IELTS Energy 1633: Pei-Yao's Practice IELTS Speaking Exam

This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1633, Pei Yao's Practice IELTS Speaking Exam. Welcome to the IELTS Energy Podcast from All Ears English, downloaded more than 22 million times with the IELTS whiz, Aubrey Carter, and today's featured guest. If you are stuck with a low score, our insider method will help you get the score you need to unlock your dreams. Get your estimated band score now with our two-minute quiz.

Go to allearsenglish.com forward slash myscore. Today, we bring you part one of an amazing new series. You'll meet Three Keys student Pei Yao and hear her full IELTS speaking exam. Listen in to hear her use of band nine vocabulary and strategies.

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the show. And welcome to our very special guest, Pei Yao. Thank you for being here, Pei Yao. Thank you for having me, Aubrey.

I'm so excited to be here. This is going to be awesome. I have been wanting to do this for a while. We are going to share with you a full speaking exam.

So Pei Yao is going to do the entire speaking exam today, part one, part two, part three. And then this is a two-part series. In the next part of the series, I am going to provide feedback for Payow's scores, what she did well, what she could improve.

We'll pull out specific vocabulary and phrases that you guys should be using, strategies that you can use on your speaking exam. So this is going to be extremely helpful, especially if you've never taken the speaking exam before. So you can see what's the format. You'll know what to expect a little better.

And then also to see some of the things Pei Yao might be doing right or wrong that you see in your own speaking answers. But first, Pei Yao, can you introduce yourself? Let us know where you're from and why are you studying for IELTS?

Yes, sure. Hi, everyone. My name is Pei Yao. I'm an artist based in New Taipei, Taiwan. My work spans mainly media art, interactive installations, and performance.

So... because I want to study abroad about digital media or media art. So I'm now preparing for my IELTS exam. Awesome. Thank you. This is very exciting.

And Pei Yao is in the Three Keys course. You have completed the speaking module, right? So you'll be able to use the strategies you have learned there today on this practice exam. Yes, I hope so.

Yes. Awesome. Okay. Without further ado, let's dive in. And just so everyone knows, I'll be using the script examiners use. So a lot of what I say is what the examiner will say.

I will be trying not to react just like examiners are not supposed to react to your answers. And I am going to give Pei Yao that one minute to prepare her answer for speaking part two, but we'll edit out that minute of silence so that you guys don't have to sit through it. So let's dive in and we're going to give you the full speaking exam. Are you ready, Pei Yao?

Yes. All right, let's get started. Now, in this first part, I'd like to ask you some questions about yourself. Let's talk about your employment. Do you work or study?

I'm currently working in a design company. Actually, you can call it a studio because it is relatively small. There are only four colleagues there. and I work more as an administrative than a designer there.

So two of my co-workers are designers, and one of them are mainly focusing on interior design, while the other do mostly graphic design. Do you get along well with your co-workers?

Well, that's a tricky one, actually, because they are being nice to me, but they are about 20 years older than me. So we are not quite friends or close, but...

They are more treating me like a little sister or little girl in a way, more like a dad. But I think that can count as good. What do you hope to be doing in the future?

Actually, I really wanted to be a professor teaching in a university about art or digital media because that's my professional area. And I... I think I have the passion to dive in the theory and practice about that. So with the ecosystem within the education environment, I think that would absolutely spark my artistic idea further.

Let's discuss food and cooking. What sorts of food do you like eating most? Well, actually, I am a foodie, so it is hard to choose one. But what comes to my mind first is luwei, or you can call it braised cuisine.

It is a Taiwanese food. dishes, you can pick whatever ingredients you want, maybe vegetables, meat or tofu, anything you can think about might be in a basket and you can just pick what you want and then hand it over to the shop

the store owners and they will raise that for you. That was really, sometimes it can be rich, but sometimes it can be with soups. Yeah, anyway, that is a super budget-friendly cuisine to eat in Taiwan.

Who normally does the cooking in your home? Wow. I would say it is usually my husband will do the cooking because if I am all by myself in the kitchen, I would be like a chicken with my head cut off.

Yeah, so I am not a good chef, but he surely is. And I actually enjoy helping him out by cutting all the ingredients by his side or wash some dishes in case he needs to use it again.

Yeah, so that's how it works in my home. Do you watch cooking programs on TV? Oh, I tend not to, not because I'm not interested in that, but I try to avoid temptation, especially during the night.

Or I might get hungry after watching them and I might go just grab any food in a night market because it is extremely convenient for a Taiwanese person to grab food in the middle of the night.

Let's move on to talk about your name. Does your name have any special meaning? Oh, my name? You mean in my native name? Yes. Wow. That is interesting because my name was given by my grandfather.

And at the time, he... He was hoping me to be enthusiastic and full of energy. So the first word of my name kind of is composed with that meaning. And the second word is like...

a noun, a kind of beautiful rock, kind of like diamond. So I would be, in my, the full meaning of my name would be an energetic, lively diamond. Yes, something like that.

Is your name common or unusual in your country? I don't think it's common. Especially we have different letters with the same pronunciation. So I think the word in my name is relatively rare.

But I have heard some words whose names are pronounced the same but with different characters. If you could change your name, would you? No, I wouldn't.

Though I did change my name when I was about five or six years old, which is by my grandfather, as I said. But after being called Pei Yao for... almost over 20 years, I think that is inherent in me. So I have identified this as part of my characteristic.

Now in this part, I'm going to give you a topic and you must talk about it for one to two minutes. You will have one minute to take notes and think about what you are going to say. Do you understand?

Yes. Describe a time when you helped a friend. All right. Remember, you have one to two minutes for this. So don't worry if I stop you. I'll tell you when the time is up.

Can you start speaking now, please? I remember one time a friend of mine who was my classmate in my master's degree. She was installing her work in the museum at my campus.

And that was in midnight then, but she was in such a rush that she couldn't finish her installation by her own. And what's more, she lacked one of the most important things that she needed to hang her projector. So before I just about to go to sleep, she called me a

All of a sudden, Ann asked me if I can lend her this tool and also to help her with installation. I immediately said yes, and then I just drove my car to school. That was about one or two

2 a.m. and I stayed all night to help her finish her work. Also, I remember I drove out again from campus just to buy some little component she needs within her work.

I kind of ran to different stores. Thank you. Did she seem grateful for your help? Yes, totally. She is. Karen wanted to apply for permanent residency in Canada.

To do this, she knew she needed the highest scores on IELTS she could get. She thought she might do okay on listening and reading, but she was super worried about speaking and writing. So she decided to trust Three Keys IELTS. She made the right choice.

She ended up getting an overall 7.5. If you're taking the general exam to immigrate or the academic exam to study abroad, Three Keys IELTS has all the resources and practice you need, and you get personalized feedback and scores on your final exam. Go to allearsenglish.com slash keys. That's allearsenglish.com slash K-E-Y-S.

All right. We've been talking about a time you helped a friend, and I'd like to ask you one or two more questions related to this. Let's talk about helping others within a community. Which groups of people generally need the most support in a community?

I would say those who from the more... marginalized community, those kids from there. Because when I was a junior high school student, I remembered clearly that one boy who seated right behind me, he smelled kind of stinky, and everyone can tell that he is not...

So after we knew that he was in an unstable family and also his mother is not currently with him. I think I was being empathetic about his situation, but I was also aware that I don't

know much how to help him. So in sum, I would think those kids in vulnerable positions would need help first. Who do you think should pay for the services that are available to people in a community?

I'm sorry, my mind just goes blank. Could you repeat that? Who do you think should pay for the services that are available to the people in a community? I think

Though it must be harder for those who are already in low income to pay, but in my view, I believe that people can pay less or more, but as long as you are using the service, you should at least pay a little bit because

I think it is more about responsibility, being responsible for yourself and your community, rather than being the one that is always taking help from others and giving help to others. Some people say that people help others in their community less now than they did in the past. Do you agree or disagree?

Hmm, that's a very interesting question. I would say, actually, I'm not sure, but I would say yes, because when I was a little child in my community, when I was out playing, sometimes I bumped into those

Maybe they are the parents of my classmates in kindergarten. They will say hello to me and ask, how am I doing recently? But so far, as I am living in my apartment here, we seldom chat with our neighbors, even we live in the same building.

Thank you. Let's talk about volunteer work. Why do you think people volunteer? I think... I believe that that is because they are passionate about... the issues or the stuffs within that area.

For instance, people who joined to volunteer to tell stories to children to students in a school mostly they are parents but um like um i can feel that they they though they are not teachers but they have the love for children and also the passion to education thank you have you ever done any volunteer work

Let me recall a bit Yes, yes. I've done this maybe once or two. If my memory serves me well, I remember when I was in college, I joined a group. We were aiming to teach the junior high students in a remote area in Taiwan.

And we prepared courses about theater and drawings and singing, dancing, etc. But unfortunately, a typhoon came and we just needed to cancel all the plans. So I didn't really go there.

All right. Moving on, let's talk about work ethic. Why is it important to have a good work ethic? Well, I believe that it is important because as long as you are working with people in a community or in a group, you

there should be a rule that is followed by everyone. Otherwise, I don't think the teamwork can work, actually. For instance, in my company, if my colleagues didn't...

they didn't regulate themselves to finish their primary design before the deadline. For me, it would be hard to explain to a client that why the design is still not out. Thank you. How can children learn a good work ethic?

For that, in my view, I strongly believe that parents should be their role models. For instance, he is now retired, and he was not as hardworking as most people would think that would be, but he is...

I would say he is passionate about knowing his patient because he is a psychologist. And he would also share how he interacts a bit about how he interacts with his patient. And I can see how he's being very serious and also reflective about his own work. Thank you.

That is the end of the speaking test. Payal, well done. This is exciting. This is a great opportunity for everyone at home to hear a full speaking exam and for you to get a little practice.

And I'm very excited for part two of this series to give you your scores and feedback. You did so many things really well. Great use of vocabulary, a lot of great linking phrases, some great strategies you're using. So we're going to break it all down in the next episode, guys.

Be sure to hit follow right here on the IELTS Energy Podcast. Come watch on YouTube if you want to see the video of this speaking exam. And we'll see you right back here for part two. Thank you, Payal.

See you in part two. Bye. Thanks for listening to IELTS Energy. Hit subscribe now and don't forget to find your estimated band score at allearsenglish.com slash myscore.