Trong phần thi IELTS Speaking, có phải học viên đạt Band 9 nhờ vào việc sử dụng Idioms?

Thầy Chris Pell (cựu giám khảo IELTS) đã thực hiện phân tích nhiều câu trả lời Band 9 từ hàng trăm học viên của thầy và thí sinh và từ đó đã xác định được những Idioms phổ biến nhất mà các bạn ấy thường dùng, thậm chí thống kê chính xác số lần chúng xuất hiện.

Dưới đây là danh sách các Idioms được các Band 9 thường sử dụng nhiều nhất.

Tuy nhiên, bạn không nên mặc định rằng cứ dùng những Idioms này là điểm số sẽ tự động tăng vọt.

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IDIOMS CÓ THỰC SỰ CẢI THIỆN ĐIỂM IELTS SPEAKING CỦA BẠN?

Câu trả lời là: Vừa có, vừa không.

Idioms là một phần của “Idiomatic language” (Ngôn ngữ bản tự nhiên/đặc thù). Ngôn ngữ này bao gồm:

• Idioms (Thành ngữ)

• Phrasal Verbs (Cụm động từ)

• Slang (Từ lóng)

• Colloquialisms (Từ ngữ thông tục)

Nói cách khác, đây là kiểu ngôn ngữ mà bạn thường nghe người bản xứ sử dụng.

Tuy nhiên, việc cố gắng nhồi nhét thật nhiều những từ và cụm từ này vào câu trả lời Speaking không phải là một chiến thuật khôn ngoan. Lý do là vì việc lạm dụng chúng thường không phù hợp với ngữ cảnh, và thí sinh IELTS thường dùng sai cách, điều này thực tế sẽ làm GIẢM điểm của bạn.

Bạn chỉ nên dùng Idioms khi thấy thực sự phù hợp và bạn chắc chắn mình đang sử dụng chúng chính xác 100%.

Trên thực tế, theo như thống kê từ nghiên cứu của thầy Chris Pell, số lần trung bình mà các học viên Band 9 sử dụng Idioms chỉ là 1.2 lần. Nhiều bạn thậm chí không dùng bất kỳ Idiom nào. Và KHÔNG một ai trong số họ học vẹt danh sách Idioms để đi thi cả.

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18 IDIOMS PHỔ BIẾN NHẤT TRONG IELTS SPEAKING

1. To Bite the Bullet

   • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Quyết tâm làm một việc khó khăn/không thoải mái dù bạn không hề muốn.

   • Meaning: To force yourself to do something unpleasant or difficult, or to be brave in a difficult situation.

   • Origin: Bắt nguồn từ lịch sử ngành y, khi các bệnh nhân phải cắn chặt một viên đạn giữa hai hàm răng để chịu đựng cơn đau trong các cuộc phẫu thuật mà không có thuốc gây tê.

   • IELTS Speaking Example: “I didn’t really want to study Law, but it was my parents’ wish. So, I decided to bite the bullet and enroll in the course.”

2. A Piece of Cake

   • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Dễ như ăn bánh.

   • Meaning: If you think something is very easy to do.

   • Origin: Xuất phát từ thực tế là việc ăn bánh luôn mang lại cảm giác dễ chịu và không tốn chút sức lực nào.

   • IELTS Speaking Example: “To be honest, compared to my previous job, this one is a piece of cake. I can finish all my tasks in just a few hours.”

3. Kill Two Birds With One Stone

   • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Một công đôi việc / Một mũi tên trúng hai đích.

   • Meaning: To achieve two things by doing a single action.

   • Origin: Được tin là bắt nguồn từ câu chuyện về Daedalus và Icarus trong Thần thoại Hy Lạp.

   • IELTS Speaking Example: “I usually listen to English podcasts while commuting to work; it helps me kill two birds with one stone because I can learn and travel at the same time.”

4. Let the Cat Out of the Bag

   • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Để lộ bí mật (thường là vô ý).

   • Meaning: To disclose a secret, often by mistake.

   • Origin: Loài mèo thường không thích bị nhốt trong túi. Một khi bạn đã thả chúng ra, sẽ rất khó để bắt chúng quay lại, giống hệt như những bí mật đã bị tiết lộ.

   • IELTS Speaking Example: “We planned a surprise party for my sister, but my younger brother accidentally let the cat out of the bag by mentioning the cake.”

5. Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

   • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Đừng dồn hết vốn liếng/nguồn lực vào một chỗ duy nhất.

   • Meaning: To avoid concentrating all your resources or efforts in one area, as a way to minimize risk.

   • Origin: Khi thu hoạch trứng từ những con gà, nếu bạn để tất cả vào một chiếc giỏ duy nhất và chẳng may làm rơi, tất cả trứng sẽ bị vỡ hết.

   • IELTS Speaking Example: “I’m applying for several universities because I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket and risk having no options left.”

6. Once in a Blue Moon

   • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Hiếm khi xảy ra.

   • Meaning: Happens very rarely.

   • Origin: Ý tưởng đằng sau nguồn gốc này là sự xuất hiện lần thứ hai (nhưng rất hiếm gặp) của trăng tròn trong cùng một tháng.

   • IELTS Speaking Example: “I used to go to the gym every day, but since I started working full-time, I only go there once in a blue moon.”

7. Burn the Midnight Oil

   • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Thức khuya làm việc hoặc học tập.

   • Meaning: To work late into the night or to work hard on something.

   • Origin: Trước đây đèn dầu được dùng để thắp sáng. Nếu bạn vẫn đang đốt dầu vào lúc nửa đêm, nghĩa là bạn đang làm việc miệt mài.

   • IELTS Speaking Example: “I had to burn the midnight oil for an entire week to prepare for my final exams.”

8. Burn the Candle at Both Ends

   • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Làm việc kiệt sức (thức khuya dậy sớm).

   • Meaning: To exhaust oneself by working too much, going to bed late and getting up early.

   • Origin: Ban đầu cụm từ này mang nghĩa là lãng phí tiền bạc, sau đó ý nghĩa đã thay đổi thành việc làm quá sức mình.

   • IELTS Speaking Example: “If you continue to burn the candle at both ends, you will eventually have a health breakdown.”

9. At the Drop of a Hat

   • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Ngay lập tức, không chút do dự.

   • Meaning: To do something immediately and without hesitation.

   • Origin: Bắt nguồn từ đầu thế kỷ 19, khi mọi người thường ra hiệu bắt đầu một cuộc đấu hoặc cuộc đua bằng cách thả rơi một chiếc mũ hoặc phất nó trong không trung.

   • IELTS Speaking Example: “My best friend is so supportive; she would come to help me at the drop of a hat if I ever had a problem.”

10. Cry Over Spilt Milk

    • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Hối tiếc vô ích về những chuyện đã rồi.

    • Meaning: To waste time feeling upset about something that has already happened and cannot be changed.

    • Origin: Nếu bạn làm đổ sữa, bạn không thể dùng lại nó nữa. Chẳng có ích gì khi khóc lóc vì một điều không thể thay đổi.

    • IELTS Speaking Example: “I was upset about failing my driving test, but then I realized there’s no point crying over spilt milk. I just need to practice more.”

11. You Can’t Judge a Book by its Cover

    • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Đừng trông mặt mà bắt hình dong.

    • Meaning: You should not judge people or things based on their appearance.

    • Origin: Bạn phải thực sự đọc một cuốn sách thì mới biết được nó hay hay dở, chứ không thể chỉ nhìn bìa ngoài.

    • IELTS Speaking Example: “The restaurant looked quite old and run-down, but the food was amazing. It just goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover.”

12. Don’t Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

    • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Đừng nói trước bước không qua / Đừng quá chắc chắn khi chưa thấy kết quả.

    • Meaning: Don’t assume that something will happen or be successful before it actually occurs.

    • Origin: Lấy cảm hứng từ truyện ngụ ngôn “Cô gái vắt sữa và xô sữa”.

    • IELTS Speaking Example: “The interview went well, but I’m not counting my chickens before they hatch because there are many other qualified candidates.”

13. Go the Extra Mile

    • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Nỗ lực vượt mức mong đợi/yêu cầu.

    • Meaning: To make more effort than is expected or required.

    • Origin: Tham chiếu từ một dòng trong Kinh Thánh (Matthew 5:41), trong đó Chúa Jesus khuyên các môn đồ hãy đi thêm dặm thứ hai nếu ai đó yêu cầu họ đi cùng một dặm.

    • IELTS Speaking Example: “My manager always goes the extra mile to help us achieve our monthly targets.”

14. Raining Cats and Dogs

    • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Mưa rất to / Mưa như trút nước.

    • Meaning: Raining very heavily.

    • Origin: Nguồn gốc không chắc chắn, có thể liên quan đến các câu chuyện thần thoại cổ hoặc cách những trận mưa lớn cuốn trôi các mảnh vụn (bao gồm cả xác động vật) trên đường phố.

    • IELTS Speaking Example: “I couldn’t go for a run this morning because it was raining cats and dogs.”

15. Throw in the Towel

    • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Chấp nhận thất bại / Bỏ cuộc.

    • Meaning: To admit defeat or give up.

    • Origin: Bắt nguồn từ môn Boxing, khi người huấn luyện viên ném chiếc khăn vào vòng đấu để ra hiệu rằng võ sĩ của họ chấp nhận đầu hàng.

    • IELTS Speaking Example: “Learning a new language is tough, but I’m not ready to throw in the towelyet.”

16. Cross That Bridge When You Come To It

    • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Đến đâu hay đến đó / Đừng lo lắng chuyện chưa tới.

    • Meaning: Deal with a problem or situation when it actually happens, rather than worrying about it beforehand.

    • Origin: Trong quá khứ, việc băng qua các cây cầu thường rất nguy hiểm, nên người ta tránh lo lắng về nó cho đến khi thực sự đứng trước cây cầu đó.

    • IELTS Speaking Example: “I’m not sure what I’ll do if I don’t get the job, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”

17. When in Rome

    • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Nhập gia tùy tục.

    • Meaning: Follow the customs and behaviour of the people in the place where you are visiting or living.

    • Origin: Được cho là lời của Thánh Ambrose, khuyên mọi người nên thích nghi với phong tục địa phương khi đi du lịch.

    • IELTS Speaking Example: “I don’t usually eat with my hands, but everyone here does, so when in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

18. Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

    • Nghĩa tiếng Việt: Việc lớn cần thời gian để thành công, không nên nóng vội.

    • Meaning: Important work takes time and should not be rushed.

    • Origin: Phải mất hàng trăm năm để xây dựng nên thành phố vĩ đại bậc nhất thế giới.

    • IELTS Speaking Example: “I know my English isn’t perfect yet, but I keep practicing because I know Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

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BAND 9 SAMPLE ANSWERS INCLUDING EACH IDIOM

Q: Why did you choose that career?

“I didn’t really want to study law, but I was the only one in my family ever to get high grades in their A-levels. So my mother sat me down one day and said it was either medicine or law. So I went to a hospital on work experience and fainted when I saw the sight of blood. I’m too squeamish for medicine, so I decided just to bite the bullet and study law.”

Q: Why did you change careers?

“To be honest, compared to practicing law, teaching English is a piece of cake. To give you a concrete example, to qualify as a lawyer takes around six years of study and work experience. To qualify as an English teacher only takes six weeks. The pay obviously isn’t as good, but the students, the clients are much nicer and friendlier.”

Q: Have you ever given jewelry to someone as a gift?

“Yes, I actually bought my wife a diamond ring last Christmas. So my wife’s birthday is in November and Christmas is obviously in December. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone and buy one present for her birthday and Christmas. And she was very happy with that because she got one nice, expensive ring rather than two less expensive gifts.”

Q: Have you ever received jewelry as a gift?

“If you count watches as jewelry, then yes. For my last birthday, my 40th birthday, my wife bought me a very special watch that I’ve been looking at and desiring for many, many years. The funny story about that is that my credit card and my wife’s credit card are the same. So whenever my wife bought it, it pinged on my phone and I got an alert from my favorite watch boutique, and it was the exact amount of money that was for this watch because I had been looking at this watch for ages. So the phone let the cat out of the bag a little bit, but it was still a very nice gift and a nice surprise.

Q: Do you think you will have the same career in the future?

“Probably not, because with the developments in AI recently, I don’t think there are going to be IELTS teachers or even any teachers in the future. I think it would be very foolish for me to put all my eggs in one basket and just hope for the best and hope that IELTS and teaching lasts forever. But honestly, I don’t think it will.”

Q: How often do you go out with friends?

“I used to go out nearly every night, but since I’ve had kids, it’s really once in a blue moon. Most of my friends have either settled down with kids like me, or they have moved away. So it’s quite rare to have an occasion where a group of friends are all together at the same time. Sometimes at Christmas, when a lot of our friends visit Ireland during the Christmas period, or in the summertime when a lot of our friends have time off, I might go out, but it is quite a rare occasion these days.”

Q: Do you think you changed as you got older?

“Yes, I used to burn the candle at both ends. I had a very much work hard, play hard attitude because I was a lawyer. Lawyers are expected to work 80 to 100 hours a week. But we would often go out to bars and restaurants after work to blow off steam and to destress, which isn’t really sustainable. Now, I do still burn the midnight oil. I work very, very hard on my career, but you’re more likely to find me tucked up in bed by 9 PM than to be out partying.”

Q: Do you own or rent your home?

“We actually rent our home. We could afford to buy a home, but we really value our independence and freedom. If you own a home, you’re kinda stuck in that location because it can take a very long time to sell that home. But if you rent, you can move anywhere at the drop of a hat.”

Q: What do you dislike about your job?

“The thing I dislike most about my job is dealing with people who only focus on the negative, especially when they are given negative feedback. That could be students, that could be employees, but people who make mistakes and don’t learn from them. So for example, I give a lot of feedback on student essays, and some students see mistakes and they’re like, great, now I know what my mistakes are and I can improve. Other students will just cry about it for days and they’ll cry about it for weeks. They’re like, I’m going to fail. It’s like, there’s no point crying over spilt milk. You made the mistake, now learn from it.

Q: How often do you buy new clothes?

“Very rarely actually, because I’m a firm believer in you can’t judge a book by its cover. And we should judge people not on what clothes they wear and their appearance, but by their character and the things that come out of their mouths. My wife firmly disagrees with this because she says someone who gets millions of views on YouTube shouldn’t be wearing the same shirt every day. So she does encourage me to go and buy new clothes, but I do it begrudgingly.”

Q: What type of jewelry do you like best?

“I prefer to buy luxury watches than jewelry. I’m not sure if you could count a luxury watch as jewelry, but the thing about jewelry is like diamond rings, necklaces, and things like that. Often as soon as you buy them, as soon as you walk out of the jewelers, they lose value. Whereas many of the watches that I’ve purchased have actually gone up in value. I don’t want to count my chickens, but if I were to sell these watches, I probably would make a lot more money on them than I paid for them. So that’s why I prefer luxury timepieces over simple jewelry.”

Q: Who does the cooking in your home?

“My wife does the vast majority of the cooking, not because she’s necessarily a better cook. But the thing I love about my wife is in whatever she does, she goes the extra mile. So if I was cooking steak, I would just cook the steak and eat it with a little bit of bread. But my wife will have three different sauces, and balsamic vinegar, and two different olive oils, and four different types of potato. She really does go the extra mile when it comes to cooking in our house.”

Q: Do you like your neigborhood?

“Yes and no. Where I live is one of the most beautiful places in the world. We’re spoiled for choice in terms of outdoor activities and beautiful places. On our doorstep, we have beaches, forests, lakes, and mountains. But unfortunately, it’s Ireland, so it’s normally raining cats and dogs, so you don’t really get to enjoy it.”

Q: Do you have a healthy diet?

“As you can tell from looking at me, no, I don’t have a very healthy diet. I do try, I normally get up in the morning and have a healthy breakfast and a healthy lunch, but it’s so easy just to throw in the towel when you get home after a hard day’s work, and your wife has a beautiful meal prepared, there’s a bottle of wine on the table, and your kid’s half-eaten chocolate is lying all around the kitchen. So I do quite well most of the day and then fail in the evenings.”

Q: Will you change careers in the future?

“It’s not something I really like to think about because, in the back of my mind, I know IELTS teachers and all educators are doomed because AI is going to replace them. Why would a student hire a human that is not as good as a machine that can do it at half the price or a fraction of the price and do it much more effectively? We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, but I don’t think it’s that far away. But in the meantime, I’m just going to enjoy teaching for as long as I can.”

Q: Is there anything you don’t like about social media?

“The thing I hate about social media is the fact that these companies have so much power to change their systems and change their algorithms, but they decide not to for money. So to give you an example from my work and my job, to become a famous IELTS YouTuber is actually quite easy. All you have to do is come up with some clickbait titles like ‘hacks’ and ‘tricks’ and ‘predictions’ and things like that and put a pretty girl on the thumbnail. But that doesn’t mean that the person making that video knows anything about IELTS, it just means that they know how to trick the algorithm. You know, I understand Rome wasn’t built in a day, and that it takes time to fix platforms and change algorithms. But these are sometimes trillion-dollar companies. If they wanted to get these people off their platform, they could. But they decide not to because popular is more important than educating the public properly.”

Q: Are you okay with someone randomly taking your photo?

“No, I actually hate it and it makes me feel very uncomfortable. I’m from Ireland and in Ireland, it is quite rare for someone to take your photo. And if they want to take your photo, it is rude to just take it without asking you. So it’s customary just to say, “Do you mind if I take a photo?” And if somebody says yes, you can take it. But if they say no, you should definitely not take it. My wife, who is from Vietnam, in Vietnam, they have a very, very different culture. They are taking photos all of the time, and they will think nothing of this taking a photo of you. And if I get angry with someone for taking a photo, they’ll think that I’m the problem and I’m being rude. So when in Rome.”

Source: thầy Chris Pell

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