AEE IELTS: How to Buy Time on the Speaking Test with 6 Key Phrases

<p><strong>Did the IELTS examiner ask you a difficult question?</strong></p> <p><strong>Did your mind just go blank?</strong></p> <p><strong>Today, Lindsay and Jessica share 6 phrases to help you fill that time void!</strong></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Taking IELTS?</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong><a href="http://www.allearsenglish.com/training">Get our free IELTS video training course now</a></strong></span></p> <p>If you get asked a question that you can’t immediately answer during your IELTS exam, you don’t want to go silent.  It’s important to keep speaking even if you need a moment to decide how to answer the actual question.</p> <p>Native English speakers use many different phrases to help them do this. It’s important to understand that using a time-filling phrase won’t hurt your score.  In fact, it’s likely to improve it!</p> <p> </p> <p>Here are a few phrases to use if you need a moment to think about how to answer a question during your IELTS exam:</p> <ul> <li><strong>“Honestly, I am a little bit nervous right now and my mind just went blank.”</strong>  This says that you’re being honest, and trying. “My mind went blank” is also an idiom.</li> <li><strong>“Frankly, this isn’t something I’m used to talking about.”</strong>  Again, this is honest, and sounds like something a native speaker would say.</li> <li><strong>“That’s a good question.”</strong>  This welcomes good intonation, and that will help your pronunciation score.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>Other simple and common English time-fillers:</p> <ul> <li><strong>“Wow, let me think about that.”  </strong></li> <li><strong>“I’ve never thought about that before.” </strong></li> <li><strong>“Let’s see.”</strong></li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><strong>Which phrases do you plan to use, and why?</strong></p> <p><strong>Tell us what you think in the comments section below!</strong></p>