IELTS Speaking Mock Test Band 8.5 | IELTS with Charles — Transcript

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1. 0:00I want to start today please by talking
2. 0:02about work and study.
3. 0:03>> Okay.
4. 0:03>> Sarah, do you work or are you a student?
5. 0:06>> Um, I'm currently working as a teacher
6. 0:09and I teach English for lower level
7. 0:11students, especially uh kids. And I find
8. 0:14this work really uh rewarding for me
9. 0:16because I can finally put the knowledge
10. 0:18that I learned in university to work.
11. 0:20So, I feel incredibly um rewarding.
12. 0:24>> Wonderful. Thank you. I totally agree.
13. 0:26What do you find most difficult about
14. 0:28the job? Well, I feel like so many
15. 0:31people underestimate the workload of
16. 0:33teacher because they only believe that
17. 0:35we should only uh we can uh only go to
18. 0:38work for several hours and then go back
19. 0:40home. But it's actually a lot more than
20. 0:42that because we have so much preparation
21. 0:45to go on before the class and then after
22. 0:48the class is done we have to do the
23. 0:49assessment as well which is u marking
24. 0:51students. So there are so many things to
25. 0:54do uh for the job.
26. 0:56>> Definitely. It's very much a balancing
27. 0:57act. Yes. Yes.
28. 0:58>> How do you manage your schedule?
29. 1:01>> Um I would say uh I struggled a bit at
30. 1:04first because I was not used to the
31. 1:07amount of workload uh for this job. But
32. 1:10after that, I uh gradually uh fit in uh
33. 1:13by actually uh learn how to sleep a bit
34. 1:16earlier because back then I slept uh
35. 1:18actually at 1 or 2:00 a.m. But now I had
36. 1:21to sleep a lot uh earlier at um maybe
37. 1:2511:00 p.m. So I can be fully energized
38. 1:28uh for the next day and assist every
39. 1:30single student in the class.
40. 1:32>> Brilliant. Brilliant. That's good life
41. 1:34advice. What did you study at
42. 1:36university, Sarah?
43. 1:37Well, I majored in English linguistics,
44. 1:40of course, and I I I was it was a really
45. 1:44enjoyable experience for me because I
46. 1:46got to learn deeper into English. I
47. 1:50learned uh so many different things and
48. 1:52also vocabulary in terms of so many
49. 1:55different fields especially economics
50. 1:57because my university is the university
51. 2:00of economics. So, I got to learn
52. 2:02vocabulary about uh banking or commerce.
53. 2:06So I had a pleasant experience there.
54. 2:09>> Brilliant. Wonderful. Would you like to
55. 2:11change your major?
56. 2:13>> Well, actually my dream when I was a kid
57. 2:17was to become a polyclad which is a
58. 2:20person who can speak a lot of uh
59. 2:22languages and English uh is the language
60. 2:25that I'm most confident in. That is why
61. 2:28I chose uh English linguistics. So, if I
62. 2:30had to uh to change my major, it would
63. 2:33definitely be Korean because I'm a big
64. 2:36K-pop fan and I love the um Korean
65. 2:39culture.
66. 2:40>> Definitely. Thank you. Let's move on now
67. 2:42to talk about listening to people.
68. 2:44>> Okay,
69. 2:44>> Sarah, do you consider yourself a good
70. 2:46listener?
71. 2:48>> Well, to my friends and my beloved
72. 2:50people, of course. I would say I'm a
73. 2:53very good listener and I feel like uh
74. 2:55when I listen to them, I actually uh
75. 2:58help them to open up and talk about
76. 3:00their deepest insecurities and and just
77. 3:03learn to be how uh how to be more
78. 3:06considerate makes me feel a lot better
79. 3:08and I would love to be the person that
80. 3:11is always u want to be there for u my
81. 3:14friends and my family. So it would be
82. 3:17like the nicest thing that I can do for
83. 3:19them.
84. 3:19>> Yeah, nice. It's a really nice quality
85. 3:21to have. What effects can it have if
86. 3:23people don't listen?
87. 3:25>> Well, I think it depends on the context.
88. 3:28So, especially in meetings because when
89. 3:31people neglect when someone is speaking,
90. 3:35uh especially when it's in like a
91. 3:37business meeting, the person has to
92. 3:39prepare a lot for a presentation. They
93. 3:42have to do research before that. So if
94. 3:44they neglect and not listening to the
95. 3:47other person, they might not gain any
96. 3:49valuable insights and uh there might be
97. 3:51no constructive feedback given to the
98. 3:54person presenting.
99. 3:56>> Brilliant. Yeah, absolutely. Let's talk
100. 3:58about politeness now. How did you learn
101. 4:00to be polite as a child? Well, uh, ever
102. 4:04since I was a kid, maybe at 3 years old
103. 4:08or something, because my dad is actually
104. 4:09a principal. So, uh, he was very strict
105. 4:13about me behaving well in front of the
106. 4:16adults. So, uh, he taught me to say, uh,
107. 4:19thank you or sorry when it comes to
108. 4:21meeting someone uh, older than me. So, I
109. 4:25I met lots of his his colleagues and I
110. 4:27loved to be called well- behaved kids.
111. 4:30So that was why I kept that habit until
112. 4:33now
113. 4:34>> and I would I'm I'm very thankful for
114. 4:36him to be that strict to me at that
115. 4:39time.
116. 4:40>> Wow. Okay. Brilliant. Do you think being
117. 4:42polite is really important?
118. 4:44>> Well, definitely. I think um being
119. 4:46polite and respectful is the first thing
120. 4:49that gives uh you a good impression in
121. 4:52front of uh the other people. And I
122. 4:55think um being polite is such a um a
123. 4:59crucial value for every single person
124. 5:02and uh it should be taught from an early
125. 5:05age actually.
126. 5:06>> Definitely. Thank you very much. And
127. 5:08finally, let's move on now and talk
128. 5:10about fruit and vegetables.
129. 5:11>> Okay.
130. 5:11>> Sarah, do people in your country like
131. 5:13planting [clears throat] vegetables?
132. 5:15>> Well, um definitely and it's for various
133. 5:19reasons. So many people take pleasure in
134. 5:22planting because they want to have a a
135. 5:25sense of calmness in their life. So it's
136. 5:27like my dad, he has like um a a greenery
137. 5:32area in the back of my uh our family's
138. 5:34garden and every morning he will spend
139. 5:37hours gazing at the greenery in his
140. 5:40garden. So I think it gives him a sense
141. 5:43of calmness in his life and the other
142. 5:45people I think that especially in urban
143. 5:47area it's a luxury for them to have
144. 5:50organic food. Uh so they might plant uh
145. 5:53especially herbs because it goes well
146. 5:55with so many Vietnamese dishes. So uh
147. 5:58they would plant that maybe on their
148. 6:00rooftop or just a small corner in the
149. 6:03balcony to yeah to have some green in in
150. 6:06their diet.
151. 6:07>> Wonderful. So, do you eat a lot of
152. 6:10vegetables?
153. 6:11>> Um, well, not as much as I would love
154. 6:13to. Back then, when I was the university
155. 6:16student, I had a lot more time to cook.
156. 6:19So, I try to integrate greens into my
157. 6:22diet because I want it to be more
158. 6:24healthy. But now, as I as I work, I
159. 6:28cannot have the uh enough energy to even
160. 6:31cook myself a meal. And I order takeouts
161. 6:33a lot. And uh sadly they don't really
162. 6:37include much uh vegetables in the in the
163. 6:41meal. So it was uh it was a shame.
164. 6:44>> Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for sharing
165. 6:46that. Wonderful. Let's move on now
166. 6:48please Sarah to part two. Now in part
167. 6:50two I will give you a question and you
168. 6:51have one minute to prepare. So today's
169. 6:54question is could you please describe a
170. 6:56complaint that you made and you were
171. 6:58satisfied with the result.
172. 7:00>> Okay.
173. 7:01>> Okay Sarah that brings us to the end of
174. 7:03the one minute. when you're ready,
175. 7:04please start now.
176. 7:06>> Okay. So, uh there are not so many times
177. 7:09that I complain about anything because
178. 7:11I'm an introvert. So, I wouldn't bring
179. 7:13myself to do anything like that. But, uh
180. 7:16there was one um occasion that happened
181. 7:19when I went back from my field trip to
182. 7:22Wam City, which is a coastal city, and I
183. 7:25was really um exhausted from the long
184. 7:29trip. So, I wanted to go to my favorite
185. 7:31restaurant in order to have uh a nice
186. 7:34meal and it was a Japanese uh curry
187. 7:37restaurant that I really like. So, I I
188. 7:40stepped in and every I ordered
189. 7:43everything as normal and I was waiting
190. 7:46for the dish to come. But after 1 hour,
191. 7:50nothing has changed. So I was really sad
192. 7:53and I asked uh the manager and I asked
193. 7:56for the uh waiter to come to see what
194. 7:59happened but um the attitude was
195. 8:03throwing me off at that time because
196. 8:05because they were really weird. They
197. 8:08didn't tell me about uh how much time
198. 8:10will the dish come. So I had I had no
199. 8:13information at all and they immediately
200. 8:16went back to talking to each other and
201. 8:20that boiled my blood because I was
202. 8:22starving to death and um I like I said I
203. 8:27was an introvert so I didn't brought I
204. 8:30didn't bring up any um complaints at
205. 8:33that time but um since it was an hour
206. 8:36passed so I decided to leave the
207. 8:39restaurant immediately and gave them
208. 8:41back an attitude. And then I uh went
209. 8:45back home and I decided to go online and
210. 8:48uh report my experience in that
211. 8:51restaurant on every social media
212. 8:53platform. And I honestly I would say it
213. 8:56was so out of character for me. I
214. 8:58wouldn't do anything like that for many
215. 9:01times. But this time I was so pissed.
216. 9:04So, I decided to uh do that and uh I
217. 9:09actually got contacted by them. Uh but I
218. 9:12I didn't uh I I turned down their favor
219. 9:16of asking me for a compensation and take
220. 9:18down the post, but I I didn't reply to
221. 9:21them at all because the damage has been
222. 9:23done.
223. 9:24>> Fantastic. Wow. Remind me not to upset
224. 9:26you in any way. Will you for will you
225. 9:28forgive them?
226. 9:29>> Well, not a chance. I never come back
227. 9:32because there are plenty of fish in the
228. 9:34sea. Why I would choose that one?
229. 9:36>> Absolutely. Absolutely. Wow. Okay, let's
230. 9:38move on now to part three. Thank you for
231. 9:40sharing that story.
232. 9:41>> Okay.
233. 9:42>> Do you think it's difficult now for a
234. 9:43person to start up a business?
235. 9:46>> Well, I think starting up a business is
236. 9:50definitely not uh definitely not an easy
237. 9:53thing to do, especially for one person
238. 9:56in this competitive market. And I think
239. 9:59that person needs to be an own router
240. 10:02because they have so many things to
241. 10:04juggle from managing the employees to
242. 10:06actually think about the revenues and
243. 10:09many things in their mind. So I think
244. 10:12it's definitely not an easy task at all
245. 10:16and they need to have great expertise in
246. 10:18the field in order to uh kind of um
247. 10:22research about the market and see what
248. 10:24how things are going.
249. 10:25>> Brilliant. Does money equal success?
250. 10:29>> Well, um on the face of it, I think uh
251. 10:33that might be like the greatest
252. 10:35contributor to success as many people
253. 10:38can see. But I think anything has to be
254. 10:41a tradeoff because uh when people focus
255. 10:44too much on their uh career success and
256. 10:46how much money they earn, they might
257. 10:49neglect other factors such as maybe
258. 10:52emotional values um that they have with
259. 10:55their family. So I think that it truly
260. 10:58depends on how a person define uh
261. 11:00success. Some people define success as
262. 11:03in money and how much they make, but
263. 11:05other people might consider something
264. 11:07else such as um the time the quality
265. 11:10time that they can spend with their
266. 11:11family.
267. 11:12>> Thank you. Well done. Why do some people
268. 11:15find it difficult to complain when they
269. 11:17receive poor service?
270. 11:19>> Well, uh I think uh it varies from
271. 11:22person to person and uh it boils down to
272. 11:25personality. For introvert, I think that
273. 11:28uh it's uh a lot harder for them to uh
274. 11:32complain because they don't want to make
275. 11:34a scene and they don't want to draw
276. 11:35attention to themselves when they uh
277. 11:38raise their voice about certain problem.
278. 11:41Um but I think it might be a lot more
279. 11:43easier for an extroverted person because
280. 11:47um when they raise their voice to the
281. 11:50manager, they feel like they do a good
282. 11:52deed and something of good value. So I
283. 11:55think that's really amazing. But uh in
284. 11:58this day and age as technology and
285. 12:00social media is on the rise, I think uh
286. 12:02even introverted people can complain
287. 12:05because they can simply put a post on
288. 12:07thread or other social media to raise
289. 12:11their voice and their voice can be
290. 12:13heard.
291. 12:14>> Definitely. Definitely. Yes. Great. Is
292. 12:18it better to complain face to face or
293. 12:20through social media?
294. 12:22>> Okay. Um so for me personally I would
295. 12:26say complaining on social media would be
296. 12:29a lot easier because uh people cannot
297. 12:32see their faces. So they can be truer to
298. 12:35themsel and they might um complain
299. 12:38without thinking about the consequences
300. 12:40of offending anyone online or even some
301. 12:43comments is fine. But uh when you
302. 12:46complain in person actually you have to
303. 12:49be a lot more mindful about how uh other
304. 12:52people will react and um they might um
305. 12:56be offended in real life and that's a
306. 12:58lot harder to deal with than replying to
307. 13:01a single comment.
308. 13:03>> Yes. Thank you. Do you think customers
309. 13:05are always right?
310. 13:07Well, um I think there's no absoluteness
311. 13:11in this because u well some customers
312. 13:14they might complain with a good
313. 13:17intention because they want to u maybe
314. 13:20improve the service of uh a company. So
315. 13:23they want to give complaint complaints
316. 13:25in order to like improve the service.
317. 13:28But actually in uh the competitive uh
318. 13:32business, I think that when a business
319. 13:35or when many other business can can see
320. 13:38that a company is doing well, they uh
321. 13:41these I would call them rivals company
322. 13:44because uh when they see someone is
323. 13:46doing well, they want to defame that
324. 13:48company so that they can raise their
325. 13:51their company recognition. So they
326. 13:53[clears throat] would uh hire somebody
327. 13:55to uh leave bad comments on the
328. 13:59company's maybe main page. So I think
329. 14:03there is no black and white answer to
330. 14:06this question.
331. 14:06>> Yeah, definitely. How can customer
332. 14:09complaints help a business to improve
333. 14:11their products or services?
334. 14:13Um well I would say that uh like I said
335. 14:17when they complain but with constructive
336. 14:21feedback then definitely it can bring uh
337. 14:25a company valuable insight into how they
338. 14:29can improve their services because I
339. 14:31think that each person has their own uh
340. 14:34preferences and um when a business uh
341. 14:38gathers so much information about um the
342. 14:41like the common features of their uh
343. 14:44customer base then it's definitely be
344. 14:47helpful for the company to um grow even
345. 14:51more when uh they raise the uh amount of
346. 14:54customer satisfaction and it brings in
347. 14:57more uh loyal customer.
348. 14:59>> Yeah,
349. 14:59>> definitely. [clears throat] Okay, thank
350. 15:00you very much. And the final question
351. 15:02for today, please. Should businesses
352. 15:04prioritize customer satisfaction over
353. 15:06making profits?
354. 15:08customer satisfaction and uh profit. I
355. 15:11think um I think the
356. 15:14former cannot exist without the latter.
357. 15:18I think when a company first start, they
358. 15:20have to uh satisfy as many customers as
359. 15:23they can. Especially when it comes to
360. 15:26businesses that are truly passionate
361. 15:29with their products, then I think that
362. 15:32um uh valuing customer satisfaction will
363. 15:36be the first step for them to constantly
364. 15:39build up their brand image and uh brings
365. 15:42in a lot more loyal customers and that
366. 15:44way definitely the profit will come in.
367. 15:47So uh I think um when uh such a com
368. 15:53complaint happen maybe uh a business
369. 15:56shouldn't worry and they should consider
370. 15:58it as like a stepping stone for them to
371. 16:01perform even better in the future.
372. 16:03>> Yeah. Learn from it and grow.
373. 16:05>> Yeah.
374. 16:06>> Perfect. And that brings us to the end
375. 16:07of the test. Congratulations.
376. 16:08>> Okay.
377. 16:09>> Thank you very much. Well done. Well
378. 16:11done. How did you find that?
379. 16:13>> Um it was okay.
380. 16:16>> Yeah. Amazing. I thought you did a great
381. 16:17job. Thank you so much, Sarah. Come on.