How to Improve IELTS Speaking From 5.5 to 7 Bands

How to improve IELTS Speaking from 5.5 to 7: It’s a common problem, right? Most of the time students who take the IELTS test and the IELTS Speaking test, get maybe a 6.5, and then a month later they do the test again and they get a six, and then two weeks later, they try again, and they get a 6.5. It’s like, what’s going on? It’s as though they’re stuck in this time warp or in this Band 6 warp, like they just cannot move, right? So what to do? Well, first, we need to understand where you are stuck, and then let’s get you unstuck.

Tips on How to Improve IELTS Speaking from 5.5 to 7 Bands

Why are so many students stuck at Band 5.5, 6, or Band 6.5, and how can you finally get your Band 7? Let’s find out.

Getting Unstuck: Bottom Level of Band 5.5

Take a Break for two weeks: To be honest here, especially if you’ve already done the test two or three times, I think my best advice to you is to stop studying IELTS. I mean, take a break, right? Take a break from the headaches, the pressure, the frustration. Just go away for two months and learn general English. Forget about the test, forget about IELTS. Just enjoy learning English.

Go and follow a course, get some good study tools and a good study technique, and just take a break from the IELTS and just enjoy English. As I mentioned to do that, well, you’re going to need two things. You’re going to need the right tools and the right study method. Let’s look first at the right tools.

Also Read: Best Way to Improve IELTS Speaking Score | 7 Tips and Tricks

Right Tools to

So when it comes to choosing the right tools, my first bit of advice is actually to just have one or two tools, right? Or even a handful of tools because it’s so easy to get distracted, to have lots of books, lots of websites, different apps. It’s ridiculous. So get focused. Just have one or two main tools, your go-to tools that you always use, and this will help block out all of the distractions. [how to improve ielts speaking from 5.5 to 7 bands]

1. Best websites to practice English:

I would suggest the best English learning websites such as BBC Learning English, FluebtU.com, Merriam-Webster.com, and EnglishCentral.com. You can find video lessons on these websites, which cover a wide range of topics and skill levels.

2. Best Books to Practice English:

For books, I’d have for grammar, English Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy, and vocabulary, English Vocabulary in Use by Michael McCarthy and Felicity Odell.

3. Best Moblie Apps to Practice English:

Woodpecker application is really interesting to practice English. So this is a free app, right? It’s a video player built for English learning so you can access videos from all over the internet in one app. And the great thing about it is that when you’re watching a video if you don’t understand a word you hear, you can look at the transcript. You can press the word, and you get the definition straight away. This is fantastic because it means you’re learning lots of new vocabulary exactly at the moment when you’re ready to learn it, which means the learning is so much deeper.

Study The Right Way

Let’s talk now about studying the right way. Here I want to talk about improving your study habits and give you some tips to improve your fluency so you can speak without effort for a Band 7, building flexibility of vocabulary so you can give precise meaning like a Band 7.

Improving Study Habits

Here are some quick tips to help you improve your study habits.

1. Have a regular study time: First of all, have regular study time. Research on how we create habits shows us that the cue that prompts us to do something is so important. Now that might be a time, so when you say right, it’s six o’clock, I’ve come home, you see the time six o’clock, and you think that’s my study time. Or maybe first thing in the morning, 7:30 after breakfast, that’s your study time. Regular times. Also, possibly the cue might be a place. Maybe you have a special chair in your house, and when you go to that chair, that is your study chair, and that’s the cue to get you into the habit of studying.
2. Make it a regular habit: The other thing is to make it a regular habit and to build the habit so you do it again and again and again day after day like me. I’m sure you believe that developing a language takes time. It takes patience and persistence. We need to do it again. I think it was Aristotle who said “We are the sum of our habits” and therefore our actions make all the difference, right? In effect, you are the sum of your habits. All those little things you do day after day make you who you are, whether you’re lazy, responsible, loving, or caring. It’s all those little habits day after day. So, develop the habit of studying.
3. Find ways to enjoy your study: The more you enjoy it, the more you will learn, simple as that. So find things that interest you and that you enjoy spending time with so that when you wake up thinking about your studies, you’re excited. You’re not like, oh God, IELTS again. No, it’s English. You’re excited about it.
4. Be Focused: Don’t get distracted by Facebook, YouTube, scrolling emails, Skype, all of the social media, too many resources, too many tools, too many websites. Get focused and stay focused. [how to improve ielts speaking from 5.5 to 7 bands]

Improving English Pronunciation

Now let’s talk about how to improve your fluency so you can speak without effort. Um, first of all, of course, it’s good to immerse yourself in English, to be listening to lots, to be repeating, to have lots of conversation practice. But you can also try something different.

1. The Fridge Technique: This is based on a game; it’s a memory game, and it goes like this: The first person says, “In my fridge, there is a bottle of milk.” Then the next person says, “Ah, in my fridge, there’s a bottle of milk and a slice of cheese.” And then the first person says, “In my fridge, there’s a bottle of milk, a slice of cheese, and some mustard,” and it goes on and on. Right? Now we do the same here. Now, the fridge technique, then, is when you’re answering a question or talking about a topic, you add sentences or you add phrases to what you’re saying. You can do this for any question. Another example: Imagine we go on to answer, “What do you like about your hometown?” The first person answers, Well, I think it’s a lovely place. The second person answers, Well, I think it’s a lovely place because it’s not far from the sea. The first person answers and says: I think it’s a lovely place because it’s not far from the sea, and quite a few tourists visited. I hope you get the idea. So, by repeating, you’re building up your fluency. It’s a very simple technique.

Widen Your Vocabulary

Now let’s look at how to widen your vocabulary and make it more active. For a Band 7, of course, one of the key things here is to always learn words in context, preferably by listening or watching films or videos so that you know it’s spoken English.

Study a variety of topics: Learn vocabulary across a variety of different topics, and follow the simple cycle: Listen, repeat, and use. Also, remember to take notes so that you can review and possibly test yourself regularly. [how to improve ielts speaking from 5.5 to 7 bands]

Getting Unstuck High Level of Band 5.5

We’ve talked about the tools and the right way to study if you need to improve your English level because you’re at the bottom end of Band 5.5, right?

But what if you’re at the top edge of the Band 5.5 and you just need a little push to get over into the Band seven space? Well, in that case, probably different tools and a different technique.

Focus more on exam technique and IELTS exam practice

I would say. Yes, still work on developing your language because that always helps, but also work more, and spend more time on your IELTS exam technique and IELTS exam practice. So, I suggest you go to the IELTS official website and check out their preparation materials. You can find out about the format of the test; you can find out IELTS sample questions. You can do an official practice test to check where you are, and there are lots of materials to study with.

Conclusion

I hope you found useful tips on how to improve IELTS speaking from 5.5 to 7 bands. It is true practice is the only way to improve your results. But doing practice in the same way can not bring you different results. To improve your IELTS band score from 5.5 to 7 you have to change the way you study. I hope this has given you some ideas about useful tools and how to study the right way to reach your goal of getting unstuck and reaching the Band 7 space.

Students Also Read: 9 Common Mistakes in IELTS Speaking Test: Avoid These Mistakes