Part two of the B2 First Speaking exam creates a lot of confusion. People have watched my video
about the five biggest mistakes that students make when taking the B2 First Speaking exam and they've
asked me: "Toby! Why is your advice different to the advice that my teacher gave me!?". Well
is your teacher wrong? Yes... Yes... Definitely... No! No no maybe not. Well, let's see. Together as
a team. My name is Toby, I am a Cambridge speaking examiner. This is SMASH English and here is why
your teacher might be, could be, may be wrong about part two of the B2 First Speaking exam.
Before we begin let me tell you something. You can trust me. Look at this face. Don't you trust this
face? But how do you know that you can trust me!? Well firstly, I am a Cambridge speaking examiner.
I examine Cambridge speaking exams. It is literally my job! And secondly,
hundreds of people have commented on this channel telling me that they have used
my advice to get them the high marks that they want. They're happy. I'm happy. And I want you
to be happy too! Isn't that great? Aren't I great! And very very trustworthy. Seriously I never
ever lie. So I receive this question a lot: "But Toby, my teacher said that in part two of
the B2 First Speaking exam I must describe two pictures and then answer a question.
You tell me not to describe the pictures and only answer the question. Are you a liar,
Toby?" Am I a liar? Well we are all liars. We all lie every single day. But am I lying to you,
my dearest student, about part two of the B2 First Speaking exam? Absolutely not. God!
And is your teacher wrong to tell you to describe the pictures in part two of the B2 First speaking
exam? Well it's it's complicated. No, they're not. But kind of... maybe...
yes. Okay okay listen! Here is the B2 First Cambridge Handbook for Teachers. This handbook
was created to help teachers prepare their students for the b2 first speaking
exam. Let's turn to page 72 and see what it says regarding part 2 of the B2 First speaking exam.
"Candidates are expected to point out similarities and differences between the photographs and then
move on to deal with the question answering it with reference to both photographs".
So in light of this your teacher will probably want you to describe the pictures first
and then answer the question and this is okay! This is not bad advice! But
on page 73 of the B2 First Cambridge Handbook for Teachers it says this! "Candidates are not
expected to give detailed descriptions of each picture rather they are asked to compare the
pictures and to give their reaction to them". Okay so in your answer you must describe the
pictures but not in detail and you must definitely answer the question. So Toby! What is the problem
with teachers telling their students to describe the pictures!? Well let's look at an example
and I will show you. I will show you! Yes! Here is our sample picture of people outside.
Let's not worry about a question for now. Instead let's focus on trying to describe it.
What can you say? There are three people. They are outside. They are gardening. There are two adults
and a child. The girl is putting a plant in the ground. The man is watering the plant. The people
are smiling. Great... Is there anything else we can say here? Well... no. Not really. Maybe
we could describe what the people are wearing but what's the point? So the question is, what have we
accomplished with this answer? Well we've used the present simple and the present continuous.
We have also used some fantastic words like people, gardening, plant, ground,
to water, to smile. Brilliant! These are really good words if you are taking an A2 exam...
Will this help you score high marks? Well here is the B2 First marking scheme for the speaking exam
and here is the section on grammar and vocabulary. What we have just said would
score us an amazing score of ONE and definitely no higher. This is the equivalent to a THREE, a pass,
in a B1 Preliminary exam and that's because you are using simple grammar and you're using
it well and you're using a range of vocabulary to talk about everyday situations: to smile,
to water. Yeah... So what are you achieving by describing the picture?
Well basically nothing. It's not helping you so why do it? You're wasting your time. Now okay,
in the exam you don't have to talk about one picture. You talk about two pictures and so things
do change once we introduce another picture. So let's do that now! Here is another picture
and it shows teenagers playing football. So what could we say? Well we can finally introduce a
linking expression! In the first picture there are three people gardening WHILE in the second picture
there are teenagers playing football. Now our marks improve but not because of our description
of the pictures, right? Instead because of the way we are approaching the question with linking
expressions. The description itself is not what is giving us the marks. Remember that you only have
one minute and I know one minute seems like a lot of time to talk on your own but it's not. You have
two pictures. That's 30 seconds for each picture. Not a lot of time. Especially if you describe the
picture! That gives you 15 seconds to describe each picture and 15 seconds to answer the question
for each picture. That is no time at all! And seriously this is a big problem. As an examiner
I have seen this problem time and time again. Students will start to describe the picture
and they get so lost in their description that they will forget to answer the question.
Or maybe a student wants to answer the question but they have not managed their time effectively
and so instead they have described the pictures for too long and I have to tell them to stop
talking because their one minute has passed. Oh no! This is a big problem because we have already
seen that the description itself cannot give you high marks. This means that the student has missed
a fantastic opportunity to show the examiner all the wonderful, brilliant grammar that they know
and that's a terrible thing. So instead I tell all of my students to immediately start answering
the question. Yes! Immediately start answering the question! This is because the act of answering the
question should also be descriptive! How can you answer the question without describing the picture
in your answer!? Let's look at an example. We will use the two images from before but this time we
will introduce a question: Why might these people have decided to spend their time outside in these
ways? If you answer the question correctly then you will be describing and answering
at the same time. Fantastic! So here we have to speculate about the past this means we need to use
PAST MODALS OF DEDUCTION. And seriously if you do not know this grammar then make sure you learn it
before the exam. It's very very important for part four of the use of english but also for part two
of the speaking exam. Seriously this is essential grammar! There is a video about it right here! So
let's have a look at our perfect answer using past modals of deduction. In the first picture
these people may have decided to go gardening in order to spend some quality time together.
They look as if they are grandparents with their granddaughter so they might be on holiday together
and enjoying the nice weather. On the other hand in the second picture they are teenagers so they
could have decided to spend time outdoors to be away from their parents. They are playing football
and so they must have decided to go to the park in order to have a lot of space to play.
In this example answer we are describing the pictures
but we are describing the pictures in order to speculate to answer the question. Our descriptions
are connected to our speculations. They are not random. And this is why it's so so important
to start answering the question first. Only describe in relation to your answering
of the question! For example "they look as if they are grandparents with their granddaughter
so they might be on holiday". Our description "they look as if" is linked to our answer "so
they might be on holiday". This is the sort of thing that you need to do! And when you describe
the picture your descriptions must, must, must be linked to your answer. So again! Don't describe
the picture! Just answer the question! So in this answer we have used complex grammatical forms
in the form of past modals of deduction and "they look as if". We have used modals to speculate.
We have connected our ideas with linking expressions like "so" and "in order to".
We have also contrasted the two images with the expression "on the other hand". If you can give an
answer like this in the exam you will do very very well. And this is the entire point of the video:
if you describe the pictures then you cannot use complex grammar. In fact the only grammar you can
really use to describe a picture is the present simple and the present continuous and this is
A2 level but you're taking a B2 First exam right? Yes! If you answer the question immediately then
this enables you to show the examiner that you can use some fantastic grammar
like modal verbs and past modals of deduction to speculate, "look as though" and "look as if"
to describe and then linking expressions to link your descriptions with your speculations!
Wow! That's fantastic! That's amazing! And you know what? You can do it! Yes? Yes you can! Focus
on the question and only describe the pictures to the extent that it helps you answer the question.
And that sounded great! I'm a philosopher! So let me repeat it: focus on the question
and only describe the pictures to the extent that it helps you answer the question. Amazing.
Wow. And that is why I tell my students no no no no do not describe the pictures,
answer the question! And if you don't know everything you need to know about part two
and you're thinking but toby i have so many questions about part two of the B2
First Speaking exam then watch my video all about part two! It's long it will tell you everything,
it will give you every single grammar structure that you need to know for part two. That's very
generous of me and I'm giving it to you... for free. Great! And with that we are finished. Now
you know everything you need to know about your teacher possibly being wrong about part two of the
B2 First speaking exam! But I don't think they're wrong! I think we have different techniques and
different strategies. I've had more success with my strategy which is why it's my strategy! I'm not
criticizing anyone, all right!? God! Stop accusing me of being negative! I'm not negative at all!
If you like 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...