CAE C1 Advanced Speaking Exam How to Do Parts 12 of the CAE Speaking Test
Hello, I’m Jack.
welcome to Oxford Online English!
In this lesson, you can learn how to improve
your score in parts 1 and 2 of the CAE speaking
exam.
In parts one and two, there are some specific
things that you can do that will help you
to perform well.
As you may know, Part 1 involves a 2-minute
conversation, during which candidates take
turns answering questions.
The examiner will ask you to speak about everyday
topics and the questions will be quite simple.
The first tip, is to always develop Your answer.
You don’t have a lot of time, so it’s
important to use your time to demonstrate
your English skills.
How should you do this?
Give long, full answers—simple “yes”
or “no” answers are certainly not enough.
Instead, add reasons, details and examples
to everything that you say.
Now, let’s look at an example of this with
a sample question.
Imagine that you are asked this question:
“What keeps you motivated to learn English?”
What would you say?
Here’s a sample answer:
“I enjoy learning English because I can speak
with my foreign friends.”
Now this answer is fine, but it could be better
if we
add more reasons, examples and details.
Take a look at this:
“I enjoy learning English because I can speak
with my foreign friends.
For example, one of my acquaintances here
is Polish, and English is a mutual language
we can both understand.
I also work in a multinational company and
I need to speak English a lot.”
You can see that the speaker has developed
the point by adding a personal story.
This also allows you to use some more impressive
vocabulary, such as ‘acquaintances’ and ‘multinational’.
Of course it’s important not to just keep
speaking and speaking—your answer needs
to have a clear end!
But, in the exam you will be given some time,
so develop your ideas and make sure you take
advantage of your speaking time by saying
as much as you can.
Tip number two: learn key words related to
everyday topics.
In part 1, the questions are about very general
topics, just like when you first meet someone.
This can make it easier to prepare for part
one, and here’s how.
It means it’s possible for us to make some
predictions about what you will be asked.
Common Part 1 topics include:
Where you live;
leisure time;
work;
study;
future plans;
and holiday experiences.
It’s probably not a good idea to prepare
complete phrases, because the examiners are
trained to look for this.
But it is however useful to learn a few advanced
level keywords around each topic.
This way, you will have a rich vocabulary
prepared that you can use naturally.
Let’s look at an example, using the topic
leisure time.
Imagine you were asked the question:
“What do you do at the weekend?”
What would you say?
If you were interested in surfing, your answer
might be something like this:
“I usually go surfing.”
This answer is okay, but it doesn’t really
demonstrate a lot of advanced English.
Now before the exam, if you do a bit of research,
you might then be able to say that you are
quite
‘fanatical’ about surfing, or that it’s
something that ‘helps you to unwind’, or even
as an activity in which you can ‘get out and
about’.
Perhaps you’re afraid of ‘shark attacks’!
With a bit of preparation, you’ll be in
a better place to give a stronger answer:
“I usually go surfing—this is something
I’m really fanatical about!
It lets me exercise, unwind, and get out and
about.
I prefer to surf in isolated locations, though
I am a little afraid of shark attacks these
days!”
Aim to learn five or six new words for each
of the most common topic areas in part 1.
You won’t use all of them, but you might
use one or two.
Even using one or two high-level words and
phrases can make a difference to your vocabulary
score.
Now we’ll look at part 2 of the CAE speaking
exam.
What happens in this part?
The goal in this section is to compare two
pictures and to speculate about the people
in them.
You have a minute to answer and you speak
only to the examiner.
So what are the examiners looking for here?
The examiners want to see that you can put
your thoughts into a well-organized one-minute
answer.
So, my first tip for part 2 is: learn how
to compare and speculate.
This is a key part of this task, and you can
and should prepare for it.
One aspect of this, is using linking words
to connect your ideas and sentences.
Let’s look at how we can do this, using
these pictures of people reading as an example.
The question might be:
“Compare why these people are reading and
say how they might be feeling.”
Let’s look at comparing first.
For things that are similar, use language
like:
‘both…';
‘each…';
‘similarly…';
or ‘likewise…';
or even:
‘in the same way…';
‘we can also see that…’
For example:
“This man may be reading for pleasure and…
…we can also see that she appears to be
enjoying herself.”
…similarly, she appears to be enjoying herself."
…in the same way, she appears to be enjoying
herself."
Now for things that are different, use:
‘meanwhile…';
‘whereas…';
or even:
‘by contrast…';
‘on the other hand…’
For example:
“The man is reading alone…
…By contrast, this woman seems to be reading
to some children.”
…On the other hand, the woman seems to be
reading to some children."
…Meanwhile, the woman seems to be reading
to some children."
Now in addition to comparing and contrasting,
you need to know how to speculate.
You shouldn’t just say what you see; you
also need to talk about the ideas and possibilities
that the picture represents.
Some useful structures include:
‘might…';
‘perhaps…';
‘maybe…';
‘it seems like…';
For example:
“It seems like he’s reading something very
serious and important…
…Perhaps she’s reading the children a
fairy story.”
You can also use if-sentences to speculate
about what you would do or how you would feel
if you were in the situation:
“If I were her, I’d be very happy!”
“If that were me, I’d fall asleep!”
So it’s essential that you study this kind
of language and use it when you practise.
My next tip for part 2 of the CAE speaking
exam is don’t waste time.
Firstly, choose your pictures as soon as you
can.
The best way to do this is to choose two pictures
that seem very different.
You should also begin comparing immediately—don’t
waste time telling the examiner which pictures
you want to talk about.
Next, don’t paraphrase or repeat the question.
This is one certain way to waste time.
Finally, speak for the whole minute.
This leads to our next point.
Have a plan in case you don’t know what
to say.
Some students find it helpful to develop a
few automatic back-up ideas for comparison
in case they run out of things to talk about.
These are simple ideas that you can use for
any picture.
This way, if you get stuck and can’t think
of anything else to say, you can use these
so that you don’t just stop talking.
These ideas might be about what the people
are wearing, or how old they are, or even
how many people there are.
“The people in this picture are all wearing
the same clothes.
Likewise, these people seem to be all dressed
in white.”
Better still, ask yourself what the people
may be thinking, feeling, or doing.
These kinds of comparisons are always useful,
as they allow for a lot of speculation.
“This image shows people singing, whereas
these people appear to be doing some kind
of martial art.”
The main point is that you have some questions
you can ask yourself in any situation.
What ideas can you think of?
Tip number six: don’t spend all the time
describing.
This is probably the most important tip, because
it’s the biggest mistake that candidates
make.
You don’t need to say what you see, and
you don’t need to describe the pictures
at all.
Your job is to make comparisons and speculate
about the pictures, not to say what the pictures
show.
If you spend too much time describing, you’re
not giving yourself the opportunity to demonstrate
your abilities to compare and speculate in
a longer answer.
OK, so how can you practise and prepare for
part two of the CAE speaking test?
The best thing that you can do is to practise
with as many different images as possible.
It’s always better doing this with a friend
or a teacher, but you can also do this alone
with a timer.
You can even make your own combinations of
sample images, simply by doing a Google search
and picking two random images.
You could search for “people on holiday”,
or “people eating”, or “groups of people”.
Then imagine a question, remembering that
the typical question format contains two parts:
Compare the two situations, and:
2.
Speculate on how the people may be feeling,
or the reasons for their behaviour.
So we might get something like this:
“Compare how these people are enjoying their
holidays, and say how they might be feeling.”
Now, I’m going to give you an example answer,
and I want you to try and think how I could
improve this.
“These people are enjoying their holidays
with their family.
They are sitting outside with their dogs.
There are two adults and they are happy.
These people are about to get on a plane.
They are in a desert…”
Now, let’s stop right there!
What is wrong with this answer and how could
it be improved?
Can you tell me?
Firstly, I’m simply describing the pictures.
But we talked about how important it is to
compare and contrast.
Secondly, I’m not using any language or
linking words to do this.
What else am I doing wrong?
I’m not speculating – again, I’m simply
describing what I’m looking at.
In addition, I’m going way too slow!
Let’s try again.
“This image seems to show a family spending
the holiday together.
In the same way, this might be a couple.
However it doesn’t look like they have their
children with them.
In this picture, the family seems to be at
home, or at a holiday house, whereas in this
picture these people appear to be in some
kind of exotic destination, far away from
civilization.
There are animals in this photo, whereas there
are only people in this one.
Both scenes show people having a holiday outdoors.
I suppose the key difference is that the people
in this image appear to be having a real adventure,
and are free, whereas the people here are
spending time with family.
If it were me, I’d prefer to be going on
this kind of holiday – flying around in
a plane in a new and wild place!”
As you can see, I’ve focused on comparing
and contrasting as much as possible, using
a variety of language structures.
I’ve also continued to speculate all the
way through.
I’ve used both simple comparisons, like
whether there are animals in the photo, as
well as more complex ones, speculating that
one is a family holiday, whereas the other
is an adventure.
After this, the big challenge is practising
to do all this in the time limits!
That’s the end of the lesson.
Thanks very much for watching!
I hope you found it useful.
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website: oxfordonlineenglish.com.
In the video description, you can also see
a link to the full version of this lesson.
The full lesson includes the text and exercises
to help you practise what you’ve learned
in this class.
See you next time.