How the Speaking test works
The Speaking test lasts 11–14 minutes, face to face with an examiner, and has three parts:
- Part 1 (4–5 minutes): questions about familiar topics such as your home, studies, work, food or weekends.
- Part 2 (3–4 minutes): you get a cue card, one minute to prepare and then speak for up to two minutes.
- Part 3 (4–5 minutes): a discussion of more abstract ideas linked to the Part 2 topic.
You are marked on four criteria: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation.
Fluency first, then accuracy
Many students try so hard not to make mistakes that they pause constantly, translate in their heads and give answers of four words. That hurts Fluency and Coherence more than a small grammar slip would.
Aim to:
- extend every Part 1 answer to two or three sentences with a reason or example;
- use natural fillers ("That's an interesting question", "Let me think") sparingly, not as a script;
- self-correct quickly and keep going.
Accuracy matters too, but it improves fastest once you are speaking regularly.
Pronunciation points for Bengali and Chittagonian speakers
Your accent is not a problem; examiners do not expect a British accent. What matters is that you are easy to understand. Speakers of Bangla, and of the Chittagonian dialect spoken at home by many people in the city, commonly work on these points:
- /v/ and /w/: "very", "village" and "west" can blur into a "bh" or "b" sound. Practise "very well", "a wide view".
- /z/: often becomes "j", so "zero" sounds like "jero". Hold a buzzing "z".
- /f/: can sound like "ph" with a puff of air. Touch your top teeth to your lower lip.
- Initial clusters: "school", "station" and "speak" sometimes gain an extra vowel ("ischool"). Start directly on the "s".
- Long and short vowels: "ship" and "sheep", "full" and "fool".
- Word stress and intonation: stress the right syllable (deVELopment, PHOtograph) and let your voice rise and fall, rather than giving every word equal weight.
Record yourself reading a short paragraph, listen back, and pick one point a week. It also helps to listen to a short British radio clip, pause it, and repeat each sentence with the same rhythm. This "shadowing" builds natural stress and linking far faster than reading word lists aloud.
Topics you can prepare with Chittagong in mind
Part 2 cue cards often ask you to describe a place, an event, a person or a tradition. Chittagong gives you rich, personal material:
- A place you like to visit: Patenga beach at sunset, Foy's Lake, the Karnaphuli river, or a trip to Cox's Bazar.
- A celebration or meal: a Mezban feast, Pohela Boishakh, or Eid with family.
- A traditional event: the Jabbar's Boli Khela wrestling contest held in the city each Boishakh.
- Work or study: a project at CUET, life on the University of Chittagong campus, or the busy port.
Prepare ideas, not scripts. Examiners can tell when a candidate is reciting, and a memorised answer rarely fits the exact question on the card.
Practising when you have no speaking partner
Few students have someone at home who can practise English with them every day. You can still make progress alone:
- Choose a prompt from our 186 Speaking prompts.
- For Part 2, use the built-in cue-card timer: one minute of preparation, then two minutes of speaking. Stopping at 40 seconds is the most common Part 2 problem; the timer trains you out of it.
- Record your answer. You receive AI feedback on the transcript, showing repetition, grammar errors and vocabulary range.
- Re-record the same answer once, using the feedback.
When a teacher makes the difference
AI feedback works on what you said. A teacher can also hear how you said it. With Book a Teacher, you can have a 1-to-1 online session of about 20 minutes with an IELTS teacher, from $5, run like a real Speaking test with comments on pronunciation, fluency and answer length. Because it is online, there is no need to cross the city after work or classes.
Start speaking today
Register for free to try the Speaking section of the sample mock test, and build your topic vocabulary with Daily Vocabulary. Regular IELTS Speaking practice in Chittagong, even in short sessions, is what turns a hesitant 5.5 into a confident 6.5 or 7.