IELTS SNACKS with NAS

The speaker is a CELTA-certified IELTS specialist who is shocked by the suggestions of vocabulary to use in answers. They emphasize the importance of using vocabulary related to the topic and not relying on fancy words. They give an example of answering a question about snacks and suggest using specific vocabulary like "gobble down" and "dig in" instead of generic adjectives. They also promote their IELTS group classes where students can learn vocabulary, idioms, and phrasal verbs in context. Overall, the speaker encourages improving speaking skills by using appropriate vocabulary and offers their group classes as a resource. Hi there and welcome to IELTS Podcast with Nath. I am a CELTA-certified IELTS specialist with more than 11 years of international experience. I have been listening to some podcasts and to be quite honest, I am stunned, and to put it bluntly, shocked by the suggestions of vocabulary to use in answers. Using impressive vocabulary and words incorrectly will actually lower your score. Now let's take a look at an IELTS Speaking Part 1 topic with a native English speaker and a specialist who really understands what the test is all about and who is going to give you worthwhile and correct advice. The first topic that I would like to explore with you in this podcast is snacks. What snacks do you like to eat? Now here I would jot down three snacks. Maybe it's some kind of traditional snack that you have in your country, like perhaps rice cakes or maybe it's a brioche or a croissant, something like that. What else do you like to snack on? Nuts? What kind of nuts? Cashew nuts? Almonds? Alright. And is there anything else, an unhealthy snack that you like to eat? For me, personally, it's Doritos. You could also say that you like to snack on chocolates. Now you've got your ideas, but how do you create a clear, coherent and logical answer? If you notice, I'm not relying on fancy words that I do not understand, but I am using vocabulary related to the topic. So what snacks do you like to eat? Well, to be honest, I love to gobble down snacks in the afternoon and I'd say that my favorite snack, which is really unhealthy, is a bag of Doritos, extra spicy. Another snack that I often eat would be nuts, particularly almonds and cashew nuts. Now if you notice, I did not rely on crazy adjectives to boost my band. I've really heard some podcasts that suggest this and my advice to you is simply, don't. The adjective that you use with a noun has to be correct. Using a so-called band 9 adjective incorrectly with the wrong noun actually makes you sound idiotic. And what happens then? You lower your band significantly because it's just a ridiculous phrase that you are creating. So please tear up those memorized word lists and try to really improve the standard of your speaking. On italki, we are offering amazing group classes. And as an IELTS specialist, I tend to create topics that are related to IELTS. So even if you join my group class such as NASA's Convo Club or NASA Presents Breaking News, and while these are not IELTS group classes, the topics are very closely related to IELTS topics. For example, I have a wildly popular group class which is street food. And that relates so well to the topic of snacks. In this group class, you learn idioms and phrasal verbs related to street food, things like dig in and gobble down, what fools you up. Now this is real vocabulary learned in context. Yes, you have to invest time and money, an hour of your time to learn these phrases, but I guarantee that you will be using them correctly. And let's move on to another question about snacks. When do you usually eat snacks? So I would say that I have two ideas here, maybe when I'm studying or working on a project and definitely when I'm watching TV. Now watching TV is great. From the podcasts I've heard, you are being told to say, when I watch fascinating series on TV. How about, now listen carefully to this. When I binge watch Netflix. Now which one is better? Really think about it. Instead of going with the fascinating, mind-boggling, okay, when I binge watch, that's really high level. So let's go back to the question, when do you usually eat snacks? Well I'd say that there are two times when I gobble down snacks. And the first would be when I'm studying. I really need to have something on hand to munch on. And I also eat snacks like Doritos and popcorn when I binge watch Netflix series. And I guess that would be every weekend. So did you hear what I did there? I took topic-specific vocabulary, vocabulary related to snacks instead of relying on a cheap trick like using adjectives all the time. And I incorporated the verbs and the nouns related to snacks into the answer. So I used phrasal verbs like gobble down and I used words like dig in. And because the question was when do I usually eat it? Well when I'm doing something, so it was a verb. When I binge watch Netflix or when I'm studying, when I hit the books. So can you see how you improve and elevate your answer? This is how you score the big numbers for IELTS speaking. So once again, join our group classes and learn vocabulary, idioms, and phrasal verbs in context. We really do hope that you enjoyed this podcast, IELTS with Nath. Please leave a comment, like, subscribe, and check us out on IELTS group classes where we guarantee that you will have a whale of a time. Our classes are very popular. Every lesson comes with a detailed lesson plan and these are truly high-value sessions. It's not a case of a group of people sitting around and chattering about nothing. Every lesson is created in accordance with SALTA methods and we guarantee that you will see improvement from the very first day. So thanks for signing up to our podcast. Thanks for listening. Ciao for now.