FIRST & ADVANCED SPEAKING John’s Advice: PART 1 questions (2-3m) PART 2 photos (1m each) PART 3 debate (2m + 1m) PART 4 discussion (5m) You’re always asked where you’re from and then 2 or 3 random questions. Try to give answers that consist of 2 or 3 sentences, using linking devices if possible and sentence stress. The questions here are quite straightforward so you will handle them comfortably. 1 minute per candidate and you are also asked a short question about your partner’s photos (20s) Don’t overdescribe, especially at C1 level. Speculate using modals and certain phrases. At First level, you can do plenty of comparing and contrasting while at Advanced level, you have to focus more on the two questions asked. You’re given 15 second to read the task, then the interlocutor reads the question again, you discuss the various options/prompts for 2m, the interlocutor then instructs you to make a decision , usually agreeing which one or two are best/most important/etc. Lots of interaction needed. The questions here are based on the topic of the debate in Part 3. The examiner can either direct the questions to each candidate indivually, invite both to answer or ask each person whether they agree or disagree with what their partner just said. Give full answers, using a range of cohesive devices. This is your last chance to make a good impression on the assessor. CAMBRIDGE EXAM SPEAKING PART 1 CAMBRIDGE EXAM SPEAKING PART 2 I’m from (town/city/region), which is in the (north/sou..) of (country). Sorry, could you repeat that please? / Would you mind repeating the q...? What I love about English is the fact that you it gives you the chance to ... Oh, interesting question! / Tough question! / Tricky question really. You’ve put me on that spot with that question. I suppose I ... Well, if I had to choose, I’d prefer to ... / Given the choice, I’d much rather ... It’s funny you ask me that because just recently, ... A bit of both! Sometimes, I do like to ... while other times I enjoy ... From time to time, ... / Whenever I get the chance, ... / Oh, I hardly ever ... I’m really into ... / I’m a huge fan of ... / I’ve always wanted to ... / I love ... Long story short, ... / In a nutshell, ... / Well, basically, ... ... and so on. / ... and all that jazz. / ... and things like that. / ... and such. CORKENGLISHTEACHER Though both pictures show ... , they’re quite different as ... In the first case, we are shown ... while/whilst in the other ... As far as I can tell, ... / It seems to me that ... / I get the impression that ... Judging by ... / By the looks of it, ... ... must be ... / ... might be ... / it’s likely to be ... / the chances are that ... Both are alike in the sense that ... / They’re quite similar insofar as they ... Likewise in the other case, ... / The same goes for the other one, in which ... I think it’s safe to say that ... / Needless to say, ... / Obviously, ... / Clearly ... In terms of the question, ... / Getting back to the question, ... As I said before, ... / I may be repeating myself here but ... I think it all comes down to ... / It all depends on whether or not ... It’s by no means + (adjective) ... / It’s (adjective) to say the least. CORKENGLISHTEACHER CAMBRIDGE EXAM SPEAKING PART 3 CAMBRIDGE EXAM SPEAKING PART 4 Shall I start? / Would you mind if I start? / Would you like to start? Sure, by all means. / Yes, work away. / Go ahead. / Please, be my guest. First and foremost, the one that stands out for me is ... Likewise when it comes to ... / The same goes for ... Do you agree? / Would you go along with that? / What’s your take on it? Couldn’t agree more. / Absolutely, you’re dead right. / Great point. I agree to an extent. / I’d be inclined to disagree. / I’m afraid I disagree. On second thoughts, ... / Come to think of it, ... / Actually, ... I think we can rule out ... / Both of these go hand in hand, don’t they? Let’s try to narrow it down a little. / We’d better make up our minds. I’m torn between ... and ... / It’s tough to pick just one, isn’t it? Just to recap, we both agree that ... / So, in the end, when it comes to ... CORKENGLISHTEACHER In my opinion, ... / As far as I’m concerned, ... / In my view, ... / For me, ... I think it’s a matter of ... / It depends entirely on ... I mean, it’s hard to say but I guess that most people ... What I mean by that is ... / What I’m trying to say is ... / In other words, ... Well, yes and no. On one hand, ... but on the other ... I think that can be put down to the fact that these days, most people ... For instance, ... / A case in point is ... / One such example is ... Not only is it ... but it’s also ... Picking up on what my partner said, I agree that ... In the end, it all comes down to ... In any case, time will tell whether or not ... That’s just my take on it anyway, for what it’s worth. CORKENGLISHTEACHER