Welcome to the First Certificate section of my website.
Here you will find tips/ advice and resources to help you pass the speaking section of the FCE exam.
Many students worry about this part of the exam because they don’t feel that they haven’t practiced enough speaking at the academy that they went to.
Practice is important. But it is also important to get into the routine of thinking logically about the exam tasks. Listening and reading the task carefully is as important as what you are going to talk about. You need to be systematic but also flexible.
1. Briefly describe each picture. E.g “In the top or bottom picture we can see….”
2. If the picture represents something then say what the picture represents. E.g “In the top or bottom picture we can see a picture of a menu with many different flags on it. Maybe this means that the restaurant will sell food from many countries.”
3. Positive or Negative. Explore both the good and bad aspects of the picture or thing that you are speaking about.
4. Decide, choose, agree and conclude. Whether you are talking solo or with your partner, at the end of your monologue or dialogue you should demonstrate that you have come to a conclusion about the material you have been given to talk about.
To be prepared for the FCE speaking exams you need to be able to talk about (and have vocabulary relating to):
Music and media, old age, animals and pets, education, sports and hobbies, holidays and travel, technology, cultural celebrations, norms and manners, work and money, holidays, leisure time and hobbies and family and family occasions.