IELTS Energy 1488: Self-Aware Band 9 Part 2 Describing a Person
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This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1488, Self-Aware Band 9, Part 2, Describing a Person.

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 my score. Are you self-aware and intentional? Today, you'll learn band nine vocabulary for describing yourself and others on the IELTS speaking exam. We'll also share a part two sample answer with high scoring transition phrases.

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I think I am. Yeah, I feel like I'm aware of my negative characteristics as well as some of the amazing things about me. I think you're pretty self-aware too. Yeah, Jess? I hope so. I think so. I think it's something you and I have both been intentional about developing, right? Because nobody is naturally self-aware. I don't think anybody is naturally self-aware, right?

I know, right? It takes work. Sometimes it takes therapy, counseling, right? Because there will be things that you don't realize about yourself until someone shares that with you or a therapist points it out. This definitely happens. Totally. So that is just one phrase we're going to teach you guys today. These really high level phrases that are kind of like

hot button phrases these days, right? In all of our self-help videos that we all see on Instagram or whatever. But then we're going to show you how to use them in a speaking part two answer as well.

Yes, you often have to describe people or yourself on especially part two, but all over the IELTS exam. So you need to be ready. And we've seen students really struggle with this. If you decide to describe someone that maybe you lost recently, and then you become very emotional, like that's very difficult sometimes to talk through that emotion. So you want to think ahead of time about, you know, what, who could you describe and what personality traits would you share?

That's such a good point. I think really doing well on the speaking exam is evidence of being self-aware, like we're talking about, right? Knowing that, you know, if I...

If I talk about this difficult situation in my life, I might start crying. Like I'm not able to talk about that. Yeah, totally. And I don't know about you guys, but I can't really control my voice. When I start crying, I get emotional. It's like I have a frog in my throat. It's pretty extreme. So if you're able to talk through those emotions, I'm impressed. But you would not want to have to like be distracted by that during the IELTS exam. You want to do everything you can to avoid that happening.

exactly exactly all right guys so we have four phrases we're gonna teach you and then we'll do a part two answer at the end so this first phrase is self-aware i like the way aubry you answered my question to you in the beginning where it's you defined it perfectly it's it's knowing

both the positive and negative aspects of yourself, right? And often like one characteristic, let's say like being a hard worker that has both positive and negatives, right?

Yes, exactly. You could share how that has helped you in life as well as how it has hurt you. There are a lot of resources online and books to become more self-aware, strengths finder personality tests. And you can talk about those on IELTS as well. Say I actually took a strengths finder test and discovered that I am and share the results.

Totally. There's a lot of free tests like that you can take online, guys. So, okay, let's move on to intentional. This is another adjective. How would you define intentional?

This is interesting because we'll often talk about just intentionally doing something like a day-to-day task, right? But when we use it to describe a person and say that they are intentional, it means they're very thoughtful about their intentions. Why are they doing what they're doing? Exactly. And you guys have to be intentional in your IELTS practice, right? Like we talked about recently on the show,

practicing IELTS listening is not going to help you on speaking, right? So being intentional is also being self-aware. It's being honest with yourself about the benefits for doing something, and then you're more likely to reach that goal, right? So it's keeping the reason in mind when you are doing something.

Yes, this is a lot about really knowing the scoring system for IELTS. If you're studying for speaking or writing and you're not very familiar with the band descriptors and what the examiner is looking for, you might be studying the wrong thing, you might be focusing on the right thing. So to be more intentional, you want to make sure you know what you're being graded on. Yeah, exactly. I do want to point listeners to a recent episode we did called IELTS 1476.

answer the toughest part three questions with personality because today we are talking about personality. But definitely scroll up guys because there's some great model answers for really hard part three questions in that episode. - If you missed that one, be sure to hit follow because you're missing some of our great episodes. So hit follow IELTS Energy so that the episodes drop right into your queue. - Yes, awesome. All right, two more phrases here, interpersonal skills.

This is a hot topic in job searches now, this phrase interpersonal skills. It's just a fancy way of saying you're good at talking to people. That's really it. We also call them people skills sometimes or soft skills. There are a few different ways we say this, but yeah, it's how social are you? How good are you in a

crowd, some of those skills that you might not put on your resume, but that are also really important for how strong of a coworker you are. Yes, totally. And jobs do want to see that these days, right? They want to see, like Aubrey said, these soft skills, interpersonal skills. That's one of them. And the next phrase is also a soft skill, having empathy. What is empathy?

Yeah, this means that you can understand how someone feels, what they are going through. So different from sympathy, where you sort of like feel badly for them, empathy is more of understanding of the situation. Yeah, it's like almost being able to feel what another person is feeling.

Not like the psychic connection or anything, but you do have a greater understanding of other people's feelings. And you are able to sense that immediately, even if they don't say directly how they're feeling.

Right. So this is definitely easier if you actually have been through a very similar circumstance. You can say, I have empathy for you. I went through the same thing. But if not, then it is sometimes you have to sort of imagine how that might feel. Yeah, totally, totally.

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All right. So now I'm going to give a part two answer and I'll let you know, I have not even taken notes for this. This is going to be completely spontaneous. Yes, I'm very excited. And then I will provide you feedback. I'm going to get my timer ready here. Jessica, describe a person you admire.

Well, I'm going to describe my mom. Yes, my mother. I do admire her very much. One of the main reasons, honestly, is what she achieved later in her life when she was, I think she was 40. She decided to

change her life and she went back to school. And during that time, she was also getting divorced from my dad. Don't want to give you too much information here. But that is what was happening in her life and our lives. And

through this process, she really developed a self-awareness that I think a lot of people of her generation don't have. A lot of people in our parents' generation did not choose to go through therapy. They really pushed away that self-awareness. So I admire that she really was intentional about developing that later in her life. And I

As she was going through school, she discovered that she really wanted to be a dietitian. And she actually ended up getting a master's as well in her 40s.

And one reason why she was able to get such amazing jobs right out of school is that she has incredible interpersonal skills. She can talk to anyone about anything because she's had such a diverse life. She has worked in sales. She owned her own company when her and my dad

were still married and then she transferred these skills into being a dietitian and to be a dietitian to counsel people who have issues with food you also have to have a lot of empathy and i think growing up when she did when it was more or less accepted for women to have eating disorders it wasn't thought to be a big deal right if we think about you know like the twiggy models from the 1960s

being able to realize that that is not a healthy way to go through life. Thank you. I'm so sad to cut you off. I would love to hear more. You're getting really interesting there. I am so excited to highlight, especially the linking phrases you used here. I'm going to point them out. And then I want you guys to listen to Jessica's answer again. When you tell a story or when you're describing a person in part two, this is one of the best

places where you can use linking phrases to transition between ideas, move your thoughts along and really boost your fluency and coherence score. So I'm going to dive into some of these. First, one of the main reasons that, so you know, Jessica, she knows she's going to share a bunch of reasons, you know, that she respects and admires her mother. This is a great link, a great introduction to start with that. And then also,

And honestly, when she was 40, so this you're stating, you know, her age when you're going to share the next detail during that time. Then you share what happened at that time and then a little bit later throughout this time. So notice the lack of repetition, a couple of different linking phrases to share that what happened, you know, at that time in her life.

And then as she was going through school, so all of this different vocabulary to share, you know, at what time something happened, she actually ended up, which means how sort of that situation turned out.

And then, you know, one reason she was able to. So another way to introduce a new reason. And then then she transferred. And then and I think growing up when all of these linking phrases that if you imagine Jessica's answer without them, it would be stacks of, you know, simple sentence, maybe complex sentences, but without this transition between things.

thoughts, these linking phrases make it native and natural and really boost that fluency score. Yeah, guys, remember that on speaking, that first category you're graded on is fluency and coherence.

um and i think it should be two different categories because it really is two different things right um so coherence is that part where we are organizing our ideas using transition phrases um aubry i want to give our audience some homework what do you think i love that idea let's do it all right

Alright guys, I want you to practice your answer to this question and try to use at least three of the transition phrases that Aubrey pointed out from my answer and then share it with us. You can share it on Instagram and tag All Ears English. You can come back to our YouTube channel and share your answer in writing as a comment on this video.

Amazing, yes, and you want to avoid repetition, right? We hear students a lot say, "Then, next, and then after that," right? Look at the variety of linking phrases here. Start switching it up, add a couple of these phrases, these introductory phrases to really boost your scores. Awesome, awesome. All right, guys, thank you so much for joining us today and we'll see you next time. Awesome, see you next time. Bye.

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