Two Different Speaking Systems




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IELTS Speaking - Mat Clark

Two Different Speaking Systems 
1.
 
The Economics of Language 
This first point may sound strange but in fact it is easy to understand. 
Different languages can be easily distinguished by the amount of words that native 
speakers produce in normal speech. 
Ask the following question in your first language – Chinese (ask your partner if you 
are using this book in class); try to answer in a natural style: ―What food do you like 
eating?‖ 
Now think about your (or your partner's) answer. Try to repeat the answer exactly as 
it was given. How many actual words did the answer contain? 
Now ask the same question in English to a native speaker of English (if you can find 
one). Ask your teacher if you are using this book in class. Again the answer should be as 
natural as possible. How may actual words did the answer contain? 
Hopefully the result should be quite clear. 
As a spoken language, Chinese operates quite ―economically‖. Native speakers of 
Chinese are able to hold conversations and communicate efficiently using small amounts of 
language. The way that Chinese has developed as language means that users of the language 
are able to exchange precise and exact ideas or concepts using a limited amounts of words 
in their speech. 
Spoken Chinese can therefore be described as an ―economical‖ language. In simple 
terms, spoken Chinese doesn't waste words. 
Spoken English on the other hand is quite ―uneconomical‖ - it requires large amounts 
of words to communicate even basic ideas. In other words, spoken English wastes words. 
This is our first major differences between spoken English and Chinese. 
As a result of this, your IELTS responses should be longer than your natural spoken 
Chinese language response.
 
2.
 
The Location of Key Information 
Over the years I have often heard people describe English as a ―direct language‖. 
In fact, this description is quite inaccurate. English is actually a very indirect 
language. Try listening to any British politician speaking in Parliament and you will 
certainly agree with me here. 
Chinese on the other hand is a direct language when it is spoken. Ask and answer the 

Mat Clark – IELTS Speaking 
10
following question in Chinese: ―When do you usually listen to music?‖ 
In Chinese, the answer would probably begin with a ―time‖, any details or 
explanations probably came after the key information or answer. For example, ―At 
weekends or the evenings...(because + details)‖ 
If the same question is asked in English, it is more likely that the details or 
explanations came first and the actual answer or key information came towards the end of 
the response. 
It is a good idea to visualize the two answers as triangles: 

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