How the Speaking test works
The Speaking test lasts 11 to 14 minutes and is a face-to-face conversation with an examiner. It has three parts:
- Part 1 (4 to 5 minutes): Familiar questions about your home, studies, work, hobbies and daily life.
- Part 2 (3 to 4 minutes): You receive a cue card, get one minute to prepare, and then speak for up to two minutes. The examiner may ask one or two short follow-up questions.
- Part 3 (4 to 5 minutes): A more abstract discussion linked to the Part 2 topic, where you explain, compare and give opinions.
You are marked on four criteria: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation.
Fluency and accuracy: finding the balance
Many speakers from Manila, especially those working in BPOs or studying in English-medium universities, speak quickly and comfortably. That helps Fluency, but speed can hide grammar slips and make pronunciation less clear. Others, particularly those who use Filipino or a regional language at home, pause to search for the perfect word and lose fluency.
Both groups improve the same way: record yourself, listen back and fix one thing at a time. Aim for a steady, natural pace with clear sentence endings, not the fastest answer possible.
Pronunciation points for Filipino speakers
Filipino speakers are generally very easy to understand, and examiners do not expect any particular accent. Pronunciation is about clarity, not about sounding British or American. Still, a few sounds are worth practising because they are not distinguished in Tagalog and some other Philippine languages:
- f and p: fan and pan, coffee and copy. Let your top teeth touch your lower lip for f.
- v and b: very and berry, vote and boat. V uses the same teeth-and-lip position as f, with voice.
- th sounds: think and this. Put the tip of your tongue lightly between your teeth instead of saying tink or dis.
- Long and short vowels: ship and sheep, full and fool. Stretch the long vowel slightly.
- Final consonants and clusters: asked, months, texts. Make sure the last sounds are heard.
- Word stress: words such as comfortable, develop and economy lose clarity if the stress falls on the wrong syllable.
Fillers matter too. Try to replace ano, parang or repeated like with natural English phrases such as let me think or that's an interesting question, used sparingly.
Practising when you have no speaking partner
Finding someone to practise with is hard if you work nights or study long hours. IELTS Learning has 186 prompts for Parts 1, 2 and 3, so you can practise alone:
- Answer out loud, using your phone or laptop microphone.
- Use the real cue-card timer in Part 2: one minute to prepare, then two minutes to speak. Learning how long two minutes feels is half the battle.
- Read the AI feedback on your transcript. It points out repeated words, grammar errors and places where your answer was too short or off topic.
- Re-record the same answer after reading the feedback and compare the two versions.
A quiet corner can be hard to find in a Manila home or a shared condo in Makati or BGC. A parked car, an empty room early in the morning or a study room at your university all work. Even whispering practice on a crowded MRT train helps you rehearse your ideas.
Working with a teacher
Recordings and AI feedback build habits, but a real conversation with an examiner-style teacher prepares you for the pressure of the test. Book a Teacher sessions are 1-to-1, online and about 20 minutes long, starting from $5. A good use of one session is a full mock Speaking test followed by feedback on your weakest criterion. Many students book one early in their preparation and another in the final week.
IELTS Speaking practice for Manila's different candidates
- Nurses and caregivers: You may be asked about work, helping people or health. Practise describing your job clearly without heavy medical jargon.
- BPO professionals: Your customer-service English is an asset, but avoid scripted phrases. The examiner wants your own opinions in natural language.
- University students: Part 3 topics like education, technology and the environment suit you, but practise giving balanced views, not just one side.
Start practising today
Register free and try the Speaking section of the sample mock test. For more ideas on topics and vocabulary, visit our blog and the free Daily Vocabulary.