Bonus - Speaking Exam Advice

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Trevor gives tips regarding speaking exams, from the examiner's point of view! These include how to interact well, the importance of staying focussed and why you shouldn't rehearse answers.

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Music: Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod
 Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome
 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Real Exam English podcast. In this episode I want to give some advice about speaking exams. A lot of people get nervous or apprehensive before speaking tests, which is understandable, but there’s a few key things to keep in mind that may make it a bit easier for you.

Firstly, the examiners want to see you do well. They want you to give your best performance. When I do my annual examiner training, we are encouraged to be friendly and welcoming to the students so that they, or you, can feel comfortable and perform well.

Ok, before the exam, obviously you have to prepare as well as possible. Even if you feel like you speak well, it still makes sense to get used to the format of the exam, in terms of timings and the different parts of the exam. And like anything in life, the more you do before, the more confident you feel and the better your performance will be. 

On the day of the exam, when you are waiting outside for your turn to go in, try to speak in English with your partner or the organiser, get your English-speaking brain warmed up. 

When you go in, greet the examiners, with a good morning or good afternoon and smile. It pays to be nice. If the examiner is debating whether to give you a 3.5 or a 4 and you have been friendly and come across as a nice person they will mark you up, rather than mark you down. It’s human nature, so try to be nice and friendly, even if you feel a bit nervous.

Speaking of nerves, it’s not unusual for people to feel nervous and examiners are used to this. If you blank out in the exam and can’t think of what to say don’t freak out, it’s not the end of the world and doesn’t mean that you fail the exam or anything. Just say, sorry, I blanked out, I’m a bit nervous, and move on to the next question.

Similarly, if you realise you made a mistake with something you said don’t sit there thinking about the mistake. Focus on the next question. This is something we see a lot of, people answer their question and then switch off and you can see them thinking about their errors in their head. One reason not to do that is that if you are in the exam with another student, the examiner may ask you what you think about what your partner has just said. And if you are busy beating yourself up over some grammar mistake you just made then you are not going to be able to give an answer. So now instead of only having one mistake, with the grammar, you have two mistakes. So stay focused on what is happening now, and pay attention to what the examiner is saying as well as your partner. 

Speaking of your partner, try not to compare yourself to them. Sometimes when people have a really strong partner they think that because they weren’t as good, that they won’t do well in the exam. The examiners are trained to mark everyone on their own merits so if doesn’t really matter if your partner is very strong or very weak, you will get the marks you deserve. For example, maybe your partner is better than you and gets a five, maximum marks, but maybe you are not as good and still get a five, or a 4.5, it happens all the time guys. 

Also, if you have a partner, the idea is that both of you speak more or less the same amount of time. If you speak a bit more or less than your partner, it’s not a big deal, the examiner should control that and if they need to hear more from one of you then they might ask an extra question for example. What’s really important with a partner is to really listen to what they are saying. The people who score best for interaction are the ones who are interested in what their partner is saying and respond in a natural way, as if they were having a chat, and building their answer on to what their partner has just said. 

Conversely, what examiners don’t like is rehearsed responses that don’t fit in naturally. So, a typical bad interaction that we see a lot of in exams goes something like this. In restaurants, the service is very important. I couldn’t agree more, I think the price is also important because blablabla. Ok, as an examiner I’m not going to give any marks for interaction here, interaction is not just about having a fancy expression, it’s about listening and developing your answer based on what your partner has said. By all means, use a fancy expression but it must be used in a natural way and you should link your answer with your partners. To use the same example again, if you partner says in restaurants, I think service is important. You can say totally, it really makes you feel welcome in a place and you can get great advice on the different dishes too. The price is also important because blabla.

Another place to be careful using rehearsed answers is with expressions to buy time. Last Saturday I was examining and the first 10 students I examined all said That’s a tricky question, they must’ve all had the same teacher. Ok, there’s nothing wrong with that expression, if you have been asked a tricky question, but I was asking these guys really basic questions like what do you do in your free time, what did you do yesterday and they were responding that’s a tricky question, it’s kind of ridiculous right. So, pick and choose when you use these set expressions and work on making them sound as natural as possible. 

The same thing applies if they ask you where you are from. There’s nothing worse than the prepared geography lesson answer, I am from Rome, a historic city on the west coast of Italy, with many beautiful monuments and delicious pizza. Ok examiners aren’t giving you any extra marks for that. Keep it simple, I live in Testaccio, on the outskirts of Rome. Even I live in Testaccio is better than the big long answer that has been practiced. 

Finally, at the end of the exam, don’t feel too bad if you think you didn’t do as well as you expected. I hear a lot of people saying I didn’t do well in the speaking and they end up with good marks. In fact, last Saturday I heard one girl leaving the examining room saying I failed that, and I was just after giving her 75%. This is the same for all of the parts of the exam by the way, people often think they did badly in reading or listening and they end up with good marks, you never know guys, so keep your head up and just try to do the next part of the exam as well as possible. 

Alright, that’s about all my advice, from the point of view of an examiner. So be nice and friendly and natural and if you are nervous, that’s ok, take a deep breath and just try your best, what more can you do!

Ok, hopefully you found that useful guys, if you have any questions or comments you can send me an email to realexamenglish at gmail.com or add a comment on spotify, or a message on Instagram or facebook. And of course, if you would like to practice your speaking then I am available for classes, both individual and in group, check out the website realexamenglish.com

So, best of luck to any students sitting exams! 

Till next time, take care, 

Trevor