You can ask questions

Asking an examiner questions in the speaking exam

You can ask the examiner questions in the IELTS speaking exam.There are numerous ways to deal with problems and it is a good idea to learn these before taking an exam.

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Asking the examiner questions
        FUNCTION                PHRASE
Repeat question

Could you please repeat that?

Sorry, I didnโ€™t quite catch what you said?

 Checking a word (part 1 -3) Sorry, what does X mean?
Could you please explain the meaning of X?
Checking the question
(part 3 only)
Are you asking meโ€ฆ.?
Do you meanโ€ฆ.?
Engaging the examiner If you know what I mean.
Donโ€™t you agree?
Do you feel the same way?
Useful Discourse Markers
FUNCTION                          PHRASE
    Buying time   Let me see now, that really is quite a tricky question. Well, I suppose I would have to say thatโ€ฆ
Oh gosh! Iโ€™m really not sure about that, but probablyโ€ฆ
Extending Let me cut to the chase, the key point isโ€ฆ
Anyway, the thing I really want to say isโ€ฆ
What Iโ€™m trying to say isโ€ฆ
And, well, let me put it this wayโ€ฆ
 Repeating  Let me put it another way
Or, in other wordsโ€ฆ
To put it more succinctlyโ€ฆ
 Restarting How can I put this (better) โ€ฆ
Let me start overโ€ฆ
Oh, I seem to have lost my train of thought a bit, let me see, oh yes, thatโ€™s right, what I mean to say isโ€ฆ
 
SPEAKING QUESTIONS

Something  Iโ€™d like to know is am I allowed to make notes in both the second and the third part?
Only really the 2nd part (you get one minute) most examiners will take away the paper after part 2, and you donโ€™t have time to make notes in part 3, you must answer fairly quickly (no preparation time is given)

And what would you advise me to do if i totally block and can`t come up with normal and logical answer.
Just tell the examiner โ€œsorry I donโ€™t have any opinion about thatโ€

Can I ask the examiner what a word means
Part 1
you can ask the examiner to repeat the question (they can do this 1 time only for each question). It wonโ€™t have a negative impact on your grade unless you do this often.
Part 1 and 2 you can ask the examiner the meaning of a WORD
Part 3 you can ask the examiner to REPHRASE the question

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2 thoughts on “You can ask questions”

  1. if we say โ€œsorry I donโ€™t have any opinion about thatโ€, will it not have a negative impact on the band ?

    1. For an essay yes! For speaking, it is OK one time. The examiner may rephrase it or guide you towards an opinion..maybe saying something
      like “Well, do you think it would be bad for the economy”

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