After all these years of teaching IELTS speaking, I have noticed one strange belief that students fall prey to: that a high score depends on difficult vocabulary. You have probably memorised dog-eared lists of “advanced words” and forced them into answers where they do not belong. More often than not, they land with a thud — hopelessly out of place, as stiff as a Victorian lecture, or smothered in Chinglish. Saying “I just chill out after exams” sounds more natural than insisting on “I often relax myself.” “I use my phone” will always beat “I utilise my mobile device.” It is not wrong. Nobody actually speaks like that. Examiners do not reward the hardest word; they reward the right one indeed.
What separates band 6, a realistic first goal for many students, from band 7 is extending an answer. You can probably give one reason. Can you give a second without repeating yourself, let alone a third? In fact, if you are aiming for band 7 or above, two points, fully extended, are quite enough. This is what the logic chains on this page are for: each branch leads to a fresh supporting detail. When you run dry, move to the next angle, and let the chain carry you.
Our goal isn’t to speak without thinking, even an AI chatbot needs a few seconds to think. It’s to keep speaking while you do.
After all these years of teaching IELTS speaking, I have noticed one strange belief that students fall prey to: that a high score depends on difficult vocabulary. You have probably memorised dog-eared lists of “advanced words” and forced them into answers where they do not belong. More often than not, they land with a thud — hopelessly out of place, as stiff as a Victorian lecture, or smothered in Chinglish. Saying “I just chill out after exams” sounds more natural than insisting on “I often relax myself.” “I use my phone” will always beat “I utilise my mobile device.” It is not wrong. Nobody actually speaks like that. Examiners do not reward the hardest word; they reward the right one indeed.
教了这么多年雅思口语，我注意到一个很多学生都会掉进去的误区：以为高分靠的是难词。你大概背过一摞翻旧了的“高级词汇”表，然后把它们硬塞进根本不属于它们的句子里。结果往往很尴尬——格格不入，生硬得像在念维多利亚时代的讲稿，或者裹着一层中式英语。说“I just chill out after exams”听起来很自然，硬要说“I often relax myself”就别扭；“I use my phone”永远好过“I utilise my mobile device”。这不是说那些词错了，而是——没有人真的那样说话。考官看重的不是最难的词，而是最精准的词。
What separates band 6, a realistic first goal for many students, from band 7 is extending an answer. You can probably give one reason. Can you give a second without repeating yourself, let alone a third? In fact, if you are aiming for band 7 or above, two points, fully extended, are quite enough. This is what the logic chains on this page are for: each branch leads to a fresh supporting detail. When you run dry, move to the next angle, and let the chain carry you.
把 6 分和 7 分拉开差距的——6 分也是很多同学的第一个目标——是“把答案展开”。你大概能说出一个理由。那你能不重复地说出第二个吗？更别说第三个了。其实，如果你的目标是 7 分或以上，两个论点、充分展开，就完全够了。这正是本页逻辑链的用途：每一条分支都能带出一个新的支撑细节。当你说到没词了，就换下一个角度，让逻辑链托着你往前走。
Our goal isn’t to speak without thinking, even an AI chatbot needs a few seconds to think. It’s to keep speaking while you do.
我们的目标不是不假思索地开口——就连 AI 聊天机器人都要先想几秒。我们要做到的是：一边想，一边说。
Let’s give English a go
Keep the talk flowing smoothly, let one idea lead into the next, and round it off with a clear finish.
Choose precise, natural phrases — describing a park, say “flower beds” — a C2 meaning hiding inside a word you’ve known since day one.
Mix short and complex sentences with ease; slips are rare and never muddy the point.
Speak so you are understood from start to finish — clear sounds, a natural rhythm, and a slight accent is fine as long as it never gets in the way.
— Begin with the scoring map above — that is what examiners listen for
— Pick a topic tab, then try answering a question aloud in your own words first
— Compare your answer with the Band 7 version
— Read the Band 9 answer to see what closes the gap
— Q1–5 carry model answers; Q6–10 are for your own practice, and the mind map jumps you to any related question
— Mark each question Practised, Review or Mastered, then filter or export your record any time
— Use TOOLKIT for checking some common mistakes and natural expressions
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