Speaking test video scripts
Speaking test video – 1
(Luna & Ignacio)
Part 1
Examiner: Good morning.
Both students: Good morning.
Examiner: Take a seat, please. My name is
Adam McGregor and this is my colleague,
Matthew Kingston. And your name?
Luna: I’m Luna Canadell.
Examiner: Thank you. And your name?
Ignacio: I’m Ignacio Sepúlveda.
Examiner: Thank you. Can I have your mark
sheets, please?
Ignacio: Sure.
Examiner: Thank you. First of all we’d like
to know something about you. Luna, where
are you from?
Luna: I’m from Madrid, Spain.
Examiner: And how long have you been
studying English?
Luna: I’ve been studying English since I was
five years old.
Examiner: Thank you. And Ignacio, where
are you from?
Ignacio: I’m also from here Madrid, Spain.
Examiner: What do you enjoy most about
studying English?
Ignacio: The fact that I can talk English to
people, er … people on social networks
and in real life, people that live in other
parts of the world.
Examiner: Ignacio, how important is it for
you to spend time with your family?
Ignacio: It’s quite important, as for example
for my Dad, he doesn’t spend a lot of
time with us in Spain, as he kind of lives
in Geneva working. So we really like and
enjoy when he is here with us and we enjoy
our times with him.
Examiner: Thank you. Luna, if you could
travel to one country in the world where
would you go?
Luna: Um … I would go to Maui, which is
a Hawaiian island. And it’s known for its
stunning and relaxing beaches and for the
surf, which I love.
Examiner: Thank you. And Ignacio is it
better to have a few friends or a wide circle
of acquaintances?
Ignacio: Well, I think having a few friends
that you really know are your friends and
are n … are not going to let you down
is really important, but having a wide list
of contacts which you can contact and
talk with, talk to if you want something
or another thing that’s also kind of, really
important.
Part 2
Examiner: In this part of the test, I’m going
to give each of you three pictures. I’d like
you to talk about two of them on your own
for about a minute, and also to answer
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a question briefly about your partner’s
pictures.
Luna, it’s your turn first. Here are your
pictures. They show people achieving things
in different situations. I’d like you to compare
two of the pictures and say what kind of
difficulties the people might have faced and
how they might be feeling now. Alright?
Luna: OK. I will start with the picture where
there’s a group of people celebrating. They
seem as they are graduating maybe from
high school or college and they’ve certainly
faced some difficulties such as keeping up
with all the work from college or the school,
and also coping with all the problems they
could have with their friends or colleagues.
Whereas in the other picture it seems as
a rescue operation and one of the main
disadvantages of this is the weather
because they are going by helicopter, so if
it’s windy or rainy, it’s worse. And also it’s a
dangerous situation because they might be
at a high altitude.
And in the first picture they might be
feeling overjoyed they’ve finished their
studies. They’re graduating. And in this
picture, the man who’s rescuing the person
in danger might be feeling relieved.
Examiner: Thank you. And Ignacio, which
of these people do you think would achieve
most satisfaction from achieving their goals?
Ignacio: Well, in my own personal opinion,
I think the one where they are graduating
would be the most satisfying for them …
and achieving, because erm, in the rescue
operation er, it’s their work at the end of
the day, so they might do more than one
rescue operation each day so every single
one is not as exciting as the first one,
whereas in the graduation it might be the
only time they do it in their whole lives, so
it’s like an experience to remember.
Examiner: Thank you. Now Ignacio, here
are your pictures. They show people
learning about things in different ways. I’d
like you to compare two of the pictures
and say how effective the ways of learning
might be and how memorable the
experience would be. Alright?
Ignacio: So I think in this picture where
they are clearly building something would
be the most memorable and the most
effic … efficient way because here is a
normal classroom, a typical classroom.
We’ve all gone the experience of learning
in this type of classroom and we all know
it’s certainly not the most interesting thing
to do as you just have to memorise, what
you are er, taught, whereas here it’s a
hands-on experience. You are working and
cooperating with other people, as we can
see here. So this might be more efficient
because what you do you’ll remember
longer because it’s just an experience you
are not going to do every single day. You
can see people are enjoying themselves,
whereas here you cannot see anyone er,
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laughing or grinning so I think people here
are going to remember this experiences
more than these ones.
Examiner: Thank you. Luna, which of these
learning situations do you think would be
the most effective?
Luna: Um, I think er, this situation would
be the most effective because um, they’re
working all as a group, they have to count
on each other, they have to listen to the
others’ opinions so er, so they will know
in the future how to cope with decisions
between a group so they’re coper …
cooperating. That’s why I think it’s the most
effective.
Examiner: Thank you. Can I have the
booklet, please?
Luna: Yeah.
Examiner: Thank you.
Part 3
Examiner: Now I’d like you to talk about
something together for about two minutes.
Here are some different methods of
communication and a question for you to
discuss. First you have some time to look at
the task.
Now talk to each other about the
advantages and disadvantages of these
different methods of communication.
Luna: Um, do you want to start or shall I?
Ignacio: Okay, I’ll start if you like. So I
think the most common way, right now, of
communicating would be online chatting,
as everyone has mobile phones nowadays,
and we always have them on ourselves. So
it’s really easy to just send a text message
to someone and wait for them to answer it.
Luna: Yes, I agree, but one of the main
disadvantages of it is that you don’t really
know to whom you’re talking to exactly so
it’s not that reliable.
Ignacio: Yeah I agree. So maybe a good
alternative would be talking face to face.
Luna: Yeah.
Ignacio: Um, You can … it’s like, the most
reliable way but one disadvantage is, it
would have, would be maybe you have to
require the other person to be with you in
the same, sta …, place. It cannot be in the
other parts of the world like online chatting
can do that.
Luna: Yeah, and also you can notice when
someone’s lying and when something’s
wrong between you two.
Ignacio: Yeah, so then maybe an alternative
to that would be talking on the phone.
Luna: Yes, er … but sometimes it’s not quite
good … it’s not that effective because, for
example, my grandmother doesn’t hear too
well, so when we talk on the phone, she
… it’s really difficult for her to, to have a
conversation with us.
Ignacio: So maybe using body language is
something everyone understands so it may
not be as easy as to communicate using
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 Speaking test video scripts
body language if you lack the social skills
maybe.
Luna: Um, I agree, I mean using body
language is really difficult to see when,
when someone’s sad or when something’s
happening to them.
Ignacio: Maybe written letters and
postcards is the different one from all of,
all of them, as it can also express emotions
between countries and that excitement you
have when you receive a postcard which
is not really normal nowadays. We all use
email or chatting. It’s really nice to have.
Luna: Yeah, I mean the bad thing is that
they sometimes can get lost.
Ignacio: Yeah, I agree.
Luna: Yeah.
Examiner: Thank you. Now you have about
a minute to decide which two methods of
communication are the most difficult to
carry out effectively.
Ignacio: So which ones do you think?
Luna: I would start off with using body
language. As we’ve already said, I mean it’s
really difficult to, to notice and … What do
you think?
Ignacio: Yeah also body language as it
expresses a lot without us noticing or
maybe if we talk using body language only
like mimics do er, it’s really difficult but it can
express more than we think it can express.
Luna: Yeah.
Ignacio: Then maybe talking face to face is
a really effective way of communicating.
Luna: Yeah, that’s really effective but one
that wouldn’t be that effective, for example,
is written letters and postcards because, as
you said, they can get lost and never get to
where they had to … to get.
Ignacio: Yeah, and they are really slow.
Luna: Yes.
Ignacio: You have to wait for them to arrive
and maybe even the message is outdated
because it’s something that happened
before and doesn’t have a point now.
Luna: I agree.
Examiner: Thank you. Can I have the
booklet, please?
Luna: Yeah.
Examiner: Thank you.
Part 4
Examiner: How important is it to be able to
communicate well with others at school or
at work?
Luna: Um …
Ignacio: So what do you think?
Luna: I think it’s really important, um, at
work, er, whenever, er whenever you have
to make a decision you, you should really
talk to, to your colleagues so, so … so the
goal that you want to achieve it’s the best.
Ignacio: Totally, and getting to know more
people that can maybe interest you to
get more businesses working or going on,
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erm, it’s really important. And in school
it’s really important, for example, to carry
out projects. You will have to have those
social skills to carry out and let everyone
understand what you are trying to achieve.
Luna: Yes, I agree. And also to your friends
because, er, then you wouldn’t have a good
con … er relationship with them.
Ignacio: Yeah, it’s also really good to have
friends and be able to talk to them and
communicate everything that’s happening
to you so they may understand and
comfort you.
Examiner: Can you learn good
communication skills, or is it a part of
someone’s personality?
Luna: Umm, I think first of all it’s part of
you, for example, um I’m very sociable, I
always like talking to people I don’t really
know well.
Ignacio: Yeah.
Luna: Erm, but also I think you can get, get
those skills if you practise.
Ignacio: Yeah, for example, for me, umm,
I’ve been an introvert for part of my life but
now that I have some success and I have to
talk to more people, it really has opened
my mind so I can more, I can talk [to] more
people fluently, fluently, and be able to
communicate [to] them what’s happening to
me or ask them what’s happening to them
so I’m much … I’m getting some social
skills in that sense.
Luna: Yeah.
Examiner: How easy is it for older and
younger generations to communicate
nowadays?
Luna: Umm, now younger generations
are more with the mobile phones or
electronic … or maybe iPads or computers.
For example, my brother is always or
downstairs playing with the Playstation
or with his, or with his iPad, so when my
grandmother wants to talk to him, it’s a little
bit difficult. You know?
Ignacio: Yeah, maybe younger
generations are losing those social skills
we had before because now everything is,
like, digitalised …
Luna: Yeah.
Ignacio: … so maybe that talking face to
face with someone gets more difficult as
they don’t have those skills.
Luna: Yeah.
Ignacio: But for older generations, I think
it’s stayed the same only they find it a little
bit more difficult to …
Luna: …To talk with the younger
generations.
Ignacio: Yeah. Exactly.
Examiner: Is it necessary for people to
learn a foreign language?
Luna: Umm, I would say yes it’s necessary.
I mean if you want to stay in your country
and not communicate with anyone else OK,
er, it wouldn’t be necessary but, I mean,
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I think everyone deserves to travel and
if they want to travel, it’s great to get to
know other languages and cultures.
Ignacio: Yeah, maybe not even if you
are going to travel but it’s good to know
another language because if someone
visit, visits you instead of you visiting
them, er, it can be really useful to be able
to talk to them and go to places and you
are establishing a relationship, at the end
of the day, with a foreign person which is
really useful and really fun.
Luna: Yeah, that’s true and also even
giving directions or helping someone
out that’s from another country.
Ignacio: Yeah, that’s really cool.
Examiner: Some people think that we
are losing the ability to communicate
well because of modern technology.
What’s your opinion?
Ignacio: Yeah, I totally agree with
that. As I said, younger generations
are always with their mobile phones
so it’s not really that easy for them to
communicate face to face with more
kids. Of course they do because they
go to school or maybe nursery so they
acquire those skills, but it’s getting more
fifty fifty every day, so digitalised are
taking over the place.
Luna: I agree, but also when they’re with
their mobile phones, umm, they, most
of them, they communicate with the,
like, with other people by maybe online
chatting or with WhatsApp, with other
apps. I mean, I know that the face-to-face
communicating thing is losing but they
are also communicating via, er, electric
apps and stuff.
Ignacio: Yeah, so maybe they are
acquiring social skills from other places
where they communicate differently
to us and maybe things that appear
to us normally, erm, they may not find
is as normal so you have to be careful
and acquire those social skills. It’s really
important.
Luna: Yeah.
Examiner: Thank you, that is the end of
the test.
Luna: Thank you.
Ignacio: Thank you.
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 Speaking test video scripts
Speaking test video – 2
(César & Gonzalo)
Part 1
Examiner: Good afternoon. Take a seat
please. My name is Adam McGregor and
this is my colleague Matthew Kingston. And
your name?
Gonzalo: Gonzalo Cortés.
Examiner: Thank you. And your name?
César: I am César Agulló.
Examiner: Thank you. Can I have your mark
sheets, please?
Gonzalo: Yeah.
Examiner: First of all, we’d like to know
something about you. Gonzalo, where are
you from?
Gonzalo: I am from Bilbao. I was born there
but I was raised in Madrid. I’ve been living
here for 10 years in the outskirts.
Examiner: How long have you been
studying English?
Gonzalo: I’ve been studying English nearly
for ten, eleven years in primary, secondary
and nursery school, and I really enjoy it.
Examiner: And César, where are you from?
César: I was born in Panama but I’ve been
raised and I grew up here in Madrid.
Examiner: And, er, what do you enjoy most
about studying English?
César: Er, the way you can talk with
everybody, it doesn’t matter where they
come from because English is, er, the
global language and it doesn’t matter your
mother tongue if you speak it.
Examiner: Thank you. Gonzalo, if you could
change something about your daily routine,
what would it be?
Gonzalo: I would change the time I spend
studying and doing homework because I
think sometimes schools send too much
homework to students because I would
like to spend more time with my family and
friends and practising sport, not only just
on the academic side.
Examiner: Thank you. And César, who do
you think has had the greatest influence on
your life?
César: I think that would be my mother
because everything I believe in and my
hobbies, er, the things I like are things she
showed me and she taught me, er, so we
are pretty much alike.
Examiner: Thank you.
Part 2
Examiner: In this part of the test, I’m going
to give each of you three pictures. I’d like
you to talk about two of them on your own
for about a minute, and also to answer
a question briefly about your partner’s
pictures.
Gonzalo, it’s your turn first. Here are your
pictures. They show people achieving things
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in different situations. I’d like you to compare
two of the pictures and say what kind of
difficulties the people might have faced and
how they might be feeling now. Alright?
Gonzalo: OK. I’m gonna choose the picture
on the left and the picture in the middle
because I think both of them are a great
feeling of satisfaction. Like in the middle
one, there’s five students who have just
finished school and maybe they’re on
their graduation or something because
they’re throwing their graduation hats,
or they might be feeling like, a feeling
of achievement because they have just
finished school and all the time they have
spent studying, doing homework has paid
off, and they just be feeling real, really
good. And on the second one, err, in the
one on the left I can see someone who
has done, er, who has climbed a mountain
by his self, er, on his own, and, er, he has
climbed it by, by himself. That means he
has been through a mental and physical, er,
stuff that has been real hard and he’s raising
his hand up as a sign of victory so I think it’s
a great achievement he should be proud of.
Examiner: Thank you. And César, which of
these people do you think would feel most
satisfaction from achieving their goals?
César: I think it would be the man on the
left, the one who has just climbed the
mountain because even if the students
who have just graduated, er, have passed
through a lot of stress and years studying, er,
they have done it with the people they love
and, um, their colleagues and everything,
er, but err the man has done all of this alone
by himself, um, without any help, err, and
he probably is very proud of, er, having
done that unique thing that the th … err, the
average person doesn’t even expect to do.
Examiner: Thank you. Can I have the
booklet, please? Thank you. Now César,
here are your pictures. They show people
learning about things in different ways. I’d
like you to compare two of the pictures
and say how effective the ways of learning
might be and how memorable the
experience would be. Alright?
César: Umm, I’m going to choose the
picture on the left, which is, er, a class with a
teacher and their students, and the picture
in the middle, which is a group of friends
studying. Umm, in the picture in the middle
with the group of friends, we can see them
in front of a computer, um, studying, er, in
a different way. Er, whereas in the picture
on the left, we can see just a normal class
with the teacher giving the lesson. It sure is
boring, I know that, and I don’t think this is as
effective as the other picture because when
you’re doing things with your friends and if
it’s different than the thing you do every day,
it, um, might help you, er, study. Er, it’s a lot
more memor, memorable for sure. Umm …
Examiner: Thank you. Gonzalo, which
of these learning situations do you think
would be the most effective?
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Gonzalo: In my opinion, the picture on
the left would be most effective because
you have a professional who’s teaching
you so it’s easier to retain information,
you know it’s a hundred per cent correct.
And you can ask her any doubts you
have and she can respond them, and
also you can ask her for any exercises to
try and improve your skill, and practise
because, well, having a teacher you
know the content you’re going to have,
she’s already studied it, so she’s gonna
to have it right and she knows how to
treat students right and how to teach
everyone.
Examiner: Thank you. Can I have the
booklet, please?
Part 3
Examiner: Now I’d like you to talk
about something together for about
two minutes. Here are some different
methods of communication and a
question for you to discuss. First you
have some time to look at the task.
Now talk to each other about the
advantages and disadvantages of these
different methods of communication.
Gonzalo: Would you like to go first?
César: OK. Um, I think, er, a method of
communication we use a lot is online
chatting. Um, the advantage of onl …
online chatting is, of course, that you can
talk with people who are very far away,
er, people you can’t see or people that
you can see but you want to talk more
with them than you usually do. Erm, and
this is a way of communication that is
pretty modern and er … I don’t think it
has many disadvantages.
Gonzalo: I do have to agree with you,
César, on the online chatting part because
I think online chatting can have lot of
advantages but sometimes where you’re
used to online chatting if you’re someone
who’s shy, when you get to meet someone
face to face, you don’t know what to say,
so you just get confused on what you’re
saying and also on the other par … parts,
sorry, there are lots of advantages like it’s
a more technological and improved way
of, for, wr … written letters and postcards
because you don’t need to know the
address or you don’t need to send a
card, spend money on, like, the post and
everything.
César: Erm, yes, but er, I think written
letters and postcards are really hard things
to do, to write, so talking on the phone,
er, would be a thing that we do a lot more
often because, erm, it’s more comfortable
just talking, even if the person is not there
with you, and erm, even if you can’t see
their faces, this is a more personal way of
speaking with them.
Examiner: Thank you. Now you have
about a minute to decide which two
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 Speaking test video scripts
methods of communication are the most
difficult to carry out effectively.
Gonzalo: In my opinion, I would think that
using body language and written letters
and postcards ‘cos using body language,
it’s hard to people who are shy and don’t
know how to express yourself, ‘cos it be
quite hard to express yourself if you don’t
know. But on the other side, it can be very
charming when you are with someone
and she knows, probably, how to talk with
someone using body language. And written
letters and postcards can get lost – you
have to pay money and you don’t always
know how to write what you’re thinking on
a paper and just send it to other one, as
also you know to know his address or hers.
César: I totally agree with you. Talking face
to face can be, er, really hard for those
people, those shy people you were talking
about earlier and … I’m one of those shy
people! Er, but I think written letters and
postcards are way harder than that. You
have to think what you’re writing and what
you’re doing and, erm, that … all those
reasons are probably the reason why they
are being less and less used.
Examiner: OK. Thank you. Can I have the
booklet, please?
Part 4
Examiner: How important is it to be able to
communicate well with others at school or
at work?
César: I think it’s something very important,
er, at work. At school, you probably don’t
need it as much, er, because projects are
a thing that you don’t do every day, but
when you’re working with someone, erm
… communicating with them is a thing that
you need to get the project done. Do you
agree with that?
Gonzalo: I’m sorry but I disagree because
I think sometimes when you’re at school
you need help, you need to ask for help to
your colleagues or to your teacher so, err,
not only in teamwork but also when you
need help and when you’re, when you’re
trying to, to make friends you also need
communication so not only in work because
at school you also need communication
because it’s the way you’re going to learn
to do things you love and things you want
to do when you’re older.
César: Yes, I think you’re right but, erm,
when you’re at school, you just study to get
good grades, er, and when you’re at work,
you’re doing a lot of things that need, er,
the work of all the team put together to
make it right so I think that’s a lot more
important.
Examiner: OK. Can you learn good
communication skills, or is it a part of
someone’s personality?
Gonzalo: Well, I think it’s part of someone’s
personality ‘cos you ... have, you know if
you’re, if you’re shy or not so you know when
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you, when you go to speak to someone you
know you, if you know that person properly,
so you can have a conversation with him and
sometimes when you’re shy, you trying to
get, trying to have a conversation and you
get real … really nervous so, um, that’s my
opinion.
César: You’re right having a personality that
makes you more talkative, err, probably
helps a lot, but I know when you’re shy you
can improve the way you communicate with
others, the way you speak, umm, if you try.
So personality is not that a big factor but
it’s really important.
Gonzalo: Yeah, I do agree with you.
Examiner: Is it necessary for people to
learn a foreign language?
César: Umm, I think it is necessary. Err,
50 years ago you didn’t need to know a
foreign language, er, to get a good job. You
could get one just by knowing your err, the
language you speak. But nowadays things
are, er, getting more global and knowing
to communicate with people from other
countries, err, is more and more important.
Gonzalo: I do think, I do agree with you.
I do think that foreign languages are
important, not only to know your own
language and another one, maybe two or
three foreign languages ‘cos sometimes
companies get together so you have to
know what you’re talking about and you
have to communicate with not only your
own country … company, so maybe you
have a company that’s working with another
country company and you have to know
how to communicate well with them, and
also, not only, when you’re at work, like
sometimes when you travel abroad, you
have to make friends or trying to know …
meet someone, you need to talk with them
in another language, and that’s improving
your communication skills.
César: Yes, that’s true and you never know
where you’ll end up. You don’t know if 20
years from now you’ll be, I don’t know, err
in England or something.
Examiner: When might it be better to
remain silent rather than say something?
Gonzalo: Well, in my opinion, sometimes in
discussions when people are … someone
might get hurt because of someone’s
opinion I think you just have to stay silent
and listen to what people are saying, not
just critic … criticise someone. Just listen
and try not to express your own opinion
because sometimes you can hurt some …
hurt their feelings.
César: Yes, if you’re going to hurt
someone, the best thing to do is to remain
silent, but also when you’re getting told off
by your parents, erm … saying things won’t
really make it any better, so remaining silent
would be a good thing.
Examiner: Thank you, that is the end of the
test.
Both students: Thanks. Thank you.
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