The three parts of the Speaking test
The Speaking test lasts 11 to 14 minutes, face to face with an examiner, in three parts.
- Part 1 (4 to 5 minutes): familiar questions about your home, studies, work, hobbies and daily life.
- Part 2 (3 to 4 minutes): a cue card with a topic. You get 1 minute to prepare and then speak for up to 2 minutes.
- Part 3 (4 to 5 minutes): a deeper discussion linked to the Part 2 topic, where you explain, compare and give opinions.
You are marked on four criteria: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation.
Fluency or accuracy: which matters more?
Both count, but students often sacrifice fluency by trying to be perfect. Long pauses while you search for a "big word" cost more than a small grammar slip that you correct and move past. Aim for steady, connected speech with natural fillers such as "Well, I suppose..." or "That's an interesting one...", then build accuracy through practice.
At the same time, do not run on without structure. In Part 3, a clear answer has a point, a reason and an example.
Pronunciation points for speakers from the Bathinda region
Punjabi speakers often have strong, clear voices, which is an advantage. These are the common areas to work on, and none of them require you to change your accent. The examiner is checking whether you are easy to understand, not whether you sound British.
- V and W. Punjabi has one sound between the two, so "wine" and "vine" or "west" and "vest" may sound the same. Round your lips for W; touch your top teeth to your lower lip for V.
- Z and J. Words like "zero" and "lazy" sometimes become "jero" and "lajy". Practise a buzzing Z sound.
- Starting clusters. Some speakers add a vowel before or inside words such as "school", "station" and "sport", saying "iskool" or "sataation". Try starting the S directly.
- TH. "Think" and "this" often become "tink" and "dis". Put your tongue lightly between your teeth.
- Word stress. Stress the right syllable in words like "deVElopment", "PHOtograph" and "phoTOgraphy". Wrong stress can make a correct word hard to recognise.
- Flat intonation. Let your voice rise and fall to show interest and to separate ideas.
IELTS Speaking practice with Bathinda topics for Parts 1 and 2
Part 1 almost always includes your hometown. Many students here say only "It is a small village near Bathinda" and stop. Prepare more: what crops your family grows, how the village changes between the cotton season and winter, what people do in the evenings, how the city has grown with its university, hospital and refinery jobs, or what you would show a visitor.
Cue cards often ask you to describe a place, a person, an event or an object. A festival in your village, a journey by train from Bathinda junction, a teacher who helped you, a time you helped your family at harvest: these are real stories you can tell with detail and feeling, which sounds far more natural than a memorised answer.
Practising when you have no partner
Many students in and around Bathinda have nobody at home who speaks English regularly. You can still practise properly.
- Use our 186 prompts for Parts 1, 2 and 3, answering aloud every day.
- Use the cue-card timer. It gives you a real 1-minute preparation and a 2-minute speaking window, so you learn what two minutes feels like.
- Read the AI feedback on your transcript. It points out repeated words, grammar slips and short answers that need extending.
- Record yourself on your phone and listen for the pronunciation points above.
- Shadow English audio. Play a sentence from a Listening set, pause, and repeat it with the same rhythm.
Teacher sessions for real conversation
AI feedback helps with volume, but the Speaking test is a conversation with a person. Book a Teacher gives you about 20 minutes 1-to-1 online from ₹299, ideal for a full mock Speaking test with honest comments. Many students book one early to find their level and one in the final fortnight before the test.
For IELTS Speaking practice in Bathinda that you can do tonight, register free and try the sample prompts. Full Access, with every prompt and tool, is ₹999 for 2 months.