The Cambridge b2 First speaking exam isn't only about your language, it's also
about your exam technique and sometimes the difference between a pass and a fail
can be your technique. My name is Toby, I am a Cambridge speaking examiner. This is
SMASH English and here are the five most common mistakes that people make when
taking the b2 First speaking exam!
Yes I know, exams are boring and stressful so you
probably will feel bored and stressed but if you're happy it will improve your
marks and here is why! When you are bored and depressed and sad your intonation
flattens. When you are happy your voice naturally rises and falls, you sound more
natural and this will improve your marks for pronunciation. But also think about
your partner! Remember, interacting with your partner is a very important part of
the exam! So important that one of the marking criteria us examiners use is
called "Interactive Communication" and it's all about what you do and how you
communicate with your partner. If you are miserable your partner won't want to
talk to you. If you are open and happy your partner will be more likely to ask
you questions, you'll be more likely to ask your partner questions and this will
improve your marks for interactive communication. And lastly, sometimes
students make mistakes during the exam and then they get more stressed, more
anxious, more nervous, and then they make another mistake and get more stressed,
more anxious, more nervous, and they're constantly thinking about the mistakes
in the past instead of what they should be saying in the future. Cambridge uses a
positive marking scheme. This means if you make a mistake we don't deduct marks.
Instead we give you marks for what you do correctly so if you make a mistake
don't let it distract you! Move on and use the next questions to show the
examiner what you can do! So being happy helps with your pronunciation. Being
happy helps with your interactive communication. And being happy helps stop
you thinking bad things about the past that prevent you from doing well in the
future.
Remember the whole point of the speaking exam is getting you to speak so the
examiners can assess your language. If you don't talk enough then you're not
giving them enough material to assess. This is why the examiner will ask you
annoying questions like "Do you like playing sport?" "Yes I do" "Why?". This
is why I ask my students "why?" to almost everything they say, to get them into the
habit of speaking for extended periods of time. But talking too much can be a
problem too, for two reasons. The first is the more you talk the more likely you
are to go off-topic; the less likely you are to stay relevant. A perfect example
of this is the first question in the exam "where are you from?'.
Please give a short answer to this question! "I'm from London".
Stop! Finish! Don't tell us the history of your town! I did not ask for the history
of your town! Keep things short sometimes, to stay on topic - especially for part one!
Talking too much is also bad for interactive communication because maybe
you're not giving your partner the opportunity to communicate. The exam is
not a competition between you and your partner, it's not a game of who can say
the most words. Instead it's a conversation and you should be working
WITH your partner! So, ask your partner questions about them, get to know them in
the exam especially for parts three and four. If you don't do this and it's "me me
me" you will definitely lose marks for interactive communication.
Not answering the question in part 2 is a very common problem. Remember in part 2
you are given two pictures and you must answer a question about them. The task is
not about describing the pictures so please do not describe the pictures. One
problem with describing pictures is it limits your potential grammar. If you are
describing something that is happening you can only really use the present
simple and the present continuous. The questions are designed to broaden the
amount of grammar that you can use and also so you can speculate. The questions
usually ask why someone is feeling a certain way, why someone is doing
something, why someone has done something. These questions encourage you to use
modal verbs, speculative language, past modals of deduction, and if you don't
answer the question you don't have the opportunity to use this language and
show the examiner the fantastic grammar that you know. So please, in part 2 do not
describe the pictures! Answer the question and only answer the question!
It's important to have a normal natural conversation with your partner. Of course
I'm referring to parts three and four. This is especially true for part three,
the part where you must work with your partner to answer a question using
prompts provided. What many candidates do and what examiner's hate is when the
candidates do not interact with each other. Instead they talk about each
prompt individually and none of them references what the other candidates
said before them. Make sure you listen to what your partner said and then comment
on what they said. And when I say comment I don't mean saying 'I agree' and then moving
on. No! Instead rephrase what your partner said, put it into your own words to show
that you understood. Then state whether you agree or disagree and then try and
connect it to your next point. This is how a normal conversation works so why
would a Cambridge exam be any different? In part four you can ask your partner
questions. If your partner says something that's interesting to you, do not
hesitate to ask them a question about it! Remember in part four the examiner is
only asking these questions to get you to produce language, anyone can speak in
this part so if your partner says something cool then tell them you think
it's cool! Ask them when they did it or why they did it or ask for more detail
about what they're talking about. The best part fours for me as an
examiner are the part fours where I only need to ask one or two questions because
the candidates get lost in the conversation, they forget that it's an
exam and instead they're talking to their partner like they would in
everyday life. And that is what we want, so have a conversation, relax.
Part four is about you and your partner, the examiner doesn't exist, have a good
time.
And lastly and this is the one piece of advice that I give all of my students
and it is the most important: avoid the present simple! Okay, okay, sometimes you
will need the present simple. Right, "my name is", okay, "I live in", yeah, you need the
present simple. However when you can avoid it don't use it. The present simple
is simple grammar! Even if you speak perfect English for the entirety of the
exam, if you're predominantly using the present simple it's impossible to pass.
To pass you need to at least try complex grammar! This sounds a lot more difficult
than it is. If you watch my video on part one of the First Certificate speaking
exam you will see lots of useful structures that you can use to avoid the
present simple. For example: "do you like sport?" "Well I used to when I was young
but now I am older I prefer gaming". So instead of using "no I don't
I prefer gaming", we're using "used to" instead to talk about a past habit and
routine. Now remember your answers to the questions in part one, that are basic
questions on familiar topics, don't have to be true. So find any way you can to
use some more complicated grammar. "Tell me about your best friend" "Well to be
honest, if only I had a best friend! But I don't.Instead I have lots of friends". So
instead of just using the present simple we're trying to mix things up using
different grammatical structures that make the examiners go wild. And with that
we are finished. Those were the five most common mistakes that candidates make
when taking the B2 First 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