IELTS Energy 1470: Friendly Fights for IELTS Speaking and Writing
14:20 Share

This is an IELTS Energy Podcast, Episode 1470, Friendly Fights for IELTS Speaking and Writing.

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

Today you'll hear sample answers for both IELTS speaking and writing about arguments. We'll use Band 9 vocabulary from Part 1 of this series so you are ready for this common IELTS topic.

Did you know that we have another podcast called Business English? Is your vocabulary too formal to build real relationships at work? Struggling to come up with the right words spontaneously in a high pressure business environment? We'll help you with all of this on the Business English podcast. Open the search bar, type in Business English and hit follow. We publish new episodes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

go and follow the Business English Podcast from All Ears English.

Yes, exactly right. Today, we are sharing examples using the vocabulary from Tuesday's episode. So if you missed it, scroll back. It was 1469. So go listen to that one. Don't fight this vocabulary for IELTS. And today we are going to give you sample answers for both speaking and a writing topic, a task two that this vocabulary would be perfect for.

Exactly. So stay until the end, guys, because we will describe the writing question last. Okay, let's get into these speaking questions. Aubrey, I'm going to ask you first. Are you ready? Yes, perfect. What do you usually argue about with your friends?

I am a pretty conflict avoidant person, so I don't have a lot of disagreements with friends. But every now and then we won't see eye to eye about anything.

you know, maybe where to meet for coffee. And I don't know, even then I wouldn't call it an argument. Like, you know, there might be sort of a difference of opinion, but if someone feels strongly about something, I'm going to back down. I'm not going to insist and cause awkwardness. Thank you. Um,

Okay. There was some great vocab there. So the first idiom that you used, which was awesome, see eye to eye, that just means that you agree with someone. So guys, if you're talking about disagreeing with someone, you could say you don't see eye to eye. And then there was a phrasal verb you used that I love, back

down. To back down means that you're you stop arguing, you stop like pushing your opinion, right? You back down. Yes. And then at the very beginning, I intentionally used conflict avoidant. This was from that past episode. Be sure to check it out. That's a great way to describe yourself as being non confrontational, which I really am not I'm not going to, I try to avoid any awkwardness that can be created by conflict.

Nice. Nice. All right. My turn. Ask me a question. Here is your question. How do you feel when you have an argument with someone? I feel super yucky. I don't like having arguments with people. I don't mind like a light disagreement, right? Where you can like push your sort of opinion lightly and reach some sort of agreement. But

I do not like scuffles, let's say. I definitely will not be in a physical fight with someone. Like I've never been in a fist fight. I'm sure that would feel horrible. But I think even being in a verbal disagreement does not leave me feeling great.

Nice. Ooh, great vocab here. First of all, I want to point out when Jessica's asked how she feels here, she immediately used some great slang to say super yucky. And this is perfect for part one. The examiner is looking for variety of vocabulary. So you want to use some slang, some idioms, phrasal verbs, switch it up.

Right. And this is great instead of just saying, you know, I don't feel good about it or whatever band five, four thing that you could say. Instead, use some slang. And this is perfect. I feel super yucky. Just means I don't feel good, but in a band nine way.

And then I love you used scuffle, which we taught that in the last episode. This is perfect for, this is a much less common way to say, you know, I don't like fights. This could potentially be, it's really more of a physical fight. So Jessica's staying here that, and she used fist fight as well. I've never been in a fist fight. And then again, you shared your feelings because this question is asking, how do you feel about these fights?

So then you sort of use a hypothetical situation. If I were to be in a fistfight, I would feel horrible. And notice her enunciation, her intonation, really emphasizing a word like that. Yes, I feel I would feel horrible.

More rewards, more savings. With American Express Business Gold, earn up to $395 back in annual statement credits on eligible purchases at select shipping, food delivery, and retail subscription merchants. Enjoy the benefits of membership with the Amex Business Gold Card. Terms apply. Learn more at americanexpress.com slash business dash gold. Amex Business Gold Card, built for business by American Express.

Alright, so those first two questions were speaking part one questions. Let's do a speaking part three and then we'll dive into a writing task two question. So Aubrey, speaking part three, do you think it's important to be able to express your opinion in an argument? Absolutely. I think this is really vital, especially if a person finds themselves

in a situation where they have been accused of lying. I could imagine if you're really non-confrontational, you might want to just let it go, but think of all the consequences that could come from that. If you don't stand up for yourself, clearly express how you feel about it and your opinion and what happened so that some of these misunderstandings could be cleared up.

I love the paraphrase you used there at the end, misunderstandings. That is...

a very generous way to describe any arguments because what you're saying there is that it's neither person's fault, right? Like nobody's wrong or right. It's the disagreement is due to a misunderstanding, right? So some message did not come across. And so the disagreement is actually not, you know, not that heavy, not that serious. It means it could be resolved easily.

I love how you say it's generous because especially if you have been accused of lying or misrepresenting something, then we do get defensive. And so this would be a generous thing to say, like, it's just a misunderstanding. Totally. Just need to clear it up. Totally.

Totally. And that connects to a couple episodes we did last week, guys. Episode 1468, Band 9 Part 2, About a Lie. And 1467, Fess Up for Higher IELTS Speaking Scores. So we talked about lying and being honest last week. So definitely scroll up if you missed those episodes. All right. Let's dive into a Writing Task 2 question.

Yeah, so this vocabulary that we taught this week could definitely be used on task two as well. Most of it is formal enough. So here's a task two question where you could use some of this vocab. Some people believe it is vital to stand up for one's opinion, while others believe it is best to not cause arguments. Discuss both options and give examples. Nice. Yeah, this would be a little tricky.

It would be. Remember guys that you need to brainstorm first for IELTS Task 2. Do not just start writing the essay. You guys have to plan first.

Why is that Aubrey? How does that help us? Right, if you just start writing without coming up with ideas, what we see most often is students will then come up with lots of different ideas and not support any of them enough. So you want to brainstorm for this one clear idea for each body paragraph and then support

supporting details, examples that sort of prove to the examiner that that's a strong, good idea instead of throwing at them lots and lots of different ideas. Totally. So let's

ahead and brainstorm this, Aubrey. What do you think would be a good reason with details and examples for that first side that it is vital to stand up for your opinion? The first thing I would do is decide what I think. This is what I think might be a little tricky about this is you might not have a really strong passionate

opinion either way. So you would need to decide, which do I agree with? And that would maybe take me a second because I see both sides, right? So I think that I would decide to support the opinion of people should stand up for themselves, should stand up for their opinions.

And then one idea would just be sort of like in my speaking answer that I gave, you can end up doing yourself a disservice if you don't stand strong for an opinion and either people can have incorrect ideas about you. Right. There could be consequences and then you have to go back and say, oh, actually, I know I said this or I led you to believe that, but I actually believe this. Right. Just so that.

there are. So the idea would sort of be, there can be consequences that you don't want to have to face if you don't stand up for your opinion. Totally, totally. And we could take that on a larger scale and talk about civil rights activists like Martin Luther King, right? Environmental activists like, what's her name? It starts with a G, her last name starts with a G. Greta

So yeah, you could definitely take this to a higher level as well and talk about activists, political activists that stand up for people and the environment. And then the other side, it is best not to cause arguments. You know, automatically think of politicians who just throw out arguments in the press

with other politicians without it changing anything. I think that might be my main reason to support that it's best not to cause arguments because often there is no upside to that. It's not going to change anything. And that could be on a small scale as well. Like arguing with one's partner usually does not solve anything.

I love that. I think that would be a great idea for that second body paragraph. You can see how a lot of the vocab we're teaching here could be used as you provide supporting details for these two different ideas. And then once you've brainstormed your essay, it's a matter of sticking to it. Because as you write, you're probably going to be thinking of lots of different ideas because there could be a lot of different ideas for this essay. You'll want to stick to what you've brainstormed to save time.

Totally, totally. That's great advice. All right, guys, thanks for joining us today. And we'll be back again very soon with an episode about reading strategies. Awesome. We'll see you next time. Thanks, Jessica. Thank you. 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.

Save on Cox Internet when you add Cox Mobile and get fiber-powered internet at home and unbeatable 5G reliability on the go. So whether you're playing a game at home Yes, cool! or attending one live, you can do more without spending more. Learn how to save at cox.com slash internet. Cox Internet is connected to the premises via coaxial cable. Cox Mobile runs on the network with unbeatable 5G reliability as measured by UCLA LLC in the U.S. to H2023. Results may vary, not an endorsement. Other restrictions apply.