here are 10 phrases to learn before your I speaking test number one is used to in the I test you often get asked questions like when you were a child did you like to play computer games and how did you get to school when you were younger these questions are asking about the past so you can say something like I used to play a lot of video games but nowadays I don't have enough time or when I was a child I used to walk to school with my sister so we use used to to describe
something that was true in the past but is not true now I used to play a lot of video games but nowadays I don't have enough time listen to the pronunciation used to the D sound disappears I used to live in England but now I live in Scotland now remember when you use the negative you do actually delete the D so I didn't use to wake up early not I didn't used to it's I didn't used to no D number two is the main reason is iots examiners love to ask why why do some people
like to play video games why do people go to the gym why do people spend a lot of money on designer clothes why why why you can say the main reason is so the main reason that people like to play video games is that they are thrilling and addictive or the main reason we go to the gym is that it keeps us looking and feeling good in fact when you get asked one of these questions these why questions that is I recommend that you don't try to come up with lots of ideas instead what you
can do is to come up with one or two main ideas and then develop these ideas fully perhaps with examples number three is to be honest to be honest is a great addition to I think or I believe you can say things like to be honest I think that technology has greatly improved our lives or to be honest I believe that AI will replace a lot of our jobs we often say to be honest when we think what we're saying is surprising to The Listener for example to be honest I wasn't great at languages when
I was growing up you think I was cuz I'm now a language teacher but to be honest I wasn't or to be honest I'm actually pretty shy repeat after me to be honest to be honest number four is generally speaking we use generally speaking when we want to express what most people think or feel about something you can say things like generally speaking people are becoming more health conscious these days or generally speaking people who spend a a lot of money on clothes care a lot about their appearance a good idea is to contrast this
with another statement you can say things like generally speaking people find commuting to be stressful but I enjoy the time as I like to listen to podcasts when I'm driving to work number five is I'm not entirely sure this is a great phrase to use for those tricky questions that you don't know the answer to so if the examiner asks you what are some popular jobs in your country you can say I'm not entirely sure probably jobs in it like being a software engineer listen to the pronunciation I'm not entirely sure notice the way I
slow down on the word entirely I'm not entirely sure number six is it depends this is such a useful phrase in Isles in the speaking test you're always getting asked weird generalized questions like do people spend a lot of money on weddings in your country or do children in your country like going to school you can say things like it depends on whether people are wealthy enough to spend a lot of money on their wedding in fact you can use it depends with phrases like generally speaking so you can say generally speaking people in my
country spend a lot of money on Weddings But it really depends on how wealthy the couple are number seven is I'm not a huge fan of if if you're a huge fan of something it means you love it I'm a huge fan of walking along the beach and I'm a huge fan of long road trips however we often use the negative of this phrase I'm not a huge fan of it means that you don't really like something for example I'm not a huge fan of flying meaning I don't like to take an airplane or to
be honest I'm not a huge fan of desserts after dinner meaning I don't like to eat sweet things after dinner that's true number eight is I've always been interested in you can say things like I've always been interested in learning foreign languages or I've always been interested in visiting Canada but I've never had the chance I've always been interested in listen to the pronunciation it's not been it's been I've always been interested in politics I've always been interested in space number nine is I'd say I'd say is I would say when we're speaking we often
contract I would say to I'd say I'd say is like I think we use it to introduce our opinion so what's the difference between I think and I would say well we use i' say when we want to emphasize that not everyone has the same opinion but it's what we think I'd say that it's important to live abroad at some point in your life when I use i' say in this sentence I'm showing that I understand that not everyone believes this but it's what I believe listen to the pronunciation i' say I'd say repeat after
me I'd say that reading books is better than watching films I'd say learning a foreign language is the best possible thing you can do notice that sometimes we say I'd say and other times we say I'd say that they're interchangeable number 10 is the short answer is this is such a brilliant phrase to use it allows you to introduce your opinion and then expand on it so if the examiner asks something like did you like school when you were a child you could say the short answer is yes however ever there were some teachers that
I didn't like or if the examiner asks do you like waking up in the morning you can say the short answer is no but I do like to wake up early if I'm going on a holiday or I have some other special event now here's a little challenge for you see if you can translate these 10 essential phrases into your first language and put them below best of luck with your studies and I'll see you in the next lesson bye then
