Conversation

IELTS Speaking Part 2

Answer

I’d tell you about the most boring conversation I’ve ever engaged 1. Exhilarated: thích thú, phấn
khởi
in.
2. To leave a good impression on
So about 4 years ago, I applied for a teaching assistant position someone: để lại một ấn tượng tốt
cho ai đó
in ABC, a local language training center near my house. My
Impression /ɪmˈpreʃ.ən/ : ấn tượng
goal back then was to find a suitable environment to gain some Ví dụ: She leave a good impression
teaching experience, as I had developed a particular interest in on us.
this field. Before that I’ve tried my hand at being a tutor for high
3. A bunch of generic, pointless
school students, so I was pretty confident that I had what it took and even strangely irrelevant
to pursue a language teaching career. questions: một loạt các câu hỏi
chung chung, vô nghĩa và thậm
chí không liên quan một cách kỳ
I sent my CV to ABC and much to my surprise, they replied to lạ
me within only 4 days. I was exhilarated(1) to hear the news and Generic /dʒəˈner.ɪk/ chung chung
prepared everything carefully the night before the meeting. I Pointless /ˈpɔɪnt.ləs/ vô nghĩa
Irrelevant /ɪˈrel.ə.vənt/ không liên
chose what to wear, ironed the set of clothes to leave a good
quan
impression on(2) the HR manager, and even put a notebook in
my backpack in case I had to take important notes during the 4. English proficiency: độ thành
thạo tiếng Anh
meeting.
Proficiency /prəˈfɪʃ.ə[Link]/ độ thành
thạo
But it was, sadly, all for nothing. I was expecting to be a part of Ví dụ: Rules on ages and English
proficiency will be relaxed
a rewarding and challenging interview, but what I got were, in
fact, a bunch of generic, pointless and even strangely irrelevant 5. Receptive skills: kỹ năng tiếp
questions(3). The only part that had something to do with my nhận (trong tiếng Anh là kỹ năng
nghe và đọc)
English proficiency(4) was a short test focusing on Receptive
Receptive /rɪˈsep.tɪv/ : tiếp nhận
skills(5), and that’s it. The follow-up questions given by the HR Ví dụ: They tapped into the
manager, like I said, cover a wide range of topics, but most of productive and receptive skills of
them are about things like my studying schedule at university, the learners.

my ability to learn things by heart, and my sense of humour. 6. Core elements: yếu tố then
The interview doesn’t involve any meaningful exchange about chốt
teaching experience and mindset, which were supposed to Elements /ˈel·ə·mənts/: yếu tố
Core /kɔːr/ : lõi
be the core elements(6). The only good thing about this boring
Ví dụ: Core elements of
conversation was that it only lasted for roughly 15 minutes, but performance evaluation.
for me it felt like an eternity.

178 | ZIM
IELTS Speaking Part 3

1. What topics do young people in Vietnam talk about?

Gợi ý: a common theme of the conversation (chủ đề chung của cuộc hội thoại)

Well, when young people hang out with their friends, they normally catch up on what each of them
has been up to. I mean, all the things about their daily life such as work, family, finance, or idols can
become a common theme of the conversation.

2. What’s the difference between the topics popular now and those in the past?

Gợi ý: hot news spreading on the internet (tin nóng lan truyền trên internet), news related to
celebrities, political issues (tin tức liên quan đến người nổi tiếng, các vấn đề chính trị)

Well, there have been some changes in the amount of news and information people get through
years and therefore, the topic of their conversation has also changed. I think, nowadays, people
tend to talk more about some hot news spreading on the internet, you know, kind of news related to
celebrities, political issues or events happening around the world. Meanwhile, regarding time in the
past, I guess people cared more about each other and they only discussed things that mattered to
them about family, work, food and so on

3. How do you know if others are not interested in your conversation?

Gợi ý: positive responses (phản hồi tích cực), eager to know more (mong muốn biết thêm), be silent
or just doing other tasks while listening (im lặng hoặc làm việc khác trong khi lắng nghe)

Well, I suppose that if a person is interested in what you’re saying, he/she will get excited and
keep asking questions to continue the conversation. That shows their positive responses to your
information and that they are eager to know more. Otherwise, they may be silent or just doing other
tasks while listening as a sign. However, I would say that in some cases, it’s really hard to detect
whether people are genuinely interested or they just do that for other reasons like motivating you,
cheering you up.

4. What’s the influence of modern technology, such as the internet and e-mails, on our
communication?

Gợi ý: keep in touch with each other regardless of distance (giữ liên lạc với nhau bất kể khoảng
cách), reduce the amount of face-to-face interaction (giảm các tương tác trực tiếp)

First, I must mention the positive impacts. You know, thanks to the advances of modern technology,
people now can keep in touch with each other more quickly and easily regardless of distance.
You see, I’m currently living halfway across the country from my parents but I can still contact
them regularly by calling video via facebook. It’s just like a face-to-face conversation. Having said
that, depending too much on technology can reduce the amount of face-to-face interaction and
eventually ruin their real-life relationships.

179 | ZIM