雅思考官揭露中国学生口语弊病

1.    The final introduction question is: “Could I see your identification, please?” You should have your  身份证 in your hand or on the table in front of you, ready to give to the examiner.

·         Note that the examiner doesn't really ask you to say anything. If you say nothing as you give your ID card to the examiner, most examiners will not mind. (I remember that when I was an examiner, I gave a final score of 7 to some candidates who said nothing when they gave me their ID card. The important thing is what you say in the rest of the test, not what you say, or do not say, as you hand over your ID card!)

·         Nevertheless, although most examiners would not consider it impolite if you didn’t say anything, it would be best if you did say something. There are two reasons for this: a) it is possible (although unlikely) that your examiner might believe that you should say something, and, b) you have an opportunity here to say something original.

·         If you cannot think of anything original to say, then simply saying, “Sure.” or “Ok.” in answer to the examiner’s request and giving him your ID card is adequate.

·         More than 80% of candidates say, “Here you are.” (or, “Sure. Here you are.”) as they hand over their ID card. There is nothing really wrong with this small sentence – it is suitable and it sounds polite. However, many candidates in China have learned this sentence from a book but have never actually heard a native speaker say it, even in a recording. The fact is that this small sentence is most frequently used in spoken English and is spoken quite fast and smoothly, with the major stress on the word, ‘Here’. If you can say it so that it sounds ‘natural’, that is, so that the examiner does not immediately think, “That’s from an IELTS book!”, then it is ok. But my advice is try to find something else to say because it sounds a little too rehearsed and since almost everybody says it, it is so predictable and boring for examiners!

·         Some candidates say, “Of course.” or, “Of course. Here you are.” I recommend that you do notreply, “Of course” to any of the introduction questions because it sounds somewhat overlypolite, formal and unsuitable. (This is my personal opinion, which might not be shared by every other native English speaker or IELTS examiner.) To me, it sounds too much like the language used by service people such as waiters. For example, if you were eating in an expensive, high-class restaurant in London and you said to the waiter, “Could I have a menu, please?”, a typical reply from the waiter would be, “Of course, Sir. Here you are.” Don't confuse the polite language of a service person, speaking to someone of ‘higher status’, with the polite language spoken between people of equal status.

·         Unfortunately, it is difficult to find something original to say as you hand over your ID card, especially now that most people in China have new ID cards. Before the new cards came into use, some people could have said things such as: “My card’s a bit old and tattered. I need to get a new one.”; “My hair was long in this picture but that was five years ago.”; or, “I look like a child in this picture.”  

·         But if you can find something original and interesting to say about your ID card, consider saying that instead of, “Here you are.” as you show your card to the examiner. For example, in some parts of China, ID cards have hanyu pinyin as well as Chinese characters, and if you come from Xinjiang, Tibet or Inner Mongolia, you probably also have some non-Chinese writing on your card.  

·         You should definitely not use the phrases, “Here you go.” or, “There you go.” as you hand over your ID card. The reason for this is that these phrases sound too casual and can sound condescending (i.e., speaking down to someone), and are used in situations such as handing an ice-cream to a child or giving money to a beggar.

·         Some candidates say, “Here it is.” as they give their ID card to the examiner. This is not a huge mistake but it is unsuitable – native English speakers would not say that in this situation. “Here it is.” is more suitable if you were looking for something and then found it. 

·         For this fourth question, I have advised you more on what you should not say than on what you should say. To sum up, if you can't think of anything original (and interesting) to say, just say a quick, “Sure.” as you hand over your ID card.