Preparing oral exam for Advanced Students

Some students asked me for typical expressions to use while having the oral exam. I've tried to find something to help you and these are my suggestions:

• let's review something we saw for the previous oral exam in our blog: click here. For the indiviual part of the oral exam, have a look to the tips below.
• use this link to a blog in which you can find useful language for oral exams, such as starting or closing conversations, fillers, expressions of agreement and disagreement, contrast and so on: click here
• this link could help you to prepare and give your speech: click here

HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT YOUR TOPIC

• Remember you can use your notes but you CAN'T read them so avoid writing complete sentences on your piece of paper and use key words instead to remind you your main ideas.
• Organise your speech with introduction, main ideas and conclusión. Make sure you have included all the points required in your task and control the time.
• Try to keep calm, don't rush when you are speaking; you'll make more mistakes and it'll be more difficult to understand you.
• When you explain an idea, give examples to support it and to increase your oral production.
• Use your entonation and even your body language (eye contact, your hands, etc.) to support your speech and to sound interesting. If you don't believe in what you're saying, why should the examiner do it?

I'm sure you'll do well at the exam. No doubt!

NA2 - NI2: Useful language for oral exams

Here you are some useful links to improve your performance while taking the oral exam. They've got good information and tools for doing your best in the exam. The links are:

• a teacher's blog with useful language for the oral exam: click here
• a chart with common expressions about agreeing and disagreeing: click here
• different lists of expressions groups in levels (elementary/intermediate/advance): click here

Apart from these links I'd like to help you with some tips for the speaking exam. Remember you have two tasks to do so we should see how to manage with both, but let's start with one and we'll deal with the other in another post.

INTERACTION

• When you start the dialogue, one of you should start the conversation by introducing the topic and asking the other's opinion:
• Let's start with the conversation, OK? The topic we have to speak about is how to help our friend Peter with his children's problem. What do you think we could suggest? Any ideas about this? 
• Make sure everybody speaks enough, especially if there are 3 people involved in the conversation. Be balance in your turns; don't talk too much or too little and if you see someone is not speaking, address to them directly and help them.
• Listen to your mate. When you say something, try to use what the other has said and go on with that idea. It shows you are paying attention to the others and you may speak longer as well:
• To study a little every day is a really good idea, as you said before, and it also gives you the chance to solve problems as soon as they turn up. Don't you think so?
• It's good to use fillers but don't overuse them. It's also useful to learn some idioms or phrases that can help you, especially when you get lost or stuck:
• Well, you know what I mean, don't you? or that's something I hadn't thought about but I reckon you're right
• When you get a bit stuck, there are two things you should do: 
• a) help your mate when that person doesn't know a word or how to keep on talking   
• b) try to explain your idea by using examples from your own life or your experience.
• Try to show as much vocabulary as posible and as many structures as you can. We should keep in mind that's an oral exam after all. Use structures such as:
• If you were him, what would you have done?   
•  I wouldn't have done in that way but I'm not in his shoes...  
•  It is said/believed that … but I totally disagree with that    
• I know it sounds weird but it is like that so     
• I'm positive that she'll understand it in the end
• Don't forget to use adjectives and adverbs. They give more details and help to clarify your ideas:
• He should study more to get good maks - He should study much harder if he really wants to improve his marks significantly