectives, then we'll usually say most, followed by the adjectives.
But you also want to use these phrases like we were there.
It's like by far and ever, forever. to really emphasize, to go to extremes.
Yes, you're exaggerating.
Absolutely.
But it's giving you better, more interesting vocabulary and intonation.
All right.
Let's give our listeners a good example here, Aubrey.
So Aubrey, I'm going to ask you to do a, maybe a part one answer.
So what if I asked you as the examiner, what is a recent film you enjoyed?
Okay.
I recently saw Get Out and it is by far one The most suspenseful film ever released.
I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.
I love it.
Any adjective you can plug in.
This is sort of a template to exaggerate and then plug in the adjective that is appropriate.
We love templates.
We love them.
So you're improving your pronunciation score, but because you're using variation in your voice here throughout the sentence, your fluency score and your vocabulary score
Yeah.
You want to punch that by far the most suspenseful.
And then look at the end of this sentence.
I said ever released.
We I've ever seen.
So there's some flexibility about the way you end that.
And I guess also, you could also just say the most suspenseful film ever.
Ever.
Period.
The most suspenseful film ever.
That's great too.
You could do that too.
In part one, you could do that because it's a little more casual, right?
Yeah.
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All right.
Number three, is there a third strategy to exaggerate?
What's the third way to do it?
So what are some examples of words that are giving us an absolute?
Yeah, indispensable, indescribable, unforgettable.
And we did a great episode on All Ears English recently about getting the right prefix for words like this
Yeah, because this is easy to mess up, right?
Whether it's un or in or ear.
So yeah, definitely check that out.
There was a three episode series that will help you avoid some of those mistakes.
Yep.
And again guys, if you're not subscribed to All Ears English or not following it, make sure you open your search bar right now.
Type in All Ears English.
Just hit that follow button.
Then you can start scrolling down.
And we do have one other recommendation for you in just a minute here.
All right, Aubrey, where do we go from here?
Yeah.
If you'd like to ask me a question I could share, maybe a part one answer that uses some of these absolutes.
They're very flexible.
Pretty much any question you get on IELTS speaking.
You could figure out a way to use one of these absolutes.
All right.
So part one question, Aubrey, what is your earliest memory?
Oh, I don't remember a lot before like age 13.
But I do remember at about that age, being in the woods looking for my lost glasses.
And I had terrible vision.
So I couldn't see well.
I'm like looking for them in the woods.
And then I let my parents know they were missing.
So it was probably some drama.
I was like freaking out.
But that is an unforgettable memory that is kind of indescribable.
I don't know that people really understand the panic I was feeling.
Oh, interesting.
So you use two of these words here, unforgettable memory that is kind of indescribable, right?
Because people don't understand the panic.
I like that.
Really good intonation.
And you think about any part one or part two, especially questions that you could get.
If you share this, exaggerate and share that the memory was unforgettable, or the experience at this restaurant or the time spent with a friend was indescribable or unforgettable.
And then be sure to vary your intonation.
Punch that word harder so that you're not using a monotone.
Yes, I love it.
Yep.
Intonation is huge.
Because if you do just use these words and don't accommodate the intonation, I mean I guess you'll get a vocabulary score increase, but pronunciation you'll miss the opportunity right.
Absolutely.
If you're using a monotone, you can't score higher than a five for your pronunciation score.
You've got to vary your intonation, punch adjectives and adverbs and interesting vocabulary harder and slow down.
To give yourself the space to do that.
Oh, my gosh.
Five would really bring down a score, don't you think?
Yeah, absolutely.
Unfortunately.
And there's another episode over on All Ears English.
We want to recommend that you guys check out, because we talked on that show, on that episode, about exaggeration and how in American English we do exaggerate a lot.
Yeah.
And we shared the phrase crazy about.
So it was 2527 called you'll be crazy about this vocabulary.
And then some other great expressions we use with the word crazy to exaggerate.
So if you're not following Allers English, you missed out on some amazing vocabulary.
Like Lindsay said, open the search bar, hit follow on the Allers English podcast.
So much vocabulary there.
That's great for the IELTS exam.
Yeah.
And also just great English for daily life.
Once we eventually achieve our goal, which is to immigrate abroad.
Right.
We need language skills when we're living abroad.
So life isn't over after IELTS.
It's just the beginning.
You'll need to continue expanding your vocabulary.
Exactly.
What's our final takeaway for today?
Yeah, like we said, you can boost three speaking scores fluency and coherence, vocabulary and pronunciation by exaggerating.
So use extremes, use absolutes with this interesting intonation to boost all three of those scores.
Yes.
Love it.
And guys, make sure you get in your practice.
This is not just going to come up on test day all of a sudden.
If you know you have to do it intellectually, but you haven't practiced doing it.
It's not just going to be in a magical power that you have right.
Exactly.
Look up some speaking questions and practice using these strategies so that you're ready on test day, and it comes naturally.
Great stuff.
All right, Aubrey, you have a good rest of your day.
I'll see you back on IELTS Energy very soon.
All right.
You too.
Awesome.
Thanks, Lindsay.
All right.
Bye.
Bye.
Thanks for listening to IELTS Energy.
Hit subscribe now, and don't forget to find your estimated band score at allearsenglishcom.
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