SPEAKING – CAE

Part 2: Individual Long Turn

Phrases you can use to compare and contrast:
COMPARE CONTRAST
Similarly… On the other hand…
In the same way… Nevertheless,…(sin embargo)
What both photos have in common is… However,…
As… One significant difference is…
Just as… Whereas…
Just like… Having said that…
Both photos (show)… …but…

Phrases you can use to “speculate” about the photos, people, situations, topics shown:
 Use these modals: may, might, could, must be (deduction), can’t be (negative
deduction)
 (He/She) appears to…
 I’d imagine that…
 I doubt whether…
 I’m pretty certain that…
 I couldn’t say if…………….or not.

Phrases you can use to express certainty and uncertainty:

 There’s no denying that…
 I’m convinced that…
 It’s doubtful that…
 There’s no doubt (at all) that…
 I think I can say with confidence that…
Let’s see these phrases in context!
Well, I’m going to choose the photo of the
nature photographer and the one below. What
both photos have in common is that they show
professional photographers in action. One photo
shows a man taking pictures of meerkats, whereas the
other probably shows paparazzi desperate to get a great
picture of a celebrity. Another significant difference is the
level of difficulty for photographers in these situations. The
nature photographer may have to consider various elements to
come up with a successful shot. It could be hard to catch animals in
their natural habitat without them feeling invaded or scared,
whereas the paparazzi probably can take thousands of pictures in a matter of minutes
that then they’ll choose from. So there’s no denying that the nature photographer has it
more difficult. Although both photos show professionals, the audience is definitely
different. What I mean by this is that in the photo of the possums probably the people
interested are those that are keen on nature. Also, magazines such as National
Geographic could pay well for pictures like this. On the other hand, the paparazzi are
probably photographing a famous person and, in that case, I’m pretty certain that the
photo could appeal to a more general audience. Whatever the case, there’s no denying
that, although these photos have the topic of photography in common, they both show
clearly different situations in terms of difficulty and audience.

MY RECOMMENDATION:
Choose a few phrases from each category to use every time we practice the Long Turn.
In this way, you will be consistent and acquire the phrases in your natural speech.

General Speaking Tips:

 Make eye-contact
 Avoid repetition, use paraphrases instead
 Avoid excessive fillers (ehm, err, mmm, etc.)
 Don’t dominate the conversation (talking over your partner, talking when it is
not your moment, answering a question that was clearly intended for your
partner,…)
 Try to sound as natural as possible given the circumstances of such an unnatural
setting 