Many students ask me this question... Toby! What do I do if I have two partners instead of one in
the speaking exam!? That would be terrible! But no! It wouldn't be. Trust me it really wouldn't
be! Do you want to know why!? Well, I will tell you why! My name is Toby, I'm a Cambridge Speaking
Examiner! This is SMASH English and here is everything you need to know about what to
do if you have two partners in the Cambridge B2 First and the C1 Advanced speaking exam.
Firstly, why might you be in a group of three? Well it's luck. Good luck or bad luck depending
on your perspective. If there is an odd number of students taking the exam that day then there will
be a group of three. That is mathematics. If there is an even number of students taking the
exam on that day then there won't be a group of three. That is also mathematics. If the candidates
are ordered alphabetically then the students at the end of the list will be put together
in a group of three however this is not always the case. Sometimes the candidates are not
ordered alphabetically and so the group of three is is random. So will you be in a group of three?
I don't know. I cannot tell you. I cannot predict the future. But
should you worry about this possibility? Well no but you should prepare!
Let's look then at how having two partners instead of one may change your experience in the B2 First
or the C1 Advanced exam. For part one of the speaking exam there is no difference. For part
two of the speaking exam there is no difference. In part three the interlocutor will give you all a
question to discuss with written prompts and then they will ask you to reach a decision together.
If you have one partner then this part of the exam is four minutes long in the B2 First exam and four
minutes long in the C1 Advanced exam. However if you have two partners this part of the exam
is five minutes long in the B2 First exam and six minutes long in the C1 Advanced exam. In part four
the interlocutor will ask you a range of detailed questions related to the topic of part three. If
you have one partner this part of the exam is four minutes long for B2 First and five minutes
long for C1 Advanced. If you have two partners this part of the exam is six minutes long at the
B2 First level and eight minutes long at the C1 Advanced level and eight minutes. That is a long,
long time. But yeah the only structural difference between a speaking exam with one partner and a
speaking exam with two partners is time. For parts three and four you will have more time to talk.
So then let's start with part three of the speaking exam. Many students are shy and they
find it difficult to contribute their ideas in a group environment and this is the source of a
lot of anxiety about being in a group of three for the C1 Advance or the B2 First speaking exams. Now
talk together about the different ways in which tourists could be encouraged to visit a city.
Okay so shall I go first or would you like to? Sure, Monica. Go ahead! Okay well I think
a shopping center would be a great idea because I love shopping and whenever I go to a city I always
go to the shopping center. I understand that you enjoy shopping, Monica, but do you really think
that people only travel to cities for shopping? What about the museums and the culture? Yeah,
yeah that's a really good point, Bruce, like often when people visit a new city for the first time
they'll like go to the museums or see the monuments like they don't go there for the
shopping alone right? Okay, so, uh, what about theme parks? I think theme parks are fantastic....
And yes this is a big problem because Duke said nothing! And if in part three you say nothing
then the interlocutor and the assessor who is marking your language cannot give you
any marks because you have not produced any language for them to mark! It is much harder
for this situation to occur in part three if you only have one partner because that one partner
cannot just talk to themselves well i guess they can but if they do they will lose marks
and they will do terribly so it's less likely to happen. But Bruce and Monica you should not have
let this happen because you will also lose marks through excluding someone from the conversation
in a group of three! Oh shut up, Toby! It's not my fault that he won't talk! Yeah and Toby I don't
want to talk to him anyway! Ew! You didn't even try to include Duke in the conversation
and this means you will lose marks for "Interactive Communication"!
And if you want to learn more about the marking scheme that examiners use to assess your language
during the speaking exams then watch this video right here! So if you are in a group of three and
you notice that one of you is not talking very much then please address that person directly.
The examiners will notice this and they will give you higher marks and hopefully the person
you addressed will feel more confident and will also be able to get higher marks for themselves
and that is a fantastic thing. But Toby! What if my partners don't try to involve me!?
That's a terrible thing. But you need to do your best to SMASH yourself into the conversation.
Remember this is part three! The interlocutor cannot ask you questions so if you don't talk,
well, the interlocutor cannot do anything. Instead they must watch you in silence thinking "this is
really sad. I want to give this person high marks but I can't give them any marks because
they haven't said anything and that is... that's terrible." That's really tragic. One thing you can
do to try and avoid this situation is sit between your partners. It's much more difficult for your
partners to overlook you if they have to look directly at you to talk to each other. Just a
suggestion. Sometimes though in order to get your voice heard you will need to master the art of
interruption. Yes! Interruption! Some people will try and teach you some long and complicated ways
to do this but the B2 First and the C1 Advanced speaking exams are not business meetings! It's
not necessary and to be honest no examiner is going to be blown away by you regurgitating a
fixed phrase that you have learned. No. Seriously, I just advise my students to make sounds or use
discourse markers to interject themselves into the conversation. One very easy way to do this
is just say "YEEEEAAAAAAH" and then expand on one of your partners points. It's that simple "yeah".
That's what I do... Yeah, Bruce, I guess you're right like
I'm really into shopping in general but I guess most people don't travel to a new city
only to go shopping. Yeah! Everyone lives near shops, and don't they Monica. So,
shopping centers aren't a good idea. Other discourse markers that you could use are SO, WELL,
and LIKE. If you say one of these your partners will think "Wait a minute! This person has
something to say and I want to listen!". Or, don't even use a word! Make a sound like um, ah, oh.
Yeah, yeah, okay, sure, it's not amazing language but it's simple and it will get your partners to
shut up so you can express yourself freely and give your wonderful valuable and fantastic opinion
that will send the examiners wild. Okay, so what about theme parks then? Like, I personally love
theme parks but if I travel to a city to visit a theme park I probably wouldn't visit the city I'd
spend all day at the theme park. Do you know what I mean? What do you think, Duke? Duke!?
Sorry, Bruce... What did you say?
This is another potential problem with groups of three. Often candidates will turn off their
brain and stop listening to what their partners are saying. Remember! Everything that you say
should in some way be linked to what one of your partners has said before you. Seriously! This is
really really important! Please please please do not say "okay and what do you think about this".
No! That's not a conversation! Hey Toby! Hi Toby! You look great! Thanks, Toby!
So do you! Anyway I was thinking, should I wear my hair up or down today? I want to kind of look
wild and free so I thought maybe down? Okay and what do you think about sausages? What? See! That
was terrible! Remember, rephrase what your partner said, comment on it and then introduce something
new. I was talking about theme parks. Like, I love theme parks me but I don't think they would
encourage people to walk around a city. Yeah, usually people will visit the theme park all day
but then they won't visit the city afterwards so I don't think a theme park is a good idea.
But what do you think about sport events? Well I'm not a massive fan of sports. You know what,
Monica, nor am I. But like one big sports event would attract like thousands of people and all
of these people would like want other things to do like pubs and food and bars and shops and museums
and stuff and many of these people coming to the sporting event might decide to stay in the city
for a few days instead of just one day so I think that sporting events could be a really good idea!
That is how it's done! That was perfection! And do you know what else is perfection?
The generosity of Tomek and SOMEONE! I don't know your name but I know that you are someone! And
you are someone that I love! But seriously if you think I have helped you prepare for your B2 First
or your C1 Advanced Cambridge exams and you would like to say thank you with some money then please
do consider donating yourself! The links will be in the comments section and the description.
Thank you! Now let's look at part four of the B2 First and the C1 Advanced speaking exams.
Being in a group of three even if you are very very shy is not so much of a problem in part four
as it might be for you in part three and this is because the interlocutor has more control over the
situation. If you say nothing in part three then there is nothing the interlocutor can do however
if you say nothing in part four the interlocutor can ask you a question directly and this will give
you an opportunity to speak. Ideally though, part four should be a conversation between all three of
you together and personally I think having a group of three in part four of the B2 First and the C1
Advanced speaking exams has the potential to be more interesting. Why? Remember at the C1 Advanced
level part four in a group of three is eight minutes long and that is a very very very very
very long time. But that's okay because you will have more to talk about! Instead of interacting
with one other perspective you will have two other perspectives and all three of you will have
interesting and unique ideas that you will share with each other and that's a beautiful thing.
Remember, in part four of the B2 First and the C1 Advanced speaking exam the interlocutor does not
want to ask you lots and lots of questions! They only want to ask you as many questions
as necessary to keep the interaction going. I personally have done an exam where in part four
I only needed to ask one question because the students did not shut up and they kept talking
and talking and talking and talking and you know what? It was fantastic! So, forget it's an exam!
Smile! Be happy! And try and enjoy spending some time with two people who you otherwise might not
get the opportunity to talk to and if it all does go terribly remember there's only two examiners in
the room but there are three candidates! So, if you get really really angry maybe you could all
join forces and attack the examiners, kill them and eat them if there's no food supply?
No.... Don't do that. If I'm examining you and you see me and you're in a group of three
and I'm with someone and you decide to kill us and eat us I'll be really really disappointed
in you... Seriously... Don't. Don't do that. And with that we are finished! Now you know everything
you need to know about what to do if you are in a group of three for the B2 First of the
C1 Advanced speaking exam! If you liked the video don't forget to SMASH that like button, subscribe
if you haven't already, leave a comment down below! My name is Toby and this was SMASH English.