WELCOME!

FCE PREPARATION COURSE

 CAMBRIDGE: FIRST CERTIFICATE

 What do you know about it?

 What questions do you have?

 THE 4 PAPERS OF THE FCE
PAPER

1 Reading and use of English 1 hour 15 minutes 7 parts

2 Writing 1 hour 20 minutes 2 parts

3 Listening Approx. 40 minutes 4 parts

4 Speaking 14 minutes 4 parts

THE FCE EXAM

 It has ________ papers. You have _____ hour

and ______ minutes to work on the ________
and ___________ section. It has _______ parts.
 For paper 2, which is __________, you have
1h20 to complete _______ tasks.
 _________ is paper 3. It takes approximately
_________ minutes to complete __________
parts.
 The last paper is __________. You need
_________ minutes to complete ________ parts.
THE FCE EXAM
 It has four papers. You have one hour and fifteen minutes
to work on the Reading and use of English section. It has
seven parts.
 For paper 2, which is Writing, you have 1h20 to
complete two tasks.
 Listening is paper 3. It takes approximately 40 minutes
to complete four parts.
 The last paper is Speaking. You need fourteen minutes to
complete four parts.
OVERVIEW OF PAPER 4: SPEAKING
1. How long does the Speaking test usually last?

2. How many candidates take the test together?

3. Can candidates choose who they take the test with?

4. How many examiners are there?

5. How many parts are there to the test?

6. Do the candidates speak to each other or only to the

examiner?
OVERVIEW OF PAPER 4: SPEAKING

Part 1
2 minutes
• conversation between interlocutor and each
candidate
Part 2
4 minutes • individual ‘long turn’ for each candidate, based
on a photograph
(each candidate
speaks for 1 minute)

Part 3 • decision-making task requiring a two-way

conversation between the two candidates based
4 minutes on written stimuli

• discussion with spoken questions from the

interlocutor, based on the topics from Part 3
Part 4
4 minutes
LET’S DISCUSS
SPEAKING PART 1
 Where are you from?

 What do you like about living there/here?

 Examiner: So, Irene, where are you from?

 Irene: I’m from Llanes. It’s a small town on the north coast of Spain,
which becomes quite a busy tourist resort in the summer.

 Examiner: And what do you like about Llanes?

 Irene: Well, it’s a fairly quiet place in the winter, so it has quite a
relaxed atmosphere, but it’s got wonderful beaches nearby and it’s
surrounded by lovely countryside. Also, I’ve got lots of friends in
the area, so I have a very active social life. And of course, most of
my family and relations live nearby, too.

 Examiner: And you, Peter, where are you from?

 Peter: Bremen, in northern Germany.

 Examiner: And what do you like about Bremen?

 Peter: My friends, the shops, the sports centre ...

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
 I’m from Ibarra originally but I was brought up in
Ambato and I’ve lived here most of my life

 I’m originally from XXXX but I’ve lived in XXXX for

the last 10 years

 I’m from Patate, which is one of the valleys in the

Tungurahua, it’s about an hour from the city centre

 I’m from Ambato and I’ve lived in the same quiet

neighbourhood in the south of Ambato all my life
SPEAKING PART 1
 Where are you from? What do you like about living here?
a) a large industrial city
b) a small coastal town
c) a busy tourist resort
d) in the middle of some great countryside
e) a pleasant residential district
f) an important business centre
g) some impressive architecture
h) a lot of historic buildings
i) some pretty good shopping centres
j) a busy city centre
k) wonderful beaches nearby
l) the local food is fantastic
SPEAKING PART 1: POSSIBLE TOPICS
How often do you
1. Holidays and travel …?
2. Festivals and celebrations
3. Education and work Tell me about
Your neighbourhood
4.
…
5. Media
6. Free time
What’s your
7. Music and entertainment
favourite …?
8. Future plans

When was the last

time you …?
SPEAKING PART 2: LONG TURN
 You and your test partner must give long speeches.
 You get two colour photos. You have to talk about them
on your own for a minute. When you finish, the
examiner asks the other student (student B) a question
about your photos - student B should talk for about 30
seconds.
 Then student B gets two photos and has to talk about
them for one minute. When that is over, the examiner
asks you a question, and now you have about 30 seconds
to answer.
 In this part of the test, nobody should interrupt you, and
you shouldn't talk when the other student is talking.
SPEAKING PART 2
 The examiner will ask you to COMPARE the photos
AND SAY something about them.
 EXAMPLE:

 Compare the photographs and say why they have

chosen to travel in this way.
 Compare the photographs and say why you think the
people are talking.
 Compare the photographs and say what the people are
enjoying about doing these things.
 EXAMPLE
 There are two ladies. They are wearing a uniform. They
are happy…

 Both pictures show women working. In the picture on the

top there are women working in an office while in the
other picture there’s a woman working at home. In the
first picture, the women are in an office which suggests
they are lawyers or maybe consultants.They are
organizing a meeting of some sort In the other picture,
besides being comfortable at home, the woman is
working busily, maybe she’s a freelance designer and
she’s working on a company logo.