Useful expressions for the FCE/CAE speaking exam

Useful expressions for the FCE/CAE speaking exam

Home Town / Family / Home
I’ve lived here in Granada since ……………………………..for…………….
I’m from ………………………………… but I’ve been living here since……………..
What I like most about living here  is……………………………………………………
I come from quite a ………………………. family, there are ………. of us.
People say I …………………………………. my Mother as we’re both tall.
I think I ………………………………… my Father as we’re both openminded.
I live in a really nice …………………….. in …………………………….
If I could change anything about my home, I’d probably ………………………
I don’t do much around the house but I usually help with ……………………..
I hate housework so I try to …………………………………. it! But I always  ……….. my bed.

Studies / Work / School days
I started learning English at school in …………… / when I was ………………
I wish I had started when I was younger…I think a good age to start is ….
I’ve been studying English since ………………………….
I …………………………. English classes again recently.
I don’t remember much about my school days, but ………………………………. (verb + ing)
I think my school days were the best days of my life!
I was very good at ………(VERB + ING)……………………. but I hated ……….(VERB + ING)……………… My favourite / worst teacher was a person called ……………………………..
I prefer working alone because …………………………………
I like having the radio on in the background.
I use a computer every day at work.
The computer is an essential part of my work.
I use a computer at home, to look for things on the Internet, or to  chat with my friends.

Holidays / Travelling
I usually go…………………………………………………… in the summer.
I love going to the coast because ……………………………..
For me the most important thing about a hoiliday is…………………………….
If I visit a new place, I always like going sightseeing.
I had a wonderful time when I went to …………………… ……… years  ago.
What I enjoyed most was ……………….(VERB + ING)…………………………………

I went to …………….. a few years ago and I’d love to go back.

The worst part of the holiday was…………………………………………………………

If I could afford it I’d really like to go to ………………………………..  because… …………..
I’m too busy to have a holiday!!
I usually work in the summer so I don’t really have a holiday.
I don’t have any plans yet for summer but I’ll hopefully go somewhere nice.

Hobbies / Sports

In my free time I enjoy ………(VERB + ING)……………………….. I started ………………..  years ago / when I was ………………….
I’m really keen on …………………………… and I play …………….. a week
I try to …………………………. regularly.
I’m not very keen on sports, I prefer……………………………….
I took up ……..(VERB + ING)………………. 2 years ago and I’m really enjoying it.
I love ………………….. but I wish I had more time to do more.
I’m really interested in cinema and films, I usually go to the
cinema about …………. a month. I like ………………….. to the theatre but I don’t go very often as I can’t
………………… it.
I love going to the cinema, it doesn’t …………………….. what film is on, I try to go once a week!

Music / Going out
I like all ……………… of music but probably my favourite is…………………
I can’t stand the typical commercial pop music that is around nowadays. I prefer ……………………..
The last concert I went to was to see ………………………… in ……………………..
Granada isn’t as good as places like Madrid or Barcelona for
concerts.
I like listening to music but I don’t buy much music.
At weekends I usually get together with my friends. We go out for a drink and we have a good time.
I don’t usually spend much money when I go out but I always have fun with my friends.
Granada isn’t as expensive as other cities.
There are a lot of things for young people to do here.
We usually get together on Friday night, buy some drinks and hang around in the streets!

Special occasions
My favourite month is ……………… because……………………..
On my birthday I usually go out for a meal with my family and throw
a party with my friends!
One thing I like doing is going out somewhere special.
The last special event I went to was …………………………
The next thing I’m going to celebrate is ……………………….

Useful expressions for the FCE/CAE speaking exam part 2

Useful expressions for the FCE/CAE speaking exam part 2

Tip 1


In the exam, the examiner will give one of the candidates two pictures. The first thing they will ask the candidate to do is to show the pictures to the other candidate(s). This means that everyone has seen the pictures and it is therefore perfectly acceptable to say ‘this picture’ and point. More complex language such as ‘the top picture’ or ‘the former/ the latter’ is, of course, even better.

Tip 2


The examiner will then give the candidate precise instructions about what they should say about the pictures. The instructions always have two parts, so students should listen very carefully.

Tip 3


If there is anything a student doesn’t understand about a question, they should ask the examiner to repeat. If they still don’t understand, they should ask again. They should remember that they are being tested on their speaking in this part of the exam, not their listening comprehension. However, one thing they are being scored on is their ability to actually answer the question they are asked.
Tip 4


Asking the examiner to repeat can actually be the perfect opportunity to show off some complex language – e.g. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch the last part‘, ‘If I can just check what you are saying, you’d like me to…‘, ‘I’m not quite sure what (contrast) means’, etc.

Tip 5


The examiner almost always asks the students to ‘compare two pictures’. They will never be asked to simply describe them. Any activities giving oral practice of comparing language (more than, less than, (not) as __________ as, similar to, etc.) and contrasting language (although, whereas, however, etc.) are good practice for this. 

Tip 6


The second part of the question is usually about giving some kind of opinion e.g. ‘Compare and contrast the two holidays and say which you would prefer’. Language like ‘in my opinion’ and ‘personally’ can be very useful here.

Tip 7


Students should make sure they are talking to the examiner (and the other candidate) rather than to the picture! 

Tip 8


The examiner will interrupt the student speaking after one minute, even if they are halfway through a sentence. Being interrupted is actually good, as it means they haven’t run out of things to say.

Tip 9


As the examiner takes the photos away from the first candidate, they will ask the other candidate a question about those photos. Again, this is probably a question of opinion, e.g. ‘Which holiday would most people prefer?’ This only requires a short answer, but is a perfect chance to show they have been listening to what their partner said, with language such as ‘As (Juan) said……’, or ‘I agree entirely with (Ruth).’

Expressions

• What strikes me about the first picture is the fact that…
• This picture reminds me of…
• Judging from the photograph, the children…
• The man/woman appears/seems to be…
• From what we can see here, he must…
• There are many similarities…
• Both pictures depict…
• Both pictures are quite similar in that they show…
• When you give it a closer look it reveals…
• The first picture … whereas the other picture …
• Another important difference is…
• Picture … doesn’t show … as clearly as …
• Picture … attempts to … but I think picture … does this more effectively…
• All pictures are interesting, but … gives a stronger idea of…
• It’s difficult to tell from this photograph but this picture could have been taken in …
• I might be wrong, but I’d say that this picture …
• I would imagine/guess that this picture comes from …
• Picture … is by far the best to show because …
• To me, picture … is essential for this kind of publication.
• I’m surprised there is no picture showing…
• A picture of … would get the message across more effectively.
• The name for this escapes me at present, but it looks like …
• The name for it is on the tip of my tongue

Useful expressions for the FCE/CAE speaking exam Part 4

Tip 1

This task leads ‘naturally’ on from the working together task in speaking part 3. The examiner will then go on to ask the candidates more general questions based on the topic of part 3. For example, if in part 3 the students decided which poster to use for an ad campaign, it might be followed by questions on advertising such as ‘Do you think poster campaigns are effective?’.

Tip 2

Unlike in part 3, this is a three-way spoken interaction. As in the other parts of the speaking exam, it is meant to be as natural as possible. Therefore, students can comment on what the other candidate has said and (politely!) interrupt etc. like in a semi-formal situation such as business meeting.

Tip 3

Students often ask whether the questions will be aimed at both of them or specifically to one person. The answer is that it depends on the examiner and on the candidates. An examiner will often choose to direct the questions if one candidate has been dominating the conversation too much. 

Tip 4

Students are often uncertain about is how long they have to talk about each one of the examiner’s questions. This part generally lasts 4 minutes: the examiner, however, has a certain amount of flexibility on when to stop part 3. The examiner has about 6 or 7 questions to last this time, so two word answers for each one are going to lead to a very unhappy examiner! Not having much to say on one or two questions is no big deal, however. At the other extreme, if the candidates find one of the questions so fascinating that they can talk about it in a natural way for 4 minutes this is a good (if unlikely) thing, as it saves them from any more tricky questions the examiner has on his/ her list.

Tip 5

The functional language of asking for and giving opinions, including some agreement and disagreement language is useful for this part of the exam.