Why Speaking Coaching?
When it comes to preparing for IELTS, there are many strategies to help you get closer to the score you need for work, study or migration. You can read, complete practice writing tests and listen to plenty of English audio. But preparing for the Speaking component is tricky; unless you have a friend or family member who speaks English, it can be hard to practice or even know how to improve.
The good news? There’s a service to address this exact issue. It’s called IELTS Speaking Coaching.
The one-off session includes a discussion with an IELTS expert about your previous test experience and your target band score, as well as a one-on-one mock speaking test with practice questions. Afterwards, you’ll receive detailed feedback on your speaking performance, expert tips from your coach to help you reach your target band score and a comprehensive report detailing your areas for improvement.
The coaching service isn’t designed to replace English lessons; it’s a practice tool best used together with regular study and lessons.
Still unsure whether Speaking Coaching is right for you? Here are five reasons why you should consider buying IELTS Speaking Coaching before you take IELTS.
An official IELTS mock test for Speaking: Get personalised advice
Once you’ve taken English lessons, advance your knowledge of the language through independent study and practice tests. Then, it’s time to seek feedback on your skills. This is the point at which many language-learners hesitate. They feel confident in their abilities, but they don’t consult subject-matter experts for advice.
IELTS Speaking Coaching is an opportunity to practice speaking English with someone who knows what IELTS examiners look for when grading a Speaking test. Rather than the general top tips you’ll hear on podcasts or find in online language guides, this advice will be tailored to you. Whether you struggle with pronunciation or remembering the correct word order in a sentence, your coach will highlight key areas to focus on and – most importantly – techniques to help you improve.
For IELTS Speaking Coaching client, Olena, the session showed her an important area for improvement. “The coaching was great for vocab tips,” she said. “I feel much more confident now.”
Learn from professionals and fine-tune your speaking skills
There is plenty of fantastic English content online, from YouTube videos to language tools and blogs dedicated to teaching budding English learners. The hard part is learning to tell the difference between a quality resource and one that should be avoided. If you’re not a fluent speaker, it can be impossible to tell whether something is trustworthy.
Don’t play the guessing game. The best way to fine-tune your speaking skills is by talking with an expert. A speaking coach will give you feedback that’s guided by their expertise. Plus, as their assessment is backed by a strong knowledge of the IELTS testing model, you can trust that the feedback you’re given will be reliable.
Practice your pronunciation and vocab
Do you have a list of words that you can’t confidently pronounce in English? Perhaps you struggle to decide which part of a word should be emphasised. IELTS Speaking Coaching will give you a chance to practise chatting with someone in a safe and judgement-free space. You can work through these speaking issues and any others with your coach in a casual setting before you enter the more formal testing environment.
Deepak, an IELTS Speaking Coaching client in Southern Asia, benefited from the service despite taking his test abroad.
“I sat an IELTS test in India,” he said, “but this felt more friendly and the personal feedback I got was great.”
Prepare with a person, not a computer
Technology has made it easier than ever to learn a language, but it’s created other challenges, too. For instance, many people feel like they have a strong understanding of English after learning the fundamentals through an app or video course. But without opportunities to apply their reading and writing knowledge to real-life conversations, they’re stuck without ways to test themselves. There’s also the added complication of differences between British and American English; if you’re studying English online, it’s not always clear which dialect you're learning.
Speaking coaches are trained to work with the different English dialects. So, the advice you’re given will be specific to you and your language needs. Preparing for your test with a computer can only get you so far.
Boost your Speaking score with official IELTS feedback
Speaking Coaching is the perfect way to hone your speaking skills before taking IELTS. Study and prepare for all four elements of the test; then, book your Speaking Coaching session at least a week before the big day. This will give you enough time to improve based on your coach’s feedback, while still ensuring you meet with them when your English speaking abilities are almost test-ready.