ESL Blogs

In the 2nd task of the speaking you will be asked to discuss a topic for 1 or 2 minute and given 1 minute to plan it.  You will be handed a pencil and paper to make a few notes.  I have seen so many students panic at this stage as they have no idea what to do in that minute.  So how can you outline a speech in 1 min?

task; Describe a museum you visit,

1. how often you visit it.
2. why you visit it, 
3. the most popular museum in your country

Now I have to plan. I will use one word prompts as a reminder.  I will use 1 word from the above lines so I cover everything.(you can ask for the question to be repeated so you don't miss anything out)

what/where/how

1 often 2 times PA, why? special days,

2why.  historic industrial heritage, shops, housing, transport.

3 popular London Science museum.

Those few prompts will now remind me what to talk about and it is in the right order to cover all aspects of the question. They will also keep me on topic.  Even if you have never been to one I am sure you have read about one, so say what you have read.

Example;

A favourite Museum of mine is the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, its about 30 miles from where I live.  I can get a special day ticket to travel there by bus and train.  It takes about 90 minutes.  I get there as early as possible because there is a lot to see.  Twice a year they have either a steam fair or a canal boat festival those are the days I like going to.

It is called a living museum because the staff dress as people did 100 years ago  You can see people making chains and nails by hand, Also all the old machinery that looks so dangerous.  The is a coal mine that you can go down and see the conditions men women and children worked in.  There are also shops like an old chemist where you can see him making pills by hand and all the old medicine bottles.  There are also old trams and electric powered buses called trolley buses.  An old school and some school parties go dressed up as children 100 years ago and have a lesson using blackboards as they did in the day.  There are also tiny little houses people lived in, just one room downstairs and one bedroom upstairs.  The water from one tap for about 10 houses and 1 outside toilet for the ten houses.

I think one of the most popular museums in the UK must be the London Science Museum, I have never been there but you can see all the technology throughout the ages.

As you read through look at the list I made, I covered everything in my notes in the right order.  If you want to practice this, use the link below to see a list of popular topics.

http://www.ielts-exam.net/ielts_speaking_samples/386/

if you want to listen to people practicing for their exam use the following link.

http://www.ipassielts.com/ielts_training/videos/speaking/

I hope you find this useful and remember the more you read about the popular topics in the first link the more your vocabulary and use of common expressions will improve.

Malcolm