How the Speaking test works
The Speaking test lasts 11 to 14 minutes and is face to face with an examiner. It has three parts:
- Part 1 (4–5 minutes): short questions about familiar topics such as your studies, work, home town, food or weekends.
- Part 2 (3–4 minutes): a cue card. You get one minute to prepare, then speak for up to two minutes.
- Part 3 (4–5 minutes): a discussion of more abstract ideas linked to the Part 2 topic.
You are marked on four criteria: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation.
Fluency first, accuracy close behind
Many students who learned English through grammar exercises pause to build a perfect sentence before speaking. The result is long silences, which hurt Fluency more than the occasional small error. Aim to keep talking in natural, connected sentences, and correct yourself briefly if needed.
At the same time, fluency is not speed. Speaking very fast to sound confident often makes pronunciation harder to follow. A steady, clear pace with pauses at natural points works best.
Pronunciation points for Bengali speakers
Bengali gives you a good base for clear English, but a few sounds and patterns are worth practising. Not every speaker has all of these, so listen to your own recordings and pick the ones that apply.
- V and W: Bengali has one sound in this area, so "very" and "wary", or "vest" and "west", can sound alike. Practise V with the top teeth on the lower lip and W with rounded lips.
- V and B / BH: "village" may come out closer to "bhillage". Keep the teeth on the lip for V.
- Z and J: "zero" can sound like "jero" and "busy" like "bijy". Hold a buzzing Z sound.
- S and SH: some speakers swap these, so "see" and "she" sound similar. Practise minimal pairs: sip/ship, sort/short.
- Starting consonant clusters: words like "school", "station" and "speech" sometimes gain an extra vowel at the front ("ischool"). Start directly on the S.
- F and PH: F should be a soft friction sound, not an aspirated P.
- Word and sentence stress: Bengali rhythm is fairly even, while English stresses some syllables and squashes others. "PHOtograph", "phoTOgrapher", "photoGRAPHic" is a useful drill.
None of this means losing your accent. Examiners mark how easy you are to understand, not whether you sound British or American.
Practising when you have no partner
IELTS Speaking practice does not have to wait for a study group. In Dhaka, many students live with family who may not speak English at home, and finding a regular speaking partner is hard. You can still practise effectively:
- Answer Part 1 questions out loud every day, for example while getting ready in the morning.
- Record a full Part 2 answer on your phone, then listen back and note pauses, repeated words and unclear sounds.
- Use your commute. If you are on the Metro Rail you can mouth answers silently or rehearse Part 2 notes; save speaking aloud for home.
- Describe your surroundings in English: the traffic on the way to Mohakhali, a meal in Old Dhaka, a day at university. These are exactly the kinds of topics Part 2 uses.
How IELTS Learning helps
Our IELTS Speaking practice is designed to make the real timings feel familiar.
- 186 Speaking prompts for Parts 1, 2 and 3.
- Real cue-card timing: one minute to prepare, with a visible timer, then a two-minute speaking timer, so you learn how long two minutes really feels.
- AI feedback on your transcript, showing fluency patterns, vocabulary range and grammar, so you can see what you actually said.
- Book a Teacher: a 1-to-1 online session of about 20 minutes with an IELTS teacher, from $5. This is the closest thing to the real face-to-face test and the best way to get feedback on pronunciation.
The free sample mock test includes a Speaking section, so you can try it free before choosing Full Access ($12 for 2 months).
Topics Dhaka students should be ready for
Part 2 and Part 3 often ask about places, people, events, technology and the environment. Think in advance about what you could say on city life and transport, festivals such as Pohela Boishakh, food, a book or teacher who influenced you, a time you used technology to solve a problem, or how cities can cope with crowding and flooding. Having real examples ready makes your answers natural rather than memorised.