IELTS: IELTS Speaking Section Structure Scoring
Identifying Correcting Errors in Your Own Speaking

English is a global language, thus knowing how to speak English correctly can help you in various aspects of your life. Since we’re not native speakers, there are some common mistakes that we make whenever conversing in English.

Identifying Correcting Errors in Your Own Speaking

Do you fear making mistakes in English? Why?

Dreaming about speaking perfectly, but then doing nothing to overcome your fears and insecurities is just not realistic.

So let’s first discuss why we fear mistakes.

The reason language learners usually fear mistakes is because we’re following the ‘rules’ that other people have made for us.

You have been programmed by schools, classes, and society to fear making mistakes, especially when it comes to speaking a language

Society idolizes talent instead of hard work

Whether in sports, academia, Hollywood, etc., we tend to praise people for being talented, instead of working hard.

This makes it easy to develop a mindset of, “I’m just not a good language learner.” If we victimize ourselves and make excuses, then it is certain that we will never become good language learners

Misconceptions

As we’ve just found out, we have a fear of mistakes that have been forced upon us by schools, traditional classes, and society.

Now, let’s discuss a bit more why mistakes are in fact a good thing.

No one is perfect

When it comes to learning a language, perfectionism is a very bad thing. If you refuse to speak until you can do it perfectly, you’ll be studying forever and will never get fluent.

Misconception 1: Natives speak perfectly

Native speakers (of any language) do NOT speak perfectly.

We don’t even speak as you learned in school. We make incomplete sentences. We bend the rules of grammar. We’re flexible in how we pronounce some words: Cutting some and morphing others. most native speakers don’t care if you make mistakes, as long as we can understand you. This means that your biggest goal should be to be understood, not to speak perfectly.

Misconception 2: Fluency is speaking without mistakes or accent

What is more important than not making mistakes is being confident in your abilities to speak the language. If you speak competently but are shy and nervous, you’ll be perceived as an English learner. And perhaps lower than your true level.

However, if you are confident and excited to speak with someone, even if you make mistakes and have an accent, you’ll be perceived as an English speaker! This is true fluency: Speaking confidently and being able to describe whatever you need to in the target language, even when you don’t know some words. Fluency is NOT speaking without ever making a mistake and with perfect pronunciation.

Misconception 3: If I make mistakes my English is bad

By now, you should realize this one. You can make mistakes and still be a GREAT English speaker.

Don’t let anyone fool you, mistakes are amazing! They are like a map that shows you where you need to make improvements. Mistakes are a crucial part of the process.

Think about it. If you want to be great at anything you have to make mistakes.

Conquer your fears

Now you know exactly why you fear errors and hopefully you are thinking about mistakes differently.

start speaking English, by showing you how to overcome your fear and to (eventually) speak without mistakes!

The 7 Worst Speaking Mistakes Professionals Make

1. Stuttered or repeated words and fillers
These, uh, filler words are ubiquitous in everyday speech. "Like," "um," "er" and others are used routinely in casual conversations, so often go unnoticed. But they stick out when used in professional settings.
2. Speaking too quickly
Rapid speech is a common effect of nerves and can make the speaker hard to follow.
3. Speaking too quietly
Another routine problem for people is learning to project and speak at the correct volume.
4. Gravelly voice or vocal fry
This occurs when the flow of air in a person's throat becomes interrupted, and sounds in their speech take on a creaky, gravelly quality.
5. Trailing off at the end of phrases
That means important words can easily get lost or thoughts can feel uncompleted. "You want to keep your voice supported and the thought going all the way to the end of the idea
6. Uptalk or phrasing statements as questions
Speakers struggling with uptalk should record themselves and then make an effort to keep their pitch from rising at the end of a sentence.
7. Speaking in a monotone voice
one of the worst speaking mistakes is to use a dull, monotone voice. Allowing for some degree of variation in the tone and color of your phrasing.

15 Common Mistakes We Make While Speaking English

Mistake # 1

Use of double negative. Since most of us try to translate a sentence to English from our native language, thus, we end up adding double negative while speaking out. This is wrong.

Mistake # 2

Use of the wrong tense. M

any of us have the tendency to use the wrong tense.

Mistake # 3

Use of two comparatives/superlatives together.

A sentence must not have two superlatives or comparatives together.

Mistake # 4

Me v/s I.

Clear it in your mind that “I” is the subject and “me” is the object. We usually confuse between the two.

Say v/s tell.

While we speak in English, most of use make mistake differentiating between say and tell.

Mistake # 5

Fewer v/s less.

The word fewer is only used for items that can be counted, whereas less is used for the uncountable.

Mistake # 6

Using ‘s’ unnecessarily after every word.

This is a very common mistake we usually make.

Mistake # 7

Does v/s do.

“Does” is used for the singular form of the subject, while “do” is used to indicate the plural form of the subject.

Mistake # 8

Blunder and mistake.

Another common mistake we make while speaking is mixing blunder and mistake.

Mistake # 9

Cope up v/s cope with.

It is a common mistake that people make while speaking. We generally use both cope up and with together.

Mistake # 10

Revert back/ reply back and revert/reply.

This mistake is mostly made by all of us. We always use ‘revert back.’ However, meaning of both the word are similar.

Mistake # 11

Bring and take / come and go

Things come towards you and go away from you. You can only go away from the place you are or come back to it.

Mistake # 12

Overuse of will for future

Mistake # 13

Pronouncing sounds that aren’t there

you can do to make yourself better understood is to improve your pronunciation.

Mistake # 14

Putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable

Mistake # 15

Not speaking enough

The most important thing, and the reason we learn a language, is to communicate.

10 steps to overcome language-learning barriers

Have you ever felt like you’re taking one step forward and two steps back on the road to learning a new language? It’s easy to feel stuck when you’re constantly forgetting new expressions you’ve learned and grammar rules keep getting jumbled up in your head. Many learners face barriers that are seemingly impossible to overcome.

1. Organise your learning materials

Sort your learning materials into categories – for example, grammar, vocabulary, writing skills, etc.

2. Get out of your comfort zone

Try to spend as much time as you can with people who don’t speak your native language.

3. Learn from your mistakes

Language learning is a slow process. you talk to someone in English, ask them to gently correct you or repeat an incorrect sentence you may have said in the correct way. Keep in mind that your mistakes don’t define you – they’re a part of the journey towards growth.

4. Watch daily videos on YouTube

Set aside time every morning to watch a video or two on YouTube.

5. Read your favorite books in English

Reading is one of the best ways to enrich your vocabulary and get more comfortable with the English language.

6. Follow social media accounts that help you learn English

We spend so much time on social media every day, we might as well make the most of it.

7. Learn a few poems and recite them

A great way to practice is by learning poems or short stories by heart and reciting them to your friends and family.

8. Try thinking in English

Have you ever tried to turn your inner monologue into English?

Maybe that long-awaited “switch” hasn’t happened yet, and you’re still thinking in your native language when speaking English, translating sentence by sentence.

9. Fall in love with the process

Language learning is a beautiful process. Focus on what you’re doing right now to reach your goals instead of obsessing over the goals themselves.

10. Take Test of English

When you’re trying to achieve something that takes a lot of work, setting measurable goals is very important. In the case of language learning, a test can serve as the perfect opportunity to gauge where you’re at and provide a specific challenge to prepare for.

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IELTS: IELTS Speaking Section Structure ScoringIdentifying Correcting Errors in Your Own Speaking