Exercises for study partners

Having a study partner to practice English with can enable your English to improve rapidly. If possible, choose a partner at the same English language level possibly someone in the same class who wants to do the IELTS test at the same time as you do. It would be a good idea if this person spoke a different first language from you, so you can work solely in English.

Just a minute or two

This is an activity which improves fluency. Choose one of the following topics or choose one of your own. Then talk for one to two minutes on the topic without any repetition or long hesitations. If your partner notices any repetition, and then you should start again. Once you have successfully finished, it is your partner's turn to speak about another topic.

Possible topics

• Refugees
• My favourite restaurant
• Developments in personal communication
• A perfect weekend
• Student fees
• My best travel experience
• Noise pollution
• Something that scares me
• Dangerous games
• The last book I enjoyed
• Technology and education
• An interesting person I've met in the last week
• Diet and health
• A person I really admire

You can adapt the game to focus on other aspects of speaking; for example, say 'stop' when you hear a grammar mistake or a pronunciation error, and so on.

Reading aloud

Read aloud to your study partner. As this involves reading to an audience, you will need to incorporate all the features of delivering a presentation. Read the text first and mark it up with word and sentence stress before you begin. While doing this, try to hear the sound in your head before you make it with your voice.

[Focusing on IELTS - Kerry O'Sullivan and Steven Thurlow]