Ielts speaking strategies

PROPOSING SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEM

If the examiner ask you a question about problems, they are not going to ask you questions about your personal problem . Instead, they will ask you questions about problems in your hometown , or problems in people’s everyday lives .
They are not going to ask you questions about your personal problems. They are not asking you like “have you ever broken up with a girlfriend or a boyfriend.” “Are your parents divorced?” But they might ask you something like “Why do friendships break up?”
The kinds of problems we are talking about might be the environment , education , crime , unemployment , transportation , etc.
The questions may take many forms. They might ask you about problems and solutions . Or they might ask you about problems , then you answer blah..blah..blah.., and then they will ask you about solutions , they could break it up , they might even ask you just something about solutions because understand if they ask you questions about the disadvantages of whatever, for example the disadvantages of owning a car , and you start talking about problems, they might ask you some follow up questions about what you just said “what are solutions to these problems you are talking about?”
It doesn’t matter because like I said, what you need to say is really quite clear.
If they ask you questions about problems “what types of environmental problems exist in your country?”

Answer order:

1. 
   First of all, answer the question by identifying the problem or problems
   

“air pollution and water pollution”

2. 
   Explain the causes “where does the pollution come from?”, “why do we have pollution?”
   

…due to private vehicles, factories, loss of trees.

3. 
   Talk about the effects of these causes (very important). You should tell the examiner “why we should care?”, “why is this a problem?”
   
4. 
   Suggest solutions.
   
5. 
   Suggest definite actions that should be taken.
   

Language to identify problems:

One major concern with the environment that needs addressing is air pollution.
The biggest problem with the environment is air pollution.
The main issue many people have with the environment is air pollution.
Most people believe that air problem is the main problem.

Language to explain causes:

The main reasons behind this (paraphrasing for air pollution)
The main reasons behind this are too many private vehicles in the city as well as the rise of factories since my country has become a manufacturing country.
The main reason behind this is the increase production from factories to meet customers’ demands.
This (paraphrasing for air pollution) is caused by Y and Z.
This (paraphrasing for air pollution) is caused as a result of Y and Z.

Language to explain effects:

This pollution leads to global warming in a long term this is because…. As a result of this , global warming and health issues have increased.

Language to suggest solutions:

You need to tell the examiner:

1. 
   Who should do something? and be specific . Don’t just say “people”, instead you should say “governments”, “teachers”, “students”, “teenagers”, etc. you don’t have to be so specific, try to be a little bit specific . Remember, you should use modal verbs (people should , government ought to , businesses need to / must / could ; they should be encouraged to)
   
2. 
   What should they do? Give the examiner some explanations, and then your prediction (if the government invest in public transportation, then I think it’s very probable that pollution level will have decreased in the next 20 years)
   
3. 
   Why do you think these solutions will work?
   

When it comes to the language of “problem/solution” , something you should pay attention to is the fact you have some really good verbs here: could spend more money on/ should spend more money on/ ought to spend more money on/ ca spend more money on.
My point is you should be using “could/should/ought to/can/must/need to” to talk about “solutions”. We have an example here:

COULD/ SHOULD/ OUGHT TO/ CAN/ MUST/ NEED TO + VERB/ PHRASE

• 
  People should use more public transportation
  
• 
  Corporations ought to take steps to reduce their emissions
  
• 
  Governments can provide incentives for people who use public transportation.
  
• 
  The government could make an effort to reduce taxes for people who use public transportation.
  
• 
  In my opinion, the government ought to take steps to improve the public transportation.
  
• 
  In my opinion, parents ought to take steps to teach their children how to do homework.
  
• 
  Teachers ought to provide tips for studying.
  
• 
  Parents ought to provide instructions on how to budget their children’s money.
  
• 
  The government ought to provide health insurance for people who don’t have a lot of money.
  
• 
  The police need to take steps to solve the problem .
  
• 
  We should pay more attention to eat healthy food.
  
• 
  Parents should take measures to teach their children about cycling.
  

BY + VERB-ING

• 
  The government could improve the situation by imposing tighter regulations on…
  
• 
  The government could improve things by cleaning up the most polluted areas of…
  
• 
  We could fix this problem by putting pressure on local governments to…
  
• 
  We could take measures to solve this problem by spending more money o education and less on arms…
  
• 
  We can make it a lot better by repairing the damage and by renovating th
  

building…

Example: What type of education problems does your country face?

Lack of quality – what are the causes of “lack of quality” -- lack of funding .
Less practical experience/skills – therefore, when they attend university, they might not be as prepared as students from other countries.
These are very good structures: comparisons , conditionals , cause and effect language and linking them together is the series of simple things that makes a good answer.

Example: What are problems with children who idolize celebrities?

Well, one major concern with worshipping famous people that needs addressing i children may develop the bad habits of their idols. What I mean is children might watch their favorite movie stars drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes, and then the child try these behaviors themselves. The main reasons behind this are that children know that people admire celebrities, so they feel like they will be worshipped if they smoke cigarettes and drink beer just like celebrities do. This can cause a lot of problems. This situation can lead children to become criminals or maybe lose the respects of their friends and family. As a result , they don’t spend so much time in the library like they used to. It’s difficult to get children to want to read. One thing that parents could do that they can give their son and daughter a little bit of money every time they read a book….
This is a good answer because I have just said something about the problem. What are the effects of the problem? And the very simple solutions that involve who should do something, and what they should do?
PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. 
   What types of education problems does your country face? Can you suggest any solutions?
   
2. 
   What challenges does a young married couple typically deal with?
   
3. 
   What are the drawbacks of living in the countryside?
   
4. 
   What problems with the environment does your country face? What do you propose done to reduce the problems?
   
5. 
   What solutions can you suggest to lower crime rates in big cities?
   
6. 
   Are there any problems with children idolizing celebrities?
   
7. 
   How does using electronic gadgets hurt relationships? Can anything be done to improve this situation?
   
8. 
   How can we get children to read more books?
   
9. 
   Do farmers in your country face any major challenges? What are they?