My worry about IELTS Speaking.....

[TADF chemist]

Hello, I haven't taken any exam on IELTS yet, but will do.

I am wondering how hard to get a Speaking of 7.0. I am from Hong Kong.

Other sections I am pretty confident, I have completed 4 year PhD study in the UK and worked for 2 year as researcher in Canadian University. No problem in daily life.

In particular, my TOEFL exam in 2013 is:

Reading: 30/30
Writing: 29/30
Listening: 27/30
Speaking: 20/30

Well, I used to get 22/30 in previous exam. I am not used to talking to a computer.....

My expected IELTS band for each section are follows (with reference to Express Entry score), do you think realistic?

Reading: 8.0-9.0
Writing: 7.5-9.0
Listening: 8.0
Speaking: 6.5

As you see, I think I can really score high in other sections than the Speaking. I really would like to have 7.0, or even 8.0 (this would be fabulous!)

I heard IETLS can be "trained" to get high score, really? Any advice?

 

[subodhp]

You should have no problem once you practice it beforehand, the test is supposed to test you on your ability to speak fluently and given your background it looks like you should have that skill already. Just stay calm, make a concerted effort to speak naturally (i.e. don't fake accent, don't try to show off by using words you don't use normally) and speak as if your friend is asking you questions. One difference from real life is you can't reply in monosyllabic answers, so practice replying in couple of sentences. Sometimes examiner may prompt you to continue speaking longer for a particular answer, so practice elaborating on your reply.