Listening – Speaking V

SESSION 8
SPEAKING PART 2
DESCRIBE EVENTS AND PAST EXPERIENCE

I. DESCRIBING EVENTS AND PAST EXPERIENCE

Work in pairs. Choose one of the following topics below and make brief notes of the
stages you need to describe. Then tell your partner about it, remembering to use a
range of sequence expressions.
A. Your education up to now D. How you arrange a holiday
B. Your experience up to now E. How you plan a party
C. How you have learnt English
Write down some sequence expressions here:
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Provide an appropriate sequencing word to fill in the blanks.
My friend and I visited Rome last summer. (1) ________, we flew from New York to
Rome in first class. It was fantastic! (2) _________ we arrived in Rome, we (3) ______
went to the hotel and took a long nap. (4) ________, we went out to find a great
restaurant for dinner. (5) ________, a scooter appeared out of nowhere and almost hit
me! The rest of the trip had no surprises. (6) __________, we began to explore Rome.
(7) ________ the afternoons, we visited ruins and museums. At night, we hit the clubs
and wandered the streets. One night, (8) ________ I was getting some ice cream, I saw
an old friend from high school. Imagine that! (9) _________, we caught our flight back
to New York. We were happy and ready to begin work again.

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Exercise 1: ANALYZING THE TASK

Read the candidate task card below and number the prompts you need to talk about

Describe a special school or college event that you remember well.

You should say:
 What the event was
 What happened during it
 Who was there
And explain why you remember this event so well

Exercise 2: In the exam, you can’t choose your speaking task, but you do choose which
event/memory/person etc. to talk about. You need to choose quickly as you only have on
minute to prepare.

Look at the types of event you could talk about in the box below. Which ones are

a) A social events? b) academic events? c) sporting events?

A debate a championship final a party a special dinner a guests lecture

A graduation a prize-giving ceremony a tournament a sports match

Exercise 3: Listen to the extracts. What event is each speaker describing? Choose from the
box in Exercise 2. Note down the vocabulary that helped you identify each event
Speaker A is describing a ________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Speaker B is describing a ________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Speaker C is describing a_________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

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Exercise 4: EXPLAINING
The last part of the Part 2 task always asks you to explain something. In this task, you need to
give reasons why you remember this event.
a. Read the extract below. Is this the final part of extract A, B, or C in Exercise 3?
1. “Why I remember it all so well was because of the strong feelings I had, … you know,
one part of my life was ending and a new part about to begin, I felt sad… and happy at
the same time. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.”
b. Now complete the explanations below for the other two topics. This time, try to use
your own ideas.
2. “The reason I remember it was because we all…. Yeah, everybody helped to make it a
really good event.”
3. “I remember it so well because it was so… It was our biggest win ever!”

NOW spend one minute making notes on the task in Exercise 1. Talk about your event for two
minutes

II. CLASSROOM PRACTICE

II.1 Work in parts. Choose one of the following topics and talk about it to your partner for two
minutes. Your partner should ask one or two questions at the end.
1. Pets you had 4. Your first girlfriend/boyfriend
2. Getting in trouble at school 5. Your best childhood friend
3. A prize you won 6. Toys you played with

STRATEGIES
- Use “used to”, “would” and past simple to talk about things that you did when you were
younger that you no longer do, or to describe situations that are no longer true.
- You get NO MARK for the content. The examiner only focuses on HOW you say it!

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You may use this note to brainstorm

Topic:……………………….

II. 2 Choose one of the topics and tell your partner about changes which have taken place
since you were a child. Again, try to talk for two minutes.
1. Your country 3. School 5. Crime
2. Your hometown 4. Holidays 6. Marriage
III. EXAM PRACTICE
Topic 1: Topic 2

Describe an important day or event in your life. Describe an important celebration in your life.
You should say: You should say:
 When it was  When it was
 What happened at that time  What happened
 How you felt  How you felt
and explain why it was important for you. and explain why it was an important celebration for
you.

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Topic 3 Topic 4

Describe a story you heard as a child. Describe a happy childhood memory.

You should say: You should say:
 what it was and when it happened
 why it happened, where it happened and  when and when the incident you remember
who was there happened
 what happened  who you were with
why the story was special, and how you feel/felt  what happened exactly
about it
and explain why it is a happy memory.

Practice and record yourself at home

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