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  • Hello, and welcome to Study English, IELTS Preparation. I'm Margot Politis.

  • Today we'll look at how to make best use of your vocabulary and get your meaning across

  • in the IELTS Speaking Test.

  • Knowing how to use your vocabulary in different ways can help you maintain conversation.

  • When you find that you can't think of the right word, you can talk around the idea as

  • this candidate does here:

  • Do you think the children of famous people have it easy?

  • No, I don't think so. It must be very, very hard. You know, when I lived in Ecuador, I

  • knew a lot of famous people and they always have to have bodyguards, or they have to live

  • behind bars, you know, behind big walls, and children are always protected, and they don't

  • have the freedom, so it's a big price you pay.

  • You can picture the surroundings from her description even though she has not named

  • it.

  • She said 'have to have bodyguards' 'live behind bars'

  • 'behind big walls' 'children are always protected'

  • and 'they don't have the freedom'.

  • She paints a clear picture of what she means: 'live behind bars' - we imagine someone in

  • jail; 'bodyguards' - employing someone to protect you and your children.

  • The vocabulary used in her description accurately, effectively and successfully describes a 'gated

  • community'.

  • The ability to use your vocabulary to describe something you don't have the exact word for

  • is called circumlocution. Circumlocution means 'talking around something' and is assessed

  • as a vocabulary skill.

  • During the interview the examiner may use a word that you don't know the meaning of.

  • Let's imagine the topic of computers in education comes up in the interview. The interviewer

  • takes the opportunity to explore this area and says:

  • Computer technology plays a big role in children's education today. Do you think the benefits

  • of using computers are overrated?

  • Let's say you don't understand the word overrated. You can ask the interviewer what that word

  • means, like this:

  • Computer technology plays a big role in children's education today. Do you think the benefits

  • of using computers are overrated?

  • What do you mean by overrated?

  • I mean that the benefits are regarded too highly. They're exaggerated.

  • This is called asking for clarification. Apart from helping you answer, it shows the interviewer

  • an aspect of your speaking ability. There are several ways of asking for clarification.

  • You could say:

  • Sorry, I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'overrated'.

  • Or

  • Would you mind explaining what 'overrated' means?

  • All these examples ask for clarification appropriately. They range from the least formal what do you

  • mean by …? to the most formal would you mind explaining …?

  • It would be inappropriate in such a formal interview to just say:

  • What's overrated?

  • It would, however, be more to your advantage if you tried to guess the meaning of overrated

  • and then checked with the interviewer whether your understanding is correct.

  • Let's try doing this.

  • You know from your own experience that the use of computers for education can be good

  • and bad. The question asks about benefits. Benefits are good things but are they overrated?

  • Is there any part of the word you recognise?

  • It starts with 'over', a prefix you might know. You hear of overpopulation and people

  • being overweight. That's too many people … and too fat. So 'over' probably means 'too

  • much'. And it's not a good thing.

  • So you can check with the interviewer to see if you've understood by rephrasing the question

  • like this:

  • Computer technology plays a big role in children's education today. Do you think the benefits

  • of using computers are overrated?

  • Are you saying that the benefits of computer use might not be that good?

  • Yes, that's right.

  • Asking a question like this shows that you can use your vocabulary skilfully.

  • The questions in the Speaking Test interview are designed to encourage answers that show

  • you can use a range of language functions.

  • The interviewer wants to see if you can express an opinion, or speculate or give a suggestion.

  • It's a good idea to vary the ways you respond.

  • Take the question: Do you think there is too much violence in films today?

  • It's inviting you to express an opinion, like this:

  • As far as I'm concerned there is too much violence in films these days.

  • But there are other ways of expressing an opinion. Listen:

  • In my opinion there is too much violence in films these days.

  • From my point of view there is too much violence in films these days.

  • It seems to me that there is too much violence in films these days.

  • Well, I would say there is too much violence in films these days.

  • The same applies to speculating. Speculating means making suggestions, where you don't

  • necessarily know the right answer.

  • Here are some phrases you can use to speculate:

  • Why do teenagers vandalise public transport?

  • If I had to guess I'd say that it's boredom

  • I'm not sure but from my observation it's boredom

  • I imagine that the most important reason would be boredom

  • And here are some ways to give suggestions:

  • What would you do to improve public transport?

  • I think what should be done is increase services

  • The problem could be solved by increasing services

  • What might be done is increasing services

  • Another strategy is to use synonyms or words that have similar meanings.

  • Listen to this candidate doing this:

  • Why have the forms of popular entertainment changed over the years?

  • Because the society has changed a lot, and now we seem to be rushing all the time and

  • want to consume everything a lot faster, so I think every form of entertainment is also

  • reflecting that kind of very fast, quick way of wanting something different and wanting

  • something very quickly.

  • He uses a number of synonyms to talk about how society has changed - he feels there is

  • a need for things to be done in a hurry.

  • He uses the synonyms: rushing, fast and quick. He uses different word forms: the adjective

  • fast and its comparative faster, the adjective quick and the adverb quickly.

  • By using a variety of synonyms and different word forms he is managing communication well

  • and maintaining fluency.

  • Listen again:

  • Because the society has changed a lot, and now we seem to be rushing all the time and

  • want to consume everything a lot faster, so I think every form of entertainment is also

  • reflecting that kind of very fast, quick way of wanting something different and wanting

  • something very quickly.

  • One way to build up your vocabulary is to organise words around categories such as movement.

  • You can arrange words like this:

  • Some synonyms are fast and quick.

  • A collocation, or group of words often used together is 'rushing all the time'

  • Word forms would be faster and quickly.

  • Some opposites would be slow and sluggish.

  • An idiom could be 'in the fast lane', which means living an exciting if sometimes risky

  • life.

  • Keep adding to this and then using the words you've discovered.

  • That's all for now.

  • To find more information about the vocabulary you need for the Speaking Test visit our Study

  • English website. The address is: australianetwork.com/studyenglish.

  • Good luck with your studies. Bye for now.

Hello, and welcome to Study English, IELTS Preparation. I'm Margot Politis.

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