Hi guys,
I have had many students asking me how to address the examiner during the speaking test. Let me check what you think and what you understand.
Question
- Do you think it is ok to call the examiner “Sir” or “Madam” in the speaking test?
Answer
Post your answer below.
I’ll post my answer on tomorrow.
All the best
Liz
Notice: Please remember that I am actually on holiday until May for health reasons – I might extent that holiday if I am not well enough at that point. But this month I will post a couple of lessons for you. Also remember that I do NOT offer a question/answer service on this website. There are over 10,000 comments waiting approval – I can’t answer all questions.
Test date:-21-05-2018
Venue-Jaipur India
Topics:-Topics were
Your full name
Work or study
Why u choose this field
How was your first day at university
Then topic was travel
Have u travel recently
What are the factors u think before travelling
Where u would like to go in future
Do u use maps
U use online or paper map
Do u ask any direction from the other people
Section-2
Cue card define a magazine
Section-3
People prefer reading magazine or newspaper
Which is common
What skills journalist should have
Are there jobs interesting
The news what they publish always correct
Do they modify the news
Thanks for sharing 🙂
If the examiner introduces himself/herself at the beginning, we should address by the first name. However, in case we didn’t get a chance to learn the examiner’s name, need to address as Sir/mam
You shouldn’t use Sir of Madam – this is an informal speaking test. You can use “you”.
Name a partner for speaking
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Hello Liz, I hope you will get back soon & relief all the Best in your leave.
I think Sir is little good as you can’t call him normally as well as friendly, in my test time I called him as Sir as it’s formal way to call some one whom consider as teacher .
Best regards.
Did you pass the speaking test. I used the word ma about twice and I am concerned
Hello, thank you very much for kind assistance in providing very useful information and lessons about IELTS exam.
wish you a pleasant holiday and good health.
Regards,
Sayed
No
Get well soon ma..
No, I think it´s not necessary because address the examiner with sir or madam is very formal, in my opinion is better address the examiner by your name
Dear Liz,
it’s not necessary to call some as sit/madam but these titles show politness for someone who is unknown for you..
In Africa we appreciate respecting others and it is considered being rude and abusive calling adult by name. Therefore, based on my own background I feel calling examiner by “sir” or “madame” is appropriate.
Mostly we use sir/madam if the gender is not known especially when we are sending emails cause we don’t know who is going to read our paper and to give respect but in this case we do know them so, we can call their name if applicable if not better to call sir/madam to show respect for the examiner.
THANK YOU
No , we cant use sir or madam. ‘Sir ‘is a knighthood and we cant call someone by saying that. The best way is call by first name.
I think it is better to call by name rather than address by Sir or madam.
I think you can refer to the examiner as Sir/Madam during the introduction. After the examiner mentions his or her name, then you can refer to them by their name. This would make the conversation more relax and boost your confidence.
I think the candidate should address the examiner by Sir/ Madam ( not Mam)
You can address the examiner by using sir/madame but it’s not necessary or compulsory. My opinion
Dear Liz,
I hope you get better soon.
I think that I should avoid using “Sir” or “Madam” in emails, informal letters, especially if I know her/his name. These words are usable during the exam but I prefer “Dear”, “Ms./Mr.”
Get Well Soon, Dear Liz…….
Really You are Best Tutor.
Yes, we can use sir or madam for Thanking them or answering the questions.
It is the way to show our politeness which will help you to get good bands.
Yes , I think you can use Sir or Madam
No, I think we should not call the examiner Sir or Madam. We can call the examiner by name.
Most of the times it is the examiner that asks questions to the candidate, therefore it’s very rare to find a chance of addressing
the examiner as sir/ madam. If you need clarification, then you just say, ” I beg your pardon, would you please repeat what you have just said ” if you still need to address them by name Don’t use the words ‘ sir/madam’ but rather their first name or last name ( but avoid titles such as Mr or miss/ mrs)
Thank you madam
Its better to get option from examiner , how to address them.
No, i think they can called by their names
i think it is ok but not requisite …
I think it’s wotd which shows respect towrds examiner so we should give respect
The examiner will introduce himself so I would consider to call him by his name.
It will also depend on what he calls me, Mrs.M or by first name.
i didn’t mention madam in my ielts speaking test and i got 7 bands in speaking. I think instead of focusing on this minor issue we must overcome our other mistakes.
Sir or Madam is so colonial that people from the subcontinent who were colonized still stick to it. There is no need to refer to anyone as Sir or Madam. There will not be an opportunity where you would need to address them by their name. If you want to show respect to the examiner then let them complete their question and confidently look in their eyes while answering. Sir/ Madam are not required
I think it’s best to ask the examiner how one should address him/her when the introductions are being done (Part 0).
Yes we can call examiner Sir or Madam
Dear Liz,
I had listened and watched many samples of speaking tests, none of them urged the test takers to direct their speech towards the examiner. firstly, the examiner is right in front of you so you’ll probably not need to address him by his name. Secondly, the speaking test is one-way question test where the examiner is the only person who asks questions and you just answer in general unless you need him to explain or repeat something and this, however, doesn’t need his name. For instance:
Excuse me, would you please repeat the question again?
OR
Excuse me, do you mean …..?
yes its good to say sir/madame
Hi ,I think we can call them madam or sir according to their gender..
No i don’t think
Liz, I hope God gives more strength and courage get well soon.
I think you don’t need to use sir or madam because the examiner will introduce himself or herself by mentioning their names while I presume that to be so just with the same format in Task 1, however, the examiner did call your own name so why not.
In conclusion, you use sir or madam when you don’t know the person’s name because is formal
You don’t need to use sir or madam because the examiner will introduce himself or herself by mentioning their names while I presume that to be so just with the same format in Task 1, however, the examiner did call your own name so why not.
In conclusion, you use sir or madam when you don’t know the person’s name because is formal
Would the need to use such salutation ever arise? to me, I don’t think it necessary. go straight to the point,
e.g.
Can you please repeat the question, sir?
Can you please repeat the question?
Sir or Madam will not add more points.
would the need to use such salutation ever arise? to me, I don’t think it necessary. go straight to the point,
e.g.
Can you please repeat the question, sir?
Can you please repeat the question?
Sir or wont add more points.
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Yes. I think it’s okay.
You do not address the examiner as sir or madam. U can him by his name if you are OK by that or you keep silent. That’s my opinion.
Yes you can address him or her as sir or madam
I think by addressing the examiner by any Sir name we can show the respect . So I think it is necessary to call them madam or sir
Yeaa from my perspective it’s not mandatory to call our examiner by SIR/MAM but if we use these kinda words then it would also be absolutely fine..
Wishing you quick recovery and thanks for being there for us. For the question, I think is polite to address them as sir/madam especially, when the interviewer is older.
Yes it is common etiquette,to use Sir/Madam,
They are certainly respectable ,so we have to give speak with them respectfully.
I think its okay to addressed them by their tag names since they are examiners and your are bonafide candidate
Yes, we can but calling by their name would be better.
speaking test is one kind of tests and the examiner is taking the test.
we can call him/her by addressing “sir/madam”.
but if he/she mention his/her name, we can call examiner with his/her name.
Hi Liz,
Hope you are recoreving well and thank you for posting lesson.
I think you can adress the examiner as Sir/Madam but if they introduce themself you should call they by his/her name.
Thank you!
It’s better not to use sir or madam. We can just call then by their name
While “Sir” seems relatively neutral and is used in a variety of places as a polite way to address a man, “Madam” seems a tad exaggerated because you’re either going to use it in a letter “Dear Sir/Madam” or in a French restaurant in an English speaking country or some over the top snobby place. For a woman, if I didn’t want to use her last name (even if she/he says his/her first name, it seems odd to be that familiar with them), I’d use “Ma’am” which is a friendly, common form of courtesy (at least in the US).
Hi Liz,
I think addressing them to their first name is much more appropriate. Some of my co workers feel offended when we call them Sir or Madam. Get well soon!
Get well soon. I think it is OK to use Sir / Ma except if the examiner tells you otherwise.
Hello everyone.
I think it is better to start with Sir / Madam when you introduce yourself.
Good afternoon, Sir. My full name is ….. .
later on, it is ok to use the examiner first name.
As you might know, David, ……….. .
We should not address by sir or madam rather we should address them by their first name
Hi Liz,
I would definitely call them as Sir or Madam as they are complete strangers in respectable positions.
Get well soon Liz!
I think it will be better to address the examiner using their first name, as western cultures prefer to be called that way rather than using mam or sir.
Dear Liz,
Many thanks four your help with IELTS, hopefully you will recover very soon……in my prayers will you.
In response to your question, I think say Sir/Madam in the speaking introduction is correct but after him/her say his/her name I could treat them by his/her own name.
it’s not essential….
It’s better to call them by their name.. it will make us more confident like as chating with friends
Yes I can use it.
I think,sir for a male
Madam for a female
To me , i think it okay to Sir or Madam , i if need arises for it . It is a sign of respect especially if the examiner is older than you
To me , i think it is okay to say Sir or Madam depends on the gender, if need arises for it. It is a sign of respect especially if the examiner is older than you.
I think no need, we can just use the pronoun ” you” if necessary as normal conversation
Yes because l think it shows respect
I think there is no need to address the examiner in any way. You are getting questions, just answer to that questions, noting more…
Ofcoarse, we should definitely call her/him by Sir/Madam
As they were there to evaluate us
So it is apparent that we should respect them by calling them Sir/Madam
In addition to this, it plays a pivotal part to exihibit your etiquettes
you dont need to tell them Sir/madam
just say … Hi how are you .. good to see you
have a great time .. it was nice to talk with you … that is it
No, it’s not preferred to call the examiner Sir or Madam.
But it’s better to call him/her with the first name.
Yes sir or madam is the formal and much appropriate word for interacting….
I believe we will address them by their last name.
No, it is not ok to call the examiner “Sir” or “Madam” you mentioned that before in one of yours videos (IELTS speaking). We should eventually call him /her by his/her name .
No it’s not needed. Because questions asked there are not dialogue based.
Rest ur expert opinion is awaited.
No, speaking test is a informal/casual conversation. Addressing examier with Sir/Madam is formal. Student can refer him/her with name or “you”.
It is all depends, if the examiner looks very formal then better call them Sir or Madam. otherwise, after introduction, you can call name directly.
no the examiner will introduce him self, before you start your speaking so you can use his name by saying: Hi JOHN or good afternoon peter..
I think yes to say sir or madam
No ,we can not use
If The examiner introduced her or his name in the beginning I would not hesitate calling him his name. Simple. E.g good afternoon Liz. Excuse me Liz I beg your pardon.
In my last ielts exam in November 2017, I did not address my examiner with sir or madam,but I scored band 7 in speaking, so in my point of view , addressing the examiner either sir or madam in speaking is not important, important is grammar, fluency, vocabulary etc that one can find in speaking marking criteria.
it is an optional, candidates could call the examiner either sir/madam or their names. both way it is fine.
Get well soon mam
I believe one can use Sir or Madam but should not be abused by using now and then.
And Lizzy May you be healed and respond to treatment IJN.
Hi Liz. Good afternoon. I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to use sir/madam. However I feel it’s impolite to just say for example, “Yes.” instead of “Yes madam/sir.” when asked a question. I think it depends on the individual and so Yes Madam, I believe it’s alright.
Btw…I pray you feel better than ever at the end of May, you’ve been such a great help to me and I’m grateful. Thank you so much for all your help with IELTS practice.
Although….Madam is quite archaic. Sir is alright but I’d rather say Ma’am.
I think its not necessary to call them sir or madam.
No, I think it is false
Yes we can call Sir or Madam.
Only once or twice but not repeat in every answer
Yes we can call sir or madam
I think every student called to the examiner by his /her name. Because of they aspect respect from us that’s why
which part exam you want to call their names ?!!! cause it is not 2 way conversation … it is one way …. he or she ask and you have to answer it …. not sir madam .. not her or his…. just use for example …. you asked my every interesting q .. just this
No.
Take care of your health. will keep you in my prayers. wishing you a steady recovery
It is more appropriate to use their first name. In a situation, when one is not able to recall the name then it may be used occasionally.
Get well soon Ma
You are the best IELTS teacher.
I don’t think we need to address the examiner as Sir/Madam. They will tell their name at the beginning of the exam. So, we can simply address them by their name.
Hi Liz,
With regard to your question, I prefer to call the examiner by his / her name directly without any title.
Calling the male examiner as sir, I believe would be fine but not sure if calling the female examiner Madam would be ok.
Its not necessary. I think we can call her by name by adding Ms.
I would imagine it would be OK as it is a mark of respect for the other person. If they introduce themself it would be better to use their name.
I think we might ask him for example
If u don’t mind can I call u sir / madam or the name when he introduced him/ or her ?
I think no need to use titles during the speaking exam,
I think its not good to address in “Sir” or “Madam”.
Its better to tell their name.
I think it is fine to use Sir or Madam.But it will be more impressive if we refer to them by there names as they to tell us while introducing themselves.
I think we should not adress examiner as sir or madam we may be familer with examiner , what my experience was I addressed as her name I think I felt really comfortable ?
Dear Liz,
Please, accept my heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery. Take good care of yourself, and thank you for your contribution.
Best,
Fadi
No, it’s not necessary!