Hang out is one of the first phrases that I encourage my students to practise for the speaking test.
That’s because it’s an example of idiomatic vocab (required for band 7+), so it’s natural and commonly used by native speakers. Also it’s extremely versatile – it can be used in a wide range of part 1 speaking and even writing topics.
So for example you are asked about whether you like cooking and you reply that you enjoy just hanging out in the kitchen. If the examiner asks you about your weekends, then you can say that you love hanging out in the countryside. If they ask you about books, you can respond by saying that you like nothing more than hanging out with a good book. ..get it?
And by the way, your answers don’t have to be 100% true. It’s not a truth test. It’s an English test.
So what does ‘hang out’ mean? It means ‘To spend time with people or in a particular place’.
“Most people like hanging out with their friends or family. Some people like to hang out at a cafe, or the library, just people watching. Some people like to kill a few hours by hanging out with a good book. Others like to hang out in the park or at the beach, just watching the world go by. These days, a lot of young people enjoy hanging out on Facebook. Some people like hanging out with their pets. Others don’t like hanging out with anyone. I was hanging out at the park the other day and I ran into an old friend.”
Now it’s your turn! Put your answers in the comments.
Who do you like to hang out with?
Where do you like to hang out?
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So you want to improve but you never get around to practising or you just don’t know the best way.
Sounds familiar? Well, you’re not alone. But luckily help is at hand. Try out these tips:
Five Steps for Improving your Spoken Vocabulary
1. First choose some natural vocabulary that you want to use more – this could be a phrasal verb, a linking phrase or some academic vocabulary.
2. Next, write them down, maybe on your hands or on a post-it note and stick them on the wall. Maybe on the fridge, near the kitchen sink, next to the bed, anywhere where you can build them into your daily routine.
3. Every day make different kinds of sentences using the phrases. So for ‘hang out’, I like to hang out with my cat. Yesterday I was hanging out at the park and I ran into an old friend.
4. The next step is to practise the whole question. At first, make some notes to help you but then later ditch the notes, and do it without them. Don’t worry if your answer changes over time. That’s what you want – make it more natural.
5. Practice as often as you can – on the toilet, in the shower, on the way to work. Try it out, let me know how it goes.
Now it’s your turn! Put your answers in the comments.
There are three parts to the IELTS speaking test and most students agree that part 1 of the speaking test is the easiest.
In fact it’s designed that way in order to ease you into the test, but don’t be fooled. It’s just as important as the other two parts and it’s your best chance to make a good impression.
It feels like a friendly interview and that’s because you’ll be asked questions on two to three personal, familiar topics such as your job, your studies, your hobbies, but also more random topics like rivers, clothes or your mobile phone.
But all the questions will directly be about you – no academic opinions required, and you only have to give relatively short answers (not like the long answer in part 2) and use general English.
Make sure you practise part 1 as much as the other parts. For some students, these topics seem too easy, so they might feel like they’re wasting their time studying or practising for them, that’s exactly why you should.
Part 1 is the first and best chance to impress the examiner, so you should practise a range of common questions.
That way you can be as fluent as you can and be able to show off some good, natural vocabulary.
This means phrasal verbs like ‘hang out with my friends’, idiomatic phrases like ‘grab a coffee’, ‘catch a movie’ or linking phrases like ‘it sounds kinda obvious’ or ‘believe it or not’.
To improve your fluency, you should try to extend your answers by directly answering the question then adding two bits of extra information.
So for ‘How often do you eat fast food?’ you would say:
“Well I usually eat fast food about once a week, and that is more often than not means grabbing a take out from the KFC near my home, but to be honest I only eat fast food when I’m too busy or too lazy to cook!”
Here’s a list of example part 1 topics and questions to get you started:
Work – what’s your job?
Studies – What do you study?
Home – Do you like your home? Why?
Hometown – Is it an interesting place to live?
Colours – What colour would you not choose for your home?
Clothes – Do you wear the same clothes when you go out and when you’re at home?
Fast food – How often do you eat fast food?
Music – Did you study music at school?
Films – Is there a cinema near your house?
Trees – Have you ever planted a tree?
Cooking – Who usually does the cooking in your house?
Rivers – Would you like to live near a river?
Now it’s your turn! Put your answers in the comments.
Practise the questions above and let us know how it goes.
Do you know any interesting Speaking Part 1 topics?
Hi everyone! Today’s word is affect. Affect means to have an impact or effect on something. It is the verb of ‘effect,’ which is a noun. For example, the increase in monkey population will greatly affect the number of available bananas.
Some of the most common collocations for affect include: affect your health, affect performance, affect the environment, adversely affect, seriously affect, indirectly affect.
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