Ada empat jenis kemampuan yang diujikan dalam tes IELTS yaitu: Listening, Reading, Writing dan Speaking. FYI, tes IELTS akan berdurasi selama kurang lebih 3 jam dengan pembagian waktu ujian: Listening (30 menit), Reading (60 menit), Writing (60 menit), dan Speaking (11-14 menit). Pada official test IELTS, untuk Speaking Test di IELTS Academic dan IELTS General Test, nggak ada perbedaan signifikan untuk tes Listening dan Speaking.
Nah, untuk Speaking Test banyak cara yang bisa diterapkan agar kamu meraih skor yang maksimal. Salah satu tips jitu dari experts IELTS IDP yaitu use a range of grammatical structure (gunakan tata bahasa yang beragam). Maksudnya adalah, kamu bisa menggunakan complex dan simple sentence, phrasal verbs, dan juga idioms.
Menurut Merriam-Webster Dictionary, idioms adalah an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (such as up in the air for “undecided” or in its grammatically atypical use of words (such as give way) dan jika diterjemahkan dalam Bahasa Indonesia – sebuah ekspresi penggunaan bahasa yang khas dari kata tersebut (ekspresi) yang mana maknanya nggak bisa diartikan secara terpisah dari makna asli kata-katanya (karena idioms ini biasanya berupa gabungan lebih dari satu kata).
Ini dia beberapa idioms yang bisa bantu boost up untuk skor IELTS Speaking kamu yang MinSo ambil dari YouTube channel “English Speaking Success”:
Talking about the future
To be on the cards
Means: something is very likely
An example:
I think Mark will be the next class leader, well at least I think it’s on the cards.
To be up in the air
Means: something is uncertain
An example:
I have no idea who will be the next judge, it’s up in the air.
To be in the bag
Means: to be certain you will get or achieve something
An example:
My test was done well, I think my job is in the bag.
⚠️ NOTE for all of these idioms:
I am on the cards ❌
Something is on the cards ✅
To be a big ask
Means: to be difficult to do, and will need some sacrifice
An example:
The boss wants us to finish all of the work by this week; I think it’s a big ask.
To be walk in the park
Means: to be easy
An example:
Simple cooking in ten minutes is a walk in the park for me.
To be a breeze
Means: to be easy
An example:
Speaking in English is a breeze for me.
To be barking “up” the wrong tree
Means: to have the wrong idea/approach
An example:
This approach is totally wrong, I reckon the government is barking up the wrong tree.
*Note:
Must be present continuous.
(bark up ❌ barking up ✔️)
To hit the nail on the head
Means: to be completely right about something
An example:
Talking about the policy, I assume that the central administrator has hit the nail on the head.
No end
Means: a lot
An example:
Definitely, this book will assist the learning no end.
Important things
Not to be-all and end-all
Means: something is important, but not the only important thing
An example:
Hmm, is sport important? Well, it’s not the be-all and end-all, there are more important things like healthy food, enough sleep, and not getting stressed.
Knowing about things
To be clued up on
Means: to know a lot about something
An example:
Do you know a lot about cooking? Well, I am really clued up on cooking, I comprehend lots about it.
To be clueless about
Means: to know nothing about something
An example:
Frankly, I am clueless about the popular slang words.
Talking about people
To give your all
Means: to do your best
An example:
I admire my parents because they always give their all.
To not put a foot wrong
Means: to not make any mistakes
An example:
My brother was really careful at his job, he never put a foot wrong.
To be a hard act to follow
Means: difficult for anyone else to do as well as that person
An example:
The king was an astounding person, he is going to be a hard act to follow.
✅ Bonus (diambil dari YouTube channel IELTS Advantage)
Once in a blue moon
Means: something that happens rarely
An example:
I used to go out nearly every night, but, since I’ve had kids, it’s really once in a blue moon.
Burn the midnight oil
Means: to work very hard on something
An example:
For this year, I have aimed to gain more experiences than previous years. I am joining some volunteering activities and also a part-time job. That’s why it might seem I burn the midnight oil.
Don’t count your chickens
Means: don’t assume something will happen until it actually occurs
An example:
Talking about the test score, I don’t want to count my chickens when I finish my test because I will be overthinking that. So, whether the score matches my target or not, I will still be happy with that because I have done my best.
Got the extra mile
Means: to do more than what is required
An example:
Instead of just showing the pictures, I go the extra mile, telling them the story behind those pictures.
Cross that bridge when you come to it
Means: to deal with a problem or situation when it actually occurs in the future
An example:
Discussing the remote jobs, people might think we will communicate less face-to-face as we don’t go to the office. However, we can cross that bridge when we come to it like we make a schedule to do video calling once a week.
Ini dia tips untuk menggunakan idioms dari YouTube channel “English Speaking Success:
Dari 25 daftar idioms di atas, adakah favoritmu? Kalo MinSo suka once in a blue moon, karena terkesan poetic gitu. Anyway, penggunaan idioms ini akan terdengar aneh atau jadi nggak natural kalau dipaksakan saat kamu mengucapkan kata-kata ini. Jadi, kamu bisa coba mulai membiasakan menggunakan idioms ini dengan cara: kamu pelajari dulu meaning dari idioms-nya agar saat menggunakannya nggak salah maknanya → lalu tulis atau writing down dulu kalimat yang menggunakan idioms ini → lalu coba latihan mengucapkan ini seperti saat kamu speaking atau bercerita → setelah itu, coba setidaknya membuat satu kalimat menggunakan idioms ini setiap harinya.
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