Week 9 - Speaking parts 3 and 4 tips and expressions

Speaking part 3

•4 minutes for pairs and 6 minutes for groups of 3.

•Spend 2 minutes discussing and 2 minutes making your decision.

•The candidates complete the task without any input from the interlocutor. 

•A number of words related to a theme will be provided you have to discuss the ideas, give your opinion, and make a decision about the pictures.

•Turn your chair to face your partner. This will provide a physical reminder of what is important in this task, which is to interact with your partner.

•Start the task with a question about one of the pictures to your partner. Try to involve your partner and respond to what he or she is saying during this task.

•Discuss all of the pictures before discussing the decision or you will run out of time!

•You DO NOT have to agree on your decision! In fact, agreeing and making a decision too early would be a bad thing.

•If your partner talks too much: Interrupt them using appropriate phrases to get a good mark. Can I make a point? I’d just like to say… Excuse me, but I have to disagree…

•If your partner doesn’t talk at all: you can still receive a good mark if you encourage them to speak and give them time to answer.

•Remember, this is an interactive task and you must demonstrate your awareness of how to participate in a discussion.

Speaking part 4

•4 minutes for pairs and 6 minutes for groups of three.

•The interlocutor will join in the discussion on the general theme of the pictures from part 3. 

•The interlocutor will ask the candidates questions and encourage them to share their opinions about the questions and each others’ answers.

•Relax!  The “hard” parts of the test are over, now you can just have a normal conversation with the people sitting at the table with you.

•Give your honest opinion and don’t hesitate to react to what the other candidate says.

•Don’t dominate the conversation, the other candidate deserves a turn to speak as well.

When you finish

•The interlocutor will say, “Thank you.  That is the end of the test.”

• Thank the interlocutor and the assessor and leave.

•Don’t ask your score.

•Don’t say, “Oh my god, I’m so glad that’s over!”

•Behave like you are at a job interview, go outside before you stop “taking the test”.

Expressions for part 3

Listening to your partner:

"That's an interesting point."
"I was interested in what you said about ..."
"So, when you say ........, do you mean ........?"
"Could you explain what you mean by .......?"

Giving yourself time to think:

'That's a good question.',

'Well, let me think ...'

Discussing and giving opinions:

Up to the problem in question …

The main problem centres around …

It’s my belief …

For my part …

As I see it …

As I was saying …

I forgot to mention …

I’m of the opinion that …

To my mind …

To my way of thinking …

I am convinced that …

I am inclined to believe that …

Don’t get me wrong but shouldn’t we … ?

Judging by … they must be …

… is a separate issue.

Moving on to …

Taking everything into account …

I couldn’t agree more.

I agree up to a point.

I think I see what you mean, but …

I’m in two minds about it. / I’m ambivalent about …

I don’t see eye to eye with you here …

That’s true in a way, I suppose, but …

I don’t feel convinced …

That’s one way of looking at it. On the other hand …

Can you take a clear stand on that matter?

It brings to the question / idea / problem of …

Perhaps we should put … first? What do you think?

A strong point in favour of … is that …

What do you think should go next?

Are you happy with this order then?

Do you go along with that?

Coming to a conclusion:

"So, weighing up the pros and cons, do you think …?"
"Are we generally in agreement that …?"
"So, all in all do we feel …?"
"Essentially, do we all agree that …?"
"So, to sum up …"
"So, in general …"
"It seems we’ve reached the conclusion that …"