Useful phrases for IELTS Speaking

Picture this: You are in an IELTS speaking test session with your examiner and quizzed about your favorite music in the second part (cue card round). Well, you do love music, but then that peculiar thought of being in an exam room grips you. What follows thereafter is a struggle over finding the right phrase and linking words to connect your thoughts. A part of this challenge could also be due to your lack of practice with the usual connectors and phrases during your IELTS preparation.

This post would enlist a few phrases and connectors that our trainers at Hurray impart as part of our IELTS Speaking Course.

Introductory phrases

A list of phrases that you can use to start your talk:

  • I would like to discuss…
  • I would like to talk to you about….
  • I want to give you a short talk on…
  • I want to share my experience about

Phrases for expressing opinions

A common phrase that students are prone to use here are: “I feel” “I think” “I believe”; but IELTS test measures you on your range of vocabulary.

Hence, you may choose to use the below alternatives:

  • For me…
  • As I see it…
  • Personally…
  • In my view…
  • As far as I’m concerned
  • Talking about myself…
  • In my experience……

Phrases to help transition from introduction to main idea                                            

After you introduce your topic, you would move to the main body of your speech. Here are some prompt phrases that our trainers at Hurray introduce students to during the IELTS Speaking course.

  • To begin with….
  • One of the most interesting things about….
  • First of all….
  • Firstly
  • It is the most important thing in my life because…
  • The reason why I like it so much is because…

Phrases to expand or develop idea

Once you introduce your idea, you would want to expand with some background detail and cite some reasons. Here are just a few of the phrases to develop an idea:

  • One of the main disadvantages/advantages or causes…
  • For instance/For example…..
  • One of the consequences/results….
  • This appeals to me because…
  • Another reason why I like/don’t prefer …..
  • Moreover,

Phrases for conclusion

Your conclusion could begin with a one-line summary such as:

  • To wrap up,….
  • To conclude,….
  • In conclusion,…
  • To sum up,….
  • Overall
  • In a nutshell

That’s all for today. If you are an IELTS aspirant looking for reliable and result-oriented IELTS online training, do write to us at: info@hurrayedutech.com or call us at 8971357938

Practical Tricks to Score Higher in PTE Listening

The final part or Part 3 of the PTE (Academic) Test is the Listening Test. The test is a total of 45-57 minutes duration, and has eight different test components. The actual length of each component depends on the combination of items.

 The eight components in the PTE Listening test are as follows:

  • Summarize Spoken Text
  • Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer
  • Fill in the Blanks
  • Highlight Correct Summary
  • 5 Multiple Choice, Single Answer
  • Select Missing Word
  • Highlight Incorrect Words
  • Write From Dictation

Here are a few tips to approach some of the sections in the PTE Listening Test:

1.     Summarize spoken text 

In the “Summarize spoken text” task, you will hear an audio recording and would be required to summarize the points made by the speaker in 50 and 70 words—ideally covering the most important points in the recording. You will be awarded marks for grammar, vocabulary, spelling, content, and form (within a specific word limit).

Tip

Time is the key: While you may be tempted to pause or use a lot of words, do not lose focus of time! Rather aim to finish at 35 seconds. At Hurray PTE training institute, our trainers ensure students practice speaking within a certain time frame—say two minutes on a topic. This method helps arrive on the length or elaborate a expand a bit on your keywords.

Listen with attention: Try capturing the context by listening with focused attention than trying to take notes.

Focus on the theme and most repeated words. Students at Hurray have particularly benefited by following this tip

2.     Multiple choice, multiple answers

This task will test your ability to understand the main ideas in a text and arrive at the connections between pieces of information. This part has negative marking where points are subtracted for incorrect options.

Tip:

Speed-read questions before audio begins: Speed-read the possible options. Listen very carefully. Practise taking notes to help you focus and remember names and numbers. Read the options and eliminate the incorrect ones, select the correct ones.

Avoid making blind guesses: Remember not to mark any option that you could be doubtful about as it would get you a negative marking!

Listen till the end: Special emphasis is laid in Hurray’s PTE training course in building concentration. This section in PTE Listening, for instance, would require you to stay focused till the end as the answers could be in the end.

  3.    General Listening Tips 

Listen to English songs and English news on international channels to catch up on the native accents in word pronunciation.

Watch movies and TV shows first with subtitles and then without subtitles. 

Increase vocabulary by listening to audio books and podcasts.

If you are a PTE aspirant looking for training help, do pay us a visit at Hurray PTE training Institute, or write to us at info@hurrayedutech.com. You may also like to take a tour of our website: https://hurrayedutech.com/

How To Improve Vocabulary For IELTS

Knowledge of Vocabulary or lexical resource is an important determinant of IELTS score—be it Reading, Writing, Listening or Speaking. It has been observed that many IELTS aspirants who train with us at Hurray IELTS online training Institute face the challenge of enhancing their word bank. Hence, our trainers have adopted some of the tips and techniques that could help IELTS aspirants enhance their range of vocabulary

Let’s discuss a few of them:

Explore new words

While use of a standard list of vocabulary is an effective practice, it also helps to go on a hunt for words you do not know. Many are inclined to give up on any words that sound unfamiliar. For example: you may not know of words such as wane and omniscient, but they could be good alternatives for words like decrease and all-knowing. Similarly, you may not care to know the meanings of words such as impede, impediment, expedite and expeditious, but using them could prove to be a great addition to your score in terms of lexical resource.

The audio-visual approach

Human brain is easily fascinated by visuals and audio. Why not then adopt it towards enhancing your learning vocabulary? In fact, many students who trained at Hurray IELTS training institute share experiences of their being able to enhance vocabulary by watching English films, and listening to radio and TV news. But yes, do not burden yourself with listening or watching stuffs that you may not enjoy in the first place. The audio-visual method of enhancing vocabulary gives you exposure to new words. For example: If you take interest in music or sports then make a list of vocabulary for those segments through watching videos and listening to audio. Thereafter, you can begin with topics that you find boring and uninteresting! After all, IELTS could test you on any topics. But worry not, for with good and effective training you are sure to find this method effective. At Hurray, for instance, we have adopted the word of the day concept towards introducing our students to new words. 

Build coherence through idioms and connectives

Sentence connectors and conjunctions are key to building coherence (an important compenent in speaking and writing. While Idioms are to be used in limited numbers (like: cats and dogs, on cloud 9, in the nick of time), connectors (such as in order to, provided that, however, also, although) are highly useful in IELTS speaking and writing. Imagine the trouble otherwise that we face in connecting our thoughts, and not to forget, IELTS is a time-bound exam (you sure would need good connectors to link your thoughts in a two-minute Cue-Card round or a 40-minutes essay writing task.

Vocabulary notebook and vocabulary-building apps

A notebook to write down your list of new findings in vocabulary is a time-proven method to build vocabulary. Keeping a list of new words would help you find words handy than hurrying to find materials on new words right before the exam.

Similarly, there are a lot of vocabulary-building apps that you could keep on your device for easy reach.

These are just a few basic ways to improve vocabulary for IELTS.  At Hurray IELTS training institute, we believe in understanding a student’s problem areas and lend them the best IELTS training. 


So why not write to us at info@hurrayedutech.com for knowing our training approach better? 


Happy studying!

Student Visa Process to Study MS in Ireland

Are you looking to pursue your Master’s in Science (MS) in Ireland? Visa processing would then comprise a major part in turning this dream into action!

To begin with, the application for study visa for pursuing MS in Ireland should usually begin up to 3 months prior to your date of travel to Ireland.

However, if you plan to visit another state prior to your visiting Ireland, it would require you to have the relevant visa for that State in your passport before applying for an Irish Study visa for your MS study. Your Ireland study Visa would depend on the age and the type of program you plan to enroll with in that country.

Overview of Study Visas in Ireland

A quick run through of the types of study visas and the duration of study applicable to them:

S. No.Periodicity of studyVisa type
1Under three monthsC Study visa
2Beyond three monthsD Study visa

Study in Ireland : Documents required for visa application for MS in Ireland

  • Score of an English language proficiency test (like IELTS, PTE, OET)
  • Passport-sized photograph 
  • Proof of fee payment
  • A valid passport or other valid travel documentation
  • Letter of acceptance from an Irish institution (University, college, etc.). This letter should contain the below details:
  1. Your name as an applicant and the course title/duration

2. Confirmation on the amount of fees payable for your course, and a confirmation that the amount has been paid.

  • Proof of funds showing living expenses for the period of your course
  • Details of medical insurance

Fingerprint or Biometric Proof

The Study Visa process for an MS course in Ireland would also require you to provide your biometric details. Therefore, you would need to provide your fingerprints to the Irish authorities as an Indian student.

How can Hurray counselors help with visa applications?

Once you bag the offer letter from your university, our Hurray overseas counsellors can help familiarise you with the entire Visa Processing, ensuring you are fully up-to-date on the latest visa requirements and conditions. They can also guide you on the right documents for your submission.

Please note: Do not provide fake information or documents in your application. Your application stands to get rejected if you do. In fact, in some cases, you would not even be able to appeal the visa decision and would be blocked from getting an Irish visa for a period of 5 years.

Wish to have to more information on study visa to study MS in Ireland? Our counselors at Hurray a trusted overseas education consultant and IELTS/PTE coaching center in Bangalore would be glad to provide you with all the required details over a FREE one-on-one counseling session.

Write to us at hurrayoverseas@gmail.com, or contact us at 8971357938 for more. 

Happy Studying!

IELTS Speaking and Writing Test Advice From Experts

IELTS Speaking and IELTS Writing Tests are two of the subjective test components in IELTS exam.

Nevertheless, some fundamental tips and techniques apply to both these tests that can help you take the right approach to them

Let us first dwell a bit on IELTS Speaking. Well, the questions among our students at Hurray about this component range from the impact of grammar in the test to the ideal length of pauses one should take while speaking.

The Speaking test, as most test-aspirants may know, has four band descriptors or marking criteria. The break-up of this weightage is thus: grammar 25%; fluency and cohesion 25%; pronunciation 25%; and vocabulary 25%

Hence, as is evident, each of these units is equally important. So what tips are effective in IELTS Speaking? Here are some of the fundamental IELTS Speaking Tips that our trainers at Hurray bank on:

Speak with clarity: While fluency is a key criterion of IELTS speaking, it is important to know that your speech should have clarity too; fluency, more often than not, is misunderstood as fast speech. Many candidates thus end up speaking with considerable cases of wrong grammar and their speech lack clarity too. One good way to bring clarity is to give a certain gap (say one second) before beginning a new sentence.

Do not just give “Yes” or “No” answers: IELTS speaking is a measure of your language and vocabulary; hence, mere Yes or No answers do not earn you good scores; For example: Extend your answer to question like Do you like sports? with a few more words than just saying ‘Yes’ ; however, ensure that the answers are relevant to the questions asked.

Cultivate relaxation and confidence: Anxiety, as a matter of fact, affects speech in unthinkable ways. While it is natural to feel anxious and diffident in an exam scenario, it would help to know that  practising a lot of topics face-to-face with your expert IELTS trainers would reduce anxiety and nervousness to a large extent.

Lay equal focus on grammar, vocabulary and sentence structure: Each of these components would come into the scene in the IELTS Speaking evaluation process. Perfection is a different matter all together, but what matters

Now, let’s dwell a bit on IELTS Writing tips

IELTS writing comprises two parts. Task 1 varies in IELTS General and IELTS Academic.

While IELTS Academic Task 1 is Report Writing, IELTS General Task 1 is Letter Writing

Task 2 in both IELTS Academic and IELTS General is Essay Writing.

Here are some common tips to remember in your IELTS Writing Test

Practice is primary!

You must have heard it for the umpteenth time: Practice, Practice and Practice—to the point of boredom! Yet, this one IELTS writing tip encompasses a lot of substance in it. Many IELTS General test-takers share about having lost practice of writing except for the little writing that they are required to do at work.  The struggle is mostly with connecting paragraphs and thoughts—that is, coherence.

Try writing on topics which interest you to begin with. Additionally, read small portions from any section of the newspaper. Employ a wide range of practice questions (example: essays along different categories) and not let anxiety of stop you from trying.

Begin small: say a few words around your bus journey or about your feelings as you sit inside your classroom.

Study good-quality examples

Read up on a variety of subjects from a good bunch of high-quality writing styles—ranging from the daily newspapers to short articles in general-interest magazines. 

The below are some of the areas in IELTS Writing that you can focus on as you read for a purpose:


Highlight grammar structures (example: simple, compound, complex)

Underline key vocabulary items (mostly words or phrases stranger to you)


Underline linking devices between paragraphs and sentences

Look for and discuss stock exchange news with your batch mates which can serve as a an effective practice for Task 1 of IELTS Academic Writing test

Time management

Be aware of the different writing requirements for Task 1 and Task 2.  

The IELTS Writing Test, as it is, needs practice along a myriad style of writings—graph, map, table, diagram, essays, letter etc.

So, while you will need to develop the most suitable written language to get your desired IELTS score, time management too is important.  It is important not to spend, for example, too much time on Task 1 or you will have enough time to perform well in Task 2. Ideally, spend 40 minutes on Task 2 Essay for both Academic and General, and 20 minutes on Task 1 (Letter or Report Writing).

Eager to know more about IELTS Writing and ILETS Speaking Tips? Get advice from our experts IELTS trainers at Hurray.  

Visit our website for more: https://hurrayedutech.com/

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