Today we'll look at how to make best use of your vocabulary and get your meaning across

in the IELTS Speaking Test.

Knowing how to use your vocabulary in different ways can help you maintain conversation.

When you find that you can't think of the right word, you can talk around the idea as

this candidate does here:

Do you think the children of famous people have it easy?

No, I don't think so. It must be very, very hard. You know, when I lived in Ecuador, I

knew a lot of famous people and they always have to have bodyguards, or they have to live

behind bars, you know, behind big walls, and children are always protected, and they don't

have the freedom, so it's a big price you pay.

You can picture the surroundings from her description even though she has not named

it.

She said 'have to have bodyguards' 'live behind bars'

'behind big walls' 'children are always protected'

and 'they don't have the freedom'.

She paints a clear picture of what she means: 'live behind bars' - we imagine someone in

jail; 'bodyguards' - employing someone to protect you and your children.

The vocabulary used in her description accurately, effectively and successfully describes a 'gated

community'.

The ability to use your vocabulary to describe something you don't have the exact word for

is called circumlocution. Circumlocution means 'talking around something' and is assessed

as a vocabulary skill.

During the interview the examiner may use a word that you don't know the meaning of.

Let's imagine the topic of computers in education comes up in the interview. The interviewer

takes the opportunity to explore this area and says:

Computer technology plays a big role in children's education today. Do you think the benefits

of using computers are overrated?

Let's say you don't understand the word overrated. You can ask the interviewer what that word

means, like this:

Computer technology plays a big role in children's education today. Do you think the benefits

of using computers are overrated?

What do you mean by overrated?

I mean that the benefits are regarded too highly. They're exaggerated.

This is called asking for clarification. Apart from helping you answer, it shows the interviewer

an aspect of your speaking ability. There are several ways of asking for clarification.

You could say:

Sorry, I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'overrated'.

Or

Would you mind explaining what 'overrated' means?

All these examples ask for clarification appropriately. They range from the least formal what do you

mean by …? to the most formal would you mind explaining …?

It would be inappropriate in such a formal interview to just say:

What's overrated?

It would, however, be more to your advantage if you tried to guess the meaning of overrated

and then checked with the interviewer whether your understanding is correct.

Let's try doing this.

You know from your own experience that the use of computers for education can be good

and bad. The question asks about benefits. Benefits are good things but are they overrated?

Is there any part of the word you recognise?

It starts with 'over', a prefix you might know. You hear of overpopulation and people

being overweight. That's too many people … and too fat. So 'over' probably means 'too

much'. And it's not a good thing.

So you can check with the interviewer to see if you've understood by rephrasing the question

like this:

Computer technology plays a big role in children's education today. Do you think the benefits

of using computers are overrated?

Are you saying that the benefits of computer use might not be that good?

Yes, that's right.

Asking a question like this shows that you can use your vocabulary skilfully.

The questions in the Speaking Test interview are designed to encourage answers that show

you can use a range of language functions.

The interviewer wants to see if you can express an opinion, or speculate or give a suggestion.

It's a good idea to vary the ways you respond.

Take the question: Do you think there is too much violence in films today?

It's inviting you to express an opinion, like this:

As far as I'm concerned there is too much violence in films these days.

But there are other ways of expressing an opinion. Listen:

In my opinion there is too much violence in films these days.

From my point of view there is too much violence in films these days.

It seems to me that there is too much violence in films these days.

Well, I would say there is too much violence in films these days.

The same applies to speculating. Speculating means making suggestions, where you don't

necessarily know the right answer.

Here are some phrases you can use to speculate:

Why do teenagers vandalise public transport?

If I had to guess I'd say that it's boredom

I'm not sure but from my observation it's boredom

I imagine that the most important reason would be boredom

And here are some ways to give suggestions:

What would you do to improve public transport?

I think what should be done is increase services

The problem could be solved by increasing services

What might be done is increasing services

Another strategy is to use synonyms or words that have similar meanings.

Listen to this candidate doing this:

Why have the forms of popular entertainment changed over the years?

Because the society has changed a lot, and now we seem to be rushing all the time and

want to consume everything a lot faster, so I think every form of entertainment is also

reflecting that kind of very fast, quick way of wanting something different and wanting

something very quickly.

He uses a number of synonyms to talk about how society has changed - he feels there is

a need for things to be done in a hurry.

He uses the synonyms: rushing, fast and quick. He uses different word forms: the adjective

fast and its comparative faster, the adjective quick and the adverb quickly.

By using a variety of synonyms and different word forms he is managing communication well

and maintaining fluency.

Listen again:

Because the society has changed a lot, and now we seem to be rushing all the time and

want to consume everything a lot faster, so I think every form of entertainment is also

reflecting that kind of very fast, quick way of wanting something different and wanting

something very quickly.

One way to build up your vocabulary is to organise words around categories such as movement.

You can arrange words like this:

Some synonyms are fast and quick.

A collocation, or group of words often used together is 'rushing all the time'

Word forms would be faster and quickly.

Some opposites would be slow and sluggish.

An idiom could be 'in the fast lane', which means living an exciting if sometimes risky

life.

Keep adding to this and then using the words you've discovered.

That's all for now.

To find more information about the vocabulary you need for the Speaking Test visit our Study

English website. The address is: australianetwork.com/studyenglish.

Good luck with your studies. Bye for now.