建议留意考官的名字，我的是Rose，在中间和最后，时不时提一下考官的名字。我有准备，所以所有问题都答得蛮快(我说中文就快，爸妈老说我)，当然出了不少错。不过最后完成时，”I really appreciate your time , Rose . Goodbye!“那个时候，我觉得她都笑开了花了，嘿嘿!
“Do you work or are you a student?”
The best answer is to first say “I work.” or “I’m working.” followed by a small piece of extra information (or possibly two small pieces of extra information). This information could be: what you do; where you work; how long you have been working; a change that you plan to make; or how you feel about working or your job. For example: “I work. I'm a secretary in a joint-venture company here in Shanghai.” And put some stress on the word “work” because it is in contrast with “student”.
“What job do you do?” or “What work do you do?” or similar words.
Of course, if you have already told the examiner this, you will not be asked this question.
“Why did you choose that work?”
- This question might be worded as, “Why did you choose that job?” Whatever way it is asked, the meaning is, “Why did you choose that as a career?” or “Why did you choose that type of work?” Usually, the question isn't asking you, “Why did you choose to work for that particular company?”
Actually my major has no relation to the computer science or software development. I chosed it because I realized that I like to operate the computer and the software programming. Sometime I even think that I will choose this career even there is no pay.
- In Part 1, the examiner is mainly testing you for two things: i) everyday vocabulary and, ii) basic grammar.
- For almost every answer, you should give a two-part answer: First, a direct answer ( 直接的回答 ) to the question and then add more information.
- In the case where you need time to think, you should tell the examiner that you need a second to consider the question; don't sit there silently thinking about your answer.
- The examiner will usually say nothing when you answer each question, or he/she will say something very short, such as, "Ah!", "Mmm!", "OK", "Thank you", "Good!", "That's interesting." etc. The examiner will not (or should not) discuss the question with you.
- You cannot ask the examiner questions, such as, "I'm from Xian – have you ever been there?" Or, "I like basketball. Do you like it?" But you can and should ask the examiner to repeat the question if you didn't understand it clearly. Just say a quick, "Pardon?" or, "Sorry?" if you want the examiner to repeat the question. And you can and should ask the examiner questions such as, "Do you mean ...?"
- if the examiner asks you to repeat a sentence, try to guess which words were unsuitable and try to change them when you repeat your sentence.If you are asked to repeat a sentence, (and you use a different word or two), also try to clarify your meaning by giving an example.
- Alternatively, you could repeat your sentence using the same words that you spoke originally, but also include an example and, as well as that, say something such as, "In other words, ..." or "What I mean is, ....".
- Don't feel offended if the examiner interrupts you. It is part of the examiner's job to control the timing of the test and to keep the test moving. If the examiner was just having a chat with you on the bus, he or she would not interrupt you but in the Speaking test, there are strict time limits on the different parts of the test.
- As mentioned above, try not to think too long before you start to answer a question. Say something! If you can't think of anything to say immediately, it is alright to make a comment about the question before you actually answer the question, but don't do that too often. (For example, "That's a difficult/unusual/interesting question.") Or, you could first say something such as, "Let me think about that." but don't think for too long before you start to answer the question.
- One of the key points in Part 1 (and it's a key point throughout the whole test), is to show the examiner your vocabulary. For instance, always look for opportunities to say, "For example, ... " and then show some vocabulary.
- As mentioned above, sometimes it is better to tell a small lie, in order to show your vocabulary, than to tell the truth but miss out on the opportunity to show your vocabulary.
For example, if the examiner asks you, "Do you have anything on the walls of your home (or, your room)?", the truth might be that you have nothing on the walls because you don't want to damage the walls. But that answer doesn't show much vocabulary. If, on the other hand, you (untruthfully) tell the examiner about lots of things that you have on your walls and include in your answer a description of a picture (for example, a bamboo forest with two tigers lying on some grass), you will get more points for vocabulary.When talking about something in the past, look for opportunities to say something such as, " ... because I thought itwas interesting". Notice you say, "thought", not "think" even though you might still think that it is interesting now. This is 间接引语, the same as this: "He said he was a doctor." (He still is a doctor.) Another example is: "I chose that sort of work because I thought it would suit my personality." (Here, "would" is the subjunctive form (虚拟语气) of "will".)
Understand the different usages of the word, "would". For example, "Would you say your hometown is a good place for children to grow up?" means, "Do you think your hometown is a good place for children to grow up?" But your direct answer should
- In general, if a question has the word "would" in it, your answer should use the word "would" not "will" or some other verb form.
For example, "What would you suggest a visitor to China see and do?" should be answered by saying:
"I'd suggest they visit the Great Wall and ..."
= "I'd suggest visiting the Great Wall and ..Always look for opportunities to make complex sentences. It is possible to give extra information in simple sentences but if you want to get a 6 or more for Speaking, try to often show the examiner that you can make complex sentences.
"I'd suggest they visit the Great Wall and ..."
= "I'd suggest visiting the Great Wall and ..Always look for opportunities to make complex sentences. It is possible to give extra information in simple sentences but if you want to get a 6 or more for Speaking, try to often show the examiner that you can make complex sentences.
Part2:
Therefore, before you read any Part 2 topic on this website that you have never read before, the best study method is to first try to answer the question as if you were really doing the Speaking test. After you have done this, you can then spend more time thinking about and preparing how to answer that topic better.
The Steps
- Put a clock, a stopwatch or some other timing device on your desk. If you can, set it so that it can tell you when 1 minute has passed.
- Have a piece of paper and a pencil ready for making notes.
- If possible, have a tape recorder ready to record what you say. A recording of your 'little story' will help you analyze how well you spoke and help you to fix some of your weaknesses in speaking. However, if you don't use a tape recorder, don't worry too much because you will still get the practice you need.
- Now go to the new Part 2 topic ( = a Part 2 topic that you have not read before) and strictly give yourself only 1 minuteto read it and prepare to answer it. Don't give yourself 2 minutes to think about the topic and certainly don't give yourself 5 or 10 minutes to think about the topic. Make notes if you want to. If I have a link to notes for this topic, don't read them now – wait until you do your in-depth preparation after this first attempt at answering the question.
- After you have thought about the topic for 1 minute, set the timer at 2 minutes, turn on the tape recorder and speak your answer for more than 1 minute but no more than 2 minutes. Close to 2 minutes is much better than just a little more than 1 minute.
- After you have spoken your little story, listen to yourself on the tape and think about ways you could have spoken better.
For example, if you stopped speaking for an unnaturally long period because you couldn't think of the exact word you wanted to say, use a dictionary to find the correct word. (But be careful about using words that are new to you. Very often when people use new words without thoroughly studying these new words, they use them unsuitably and/or mispronounce them.)I suggest you do not write a 'speech' and then try to memorize this speech Instead, I suggest you prepare a list of key words and key short expressions (and perhaps a few key, short complete sentences) and memorize these.
Don't write on the card! The piece of paper that the examiner gives you is for making notes, if you want to. You will not be allowed to take the piece of paper with you when you finish the test but the examiner is not interested in what you write on it – he or she just puts it to one side after you leave the room. It doesn't matter what you write on the paper. You can write in Chinese if you like or draw pictures.
The examiner will say nothing while you are talking. Even if the examiner does not hear your clearly or does not understand the meaning of what you say, he or she will not ask you to repeat or explain what you just said.
The examiner will probably often look at his or her watch or clock while you are talking. Don't worry about that. It is very important for the examiner to strictly make sure you do not speak for longer than two minutes.
If you are still speaking at the two-minute point, the examiner will stop you by saying, "Thank you!" When you hear that, you must stop speaking immediately – don't even try to finish your sentence. (Maybe one word to finish your sentence is acceptable.)
These follow-up questions are usually, 'Yes/No' questions. You should give a very short answer but don't just give one-word answers such as, "Yes" or "No". At least say, "Yes, I did" or, "No, I haven't" or similar answers. However, such answers are still too short. It is best to begin your answer that way and then follow with a few more suitable words. For example: "Have you told this story to anyone else?" – "Yes, I have. I told my father and he thought it was very funny."
Part 2 focuses on your ability to narrate, i.e., to tell a story. And within the skill of narrating, the most important skills are:
a) Your fluency (i.e., your ability to 'continue talking' at a natural speed) and,
b) Your ability to speak coherently, that is, your ability to speak in a way that is easy to follow because what you say is: i) complete, ii) logically arranged and iii)all connected so as to form a 'whole'. Examiners are mostly listening to hear if your ideas and information are often linked by introductory expressions or phrases– this is what gives your story a sense of wholeness.
Below are some examples of the things people say when 'thinking aloud' when they need to pause while telling a story. These are not questions that you speak as if asking the examiner a question but rather, questions that you are asking yourself.
“Um, let me see. What else can I tell you?”
“Mmm, what else is there?”
“What else can I tell you about old Mr. Wang?” (For example, if you are describing an old person.)
“What have I forgotten to tell you? ... Oh yes, ...”
Even while you are speaking these things, your brain is still working on trying to find that something to say.
If you decide to 'go back into your story' to add some details, it can be done quite easily and naturally by first telling the listener what you are doing so the listener doesn't become lost or confused by what you are saying. This is showing good coherence. You can do this by saying something such as, "Oh, when I told you about ..., I forgot to say that ...." or, "As I mentioned before, ..." or, "As I was saying, ..." or some similar phrases. Instead of, "I forgot to say" you can say, "I forgot to mention" or, "I forgot to add", or, "I forgot to tell you". This is the way people sometimes talk when they tell a natural story in real life and it is quite acceptable in the Speaking test!
Here is an example of this.
Topic:
Describe some useful advice you received (from a friend or family member).
You should say:
what the advice was about
who gave you the advice
what the advice was
and explain why this advice was useful.
First sentence: "Three years ago, my father gave me some advice about my choice of career, which was really useful because it saved me from making a big mistake."
This is a powerful beginning. Notice the following points:
- You have already answered two points on the card, i.e., who gave you the advice and what the advice was about in general. (Of course, you should add more details about these two points but simply saying these two points is good in this summary sentence.)
- You established when it happened, even though the card did not tell you to say that. This is important whenever you use the past tense.
- You have already answered the last point on the card, in a summarized form. If, for some reason, you don't have time to give more details about the last point, the examiner can never say that you didn't answer the last point.
- You used a complex sentence, using the two connecting words, 'which' and 'because'.
Not only that, so many candidates begin by saying, "I'd like to tell you about ..." that it's boring for examiners to hear.
How to Best Use Your 1 Minute of Thinking Time
Summary: This is brainstorming time.
- Mentally note the verb tense for each point on the card.
- Check your first idea to see if it really is the best idea.
- Divide the paper into four parts and write a key word or two to address each of the four points. Then write a few key words (at least one) to represent extra details.
- Don't write full sentences. Spend most of the time imagining as many ideas (details) as possible.
So, if you finish your story and you know you have answered the four points on the card adequately and you also know that you have spoken for a decent length of time (i.e., more than 1 minute 20 seconds) but if the examiner doesn't seem to realize you have finished, you should immediately tell the examiner that you have finished. Just say something short and quick such as, "I've finished now", "That's it", "That's all", "That's the end", "That's all I have to say" or something similar to those. Then the examiner will say, "Thank you" and Part 2 will come to an end. (Possibly you will be asked one or two quick 'follow-up' questions before Part 2 is completely finished.) As much as you can, you must avoid long periods of silence in the Speaking test! (Except for the 1-minute of thinking time, of course.)
One common way to finish a story is to say something like, "Well, that's my story about XYZ " where, 'XYZ' is the topic of the story, as shown in the first line of the task card, beginning with the word, "Describe". For example, "Well, that's my story about an interesting animal I saw at the zoo." or, "So, that's the interesting animal I saw last year" or, "Well, that's my story about old Mr. Wang" (after describing an old person who you admire). Of course, you don't have to say the word, "Well" or "So" but it does sound more natural to begin this sentence that way. And you don't have to include the word "story" – you could say something such as, "So, that's what happened on my trip to Qingdao" (after telling a story about a place with lots of water that you visited). Notice that you need to say the word, "that" and you basically summarize or repeat the topic, as outlined in the first line of the card.
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