IELTS Energy 1466: When to Use Slang on IELTS Speaking
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This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1466, When to Use Slang on IELTS Speaking.

Welcome to the IELTS Energy Podcast from All Ears English, downloaded more than 22 million times with former IELTS examiner Jessica Beck and Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz. 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. When it comes to your IELTS Speaking Part 1 answer, the fastest way to a Band 6 is by repeating the words good, very, and a lot. Find out what else you can say for a Band 7 today. Save on Cox Internet when you add Cox Mobile and get fiber-powered internet at home and unbeatable 5G reliability on the go.

Hello.

Hello, Aubrey. How's it going today? Lindsay, fancy seeing you here. I know. What a surprise. What a surprise. I mean, normally. Yeah. Where do you usually hang out? I normally hang out over on the All Ears English podcast and the Business English podcast, but I'm so honored you invited me on today.

Yes, if you guys have been following IELTS Energy for a while, you are very familiar with Lindsay's voice or if you listen to our other podcasts. So very exciting to have you here. Thank you. I am hoping to come on the show a few times in the next few months. Looking forward to being here.

what are we getting into today yes so what is a new slang word that you've learned recently well i guess the word riz is a word that i did not know about until about two months ago perfect yes i've started hearing people call each other riz master you're the riz master okay it's changing so fast isn't it yeah oh for sure that's a good one we got a great question about

about slang. Lindsay, do you want to share this question for us? Yeah, this is from Jirona. Jirona says, "Can we use slang on the IELTS speaking exam?" Good question. Yes. And the answer is absolutely yes. Not only can you, you should.

Part of the speaking scoring system, the examiner is listening for a variety of vocabulary. So this means very informal vocabulary, slang, idioms, phrasal verbs, as well as those more formal topic specific words. So you definitely need to be learning slang. The tricky thing about slang is a lot of it's very specific.

It might be difficult to use the word Riz on your speaking exam, but there's a lot of slang that is much more flexible, will come up on any speaking exam. That's where you want to spend more time being sure that you know these and practice using them in your speaking answers. Yeah. Aubrey, do you find that a lot of newbies to IELTS tend to assume you can't use slang because normally you wouldn't think about slang on a formal English test?

Yeah, this does happen, right? If you haven't really learned the scoring system, or you might even read it and not realize what that means, variety of vocabulary. Okay, well, I'm using lots of different words. That's a variety. What that means is a variety of informal and formal. So you do need idioms and slang, as well as that more formal vocab. And a lot of new students don't know that. It is so important to know what the examiner is looking for on IELTS. So what else do we need to know here, Aubrey?

So part one is the best place for slang because these are very informal questions that you would ask a friend. So because they're so informal, they lend to idioms, phrasal verbs, slang. Definitely plan on using some of this informal vocabulary, part one answers, and also part two. If you're describing a friend, a situation, you can also definitely use this informal vocab during your part two answers as well.

I love that. So let's dive right in to some options for our listeners. And I love the idea that our listeners can study these options and have them ready to pull out of their back pocket on test day, right? Yes. What we are teaching you today is the easiest slang to use on the IELTS exam because they're replacements for very common words that are definitely going to come up in your answer. So the first one is the word "very."

Students will say vary 20 times on their exam. You cannot repeat vocabulary like that. And there are some really easy slang that you can replace it with. - Right, I imagine if we wanna get up and over that band seven, we can't be repeating 20, a vary 20 times, right Aubrey? - Exactly, that repetition of vocabulary is keeping you at a six or lower. And if you're not using slang, if you're not varying your vocabulary, your vocabulary score cannot be a seven.

So what are some things we can say, some slang words we can say instead of very? Oh, and these are just so much more fun to say too, right? And the examiner will see that life in our face and it will just increase our score automatically. So super, totally, and way.

Exactly, right? These are all perfect. If you are asked about hobbies on part one, you could say, I just started getting way into drawing. And all of these, I'm super into drawing. I'm totally into drawing. And even into, to use that as really kind of slang and informal, this is perfect for a part one answer. And of course, your answer will be longer. You're going to then share, you know, what do you like to draw? Give us some details, but throw in this slang.

Yeah, to get into something. I love that as a bonus for today, right? For our listeners to study, to get into something, to become proficient or to start to become interesting. Is there any new hobby that you're getting into these days, Aubrey? Just for an example. I did start coloring in like an adult coloring book over the holidays.

Like a Christmas one. It's actually very relaxing. I was doing it with my teenage daughters while we chatted. It was actually a really good way to have a conversation with someone while doing so. It doesn't feel like we're having this sit down serious conversation. That's so funny. Michelle and I were talking about adult coloring books over on All Ears English. And I was wondering if, you know, do they work to help you feel relaxed?

or it's more of a social thing. I love that idea. Yeah, you could do it by yourself to relax, de-stress or do it with someone else. And it's a great way to just have a chill conversation. I love it. So our listeners might, I suppose this may be a common topic that could come up on part one

hobbies. So they might want to start thinking about that too. Yeah. Part two as well. You might just be asked, describe a favorite hobby, describe a new hobby, describe a hobby you haven't tried yet. So all of this slang would be perfect. You need to be ready to throw it in as you're talking about something instead of very, if you feel yourself about to say very, maybe for the second or third time, say one of these instead.

Yes. Don't bore the examiner, please. All right, good. Number two, Aubrey, what would be another word we want to throw out the door or just use once and what else can we use instead? Yeah, the word is good. You are definitely going to want to share that some things are good. You cannot say that over and over. So some slang, awesome, rad, or lit, which is a newer one. These are all perfect instead of good.

Wow. Lit. I don't use that ever, but I love it. It's very modern and young sounding for sure. It is young sounding, right? But you can say it. It's being adopted more and I'm starting to hear it on podcasts, TV shows. So you could definitely say that you think something's lit or super lit and that just means really good, really cool. Yeah. So for example, if you're asked about sports, you could say, I've always thought volleyball was rad, but I played ultimate Frisbee last weekend and it was super lit.

And again, and there could be other options. If you feel like this, you know, doesn't suit your personality, we can also look at other words to say as well. Right? Awesome. Cool. Some of the things that you're more familiar with, absolutely use those as well. Just don't say good or very good. Yes.

Band five, band four, right? You want something less common, more interesting, more slang and informal. Yeah. Everyone knows the word good all over the entire world. So use a word that's more rare. So great. So great. I was about to say so good, but I'll say so great. There you go. Even great is better, right? But if you find yourself repeating any word, even great, you've got to have some other options, some synonyms, paraphrase what you're going to say to avoid that repetition.

All right, Aubrey, what would be number three? What's another word we should throw out? Yeah, number three is a lot, which students will say this 40 times on a speaking exam. Like this just comes up a lot that here I say a lot. It comes up so often in answers, this idea of something happening a lot, or you're doing it a lot, you're eating it a lot. You need different ways to say this. So what are some slang ways?

Yeah. So you could say tons, loads, or oodles. Oodles, that's a fun one. It is a fun one. These are all perfect, right? So instead of, yeah, I do that a lot. I do that tons. I do that loads, or I do that oodles. These all just mean a lot, but they're higher scoring because they're more informal and less common.

Yeah, I would be willing to bet that if you use the word oodles, you're going to see the examiner's side of their mouth kind of smile, a little smile. They'll try not to show it. Totally. So good. So for example, Lindsay, we're asked about your favorite dessert on IELTS. All right. So you could say when I was in France, the bakeries had oodles of delicious treats, but my favorite was fresh croissants. And Aubrey, you'd be better at pronouncing croissants than I would. What's that?

It's funny because in French, you know, it's croissant. But in English, I just say croissants. I say the R like in English. Yeah. Don't be that person. Right. Don't be that person that says everything with a French accent when the average English speaker says it croissants. Yeah.

Yeah. I do that when I order Japanese beer, Kirin, and sometimes I'll pronounce it with the Japanese pronunciation and my partner's like, "Don't do that." Don't do that. Don't be that person. That's really funny. It's so funny. All right. You could use all of these in one sentence, right? If you're asked about your favorite place to eat, you could say, "There are tons of super awesome restaurants near my home." So here you're using all of

those ideas, all of it with the slang instead of saying, there are a lot of very good restaurants near my house. Don't say that. No, that's a really smart idea. So you're really increasing your score just by doubling up or tripling up on the words here. Love it. Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real. And so is the relief from Evglyss.

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Okay, Aubrey. So what are we getting into now? Yeah, we're going to do a couple of fun sample answers. So these are both part one answers. And in each answer, we're going to use at least one of those slang words. So Lindsay, you ask me first, I'll do the first answer and then we'll have you do one. So how often do you watch TV?

Ooh, every night. I am a huge fan of Netflix. There are a lot of great shows there. Tons of, you know, mysteries, comedies, oodles of cooking shows, which I love to check out that I think are awesome. And yeah, totally relaxing to watch before bed. Very good. I love how you used oodles. You

You use totally, right? You use the word awesome. So we got in some really high powered vocabulary into your answer here. And you did hear me say a lot of once, right? I caught my, I said a lot of that's okay, right? It's all right to say these once, twice. You just don't want to repeat them more than that. Use some of these other options instead. Keep it colorful. Keep it interesting, right? Yes. Lindsay, are you ready for your question? Yes, I'm ready.

All right. What kind of TV programs do you like to watch? Oh my gosh. I like to watch tons of different TV programs, Aubrey. It's a humongous variety of what I like to watch. I'm super into this show called Tracker.

which features the actor from This Is Us. And he kind of gets hired as a private investigator and goes around solving crimes. But I love to watch loads of different kinds as well. For example, I love the show Ghosts. It is totally rad because it actually brings you back to multiple eras in time where the characters come from different times, from the 1920s, from the 1700s, and they all live together in this amazing house. It's really awesome.

Awesome. Nice. That was perfect, right? I love sharing about specific shows like you did really boosted your answer. You were able to share a lot more details. So you had this interesting slang, but that's in my answer. I probably could have improved it by sharing more details, talking about a specific show and when I watch it. Right. Yeah. So that was really well done. The more detail you can get, the better vocabulary is going to come up.

And I think also the more relaxed you'll get, the more focused you'll get. I think maybe students might worry about filling the time. Is this a speaking part one question? Yeah, this is part one. So your answers can be a little shorter, three to five sentences. But you can't just say, oh, I like crime shows. You have to give more. You got to give some details. And you got to be able to fit in the slang. So you have to say more to be able to have that informal vocab for part one questions.

Oh, yeah. You need the material. Go into the details. Bring that open. I love it. Aubrey, is there another episode our listeners need to check out right away to keep going on this IELTS track, this IELTS train? Right. We want to make sure you don't miss 1171 right here on IELTS Energy. Two hoots for IELTS speaking slang. A listener asked about the slang or the idiom not giving two hoots. So we shared some fun slang for not caring. That comes up a lot on IELTS too.

Interesting. I love that. What's our takeaway? Where should we leave our listeners today? You can and should use slang on IELTS speaking. You have got to get that variety of vocabulary, informal and formal vocab. So a lot of slang really, I mean, it has a specific context, so it's harder to use just anywhere. Today's slang is

absolutely going to come up on the IELTS speaking exam. So like you said, Lindsay, have it in your back pocket ready. I love it. Well, thanks for inviting me on the show, Aubrey. And where can our listeners go to find out their potential score if they took IELTS today? Yes, go to allersenglish.com slash myscore. You can find out what you'd get if you took IELTS today and get some resources that are at your level.

I love it. I'll see you next time, Aubrey. Have a good day. You too. Bye-bye. 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.