Speaking Test - Part 1

INTRODUCTION

This page describes the oral (speaking) exam for the Cambridge FCE (First Certificate in English) exam.

You usually take the speaking exam together with one other student.
The exam lasts about 14 minutes and has four parts:

(1) Interview (3 minutes)
Each of you will be asked basic questions about your home town, family, work or study, leisure and future plans.

(2) Individual tasks (4 minutes)
Each of you will be asked to compare two colour photographs and explain your personal feelings about them (you will be asked to speak for 1 minute, without any interruption). You will also be asked to give your opinion about the other student's photographs (you will be expected to speak for about 20 seconds).

(3) Joint task (3 minutes)
You will be shown some pictures. You will be asked to discuss these with the other student and to make a decision. Sometimes you will be asked to agree on the conclusion, and sometimes you will be told that you may make different decisions.

(4) Three-way discussion (4 minutes)
You will be asked to discuss (together with the other student and the examiner) some ideas that are connected with the joint task.

Some general advice about

Keep it simple
Try to avoid complicated explanations or grammar if you are not sure about them. If the truthful answer is difficult to explain, you may want to say something easier in the exam.

Ask for explanations
If you don't understand what you are meant to do, ask the examiner to explain. For example, you could say:
Could you repeat the question, please?
I'm sorry, could you explain the meaning of the word .... ?
Could you please ask the question in another way?

Use full sentences
Avoid answers which are single words or lists

Finish the task
When you are asked to compare and contrast two photos and to give your personal feelings about them, make sure that you leave some time for explaining your own views. If you are asked to reach a conclusion in the joint task, try to do this within the time you are given.

Keep speaking
If you need time to think about something, try to keep speaking rather than remain silent.You could say things such as:
[during the interview; said to the interviewer] Please give me a moment while I think about the answer
[at the start of the individual task; talking to yourself] Let me see ... what do these photographs show?
[at the start of the joint task; talking to the other student] Shall we start by describing what we see in the pictures?
[during the three-way discussion; asking either the examiner or the other student] What is your opinion?

To avoid wasting time, make it clear when you have finished talking. For example, say something like:
That's all I can think of at the moment

Practice
Before the exam, practice the test with another student (if you already know the other student who will be taking the speaking test with you, ask him/her to practice with you).
You may find it useful to pay for some private lessons with an English teacher to prepare. If you do this together with a friend then the lesson may be cheaper for you, and you can practice the speaking test in a more realistic way.

SPEAKING: Interview (3 minutes - about 1.5 minutes for each candidate)

The examiner will ask you some short questions about yourself
To prepare for this part of the test, think about short answers to typical questions. Some examples are shown below

Before the interview you will be asked to fill in a sheet giving your first name, family name, home town and country; you should hand this to the interviewer. The interviewer may ask you how to pronounce your name.

Your home town / village

Name:	What is the name of your home town (pronounce it in the English way)?
Location:	Where is the town located? Is it near to the capital city or any major cities? Is it inland or by the coast?
Speciality:	Is your town well-known for something (for example, a building or a type of food)? What is the most interesting part of your town?
Geography:	Is it in a flat, hilly or mountainous area? Does it have a river?
Size:	Is it a large or small town? What is the population?
Type:	Do you live in a city centre, a suburb, a town, a village, or in the countryside?
Industry:	What are the main industries? What kinds of jobs do people do in your town?
Environment:	Is it clean or polluted? Is it quiet or noisy? Are there many parks and other green areas?
Opinion:	Do you like living there? Are there many things to do?
Comparison:	If you are not living in your home town now, what are the main differences between your current town and your home town?

Your family

Size:	Do you have a large or small family?
Brothers:	Do you have any brothers or sisters? Are they older or younger than you?
Parents:	Do you live with your parents? What do they do?
Pets:	Do you have any pets?

Your work or study

Now:	Are you working or studying at the moment? Can you tell me something about yourself?
Previous:	What were you doing before you started your current work or studies?
English:	Why are you studying English? Where are you studying? How long have you been studying English?

Leisure

Hobbies:	What do you like doing in your spare time? Do you have any hobbies?
Music:	What kind of music do you like?
Sports:	Do you like sports?
Holidays:	How do you like to spend your holidays?
Reading:	Do you enjoy reading?
Films:	What sort of films do you like to watch? What is your favourite film?

Future plans

After return:	[If you are living in the UK now] What do you plan to do when you return to your country?
Job:	What sort of job would you like to do in the future?
Future life:	What do you think you will be doing after 5 or 10 years?
Country:	Do you want to live in your home country or abroad?