CAE SPEAKING TEST TIPS

1. INTRODUCTION
It's only 15 minutes long, but for many students, the CAE Speaking Test is the most stressful
part of Cambridge English: Advanced. A lot of students don't know what to expect, they don't
feel confident in their English, and they don't know how to prepare.

CAE SPEAKING TEST PART 1

Part 1 is a nice, easy start. The examiner will ask you and the other candidate some basic
questions about you and your life. You shouldn't talk to the other candidate at this time. In
this section you will learn how to avoid some common mistakes, and how to prepare.

1. INTERACTION DIAGRAM: The examiner asks you questions. You answer. When the other
candidate is talking, don't interrupt or ask your own questions.

2. DEAD AIR IS A CRIME

Here at CAE Exam Tips we love the radio, and we know that the worst thing a Disc Jockey or
radio presenter can do is leave 'dead air'. There should always, always be music or chat. If
there is dead air, listeners will switch to another station.

Dead air is just as bad in the speaking exam. It's a total of 15 minutes long. Some of that time
will be the examiner telling you what to do. Half of the time the other candidate will be
talking. Did you watch the video with Raphael and Maude? I timed how long Raphael spoke. In
part 1 he spoke for just 25 seconds. In parts 2, 3, and 4 he spoke for 84 seconds, 64
seconds, and 98 seconds. A total of 4 minutes 50 seconds. Not much time to show all the
vocabulary and grammar he learned!

So the absolute number 1 most important lesson to learn about the speaking test is never
leave dead air. If you forget a word, keep talking. If you realise you just made a big grammar
mistake, keep talking. If no-one is smiling at you and you think you are doing badly - KEEP
TALKING!

3. WHICH QUESTIONS TO EXPECT

Typical questions about your hometown, your home, your job, your hobbies, and your
personality. Plus one or two slightly more advanced ones. Here are a few you could prepare
for:

1. Where are you from?
2. Do you have a job or are you still a
student?
3. How long have you been studying
English?
4. What do you enjoy most about
learning English?
5. How do you like to spend your free
time?
6. What would your ideal job be?
7. Are you the kind of person who can
do two things at once?
8. Are you planning to do any courses
in the near future?
9. Do you use social networking sites a
lot?
10.Would you enjoy preparing food for a
large number of people?
11.Do you like to give yourself targets or
goals?
12.If you won the lottery what would
you do?
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.4. THE RIGHT LENGTH OF ANSWER

18. TOO SHORT

19.Q - Do you like your job?
20.A - Yes.
21.Hey, come on! This is the CAE Speaking Test! A means advanced.
22. A BIT BETTER
23.Q - Do you like your job?
24.A - Yes, it is good. Having a job is good and my job is good.
25.Okayyyy... How about three sentences and use some C1 vocabulary?
26. THE RIGHT LENGTH
27.Q - Do you like your job?
28.A - Yes and no! I mean, it's a challenge and the work is varied. But sometimes
the workload is overwhelming and my work-life balance suffers.
29.(This is a good length and the vocabulary is spot-on. A longer answer might start to
annoy everyone. Let the other candidate have time to answer questions. Being selfish
is not a good strategy in the CAE speaking test.)

30.

31.5. LEARN KEYWORDS, NOT SPEECHES: The examiners don't want to hear a rehearsed
speech. You are not President Obama! [Someone please email me in November to
change this to the name of the new President. Sanders, hopefully.] The point of the test
is to see how well you would cope in a real-life situation.

32.So: learn some CAE level vocabulary that you can use for the questions you might be
asked. The offices of 'CAE Exam Tips' have floor-to-ceiling windows and we get a lot of
light. One Advanced (C1) level phrase to describe such a room is 'bright and airy'. If
we took the exam, it would look like this:

33.Examiner: 'What do you like about your job?"

34.Reply: 'I like helping people and our offices are bright and airy.'
35.or
36.Examiner: 'How has your life changed in the last 5 years?'
37.Reply: 'A lot! My company changed their office - the old one was quite dark and in a bad
location. The new one is bright and airy. It's nice to work there.'
38.

39.6. BUILD YOUR VOCABULARY

40.Now that you have some idea about what will be in part 1 and you understand the
importance of using advanced language, it's time to start adding high-level words to
your active vocabulary. But listen! YOU have to start using these new words. That
means saying them in conversations, writing them in emails, and being prepared to
make some mistakes. If you aren't making mistakes you aren't learning.

41.7. GET A BETTER GRADE - WITHOUT SPEAKING!

42.As the interaction chart (above) shows, in this part of the test you shouldn't talk to the
other student. But most candidates 'switch off' when it's not their turn to speak. They
stare at the desk or at their hands.

43.WRONG! You should turn your body slightly towards the other candidate. Look at them
and listen to what they are saying. Nod, smile, be interested - the examiner will see this
 and feel more warmly towards you and more positively about your English. Crazy? Not
really. There's a lot of research into body language, but you can see for yourself. Look at
this photo. Who looks stressed, struggling to understand? Who looks confident and in
control?

44. CAE SPEAKING TEST PART 2 In part two of the Cambridge English: Advanced
Speaking test, you are given a piece of paper with 3 photos on. The photos are almost
always about people.

45.You have to talk about 2 of the pictures, on your own, for a minute. Then the examiner
will ask the other candidate a question about your pictures. Next, the other candidate
will have to talk for a minute about some different pictures, and you will be asked a
question about those pictures. The technique for answering this follow-up question is
the same as Speaking Test Part One - respond in about 3 sentences and try to show off
your vocabulary.

46.In this section we will focus on what to say in your 60 second 'long turn'. In the exam,
you don't get time to plan or make notes, so now is the time to prepare! (When you've
read the tips, be sure to watch the videos, especially the public coaching one.)
47.
48. 1. Interaction Diagram
50.
51. 2. HOW TO AVOID COMMON MISTAKES

You are asked to talk about TWO pictures. Choose two and say nothing about the
third one.

Weak candidates simply describe the pictures: "I can see a car. The car is red. There is
a tree." You aren't asked to describe them. Strong candidates compare the pictures -
that's explained more below. 49.

Don't waste the first five seconds by explaining which pictures you have chosen.
Just start comparing the pictures! (If you feel you have to make it clear, you can point
to the pictures you have chosen.)

Dead air ... is still a crime! You get 60 seconds to do this task. Use all of it! When your
time is up the examiner will stop you.

The examiner tells you what to do, but the task is also printed on the page with the
photos. Refer to that page to make sure you talk about both bullet points.

While you are comparing the photos, try to look at the examiner and the other
candidate from time to time. It's hard because you have to look at the pictures, but
strong candidates don't talk to the photos - they talk about the photos.

52.
53. 3. ABC - ALWAYS BE COMPARING

54.When the examiner gives you the instructions for the task, he or she will always start,
'I'd like you to compare two of the pictures and say...' Comparing is the heart of the
task.

55.If you aren't comparing, you aren't scoring points.

56.Comparing means saying what's the same in your chosen pictures and what
is different. There are many ways you can do that, but the easiest way is to use the
magic CAE words:
57.The Three Magic Words: Both, Whereas, While ...

58.How should you use these? Let's look at two photos and listen to Ernesto trying to
compare them:
59.
60."Both pictures show men using phones."
61.Ernesto Compares - First Try
62.That's great, Ernesto, but the goal isn't to talk for 60 seconds... the goal is to say as
much as you can in the time you are given! So talk a bit faster...
63."Whereas in this picture the man is wearing a suit, in this picture the man is dressed in
some kind of traditional costume."
64."While the businessman is sending a text or checking his portfolio, the man in the fluffy
hat is checking his voicemail."
65.Ernesto Compares - Much Better!
66.
67.There are always lots and lots of possible comparisons
- indoors/outdoors, cheap/expensive, old/new,old/young, traditional/modern -
even if you have no imagination, you can practice finding similarities and differences
before you get to the exam. (One way to do that is to take any two photos and find 5
similarities and 5 differences.)
68.
69. 4. LET'S PUT A START TO THIS SPECULATION

70.In most of the CAE speaking exam part 2 scenarios, the word 'might' will be in the
instructions. 'Say why the people might be checking the time'. 'Say how
safety might be important in this job.' That's because the examiners want to know if
you can use speculative language.

71.Useful speculative phrases include: Perhaps, It seems like, They might have, It could be
that

72.
73.Look at these photos - imagine the task is 'Say why the people might be wearing hats.'

74."Perhaps these men are retired and are spending their day feeding ducks by the
lake. In contrast, the policeman has to wear a hat for his job. It could be that he hates
wearing the hat, whereas the old men haveprobably chosen to wear theirs. Maybe it's
a sunny day and they want to protect their heads from the sun,while the policeman's
helmet might protect him from attackers."
75.
76. 5. PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

77.In the last example there was a lot of speculative language, but also a lot
of comparing language. See how easy it is?

78.Let's put it all together - A student called Heidi tries with a real example from
Cambridge.
79.The examiner gives Heidi this page and says, 'Here are your pictures, Heidi. They show
students doing different activities. I'd like you tocompare two of the pictures and say
how students can benefit from doing these activities, and how helpful the
activities might be in preparing them for their future lives.'

80.(Remember: only two pictures / always be comparing / speculate.)

82.
81.
83.Her answer: "They're both young students, girls, and both in a traditional school
setting. This picture shows a student on her own, whereas this student is in her whole
class. She has the support of a teacher, but this student doesn't have that. She has to
learn to study on her own, and that's not bad. I think she might be studying for a test
or - oh! Probably she's just doing her homework. Both are useful skills for her future.
I'm sure she has a lot of tests and homework still ahead of her! While the first student
 is doing her homework for tomorrow, this one has already done her homework and now
she's presenting it to the whole class. That's useful - she'll have to do presentations
when she gets a job or give a speech when she gets married! What else? Well, it's
beneficial for the second girl to practice this - but I think doing the research will have
more benefit in the future, because you have to prepare before you can give a good
presentation."

84. CAE SPEAKING TEST PART 3: In part 3 you and your speaking test partner are
given a 'mind-map' (or 'spider web') with five keywords linking to a theme. The themes
are often universally interesting ones such as 'health' or 'the environment'. If the topic
is 'health', the keywords will be things like 'diet', 'exercise', 'sleep', and so on. Have you
ever had a conversation about the food you eat or how well you slept? Of course you
have. In part 3, that's what you do. (The theme in this picture is communication.)

85.It's often called the 'collaborative task' because for the first time in the CAE Speaking
test, you have to work as a team.

86.You discuss the first question for two minutes, and then there's another question you
talk about for one minute.
87.
88.
89. 1. Interaction diagram
91.
92. 2. About the 2015 changes
93.In previous years, part 3 used pictures instead of keywords. Cambridge changed it
because candidates described the pictures instead of discussing the topics. Cambridge
also split the task in two. Before 2015, candidates were given 3 minutes to discuss the
topics AND decide which was the most important. They changed it because a lot of
candidates quickly decided which topics were the most important and had nothing left
to talk about. The new system helps make sure students have a full discussion before
coming to a decision. 90.

94.
95. 3. What is 'collaboration'?

96.Collaboration means team work. In parts 1 and 2 you talked on your own. If you were
following these tips, you looked at your speaking test partner and listened to what they
said. But now you have to talk to them, too.

97.Imagine you're watching Roger Federer playing tennis against Rafael Nadal. It's
fascinating because they keep hitting the ball back to each other. What will the other
person do with the ball now? That's the excitement of tennis.

98.Now imagine that Nadal hits the ball to Federer, and Federer catches it, holds it in the
air, and runs around the stadium saying 'Look at me! Look at me!' It would be
entertaining for a short time, but then everyone would get angry and begin to hate the
Swiss superstar. The angriest person of all would be the umpire, who would announce
that Federer had lost the match.

99.To succeed in part 3, you have to

ask your partner questions

agree and disagree with what they say

include them in every step of the process

be interested in what they have to say

100. The difference between you and Federer is that you aren't trying to 'beat' your
partner. By hitting the ball to them (asking them questions/letting them talk) you will
both win.
101.
102.
103. 4. What if my speaking partner is shy/nervous/aggressive?

104. If you're worried about this, you're not alone! Almost every candidate gets
stressed thinking about who their partner might be and how this partner might ruin
THEIR chances of getting a good grade!

105. The first thing to know is - you can choose your partner! If you know someone
who is taking a CAE course in your area you can register together and list them as your
speaking partner. Problem solved!

106. But if you don't have that luxury, don't worry - the only person who affects your
grade is you. The Cambridge examiners are EXPERTS and they have seen everything
many times before. They will understand whatever situation you are in.

107. If your partner talks too much in part 3 they will penalise him, but not you. If you
have to talk too much because the other candidate is so nervous, that won't count
against you.

108. Whatever happens in part 3, the examiners will assess your performance in the
whole Speaking test in a fair way.

109. (Having said that, you should be able to interrupt people who are talking too
much - see Speaking Test part 4, bullet point 7 for some ideas.)
110.
111.
112. 5. Common mistakes

Monologues (you shouldn't talk more than 20/25 seconds without passing the ball to
your partner)

Not reacting to your partner's ideas

Getting stuck on 1 topic (it's very easy to talk about one keyword for a long time, but
you should try to organise your conversation so that it covers everything on the mind
map)

Rushing through all the topics without analysing them at all (it's better to talk about 4
in a meaningful manner than 5 in a superficial way)

Dead air (many candidates race through the 5 topics in less than a minute, look up at
the examiner and are shocked to find they have more time. Keep talking until the
examiner stops you! These topics are HUGE with many, many issues behind them)

Nodding and other non-verbal communication (socially normal, but this is a

speaking test. At least say 'yes' while you are nodding!)

Getting sidetracked (for example, if the topic is 'How important are these things for our
health?' many candidates will say explain why health is important. That's not the
question! The correct answer to 'how important' is: not important/quite important/very
important.)

113.
114. 6. Useful language
115. Linking words and ways to organise the discussion. The examiners will be
impressed if you can:

combine two keywords into one point ("well, I think exercise and sleep are similar
things - they're both connected to your physical health")

move from topic to topic in an elegant way ("so I totally agree with you that exercise
can contribute a lot to having a healthy life. And I think that brings us to this point
about sleep, because if you exercise a lot you'll sleep better.")

include your partner in the process ("So shall we move to the next point?)

116. Some useful language about asking questions and agreeing/disagreeing can be
found in part 4 (scroll down), but they are also essential parts of your toolkit in part 3.
117.
118. 7. The second third

119. So you spent two minutes talking about the theme, and you discussed most/all of
the keywords. The examiner will stop you, and then ask you a follow-up question. It will
include words like 'most', 'best', or 'easiest'. These words make it possible for you to
come to a decision.

120. If the topic was health, the examiner will say, 'Now you have about a minute
to decide which of these things can benefit people the most.'

121. Note that word 'minute'! Deciding the answer too soon will lead to ... dead air!
Always start by eliminating two or three options (giving reasons).

122. Start by saying, 'Well it definitely ISN'T [xxx] because [yyy].'

123.
124.