3.

WHICH QUESTIONS TO EXPECT

Typical questions about your hometown, your home, your job, your hobbies, and
your personality. Plus one or two slightly more advanced ones. Here are a few you
could prepare for:
Where are you from?
Do you have a job or are you still a student?
How long have you been studying English?
What do you enjoy most about learning English?
How do you like to spend your free time?
What would your ideal job be?
Are you the kind of person who can do two things at once?
Are you planning to do any courses in the near future?
Do you use social networking sites a lot?
Would you enjoy preparing food for a large number of people?
Do you like to give yourself targets or goals?
If you won the lottery what would you do?

4. THE RIGHT LENGTH OF ANSWER

TOO SHORT
Q - Do you like your job?
A - Yes.
Hey, come on! This is the CAE Speaking Test! A means advanced.
A BIT BETTER
Q - Do you like your job?
A - Yes, it is good. Having a job is good and my job is good.
Okayyyy... How about three sentences and use some C1 vocabulary?
THE RIGHT LENGTH
Q - Do you like your job?
A - Yes and no! I mean, it's a challenge and the work is varied. But sometimes

the workload is overwhelming and my work-life balancesuffers.

(This is a good length and the vocabulary is spot-on. A longer answer might start to
annoy everyone. Let the other candidate have time to answer questions. Being
selfish is not a good strategy in the CAE speaking test.)

7. GET A BETTER GRADE - WITHOUT SPEAKING!

As the interaction chart (above) shows, in this part of the test you shouldn't talk to
the other student. But most candidates 'switch off' when it's not their turn to speak.
They stare at the desk or at their hands.
WRONG! You should turn your body slightly towards the other candidate. Look at
them and listen to what they are saying. Nod, smile, be interested - the examiner
will see this and feel more warmly towards you and more positively about your
English.
Crazy? Not really. There's a lot of research into body language, but you can see for
yourself. Look at this photo. Who looks stressed, struggling to understand? Who
looks confident and in control?

CAE SPEAKING TEST PART 2

In part two of the Cambridge English: Advanced Speaking test, you are given a piece
of paper with 3 photos on. The photos are almost always about people.
You have to talk about 2 of the pictures, on your own, for a minute. Then the
examiner will ask the other candidate a question about your pictures. Next, the other
candidate will have to talk for a minute about some different pictures, and you will
be asked a question about those pictures. The technique for answering this follow-up
question is the same as Speaking Test Part One - respond in about 3 sentences and
try to show off your vocabulary.
In this section we will focus on what to say in your 60 second 'long turn'. In the
exam, you don't get time to plan or make notes, so now is the time to prepare!
(When you've read the tips, be sure to watch the videos, especially the public
coaching one.)
2. HOW TO AVOID COMMON MISTAKES


You are asked to talk about TWO pictures. Choose two and saynothing about
the third one.

Weak candidates simply describe the pictures: "I can see a car. The car is red.
There is a tree." You aren't asked to describe them. Strong candidates
compare the pictures - that's explained more below.

Don't waste the first five seconds by explaining which pictures you have
chosen. Just start comparing the pictures! (If you feel you have to make it
clear, you can point to the pictures you have chosen.)
Dead air ... is still a crime! You get 60 seconds to do this task. Use all of it!
When your time is up the examiner will stop you.

The examiner tells you what to do, but the task is also printed on the page
with the photos. Refer to that page to make sure you talk aboutboth bullet
points.

While you are comparing the photos, try to look at the examiner and the other
candidate from time to time. It's hard because you have to look at the
pictures, but strong candidates don't talk to the photos - they talk about the
photos.

3. ABC - ALWAYS BE COMPARING

When the examiner gives you the instructions for the task, he or she will always
start, 'I'd like you to compare two of the pictures and say...' Comparing is the heart of
the task.
If you aren't comparing, you aren't scoring points.
Comparing means saying what's the same in your chosen pictures and what
is different. There are many ways you can do that, but the easiest way is to use the
magic CAE words:

The Three Magic Words

Both ...
Whereas ...
While ...
How should you use these? Let's look at two photos and listen to Ernesto trying to
compare them:
"Both pictures show men using phones."

Ernesto Compares - First Try

0:04 0:04
That's great, Ernesto, but the goal isn't to talk for 60 seconds... the goal is to say as
much as you can in the time you are given! So talk a bit faster...
"Whereas in this picture the man is wearing a suit, in this picture the man is dressed
in some kind of traditional costume."
"While the businessman is sending a text or checking his portfolio, the man in the
fluffy hat is checking his voicemail."

Ernesto Compares - Much Better!

0:17 0:17
There are always lots and lots of possible comparisons
- indoors/outdoors, cheap/expensive, old/new, old/young, traditional/modern - even
if you have no imagination, you can practice finding similarities and differences
before you get to the exam. (One way to do that is to take any two photos and find 5
similarities and 5 differences.)

4. LET'S PUT A START TO THIS SPECULATION

In most of the CAE speaking exam part 2 scenarios, the word 'might' will be in the
instructions. 'Say why the people might be checking the time'. 'Say how
safety might be important in this job.' That's because the examiners want to know if
you can use speculative language.
Useful speculative phrases include:
Perhaps
It seems like
They might have
It could be that
etc
Look at these photos - imagine the task is 'Say why the people might be wearing
hats.'
"Perhaps these men are retired and are spending their day feeding ducks by the
lake. In contrast, the policeman has to wear a hat for his job. It could be that he
hates wearing the hat, whereas the old men have probably chosen to wear

theirs. Maybe it's a sunny day and they want to protect their heads from the
sun, while the policeman's helmet might protect him from attackers."

6. Video Guides

CAE SPEAKING TEST PART 3

In part 3 you and your speaking test partner are given a 'mind-map' (or 'spider web')
with five keywords linking to a theme. The themes are often universally interesting
ones such as 'health' or 'the environment'. If the topic is 'health', the keywords will
be things like 'diet', 'exercise', 'sleep', and so on. Have you ever had a conversation
about the food you eat or how well you slept? Of course you have. In part 3, that's
what you do. (The theme in this picture is communication.)
It's often called the 'collaborative task' because for the first time in the CAE
Speaking test, you have to work as a team.
You discuss the first question for two minutes, and then there's another question you
talk about for one minute.

To succeed in part 3, you have to

ask your partner questions
agree and disagree with what they say
include them in every step of the process
be interested in what they have to say

The difference between you and Federer is that you aren't trying to 'beat' your
partner. By hitting the ball to them (asking them questions/letting them talk) you will
both win.

5. Common mistakes
Monologues (you shouldn't talk more than 20/25 seconds without passing the
ball to your partner)
Not reacting to your partner's ideas
Getting stuck on 1 topic (it's very easy to talk about one keyword for a long
time, but you should try to organise your conversation so that it covers
everything on the mind map)
Rushing through all the topics without analysing them at all (it's better to talk
about 4 in a meaningful manner than 5 in a superficial way)
Dead air (many candidates race through the 5 topics in less than a minute,
look up at the examiner and are shocked to find they have more time. Keep
talking until the examiner stops you! These topics are HUGE with many, many
issues behind them)

Nodding and other non-verbal communication (socially normal, but this is

a speaking test. At least say 'yes' while you are nodding!)

Getting sidetracked (for example, if the topic is 'How important are these
things for our health?' many candidates will say explain why health is
important. That's not the question! The correct answer to 'how important' is:
not important/quite important/very important.)

6. Useful language
Linking words and ways to organise the discussion. The examiners will be impressed
if you can:
combine two keywords into one point ("well, I think exercise and sleep are
similar things - they're both connected to your physical health")
move from topic to topic in an elegant way ("so I totally agree with you that
exercise can contribute a lot to having a healthy life. And I think that brings us
to this point about sleep, because if you exercise a lot you'll sleep better.")
include your partner in the process ("So shall we move to the next point?)
Some useful language about asking questions and agreeing/disagreeing can be
found in part 4 (scroll down), but they are also essential parts of your toolkit in part

3.

7. The second third

So you spent two minutes talking about the theme, and you discussed most/all of
the keywords. The examiner will stop you, and then ask you a follow-up question. It
will include words like 'most', 'best', or 'easiest'. These words make it possible for
you to come to a decision.
If the topic was health, the examiner will say, 'Now you have about a minute
to decide which of these things can benefit people the most.'
Note that word 'minute'! Deciding the answer too soon will lead to ... dead air!
Always start by eliminating two or three options (giving reasons).
Start by saying, 'Well it definitely ISN'T [xxx] because [yyy].'

8. Videos
Watch this video in which I give tips to a couple of German students. They have read
the tips in this section and do pretty well.

Hey,
In this video Tim and Sebastian from Germany try to do Speaking test part 4 in the
CAE Exam Tips style - they talk to each other (they don't wait for the examiner to do
everything for them), they disagree, they listen to each other, they try not to
monopolise the conversation.
There were some areas for improvement, and we had some technical problems.
Hopefully you'll find it useful anyway!
As ever, if you have any questions, ask them in the comments section below.

CAE SPEAKING TEST PART 3 TRAINING

A Skype coaching call with Sebastian and Tim. In this video we focused on Part 3 of the
Speaking test.

2. Essential CAE Speaking test part 4 tips

* You should consider this part of the exam as a continuation of part 3. You don't
have to reach a decision together or talk about keywords, but you do have to use the
same techniques - ask your speaking partner questions, organise your responses

with linking words etc. Your replies in this section can be longer than in part 3.
* The biggest mistake students make in this section is thinking they should talk to
the examiner. Yes, the examiner starts by asking you a question, but after you've
answered it you should bring your partner into the discussion ("What do you
think?"). When the discussion runs its course, the examiner will ask a new question
(still on the same general theme). Remember, if you take the lead and ask your
partner what he thinks, that's more speaking time for YOU.
* When has a discussion run its course? It could be that on one question you both
instantly agree and the conversation ends quickly. It could be that on the next
question you have an interesting discussion with two or three responses each. It
might be hard to judge under exam conditions, but try to be natural - if you followed
these tips and made good eye contact from the very start of the CAE Speaking test,
you will have good rapport with your partner by now and the discussion will be more
relaxed and you'll know when to continue and when to stop.

3. Which questions should you prepare for?

Questions in part 4 can be extremely varied from one exam to the next. Take a look
at these:
- Are we too obsessed with healthy eating and physical fitness nowadays?
- Do you agree that experience is the best teacher?
- What is the best age to retire?
Clearly it would be hard to rehearse an answer for every question they might ask
you! So it's more rational to think in terms of what topics frequently appear in the
exam, and then sit and work on your vocabulary for those topics.
Common topics are:
-HEALTH-

-THE ENVIRONMENT- -SOCIAL ISSUES- -JOBS-

-TECHNOLOGY- -RELATIONSHIPS- -MONEY-

4. Simple ways to include your partner in the

discussion
Questions. Ask lots of questions. Always start part 3 by saying, 'What do you think?'
and in part 4 ask for feedback after you've given your opinion. Say what you think
about the topic and finish with
... don't you agree?
... or do you have a different opinion?
... or maybe you know more about it?

What's your idea?

What do you think?
What are your thoughts on all of this?
Wouldn't you say?
How do you feel about that?
It would be quite impressive to refer to something your partner said earlier in the
exam. For example, if she is a dentist and the topic in part 4 is health, you could say,
'You're an expert in this area - what do YOU think?'

5. How to agree or disagree

While candidates tend to agree on most topics, a certain amount of disagreement is
good - it makes the discussion more interesting. Disagreement also prolongs a
discussion, and can be done in a friendly way. Give reasons why you are agreeing or
disagreeing.
I fully agree because...
Yes, that's right. And...
I agree with you 100 percent.
You're partly right, but...
I couldn't agree with you more.
I see exactly what you mean!
Tell me about it! (informal)
I'm not so sure about that, because...
I think we're going to have to agree to disagree.
I must take issue with you on that.
It's unjustifiable to say that...

7. If you need to interrupt

If your partner talks a bit too long, it's okay for you to politely stop the flow of words.
Can I add something here?
Is it okay if I jump in for a second?
If I might add something...
Can I throw my two cents in?
Sorry to interrupt, but...