Ielts speaking strategies

AGREEING AND DISAGREEING

The examiner will give you questions about your OPINION , not a FACT and then they will ask you “do you agree with this opinion?”
They won’t ask you questions like “Japan is in Asia. How much do you agree with that?” , “I have a sandwich for lunch. Do you agree or disagree?”
These questions must be opinions . They cannot ask you agree or disagree with a fact. It doesn’t make sense if they give you a fact.
Of course, when they ask you “do you agree?” Or “do you disagree?”
What kind of question they are asking you? Open or closed question? Definitely closed question . And the first thing you will do is to answer the question:

• 
  Yes, I agree
  
• 
  No, I disagree
  

So that is the first thing you need to think about it. Go back to part 1 speaking, answer “yes/no” to show your answer to the question.
Is it ok for us to say that we kind of agree but we also kind of disagree ? Definitely yes , and you could use phrases like this:

PARTIAL DISAGREEMENT PHRASES:

I can see your point, but… (talk about what you disagree with )
I agree with that up to a point, but…. (I disagree with other things -- talk about what you disagree with ).
I kind of agree with that… (I disagree with other things -- talk about what you disagree with ).
You can just give them a basic general statement like “well, I agree with some points of that, but some points of that I disagree with”
So, what is really important here is that you are giving a clear first opinion so the examiner could know what you are talking about. Are you talking about one side (agree or disagree) or are you talking about both sides (agree and disagree) . It makes a big difference because you may have grammar problem, vocabulary
problem and pronunciation problem; but if your answer is not clear right away, the examiner is really having a hard time figuring out “what are you answering?”, “Will you be explaining something?” because your main idea is not clear.

TOTAL DISAGREEMENT PHRASES:

Honestly, I absolutely disagree with you because… Honestly, I totally disagree with you because… I’m afraid that I disagree with you because…
I’m sorry, but I can’t possibly agree with that because…
The reason why you agree and disagree with these phrases are you can talking about cause and effect logic.
For example: I hate iPhones because they are expensive and have a short battery life. As a result/therefore , I prefer Samsung.
You can talk about cause and effect in multiple ways here:
Eating fast food leads to diabetes.
A lot of children eat fast food. As a result , this leads them to have obesity.

LANGUAGE FOR EXPRESSING LIKELIHOOD

Certain, fairly certain, or uncertain.
Certain: I would say this does not mean 100%; it’s about 80%, 90%. (It’s quite likely/ highly likely/ very likely/ extremely likely.)
Fairly certain: it is likely/ probable/ possible.
Uncertain: it’s quite unlikely/ highly unlikely/ very unlikely/ extremely unlikely.

THE FUTURE PERFECT & THE FUTURE CONTINUOUS

THE FUTURE PERFECT STRUCTURE: WILL + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

By next week, I will have taken the IELTS. By next week, I will have sold my bike.
By next week, I will have climbed the mountain.
All of them are finished actions by a certain time in the future . In order to use the future perfect, you will need Will + have + past participle + a time . We can’t have a finished action in the future if we don’t tell when we finish. So you need to be able to say “I will have climbed the mountain by next Saturday.” Or “I will have taken the exam by Tuesday.”

THE FUTURE CONTINUOUS STRUCTURE: WILL + BE + V-ING

Future continuous is an action in progress in the future .
By next Saturday, I will be climbing a mountain. By next week, I will be taking the IELTS exam.

Example: How will the transportation develop in your city in the next 10 years?

How do you produce your main idea?
Your main idea is going to be this: Given that they have started building the train in the middle of the city. I think it is very likely that a train will have been built in the next decade .
And now you are going to explain by using maybe conditionals , cause and effect …
“What I mean is we have a lot of pollution in my city and one way to reduce this is to build more public transportation. So, the government has invested in the train and they are planning to finish in the next 10 years.”
Explain by giving some details about “why we need a train?”, “who would use
the train?”, “what the effect will be?”,
You can make prediction: in my opinion, I believe the train is going to be very popular. I think it’s extremely likely that fewer people ride motorbikes, and more people will be taking the train.

Example: Will robots become common in people’s lives in the future?

Given that , people are so busy at the job these days. I think it’s highly probable that people will have a robot to help their everyday needs. For example, housewives who have to take care of their children and might have a part time job, they could use a robot to help clean house or send the robot to the market to buy vegetables, and I think this is very helpful and I hope that I will have a robot of my own someday. I would really like one.
PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. 
   Will people live on another planet someday in your lifetime?
   
2. 
   In your lifetime, will there be any significant changes to the way people travel?
   
3. 
   Do you think going to the cinema will be more or less popular in the future?
   
4. 
   Do you think the traditional duties of men and women will change in the future?
   
5. 
   In the next few decades, do you think traditional food in your country will change?
   
6. 
   How do you think technology will affect education in the future?
   
7. 
   What effect will Facebook and Twitter have on cultural exchange as increasing numbers of people in the world use the Internet?
   
8. 
   What role might environmental problems play in where people live in the future?
   
9. 
   What do you think city life will be like in the future? Will the countryside change?
   
10. 
    Do you think it is likely that robots will replace humans in common tasks in your lifetime?