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Your Studies

“Do you work or are you a student?

l   It is quite a serious mistake to begin your answer to this question with the word ‘Yes’ or the word ‘No’. This is not a ‘Yes/No’ question.

l   It is also unsuitable to say what you are not; instead, say what you are. For example, don’t say, “I’m not working. I’m a student.”

l   If you are currently enrolled in a university (or a similar tertiary institute), you should answer the question as directly as possible by first saying, “I’m a student.” It is suitable to use that as your complete answer but it is better to add a little more to this answer. But I don’t think it is suitable to add a lot more – just a little. For example, “I’m a student at Renmin University in Beijing,” or  “I’m a student, at university.” or “I’m a student, a university student.” (Put the stress on the word “university”, not on “student”.) Another suitable answer is: “I’m a student, a second-year university student.”

     It is “ok” to answer “I’m a university student.” However, this answer seems a little more suitable for the question, “What do you do?” or “Are you a high school or university student?” For the question, “Do you work or are you a student?” it seems most appropriate, and clearer communication, to first focus either on the word ‘work’ or the word ‘student’ (or some variation of these words). I say the answer above is “ok” but not “great” because it is almost first focusing on the word ‘student’. You will better understand what I mean if you look at how some working people answer this question. Some people say, “I've been working for five years.” or “I'm a journalist at a TV station.” You can see that both these replies do answer the question, but indirectly. The first reply is more suitable for the question, “How long have you been working?” and the second reply is more suitable for the question, “What work do you do?” It is almost always better to answer any question as directly as possible. However, as you will see below, (in the example of how the Korean girl answered the second question in one of the Specimen tests,) if you first make a comment about the question itself before you answer the question, it is still considered to be a very direct answer because the answer is still directly related to the question.

     Why is a direct answer better communication? The reason is this: in real life (not an IELTS test), you would not know why somebody was asking a question such as“Do you work or are you a student?” For example, maybe the person who asked the question simply wants to invite you to join a club that is only for students – maybe what type of student you are or what you study or where you study is not important at all. That is why only a little added information is suitable for this answer after you first say which you are, a working person or a student.

l   If you are still enrolled in high school, you should tell the examiner this at the beginning (i.e., when you answer this question) because the following questions are often worded for university students. After you tell the examiner you are a high school student, he or she will adapt the wording of the questions to suit you. I suggest you do not say ‘middle school’ or ‘senior school’ –  use ‘high school’ (or ‘secondary school’). You should reply with an answer such as this: “I’m a student, a high school student.” Or, “I’m still a student, a high school student.”

l   Some candidates say: “I’m a student, a college student.” This answer is not too bad because it does focus first on the word ‘student’. However, you should understand that ‘college student’ is American English and the IELTS test is basically British English. As I have written elsewhere on this website, American English including American pronunciation is acceptable in the test, especially if you know your examiner is a North American (= from the U.S.A. or Canada). But since the IELTS test is so closely connected with university education in Britain, Australia and New Zealand, I suggest you do try to use British English as much as possible when talking about education.

In the U.S., a 'college student' generally means the same as, 'a university student' or, "a student at some school that is not called 'a university' ". In British English, 'a college student' only means, "a student at some school that is not called 'a university' ".  If you are student at an educational institute that is not called 'a university', is quite suitable to say: “I'm a student. I'm studying in (= I study in) a college; it's not really called a university.” Or, “I'm a student, a college student; it's not really called a university.” ('Study in a college' and 'study at a college' are both acceptable.)

However, if you answer the question with, “I’m a college student.” without first saying, “I’m a student” you are further moving away from an ideal answer because this answer first focuses on the word “college” rather than “student”. That answer is more suitable for the question, “What do you do?”

And if you make the mistake of pronouncing it as “college student” rather than “college student” then your answer is even weaker. Stress the first word, not the second.

l   Some candidates have finished high school but are not currently enrolled in a university (or other similar tertiary institute). If you are one of these candidates, you should not say, “I'm a student” because you are not a student now, even if you are planning to be a student overseas soon. Instead, you should say something like, “I was a student but I finished high school last year,” or, “I used to be a student but I finished high school last year.” It's important that you stress the word “was” or “used to” (pronounced as “use to”) because you are expressing a contrast between now and before and when we express a contrast, we stress the two words in contrast. Here, your meaning is, “I was a student but I'm not a student now.” However, it is not necessary to actually say, “but I'm not a student now” – this is understood. Nevertheless, you should still stress “was” or “used”. If you don't stress it correctly, it will not sound natural. Not only will it not sound natural, if you don't stress it correctly and especially if you make the mistake of putting a strong stress on the word ‘student’, i.e., “I was a student” or “I used to be a student” then the examiner will think, “Ah! That answer was learned from a book!” Examiners don't like answers that sound like they are memorized from books (or from websites like this one!) They want to hear answers that sound natural. Very often, if the examiner thinks you have memorized answers because you knew the questions beforehand, he or she will choose to ask you more difficult questions than they usually do! If you do memorize answers, you have to be a good actor or actress in the test  – you have to act like you are speaking naturally and spontaneously and you have to know the correct words to stress when you speak.

     Other possible ways to say that you are not exactly a student now are:

1.  "Neither, actually. I just finished high school this year." 

2.  "Neither, actually. I just finished high school this year."

3.  "Actually, I just finished high school this year so, strictly speaking, I'm not a student now and I haven't started working yet, either."

Of course, any of these replies could be preceded by the word, 'Well, ...'.    

     If you are one of these candidates, (between high school and university) don't feel that it is a little unfair because your answer seems a little more difficult to speak correctly than other candidates. If you speak it perfectly, the examiner will notice that and you should feel lucky that you have had an opportunity to impress the examiner – you will get a few more ‘points’ than a candidate whose answer was easier to say.

l   Americans say “graduated from high school” while British English is “finished high school”. Both of these are equally clear and that is the main thing, to communicate your meaning clearly. Examiners know that students are exposed to a mixture of British and American English and they don't mind if you use a mixture of American and British English, as long as they can understand what you mean.  (But using mixed forms of English might sometimes confuse the listener momentarily. For example, if you speak British English most of the time and suddenly use an American English word or pronunciation, the listener might be confused for a split second because he or she was expecting to hear British English from you.)

l   Make sure that you pronounce ‘graduated’ correctly. It is pronounced as ‘gra/du/a/ted’ with the word stress on the first syllable (not the third) and the third syllable pronounced clearly as ‘tid’.

l   In both British and American English we say, “graduated from university”.

l   You should not say “I was graduated last year.” That sounds like 被动语态 , which is incorrect grammar here. What you should say is, “I graduated last year.”  

l   Some candidates are graduate students at university. ‘Graduate students’ is the same as saying ‘post-graduate students’ i.e., students who already have a Bachelor's degree but are continuing to study at university in a course that requires a Bachelor's degree as a prerequisite. They might be studying a post-graduate diploma, a Master's Degree or a Doctorate. If you are one of these candidates, an appropriate answer would be, “I'm a student – I'm doing a Master's degree in Physics”. To me, in answer to this question, it seems quite appropriate to say what your specialization is when you are doing a graduate course. But for some reason, when answering this question it seems a little unnatural to say what your main subject (your major) is when you are doing a Bachelor's degree.

      Make sure that you pronounce ‘graduate’ (noun) in the phrase ‘a graduate student’ as . (And stress the first word, not the second.) When it is a verb it is pronounced as .

l   Note: In English, there is no such thing as ‘a doctor's degree’ (博士). Some high school textbooks in China have this but it is incorrect. The correct name is ‘a doctorate’, or ‘a Ph. D’ (pronounced as a ‘p-h-d’ meaning ‘Doctor of Philosophy’). Even medical doctors get a ‘medical degree’, not a ‘doctor’s degree’. We say, ‘a doctoral thesis’ when talking about the research paper for a doctorate.

l   If you have already completed some post-graduate qualification, it sounds a little more appropriate to say “I completed (or finished) my Master's degree last year,” rather than, “I graduated with a Master's degree last year.” This is because the word ‘graduate’ is most often associated with a Bachelor's degree or some other qualification from a college. (In the U.S.A., the word, ‘graduate’ is used for a Bachelor's degree or some other qualification from a college and a High School Diploma.)

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The second question that the examiner will ask you is usually (but not always) this:

  “What subject are you studying?” 

l   This question is for current university students and it means the same as “What's your major?” (See below for high school students and university graduates.) The examiner will not use the word ‘major’ in this question because he or she must use the exact words that are written in his or her question book (although the words can be varied to suit the particular circumstances of the candidate) and the word ‘major’, for this meaning, is American English. Don't forget, the IELTS test is a British/Australian test, which uses British English in Parts 1 and 2. (Australian English is mostly a branch of British English.) Even an American IELTS examiner must use the word ‘subject’ in this question although examiners are free to choose their own words in Part 3 of the test.

l   Be careful of the exact wording of this question and try to answer using the same verb tense. The most common variation of this question is: “What subject do you study?”  which means the same as, “What subject are you studying?” The verb tenses are slightly different but since they are both different kinds of present tense, it's suitable to use either ‘I'm studying’ or ‘I study’ in your answer, no matter which form of question is used. (Occasionally, an examiner might forget to use the word ‘subject’ and might just ask you “What are you studying?” or “What do you study?” If this happens, answer the question as if the examiner did use that word.)

l   Below are several answers to this question that I have heard, followed by some comments by me. Yellow means the answer is suitable and red means unsuitable; green is ok but there are better answers. The number in the parentheses is a value from 5 to 10, 10 meaning very suitable and 5 meaning a weak answer. (This scoring system is just used here as a way to show you my judgment of the different quality of answers – IELTS examiners don’t really use such a scoring system but they do feel some answers are better than others.  A 7 or above is acceptable.)

     Of course, there are many good ways to answer this question, depending on your personal situation. Remember, examiners like to hear original answers as much as possible. In the Specimen Tests, the Korean girl answered this question by saying: “Whenever anyone asks me that question, I don’t want to tell them because my major is English Language Education but my English is very poor!” That is an original and genuine answer, which displays good communication. Usually, you should directly answer a question but in her case, she made a comment about the question and it is suitable to put that comment first because the question comes first. (However, avoid making too many comments about the questions – don’t do it more than 2 or 3 times in the test, and only when the comment is appropriate and genuine.)

     For most candidates, your answer to this question should be quite short. (You will be asked questions in Part 1 that require longer answers soon enough!) However, just like that Korean girl, if you have a suitable comment to add to your basic answer, it is ok to add that, as long as you keep it short. For example: “I’m studying Chemical Engineering but I hate it!” Or, “I’m studying Music and I’m so happy to be doing this because it’s my hobby as well.”

Examples of Answers

      “I’m studying Economics.” (10)

This answer is quite suitable even if the question is, “What subject do you study?” Most candidates should try to answer the question this way but there are a few of you who should be careful using the word ‘studying’. Many Chinese people pronounce this almost as ‘stu/ding’. The word is actually pronounced with 3 clear syllables, not 2. But examiners will understand you so don’t worry too much about this. The perfect pronunciation is ‘stu/dy/(y)ing’, with three clear syllables, the word stress on the first syllable and a very slight ‘y’ sound at the beginning of the last syllable because of the smooth linking with the previous syllable. However, many students can’t smoothly link the third syllable to the second and instead pronounce it as two words: “study–ing” or “study–in”. If you say it that way, the examiner will think that your English is poor; he or she might think that you are confusing “I major in Civil Engineering” with “I study in Civil Engineering”. “Major in” is acceptable; “study in” is not!

Therefore, if you can’t say “studying” smoothly in 3 syllables just say “stu/ding” as you normally do or use one of the examples below.

     “I study Economics.” (9 or 10)

This answer is acceptable whether the question is, “What subject are you studying?” or “What subject do you study?” However, for the first question of these two, “I'm studying Economics” is a little better.

     “My subject is Economics.” (8)

This answer is more suitable to a question that is worded as, “What’s your subject?” But it is acceptable.

     “My major is Economics.” (7)

This is acceptable. If you know the examiner is a North American, it’s worth an 8 or 9. Some British or Australian examiners might be a little offended that you choose to use a different word to the word that he or she used in the question. (Actually, using the word ‘subject’ to mean ‘major’ is more common in Britain than in Australia. Many Australians just say, “What are you studying?” or, “What course are you studying?”)

     “I’m majoring in Economics.” (7)

  “I’m majoring in …” is not easy for most Chinese people to say fluently! But if you can say it clearly, it’s worth more than “I major in …”. This has a value of 9 or 10 if you know the examiner is a North American. (Don’t forget, you are communicating with another human being in the IELTS interview, not just giving a performance. In other words, tailoring your language to the listener is a good communication skill.)  

    “I’m taking Economics.” (6 or 7)

Give this answer a 7 if the examiner is a North American. This answer shows a familiarity with idiomatic English so it has some value but it avoids using either the word ‘subject’ or ‘study’ and this is a slight weakness.

     “I’m doing Economics.” (6 or 7)

This answer is similar to the one above.

     “I’m specializing in the field of Economics.” (5)  

For a candidate who is doing a Bachelor’s degree, this answer sounds contrived, i.e., it sounds like you are trying to impress the examiner by saying something simple in a complex way. Normally, we do not use the words “specializing in” or “the field of” when talking about a Bachelor's degree.

However, to say “I’m specializing in …” is very suitable for students who are studying a graduate diploma course, a Master’s degree course or, especially, a Ph.D. For example: “I'm studying for a Master's degree in biology, specializing in the field of molecular biology.” 

Furthermore, it is sometimes suitable for Bachelor’s degree students, i.e., those students studying for a Bachelor's degree course that has a rather general title, such as the faculty name. For example, “I’m studying Music, specializing in the piano.” Or, “I’m studying geology, specializing in the field of oil exploration.” (In these cases, the actual degree titles might be simply, “Bachelor of Music” and, “Bachelor of Geology”.) These are good answers, with a value of 10 if used appropriately.

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If you have already graduated from university

If you told the examiner you have already graduated from university, the second question will not be, “What subject are you studying?” but rather, “What subject were you studying?” or “What subject did you study?” In this case, you should, of course, use either of these past tenses to answer the question.

In English we only say “My subject is ...” or “My major is ...” while we are still students. After we graduate, we use “My subject was ...” or “My major was ...” But even if you didn't know this, the examiner's question will be in the past tense and therefore your answer should also be in the past tense.

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If you are a high school student at the moment

If you are still enrolled in high school right now, your second question will be, “What subjects are you studying?” or “What subjects do you study?” In this case, you should tell the examiner the subjects (plural) that you are taking in school.

Make sure that you know how to correctly pronounce ‘Chemistry’ and definitely don't say ‘physical’ (身体的,物质的) when you mean ‘Physics’ (物理学). ‘Physical Education’ (体育), also called ‘P.E.’ is a class in school but most westerners don't consider this to be a subject that you really ‘study’ – we just do it. So don't include that. Just say about 5 or 6 subjects but avoid saying ‘and so on’ because the examiner might think that you say that because you don't know how to say any more subjects in English. Of course, it is ok to begin by saying something such as, “I'm taking six subjects.” or “Oh, there are so many!” And it is a good idea to add a small comment or two about some of your subjects but don't make your answer to this question too long.

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If you have finished high school but have not yet started to study at university

In this case, your question will be: “What subjects were you studying?” or “What subjects did you study?” Don't forget to use the past tense or past continuous tense in your answer.

In July and August, some people have enrolled in university but have not yet started attending classes. If you are one of these people, you should explain this to the examiner and he or she will ask you questions about your high school studies – you can't answer questions about university yet because you haven't really started your university studies yet.

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REMEMBER

It is very important that you know how to say your subject, or high school subjects correctly. If you make a (major) mistake doing this, you will give the examiner a very poor impression.

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Go HERE to see some common errors that candidates make when naming their subject.

Continue to ‘Your Studies Page 2’

Page 2 has some suggestions for answering two more common questions about your studies: “Why did you choose to study that?” and “Do you like it? (your subject)”