Can I use both American and English pronunciation during the IELTS speaking test?
We asked one of the IELTS speaking examiners that works with us.
Yes, of course. English is English. As you may know, there are two ways of saying potato and tomato; the UK way /təˈmɑː·təʊ/ and the US way /təˈmeɪ·t̬oʊ/ (and probably more!). Now, in the exam, if the examiner asks you
“Do you eat a lot of fruit and vegetables?”
You can answer
“Yes, /təˈmɑː·təʊz/ (UK pronunciation) are my favourite (UK spelling!) food. I eat them every day. I couldn’t live without /təˈmeɪ·t̬oʊs/ (US pronunciation) “
I have some people say that you need to be consistent but that is just not true. As I said before, English is English and in IELTS, all forms are acceptable. American English is now the dominant form of English due to music, films etc and everybody nowadays mixes them up. This is something you don’t need to worry about in IELTS.
If you would like to do an IELTS speaking mock exam with an IELTS examiner, then you can purchase a speaking test here or get in touch if you want to know more about our services.
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