Understanding IELTS

Techniques for English Language Tests

Week 2: Making notes for Part 2 of the Speaking Test
There are many different ways to use the one minute preparation time in part two of the
speaking test. Lets look at the sample question from Step 2.9:

You need to make sure that you address all the key points in the task so one possibility is
to write down notes for each point like this

Wild animal wild pig/boar

1. Appearance

Dark colours brown/black fur

Size similar to a large dog but fatter

Teeth or fangs coming up out of its mouth

2. Habitat

Lives in forests near Barcelona

Sometimes goes into city

3. Like/dontlike

Can be dangerous

People hunt them

Nocturnal looks scary at night

Great! City wildlife in 2015

Understanding IELTS
Techniques for English Language Tests

Some people prefer to use mindmaps or spider-graphs like this

while others prefer just to make a list of some key words they plan to use in their talk:

brown/black fur
fangs
nocturnal
hunt
forest

There is no one best way the important thing is to try different methods and find the
one that works best for you.