Tag Archives: speaking

Conversation Fillers: Give Yourself Some Time to Think!

Speaking, Tips to get a good mark in the EOI exams, , , , , ,

In class, my students do a lot of mock speaking exams.

Picture description is fairly easy for the student to control as he is on his own, with no interference from the teacher and he can, to a certain extent,  know in advance how he is going to structure his description. No worries here!

(See some useful guidelines and techniques for Picture Description here)

The Interaction between the teacher and the student is the part of the exam that causes more stress and anxiety. The student doesn’t know what he’s going to be asked about and sometimes students find it difficult to get started and gather their thoughts. Some students are very clever and very quick at  organising  the answer in their minds; I would say it comes naturally to them, while other students need more time to think of a coherent argument. Unfortunately, most students fall into the second category and they need all the advice we can offer them.

There are some  techniques you can use to give yourself some time to think about what you are going to say, but I would advise you to use them in a sensible way and make sure you don’t answer  every question with a filler, as you will certainly run the risk of sounding  very unnatural.

♥Use the typical filler sounds:

-ah, mm, um, uh,

♥Repeat the question:

-” Umm … What would be my ideal job??? Well…”

♥Pretend you haven’t understood the question:

-” Could you repeat the question, please?”

-“Sorry, I didn’t hear what you said. Could you repeat the question?”

♥Express a lack of opinion:

“I’m afraid I don’t know much about it!”

-“It’s difficult to say!”

-“I have never really thought about it!”

-“Well, I don’t know, but I think /people say…”

Hope it helps you!! And remember USE WITH CAUTION!

If you are studying, yes, “studying ” for the oral test, you might be interested in this other post. Tips to Score High in the Oral Test 

Picture Description: Speculating

Picture Description, Speaking, , , , ,

Picture Description is an important part of the Oral Exam and it needs to be practised. Two weeks ago, I published a post containing Some Useful Guidelines and Techniques for Picture Description that you might want to read.

One of the things that you need to take into account when describing a picture is that you cannot be 100% sure what is happening in the picture. Therefore, you need to use appropriate language to show you  are guessing. You have to speculate about the pictures For example: He is likely to / she’ll probably find it quite tough… etc

Some structures you can use:

  • Look as if + sentence/ Seem as if + sentence : he looks as if / seems as if he is looking for something
  • Seem + to infinitive: he seems to be tired/ he seems to be having a great time
  • Look/ Seem + adjective: They look/ seem quite tired
  • Appear + to infinitive : She doesn’t  appear to be concentrated on what she’s doing

Some modal verbs  you can use.

  • Must : for positive deduction. He must be happy because he’s smiling. The photo must have been taken in summer.
  • Can’t : for negative deduction. He can’t be going to school because he is not carrying books.
  • May/ Might/Could : for posibility. He could be telling her something she doesn’t like. The photo might have been taken in winter as they are wearing winter clothes.

Words like : perhaps, maybe…

Let’s listen to an example now.

You’ll hear a girl called Magda practising this part of the Speaking test

 

Source: Complete First Certificate  by Cambridge

A Fun Writing Activity to Practise Giving Advice . Students in the limelight

A word on Grammar, Students' Corner, Writing, , , , , , , ,

Raise your hand if you have never had a problem!  Nobody??? Good! That’s what I thought! Now, raise your hand if you have never asked for advice!! I see !! OK ! Maybe some of you don’t like to ask for advice!!

Ok folks !!! What’s clear is that we all have problems and and when we have them, we most usually turn to friends or family asking for advice; it remains to be seen whether we follow the advice but even if we  end up feeling that the advice  given hasn’t helped much, I’m sure, at least, you would  feel grateful  just because someone you trust has been willing to take the time to listen to you.

In this post, I want to share with you an activity to practise giving advice, which has worked really well with my students (see photo below)

LEVEL: B1

AIM: to give written advice using

♥I think / I don’t think you should…

♥ If I were you , I would…  

MATERIALS: A clean sheet of paper and a pen or you can download the template here.

STEPS

1. Introduce / revise the two structures above, used to give advice. Share with your students a problem and ask them to offer you advice using the two structures above. Choose the funniest or most sensible advice as the best offered.

2.  Give students a copy of I NEED SOME ADVICE or display the template so that they can copy the information on a clean sheet of paper.

2. Students write their name  and their problem in the space provided and leave it on their table, face up.

3. Introduce the idea of Agony Aunts ( see definiton here) and tell students they are going to act as agony aunts to solve some problems.

4. Students stand up and they go around the class reading their classmates’ problems and writing their piece of advice in the space provided, together with their name inside the brackets. The same advice cannot be repeated. Allow 10 minutes for this step

 5.  Students sit down at their desks, read the advice offered for their problems and decide on the best. Problem and advice will be read aloud. The students who has offered the best advice gets one point. See who gets more points and name him the new Agony Aunt.

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Preparing for the Oral Exam? Some Useful Guidelines and Techniques for Describing Pictures

Picture Description, Speaking, , , , ,

For better or for worse the course is coming to an end and exams are just here. I can almost see them beckoning me and you. I am ready, the question is … are you?

In the oral exam you’ll have to  demonstrate your speaking skills as well as your ability to communicate and for this, it is essential that you practise… a lot. 

Here are some Guidelines and Techniques  to help you score a high mark in the Picture Description  Part of the exam. I hope they are helpful!!

♥Click here to download the pdf

♥Click here to see the Slideshare 

♥Click here to see the presentation mode of the Infographic below

 

 

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Some Nice No-Prep Activities to Practise First Conditional

Games, Speaking, , , ,

When we  get back from a relaxing holiday (Easter in this case) it is difficult to just drop everything and go back to routine, back to work, back to studying English without feeling a bit down.

Now, I shouldn’t say this but I’m going to say it anyway. I don’t care if you feel down at work, but not in my classes. Listen, dear students, the course is almost finished and I want you in high spirits and highly motivated!!!

You might think learning, let alone studying  Conditional sentences  is boring. Nothing further from the truth. Trust me! It can be fun, too! Let’s try these activities to get your first conditionals rolling!!

The best about these activities is that they require no preparation, something very much appreciated  when we, teachers, are already  busy writing exams.

THREE NO-PREP NICE ACTIVITIES  

1.SITUATIONS

♥ Situation 1. Tell students they are all 18 (I can almost hear their giggles)  and that you are their mother/father (more giggles). They have a very important date with the girl/boy of their dreams and they really want to impress their date; for this reason, they need to borrow your beautiful back sports car, which you are reluctant to lend as the student has just got his driving licence.

They’ll need to convince you to lend them your car. You’ll lend the car to only one student, provided he offers something good in return. Be prepared for a big round of promises, of which you’ll need to choose the one you like best.

“Mommy :), if you lend me your car, I’ll do the washing up for two months”.

“Mommy, if you lend me your car, I’ll wash your car every week for a year.”

♥ Situation 2. Tell students they are all 12 ( this time they are roaring with laughter- remember I teach adults)  and that you, as their teacher, are really disappointed with their behaviour in class. Tell students you have no other option but to inform their parents. On the other hand, students  do not want their parents to get upset, especially because there is a great party this weekend and they don’t want to be grounded. They need to convince you not to phone their parents.

“Teacher, if you do not tell my parents, I will do my homework every day”

“Teacher, if you do not phone my father, I’ll sit still during the rest of the term”

2. MURPHY’S LAW.

Ask students if they have ever heard about Murphy’s Law. Explain that Murphy’s Law states that if something bad can happen, it’ll happen. Elicit an example of Murphy’s Law .

Example: what happens if you are in a supermarket waiting to pay and you change queues? The queue you were in before will move faster.

Divide the class into two groups and ask the group to write five sentences using the first conditional in the humorous context of Murphy’s Laws. Allow 5 minutes for this step.

Groups take it in turns to read the beginning of their sentences Ex “If I don’t take an umbrella, ….”. The other group has to guess the words to complete the sentence (they have two opportunities). If they do, they score one point.

You, as a teacher, can also take part in the game reading your own sentences and asking both groups to try to guess the ending and so getting more points for their team .

 3. ELECTION TIME

I don’t know about other countries but here in Spain, elections are a month away and candidates for the different political parties are busy making promises.

Divide the students in groups of three or four students and ask them to write their election promises  using the First Conditional in sentences such as

If I am president, I will

If  you vote for my party , we will…

A spokesperson for each of the groups is asked to stand up and read their promises to the rest of the groups. The audience is encouraged to ask questions to the candidates or challenge them by asking questions such as …. Yes , but what will happen if ….?

When all the promises are heard, they will need to vote for a candidate which will be different from their own.

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