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Speaking - always one complicated question

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 3:15 pm
by Username
Is it true that examiner need to ask one question which is grammatically more complex compared to other questions? I took twice times the exam and both times the examiner (different examiners) asked one question which I could not understand at first, because it was very long question (4-5 times longer than other questions) and with unusual/complex grammar and syntax, and this question he pronounced very fast... even when I asked him to repeat it, it was very fast pronounced, again... Is it usual tip for examiners or just my bad luck/lack of English knowledge?

Re: Speaking - always one complicated question

Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 1:39 am
by David.IELTS.Examiner
Hi!

To begin with, and to be absolutely clear, I don't know for sure what happened in your test.

However, in part 3, examiners are supposed to 'push' candidates to their linguistic limits and asking more complex questions is a way of doing this.

Some examiners do also speak faster, but personally I think this is a bad idea as the candidate is more likely to ask for a repeat.

With more complex part 3 questions, some candidates respond well :P and others don't :( as you can imagine.

All the best,
David