Nguyễn Ngọc Thịnh
Forum Replies Created
Band: 5.5-6.0
1. Fluency and Coherence
– In the future, please state the questions beforehand so that I know what they are and that you don’t have to repeat them when speaking, which is very unnatural.
– Try to use more sequencers to make for smoother transition between ideas where you still currently repeat the questons. Otherwise, I think you did a fairly good job linking ideas in certain places.
2. Grammatical range and accuracy
– This, along with the vocabulary, is your biggest strength. Keep up the good work by, for example, repeating the structures in your future work. I would also recommend listing phrases that you usually use so that you don’t forget about them.
3. Lexical resources
– On certain occasions, very advanced vocabulary was used. Try to use them more often so that you get used to them!
4. Pronunciation
– Again, I can understand most words that you say but the pronunciation is still problematic.
– The rate of speech is painfully slow! Try to speak faster. If you do this, you will eventually be able to pronounce more naturally. Remember, if you
– You still have the monotonous tone of voice. Try to vary it within the sentence, stressing keywords and lowering your tone on unimportant ones. Right now, you are just reading but not speaking.
– Just refer to my comments on your other responses. The problems are very similar.Band: 5.5-6.0
1. Fluency and Coherence
– First of all, very specific and great points! But remember that you shouldn’t be able to prepare these specific details when you take the real test.
– Pauses and transitions are natural.
– To introduce the topic more subtly, avoid addressing the audience directly by saying “I will choose one of the most….”. Instead say, “but one of the most popular is the Notre Dame Cathedral.”
2. Grammatical range and accuracy
– Mostly correct accurate structures.
– Pay attention to parallelism in the structure “Not only Catholics, but also foreigners visit this site”. “Catholics” is a noun while the second phrase is a clause. Instead, say “not only Catholics but also foreign visitors.”
3. Lexical resources
– On certain occasions, very advanced vocabulary was used. Try to use them more often so that you get used to them!
4. Pronunciation
– Again, I can understand most words that you say but the pronunciation is still problematic. For example, you wrongly pronounce the words “Catholic” (stress on the first syllable, not second).
– You still have the monotonous tone of voice. Try to vary it within the sentence, stressing keywords and lowering your tone on unimportant ones. Right now, you are just reading but not speaking.Chào bạn,
Về chuyện nhắc lại câu hỏi thì giờ mình đã hiểu rồi, cảm ơn bạn đã giải thích nhé. Mình cứ tưởng đấy là chủ ý của bạn. Lần sau bạn có thể ghi chú câu hỏi ra ngoài để mình biết và lúc nói không cần nhắc lại nữa.
Mình có đọc sơ qua bài trả lời mẫu bên trên và mình đồng ý với ý kiến là trong task 1 bạn nên trả lời ngắn gọn. Tuy nhiên, mình nghĩ bạn có thể có một câu mở đầu để rồi câu sau giải thích cụ thể hơn thì cấu trúc bài nói sẽ rõ hơn (ví dụ như ý 4 bạn đã làm điều này). Nếu bạn chỉ dùng một câu để trả lời thì câu trả lời sẽ tạo cảm giác không đầy đủ vì thiếu đi những khoảng nghỉ (pauses) giữa các câu.
Một điều nữa là trong mẫu ở trên, nếu bạn loại bỏ hết tất cả những câu hỏi (như mình gợi ý) thì câu trả lời sẽ không có nghĩa vì bạn không thể bắt đầu câu trả lời bằng “Yes” (ý 1,4) hoặc trả lời thẳng vào (ý 2,3) vì nó sẽ tạo cảm giác đột ngột (khi mình nói “direct” là mình có ý này). Bạn nên chuyển đổi giữa các ý một cách rõ ràng để người nghe biết được là bạn đang chuyển ý. Thiếu đi điều này bài nói của bạn sẽ mất tự nhiên (như mình đã nhận xét).
Một cách để chuyển ý mà mình gợi ý là không cần dùng transition words mà dùng trực tiếp những ý liên quan với nhau. Cách này đòi hỏi bạn phải phát triển ý trước sao cho nó liên quan đến sau để chuyển. Nếu mỗi ý đều không đủ chi tiết thì bạn sẽ không thể làm điều này.
Nếu bạn có thắc mắc nào nữa thì cứ nhắn mình nhé. Cảm ơn bạn.
Band: 5.0-6.0
1. Fluency and Coherence
– You should not restate questions and answer them like that. Instead, use affirmative sentences assisted by linking devices (First, Second, In addition,… ) or if the ideas do not fit, just signal the transition with a longer pause.
– Try to speak (much much) faster because your speech is very long.
2. Grammatical range and accuracy
– “The older I get” would be better.
3. Lexical resources
– Better compared to the “art and sunny weather” response because at times you managed to use collocation such as “financial burden”,”generation gap”, etc.
4. Pronunciation
– Refer to my comments to your response to “art and sunny weather” about intonation.
– You managed to get the meaning across but try to pronounce each syllable more clearly and loudly.Band: 4.0-5.0
1. Fluency and Coherence
– You should not restate questions and answer them like that. Instead, use affirmative sentences assisted by linking devices (First, Second, In addition,… ) or if the ideas do not fit, just signal the transition with a longer pause.
– Certain answers are not developed in enough details.
2. Grammatical range and accuracy
– Insufficiently simple but mostly accurate nevertheless.
3. Lexical resources
– Mostly simple vocabulary.
4. Pronunciation
– Your intonation is extremely problematic because you did not at all make an effort to vary it. Natural speech needs ups and downs and not just flat voice like that. Try to watch some American movies and try to mimic them. Put more enthusiasm in your speech and don’t make it sound like you’re sleepy.Band: 5.0-6.0
1. Fluency and Coherence
– The rate of speech and the pauses between words made it feel really unnatural and not human-like but more machine-like. Vary the pauses and speak (much) faster.
– You managed to maintain a steady flow of ideas with little dead time.
2. Grammatical range and accuracy
– Many word form errors (e.g “frequently”, not “frequent”)
– Missing verb when you said “I have complete dependent”.
3. Lexical resources
– Certain singular/plural form errors (e.g: “purposes”)
4. Pronunciation
– Although you tried to vary your intonation to a small extent, the rate of speech, which was really slow, still made your speech monotonous. This is by far the most serious problem.
– The pronunciation is intelligible but there were many errors, the most obvious one was the lack of emphasis because you didn’t pronounce the ending of the words in many places (e.g “least”, “like”). For other words, the lack of emphasis is simply because you pronounced them too quickly.[2/14/2017, 9:17:50 AM] Cám ơn các bạn!
[2/14/2017, 8:59:44 AM] Cám ơn các bạn!
Band: 4.5-5.0
1. Fluency and Coherence
– Well, you responded to all questions but in a very direct and not subtle and natural manner. I advise against repeating questions and answering like that because it is extremely unnatural. It does not feel like you are speaking, but rather answering. Instead, use affirmative sentences assisted by signposts such as “First”, “Second”,… when you are just starting out and by ideas themselves when you’ve become experience. You actually managed to use this method by saying “Even though I like chocolate, I eat it only now and then.”
– Your points are also simplistic and not well developed. You basically gave one-sentence answer to every single question. Try to start with a topic sentence and elaborate on it.
– Because of the above reason, your response is very short and not sufficient to fulfil the requirements of the task.
2. Grammatical range and accuracy
– The length of the speech did not allow for any complex structures. Mostly correct use, though.
3. Lexical resources
– Adequate variety for the task.
4. Pronunciation
– First, you clearly made an effort to focus on intonation, especially raising your voice at the end of sentences and questions. However, I personally feel that it was unnaturally high. Try lowering just a little bit.
– Sometimes you omitted the “s” that makes plural nouns or singular form of verbs (e.g “… when it get melted”, “Valentine” (instead of Valentine’s))
– You also did not pronounce clusters such as “k” in “like”, “-t” in “eat”. But you did not do too badly in this respect.Band: 5.5-6.0
1. Fluency and Coherence
– Fairly well structured response but not supported by linking devices
2. Grammatical range and accuracy
– By far the most problematic issue. Generally, you tend to avoid any consideration of plural forms of nouns or singular forms of verbs. In other words, you rarely use “s”.
– For example, you use “emotion”, “feeling”, “detail” and “story” where their plural forms are needed.
3. Lexical resources
– Mostly simple vocabulary.
– The most obvious weakness is that you overuse “of” rather than possessives. Sometimes they are grammatically correct, just annoying; other times they are wrong (e.g “have a meeting OF” rather than “have a meeting WITH”)
4. Pronunciation
– Generally speaking, your pronunciation is intelligible and does not obstruct meaning.
– However, there are numerous errors, mostly focusing on your inability to pronounce ending clusters such as “-s”,”-th”, “-ve” or “t”. For example, listen again to your own speech and you can notice that you did not pronounce the “-th” in “death”, the “-ve” in “have” or the “-t” in “talent” and “connect” and so on.
– More subtly, you lack the emphasis in a number of other words such as “why”, “where” or “real”. Be more emphatic by lengthening that ending syllable. Instead of “real”, say “realll.”
– In certain cases, for example “sufFER” rather than “SUFfer”, intonation is also a problem.[2/13/2017, 12:54:23 PM] Cám ơn các bạn!
[2/13/2017, 12:37:36 PM] Cám ơn các bạn!
Band: 7.5 -8.0
1. Fluency and Coherence
– No doubt you were fluent in your speech.
– However, I could not see a clear structure- the speech just went on and on, partly because you did not use a lot of transition words and phrases. In actual speech, you will not need them. But in IELTS, I recommend that you use them adequately, just to make the listener’s job easier. Simply use “First”,”Second”,…
2. Grammatical range and accuracy
– There were certain tense errors (e.g “He trust me and he train…”- by the way, we don’t say “train a skill” in English”)
3. Lexical resources
– Sufficiently diversified vocabulary.
4. Pronunciation
– I particularly like your intonation, which was natural and engaging.
– Generally speaking, your pronunciation is intelligible. You managed to pronounce the ending clusters but they still feel heavy (probably because you tried too much). Relax your tongue, try to speak a bit faster so that you make it more natural (not that I advise you to speak faster in the exam- the current speed is good).
– Keep up the good work.[2/12/2017, 12:11:08 PM] Cám ơn các bạn!
[2/12/2017, 12:10:50 PM] Cám ơn các bạn!
[2/12/2017, 12:10:24 PM] Cám ơn các bạn!
[2/12/2017, 12:09:38 PM] Cám ơn các bạn!
[2/11/2017, 12:43:49 PM] Cám ơn các bạn!
[2/11/2017, 12:43:49 PM] Cám ơn các bạn!
[2/11/2017, 12:43:41 PM] Cám ơn các bạn!
[2/11/2017, 12:43:34 PM] Cám ơn các bạn!
[2/11/2017, 12:43:25 PM] Cám ơn các bạn!
[2/11/2017, 12:43:03 PM] Cám ơn các bạn!
[2/11/2017, 12:42:47 PM] Cám ơn các bạn!
Band: 5.0 – 6.0
1. Fluency and Coherence
– Fluency is a problem due to rather long pauses to think about what to say next. There were occassions on which you continuously repeated words while thinking. Just staying silent when thinking would be better and keep you calm.
– Rather than rereading provided questions as transitions, I would suggest that you just directly state your topic sentence, assisted by transitional phrases (e.g first, second, moreover,.. ). Do not phrase it as a question.
– Pay attention to time! Speak faster so that your speech is not so long.
2. Grammatical range and accuracy
– Mostly error-free because the structures were really basic.
3. Lexical resources
– Nothing outstanding but again not affected by a lot of errors.
4. Pronunciation
– You clearly made an effort to pronounce clusters but only there were still numerous errors. Too much of an effort also caused the speech to be unnaturally slow. Try speaking faster; in this way the pronunciation will come naturally to you, despite the initial errors. I would recommend mimicking, both accuracy- and speed-wise, native speakers like actors in film.
– Nevertheless, your effort is very much commendable. Keep up the good work!Band: 7.5 -8.0
1. Fluency and Coherence
– All parts of the speech were clearly defined. You did not have to so explicitly introduce the last part (about why Son Doong is worth visitng). Instead, for more natural speech, just go straight to the point. Or more tactfully, you may use a rhetorical question, such as “So why is Son Doong such a desirable destination?”.
– The explanation of the formation of the cave seems completely irrelevant and did not contribute to answering the question.
2. Grammatical range and accuracy
– “Founded” has a very different meaning than “found”. In this case, “found” should have been used.
3. Lexical resources
– “Vegetation” may have been either wrongly pronounced (more likely) or perceived with wrong spelling.
– Your use of idioms is extremely impressive. Keep practicing so that you can use them seamlessly in the real test where preparation time is extremly limited.
4. Pronunciation
– Both your strength and weakness. Refer to my comments regarding your other response.
– Do bear in mind that while the pronunciation is problematic for you, it does not (greatly) impede interpretation.
– A useful way to hone your pronunciation is to listen to proper native speakers (e.g on English-speaking channels) and mimic the way they speak. Make sure that the way you speak is 100% (or 95%) similar to the way they speak.Band: 6.5-7.0
1. Fluency and Coherence
– Overall a well developed response with clear structure as signified by linking ideas, rather than traditional sequencers. Linking parts of speech with ideas makes it more natural and less forced. You also successfully manipulated the duration of stops between sentences so indicate idea transitions.
2. Grammatical range and accuracy
-“…opportunity THROUGH WHICH…”, not “…opportunity THAT…”
3. Lexical resources
– “reunion” is not a verb.
– “For future generations” can be idiomatically replaced with “For posterity.”
– Generally, vocabulary and structures were varied and used accurately.
– Visiting a “person” is uninformational. Be more specific who this “person” might be.
4. Pronunciation
– Both your strength and weakness.
– Your intonation was fairly accurate and helped you avoid monotony.
– The most major problem of your response is the pronunciation of ending clusters (e.g “s”,”t”,”k”). Although you made an effort to address this, the pronunciation is either mixed up (pronounced at the wrong time, for the wrong word- “ItS go without saying”) or not pronounced at all (the “k” in week, the ending of “delicious”).
– In addition, numerous mispronunciations were also evident. To improve, you can transcribe your speech and then look up a seemingly hard word in the dictionary, focusing on its phonetics in order to correctly pronounce it. Alternatively, you can Google “define + X” and have Google pronounce it for you.Band: 7.5 -8.0
1. Fluency and Coherence
– Clearly structured response with effective use of linking devices.
– Although your introduction to the problem (i.e traffic jam) was well elaborated, you did not need to delve to specifically into your connection with Hai Phong; just state that it is your hometown.
– One issue: if the two solutions you mentioned are “secondary”, what is the “primary” solution? If you were referring to the second solution, make sure to better identify it (e.g by saying “these punishments”) in order to avoid confusion for listeners.2. Grammatical range and accuracy
– Subject-verb agreement problem: By showing THEM….. the regulations, PEOPLE could save time…. THEM and PEOPLE are the same, which should not be the case.
– “… who ARE caught” (missing “are”)
3. Lexical resources
– Sufficiently diversified vocabulary.
4. Pronunciation
– Both your strength and weakness.
– You paid particular attention to pronouncing ending clusters, which was impressive.
– In addition to the suggestions for your previous response, I would suggest that you speak with a higher tone in order to engage the audience. Such a low tone would somewhat bore your audience.[2/5/2017, 1:41:50 AM] Cám ơn các bạn!
Band: 7.5 -8.0
1. Fluency and Coherence
– Overall, almost a flawless run through the task with little dead time.
– For more natural speech, you do not necessarily have to state that you are going to describe this and that. Instead, go straight to the point. Something like “A time when I forgot something important occurred just a few months ago.”
– Similarly, “Thank you for listening” is probably redundant.
2. Grammatical range and accuracy
– Nothing significant, only minor mistakes, including “… would not HAVE only taken my ….”.
3. Lexical resources
– Again, no significant errors. Remember “… told my story TO”, not “with”.
– The variety of vocabulary is not much but sufficient for the task.
4. Pronunciation
– Both your strength and weakness.
– You paid particular attention to pronouncing ending clusters, which was impressive.
– The most major problem of your response is monotony and slow rate of speaking. Try to pay more attention to intonation and be more lively in when speaking.
