Exam Part 2
Tip 1
In the exam, the examiner will give one of the candidates two pictures. The first thing they will ask the candidate to do is to show the pictures to the other candidate(s). This means that everyone has seen the pictures and it is therefore perfectly acceptable to say ‘this picture’ and point. More complex language such as ‘the top picture’ or ‘the former/ the latter’ is, of course, even better.
Tip 2
The examiner will then give the candidate precise instructions about what they should say about the pictures. The instructions always have two parts, so students should listen very carefully.
Tip 3
If there is anything a student doesn’t understand about a question, they should ask the examiner to repeat. If they still don’t understand, they should ask again. They should remember that they are being tested on their speaking in this part of the exam, not their listening comprehension. However, one thing they are being scored on is their ability to actually answer the question they are asked.
Tip 4
Asking the examiner to repeat can actually be the perfect opportunity to show off some complex language – e.g. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch the last part‘, ‘If I can just check what you are saying, you’d like me to…‘, ‘I’m not quite sure what (contrast) means’, etc.
Tip 5
The examiner almost always asks the students to ‘compare two pictures’. They will never be asked to simply describe them. Any activities giving oral practice of comparing language (more than, less than, (not) as __________ as, similar to, etc.) and contrasting language (although, whereas, however, etc.) are good practice for this.
Tip 6
The second part of the question is usually about giving some kind of opinion e.g. ‘Compare and contrast the two holidays and say which you would prefer’. Language like ‘in my opinion’ and ‘personally’ can be very useful here.
Tip 7
Students should make sure they are talking to the examiner (and the other candidate) rather than to the picture!
Tip 8
The examiner will interrupt the student speaking after one minute, even if they are halfway through a sentence. Being interrupted is actually good, as it means they haven’t run out of things to say.
Tip 9
As the examiner takes the photos away from the first candidate, they will ask the other candidate a question about those photos. Again, this is probably a question of opinion, e.g. ‘Which holiday would most people prefer?’ This only requires a short answer, but is a perfect chance to show they have been listening to what their partner said, with language such as ‘As (Juan) said……’, or ‘I agree entirely with (Ruth).’
Expressions
- What strikes me about the first picture is the fact that…
- This picture reminds me of…
- Judging from the photograph, the children…
- The man/woman appears/seems to be…
- From what we can see here, he must…
- There are many similarities…
- Both pictures depict…
- Both pictures are quite similar in that they show…
- When you give it a closer look it reveals…
- The first picture … whereas the other picture …
- Another important difference is…
- Picture … doesn’t show … as clearly as …
- Picture … attempts to … but I think picture … does this more effectively…
- All pictures are interesting, but … gives a stronger idea of…
- It’s difficult to tell from this photograph but this picture could have been taken in …
- I might be wrong, but I’d say that this picture …
- I would imagine/guess that this picture comes from …
- Picture … is by far the best to show because …
- To me, picture … is essential for this kind of publication.
- I’m surprised there is no picture showing…
- A picture of … would get the message across more effectively.
- The name for this escapes me at present, but it looks like …
- The name for it is on the tip of my tongue
Clases particulares de ingles en Bilbao 