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Extend Your Answers

10 min
B1

The AREF framework

French speakers give efficient, direct answers. IELTS wants developed ones. The difference between Band 6 and Band 7 in Part 1 is often just response length and structure. Use AREF:

A — Answer the question directly
R — Reason: "mainly because..." / "the thing is..." / "I suppose it's because..."
E — Example: "for instance..." / "a good example would be..." / "like when..."
F — Reflection: "looking back..." / "what I find interesting is..." / "I've actually noticed that..."

Watch the difference

Question: "Do you enjoy your job?"

French instinct (Band 6): "Yes, I enjoy my job. It's interesting and I like my colleagues."
Complete, accurate, efficient — and too short for IELTS.
AREF version (Band 7+): "Yes, I really enjoy it, mainly because every day is different — I work in project management, so no two weeks look the same. For instance, last month I was coordinating a product launch, and this month I'm working on client onboarding. What I find interesting is that even after five years, I'm still learning new things."
Answer, Reason, Example, Reflection. Same content, triple the score.

Common mistake

French speakers often answer the question and wait — in French conversation, this is polite and normal. In IELTS, silence after a short answer forces the examiner to ask another question, and your Fluency score drops. The examiner is not being rude by waiting — they're giving you space to continue.

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Let’s practise!

Fix these French-influenced restaurant phrases:

  1. ‘I take the salmon, please.’
  2. ‘Can we have the addition?’
  3. ‘I am allergic at nuts.’

Type your corrected versions!

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