Silent letters in IELTS Speaking Part Three

Silent letters in IELTS Speaking Part Three

In pairs or small groups, try to find at least one spelling mistake in each line below.

Reasons/ Cause and effect

• Can you suggest wy some people…?
• How has tecnology affected the kinds of… popular with…?
• What sort of impact can… have on the enviroment?
• Why do some people think that… are not helthy?
• Why do you think ordinry people are interested in…?

Generalising

• Do you believe that all… shoud be free?
• Do you believe that evryone in a family should…?
• What do you think some… do not… more ofen?
• What kinds of… do people have to… in their evryday lives?
• What problems can people have wen they…?
• What sort of… make hedlines in your country?
• Which groups of people genrally need most…?

Advice/ recommendations

• Do you think it would be a good idea for scools to…?
• Do you think… should be run as a busness or as a public service?
• What are the most intresting things to do when…?

How questions

• How important is… in your country’s histry?
• How intrested are most people in your country in…?

Agreeing and disagreeing

• Do you agree that people nowdays are under pressure to…?
• Do you think it is rong for…. to…?
• Do you think… are important for a neibourhood? (In what way?)

Comparing/ contrasting

• Are there many diffrences between… and…?

Advantages and disadvantages/ Looking at both sides

• Do you believe the benefits of… outwei the disadvantages?

Hypothetical situations

• Wat do you think it might be like to…?
• What woud the world be like without…?

 

Try to find a pattern in the spelling mistakes that you found above, then use that to finish the task and to start checking your answers.

Check as a class or with the correct spelling version below.

 

Correct spelling version

Ask about any questions which you are not sure how to pronounce, how to make questions from, how to answer, etc.

Reasons/ Cause and effect

• Can you suggest why some people…?
• How has technology affected the kinds of… popular with…?
• What sort of impact can… have on the environment?
• Why do some people think that… are not healthy?
• Why do you think ordinary people are interested in…?
• Why do you think some school teachers use…?

Generalising

• Do you believe that all… should be free?
• Do you believe that everyone in a family should…?
• What do you think some… do not… more often?
• What kinds of… do people have to… in their everyday lives?
• What problems can people have when they…?
• What sort of… make headlines in your country?
• Which groups of people generally need most…?

Advice/ recommendations

• Do you think it would be a good idea for schools to…?
• Do you think… should be run as a business or as a public service?
• What are the most interesting things to do when…?

How questions

• How important is… in your country’s history?
• How interested are most people in your country in…?

Agreeing and disagreeing

• Do you agree that people nowadays are under pressure to…?
• Do you think it is wrong for…. to…?
• Do you think… are important for a neighbourhood? (In what way?)

Comparing/ contrasting

• Are there many differences between… and…?

Advantages and disadvantages/ Looking at both sides

• Do you believe the benefits of… outweigh the disadvantages?

Hypothetical situations

• What do you think it might be like to…?
• What would the world be like without…?

Without looking at the previous page, find the silent letters in each line above.

Take turns asking each other three questions from above, using the version on the first page above to make sure that you pronounce the questions in the right way.

Silent letters in IELTS Speaking Part Three answers

Change groups. Find the silent letters in these possible words in Speaking Part Three answers and use that to pronounce them the right way.

acquire/ acquisition                                          basically

campaign/ campaigner                         column/ columnist

condemn                                                        could

critically                                                          cynically

debt                                                                dishonesty

doubt/ doubtful                                    elsewhere

ethically                                                          genetically

gourmet                                                          honour/ honourable

ironically                                                         knowledge

medically                                                        overwhelm

parliament                                                       physically

politically                                                         psychiatrist/ psychiatry

psychologist/ psychology                                 rhetoric/ rhetorical

science/ scientist/ scientific                   somewhat

specifically                                                      subtle/ subtly

succumb                                                         tragically

typically                                                          underwhelming

vehemently                                                     wheat

wheelchair                                                      whereas

whether                                                          whichever

while/ whilst                                                    whoever

whole/ wholly                                       worthwhile

Check as a class.

Test each other on the silent letters on all of the pages above:

• Say one of the words with the correct pronunciation without the silent letter and see if your partner can identify the letter which is spelt but was not pronounced
• Say a whole question made from a stem above and see if your partner can identify which word in it has a silent letter
• Say one of the words with the correct pronunciation without the silent letter and see if your partner can spell it back to you (writing it down first to help if they like)
• Choose one of the words, pronounce it with or without the silent letter, and see if your partner can identify if you pronounced it correctly or not
• Say a word which is pronounced wrongly with the silent letter pronounced for your partner to repeat back with the correct pronunciation