Assess this speaking, please

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lmoore
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Re: Assess this speaking, please

Post by lmoore »

Hi, Yura,
This recording has several problems with subject / verb agreement, as well as with pronoun / article noun agreement.
Here are some examples:
One of the most useful gadgets are smartphone – One of the most useful gadgets IS THE smart phone.
to send SMS – to send SMSs or to send AN SMS
For educational purpose – purposes
different documentary about the wild – documentaries
technology facilitate- facilitates
this inventions – this invention or these inventions
Your organization was nice, with good transitions, such as “to my mind,” and “in conclusion.” You also had some good vocabulary, like, “broaden my outlook,” “worthwhile,” and “devices.” Watch the pronunciation of “devices,” however. This words has a voiceless “s” at the end. It is not “voizless.”
As far as giving you tips on how to improve your ability to speak without memorizing your speech, I believe I have addressed that question more than once. You will have to let yourself make mistakes in English and learn from them. You are not helping yourself by continuing to memorize speeches. I am confident that you can speak English well.
Best wishes as you continue to practice!
lmoore
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Re: Assess this speaking, please

Post by lmoore »

Hi, Yura,

I am going to focus on pronunciation for this recording. There are a couple of recurring problems. One is with the “oo” sound in “football” and “childhood.” The “oo” in these words do not sound like “oo” with very rounded lips. Watch this video to help you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrIPpIfC8e4
The other pronunciation difficulty is the short “I” sound, as in “fit.” When you said this word and the word “pitch,” they sounded like “feet,” and “peetch,” respectively. Watch these videos to help you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scCesnn-0XY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BAYrt2 ... B7&index=6
Again, your transitions are very sophisticated and used well, such as “consequently, “concerning,” and “actually.” “Fanatical” is a good word to use in the context of this speech topic. Nice work there.
Here are some other corrections:
I have sedentary lifestyle – need the article A before lifestyle
to be in a good shape – to be in good shape
Best wishes as you continue to practice!
Yura
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 10:40 am

Re: Assess this speaking, please

Post by Yura »

Hi, lmoore
Thank you very much, i really appreciate your help. Excuse me if i was annoying asking about a piece of advice.
lmoore
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Re: Assess this speaking, please

Post by lmoore »

It is not annoying, but you really should be confident enough in yourself to speak without a script. No one will think you are dumb because you are learning English. He will praise the fact that you are so dedicated to learning it and trying to speak it. I speak Spanish, and I know I make mistakes all the time. My friend who is my conversation partner corrects me, and I am proud I made myself understood. I learned new words and grammar rules, and I took a step forward to being fluent. You are much further in your quest to learn English than I am in mine to speak Spanish. Be confident in yourself.
Yura
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Re: Assess my speaking, please

Post by Yura »

hi,
Could you, please, evaluate my new speaking.
The topic is the following:
Describe a happy childhood memory
You should say:
- when and where the incident you remember happened
- who you were with
- what happened exactly
and explain why it is a happy memory.
Thanks a lot.
Attachments
childhood memory.mp3
(2.35 MiB) Downloaded 468 times
lmoore
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Re: Assess this speaking, please

Post by lmoore »

Hi, Yura,
Thank you for sharing this memory of going to the seaside. It sounded like you had a lot of fun!
You really covered all of the parts of the question well. You answered each question fully, but you didn’t go overboard and give too many details. You used some good transitions, like, “for example.” I would encourage you to use more transitions to make your speech even more fluid, moving seamlessly from topic to topic.
I would encourage you to work on two aspects of your pronunciation. For example, when you say, “village,” I did not hear a strong enough “v.” It sounded more like a “w.” Make sure that your top teeth touch your bottom lip as you say “v.” You should feel a vibration when you say the sound in your throat and on your lip. Additionally, you might consider watching the short “I” sound, as in the word “hit.” When you said, “trip” and “traditions,” it sounded more like “treep” and “tradeetions.” Finally, a note on emphasis: most of the time, nouns are emphasized, not function words like “the,” “and,” “my,” etc. Content words, like nouns, are said more loudly and strongly. So when you said, “my parents,” you emphasized “MY parents” instead of “my PARENTS.”
Here are a few other notes:
there was a quite a bit of problem for me because – this was quite a problem for me
it was really boiling day – a boiling hot day
we spend the whole day with my parents – spent – Use the past tense.
I was little impressed by – I was A little impressed (Make sure you use articles before nouns when necessary.)
when I had visited seaside – when I had visited THE seaside (same as above)

Best wishes as you continue to practice!
Yura
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 10:40 am

Re: Assess this speaking, please

Post by Yura »

Hi, lmoore
Thank you for quick answer.
Yura
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 10:40 am

Re: Assess my speaking, please

Post by Yura »

hi,
I'd like to share my speaking. Could you, please, assess it?
The topic is the following:
Describe a place that you enjoy visiting.
You should say:
- where the place is
- what you can see and do there
- how it has changed since you first visited it
and explain why you enjoy visiting this place.
Thanks a lot.
Attachments
place enjoy visiting.mp3
(1.41 MiB) Downloaded 437 times
Domian
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Re: Assess this speaking, please

Post by Domian »

Sounds a little bit like reading of the paper, but I guess u already got a good score or didn't u? :mrgreen:
Yura
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 10:40 am

Re: Assess this speaking, please

Post by Yura »

hi, Domian
Probably my speech sounds a little bit like reading because i familiarize with the topic beforehand (not with the cue card but with the topic). Buy the way, i've never taken ielts exam. Anyway thanks for your reply.
lmoore
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Re: Assess this speaking, please

Post by lmoore »

Hi, Yura,

Here are a couple of things I noticed:
Emphasis in your words and word groups can sometimes be a bit off. For example, I am not sure of British pronunciation, but the word “located” is emphasized in the first syllable in American English. So it would sound like, “LO cated, but when you said it, it was “lo CATED.” Also, “walking distance” is a set phrase in English, so it is emphasized on the first word. The phrase sounds like, “walking DIS tance,” instead of “WALK ing distance.”
Additionally, work on putting your top teeth on your bottom lip as you say the /v/ sound. Otherwise, it sounds like you’re saying /w/, and “volleyball” sounds like “wolleyball.” You should feel the vibration as you say /v/ on your lips.
Finally, I think you said, “There are a lot of conflict. . .” This should be “There are a lot of conflicts.” If you said the /s/ sound at the end of “conflict,” it was not very clear.
Best wishes as you continue to practice!
Yura
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 10:40 am

Re: Assess this speaking, please

Post by Yura »

Hi, everyone
I've passed the exam and get 6.5 in the speaking part. I'd like to thank lmoore for the help. I really appreciate her time and effort. Recording myself really helps me to feel confidence, it definitely works.
Thanks.
lmoore
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Re: Assess this speaking, please

Post by lmoore »

Congratulations!
saqibali
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Re: Assess this speaking, please

Post by saqibali »

I am not looking for speaking partner but I can give you some time and volunteer to help you.
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https://www.facebook.com/pages/IELTS-No ... 3123916148
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