FIRST & ADVANCED SPEAKING John’s Advice:

PART 1

questions (2-3m) You’re always asked where you’re from and then 2 or 3 random questions. Try to give answers
that consist of 2 or 3 sentences, using linking devices if possible and sentence stress. The questions here
are quite straightforward so you will handle them comfortably.

PART 2

photos (1m each) 1 minute per candidate and you are also asked a short question about your partner’s photos (20s)
Don’t overdescribe, especially at C1 level. Speculate using modals and certain phrases. At First level, you
can do plenty of comparing and contrasting while at Advanced level, you have to focus more on the two
questions asked.

PART 3

debate (2m + 1m) You’re given 15 second to read the task, then the interlocutor reads the question again, you
discuss the various options/prompts for 2m, the interlocutor then instructs you to make a decision , usually
agreeing which one or two are best/most important/etc. Lots of interaction needed.

PART 4

discussion (5m) The questions here are based on the topic of the debate in Part 3. The examiner can either direct the
questions to each candidate indivually, invite both to answer or ask each person whether they agree or
disagree with what their partner just said. Give full answers, using a range of cohesive devices.
This is your last chance to make a good impression on the assessor.
 CAMBRIDGE EXAM SPEAKING PART 1 CAMBRIDGE EXAM SPEAKING PART 2

I’m from (town/city/region), which is in the (north/sou..) of (country). Though both pictures show ... , they’re quite different as ...

Sorry, could you repeat that please? / Would you mind repeating the q...? In the first case, we are shown ... while/whilst in the other ...

What I love about English is the fact that you it gives you the chance to ... As far as I can tell, ... / It seems to me that ... / I get the impression that ...

Oh, interesting question! / Tough question! / Tricky question really. Judging by ... / By the looks of it, ...

You’ve put me on that spot with that question. I suppose I ... ... must be ... / ... might be ... / it’s likely to be ... / the chances are that ...

Well, if I had to choose, I’d prefer to ... / Given the choice, I’d much rather ... Both are alike insofar as they ... / They have a lot in common given ...

It’s funny you ask me that because just recently, ... Likewise in the other case, ... / The same goes for the other one, in which ...

A bit of both! Sometimes, I do like to ... while other times I enjoy ... I think it’s safe to say that ... / Needless to say, ... / Obviously, ... / Clearly ...

From time to time, ... / Whenever I get the chance, ... / Oh, I hardly ever ... In terms of the question, ... / Getting back to the question, ...

I’m really into ... / I’m a huge fan of ... / I’ve always wanted to ... / I love ... I think it all comes down to ... / It all depends on whether or not ...

Long story short, ... / In a nutshell, ... / Well, basically, ... It’s by no means + (adjective) ... / It’s (adjective) to say the least.

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 CAMBRIDGE EXAM SPEAKING PART 3 CAMBRIDGE EXAM SPEAKING PART 4

Shall I start? / Would you mind if I start? / Would you like to start? In my opinion, ... / As far as I’m concerned, ... / In my view, ... / For me, ...

Sure, by all means. / Yes, work away. / Go ahead. / Please, be my guest. I think it’s a matter of ... / It depends entirely on ...

First and foremost, I think it’s worth mentioning ... given that ... It’s hard to answer that in (my language) let alone English, but I guess ...

Do you agree? / Would you go along with that? / What’s your take on it? What I mean by that is ... / What I’m trying to say is ... / In other words, ...

Couldn’t agree more. / Absolutely, you’re dead right. / I’m with you on that. On the one hand, ... but on the other, ...

I agree to an extent. / I’d be inclined to disagree. / I’m afraid I disagree. I think that can be put down to the fact that these days, most people ...

On second thoughts, ... / Come to think of it, ... / Actually, ... For instance, ... / A case in point is ... / One such example is ...

I think we can rule out ... / Both of these go hand in hand, don’t they? Not only is it ... but it’s also ...

Let’s try to narrow it down a little. / We’d better try to reach a decision. Picking up on what my partner said, I fully agree that ...

I’m torn between ... and ... / It’s tough to pick just one, isn’t it? In the end, it all comes down to ...

Just to recap, we both agree that ... / So, in the end, when it comes to ... In any case, time will tell whether or not ...

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