SPEAKING PART 2 – Diet and Health

I. Task Description
Exercise 1
Work in pairs. How much do you remember about Speaking Part 2? Say whether these statements
are True (T) or False (F). If you think the statement is False, correct it.

1. I can use my notes and the topic card during my talk.

2. There is a choice of topics.
3. I need to talk about the points in order.
4. It is a good idea to prepare a talk beforehand.
5. I can talk about myself.
6. I don’t need to speak for the full two minutes.

Exam Information
In Part 2 of the Speaking exam, the examiner will ask you to speak for one or two minutes on the
topic of a card that you will be given.
You have one minute to prepare to speak. During this time, you can make some notes if you want to.
You will then speak, without interruption from the examiner, for one or two minutes.
When the examiner wants you to stop talking, he or she will do so by asking you one or two follow-
up questions. You should spend only a few seconds answering these.
Part 2 tests your ability to talk at length, organizing your ideas coherently.

The structure of the long turn

SAMPLE TASK CARD: The task card looks like this:

This line gives you the

general topic Describe a popular dish from your country that you enjoy making.
You should say:
These lines tell you what to
- what this dish is
describe. There are always - why you enjoy making it.
three points to mention. - when you usually make it.
- and explain why it is popular in your country.
This line asks you to give more
details about your feelings or
experiences.

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The first sentence on the card is a summary of what you have to talk about.
After that there are some details about the sub-topics you should mention.

II. Task Strategy

The examiner will give you a topic card and a piece of paper and pencil to make notes.
You should
✓ Read the card carefully. If you do not understand, ask the examiner to explain.
✓ Analyze the topic card. Make some notes (in English or your own language) to help you
organize your thoughts before you speak. On your notes, underline any keywords you want
to make sure to include.
✓ Try to cover each point on the card but don’t worry if you don’t cover all the points in your
notes. When talking, keep going, even if you make a mistake.
✓ You needn’t answer them in order and you needn’t spend an equal amount of time in each
question. You may have more to say about some questions than others.
✓ Don’t worry about talking for too long. The examiner will interrupt you when he or she
wants you to finish. You will then be asked a few questions to end this part of the test. An
example of a follow-up question that the examiner might ask you is “Is there any job that
you would consider doing?”

Task 2
a. Work in pairs. Read this Speaking task card and briefly discuss what you could say for each point.
Make some notes as you talk. You can use simple notes or mindplan to help you to make notes.
Describe a time when you were ill.
You should say:
- When this was
- What your symptoms were
- How long the illness lasted
And say how it affected your life at the time.

b. Look at the sample answer below and use the table to note down how the speaker begins and ends
the talk, and how he/she introduces the points on the card. Then tell your partner what you can
remember in each point.

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Beginning of talk

When the illness was

What his/her symptoms were

How long it lasted

How it affected his/her life

Well, I’ve never been seriously ill, but I can remember a couple of weeks ago, I had taken leave for
3 days because I was under the weather.
I was walking back home from work and it suddenly started to rain cats and dogs, so I got wet. The
next day when I woke up, I was a bit off color. I still remember feeling poorly, even I got a
headache, a sore throat, chesty cough, and …let me see…a blocked nose. I decided to see my GP,
I mean the general practitioner for a check-up. My GP said that I caught a heavy cold and had to
take a lot of medicines. I’m afraid I can’t remember what they were. I was in charge of a project
presentation at that time, and due to the situation, I had no choice but to phone in sick and
reschedule the presentation until this week. But thank God, I was over the worst of it and made a
speedy recovery after 3 days of suffering.

c. The speaker uses a number of strategies to help her talk flow. Read again and complete this table.
when he/she has forgotten something

to avoid hesitation

to clarify ‘GP’

EXAM ADVICE
✓ Use appropriate phrases to introduce and end your talk and to help you keep going.

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 ✓ Paraphrase when you don’t know the word(s).
✓ Use intonation to show how you feel.
✓ Use advanced vocabulary to demonstrate your ability to use some uncommon words and
collocations related to the task.
✓ Use a range of advanced grammatical structure to raise your score.
✓ To get a high score, it’s important to choose the correct grammatical forms when talking
about past experiences.
d. The examiner often finishes this part by asking one or two ‘rounding-off’ questions. For example:
Have you ever been in such a bad condition since then?
Does the weather often affect your health?
How would you answer these questions? Role-play asking and answering these questions in pairs.

EXAM ADVICE: Be brief when answering the follow-up questions!

EXAM PRACTICE 1
Describe something you have done that is good for your health Test Tip
Answer the question as fully as
and that you would recommend to others.
possible. Time yourself to see if you
You should say:
can talk for two minutes. Remember
• - what it is that you will be given up to one
• - when you do it minute to prepare for this part of the
• - who you do it with test. You can make notes if you want,
but you don’t have to. Use the
• and explain why you think it is good for your health.
prompts on the card to give you ideas
•
and help you plan your answer.
You will have to talk about the topic for 1-2 minutes. You have
one minutes to think about what you are going to say. You can
make notes if you wish.

Make your notes here:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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IV. Task Strategy 2
Giving two or more points or example
It may be useful to give two points together to support your argument. Match the first points
(1-4) with the second points (a-d).
1. Firstly, it’s a good idea to give examples in a. it’s a good idea to tell the listener when you
your talk. are giving more than one example.
2. It’s a good idea to give example in your talk. b. Another is that it’s a good idea to tell the
listener when you are giving more than one
example.
3. One thing to remember is that it’s a good c. It’s also a good idea to tell the listener when
idea to give examples in your talk. you are giving more than one example.
4. Two important points to remember are (a) d. Secondly, it’s a good idea to tell the listener
it’s a good idea to give examples in your talk when you are giving more than one example.
and ….

EXAM ADVICE
✓ Use the organizing language in Part 2, which can help to demonstrate your ability to use
spoken English for purposes such as explaining a complex situation or negotiating.

 Sequencing ideas
Task card:

Task 4:
a. Put the sections of this example of a Part 2 talk about a former teacher in the correct order, so they
match the instructions on the card above.

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b. Read the talk in part a again. Find and underline all the language that the candidate used to give
two examples.
Add some more phrases to give examples that you know.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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V. Useful Language 2
Here are some more phrases that you can use for Part 2

Introducing your talk

Well, I’m going to/ I’d like to talk about….
The X I’m going to talk about is …
One of the best/ most beautiful, etc. X that I’ve ever seen/heard, etc. is ….

Giving a reason/a detail/ an explanation

The reason (why)….
I think that’s why ….
As a result (of)…..
In other words, …
What I mean is / By that I mean / That means that …
Plus …
What people do / happens is that …

Introducing a new point

So let me tell you …
The next thing ..
As for when/where/who/what/how …, I …
In fact, …

Referring back to something you said earlier in the talk

As I mentioned before, ….
As I said earlier, ..

Avoiding hesitation
Let me see.
I’m afraid I can’t remember.
I meant to say earlier, …
What else?

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 Future references
I like the idea of …
I wish I could ..
Looking ahead, ..
I just hope I’ll ..
As far as I know, …

Introducing an expressions or saying

As the saying goes, …
As my mother/friend says …

Ending the talk

So, all in all, ..
In the end, …
So I guess that’s …
Why did/do I ..?
For me, well, …
Ultimately,…

EXAM PRACTICE 2
Describe an activity you do for your health or fitness.
You should say:
• what you do
• how often you do it
• where you do it
and explain how you think this activity helps you stay healthy or fit