Speak, speak, speak!!!

What is FCE?

The FCE is part of a group of examination developed by UCLES called the Cambridge Main Suite. It consists of 5 examinations that have similar characteristics but are designed for different levels of English language ability. Within the 5 levels, FCE is at Cambridge Level 3.

The examination is divided in five parts, which are listening, writing, use of English, reading and speaking. The latter is on the ability we focus in this blog, giving to you some tips and the structure of this test, all according to our experience when we took it.

FCE Speaking Structure

This Blog describes the oral (speaking) exam for the Cambridge FCE (First Certificate in English) test

First of all, you are going to have a partner whom you will talk to during the examination, in addition to two examiners, one of them will be asking you questions while the other one will evaluate your performance. The exam last about 14 minutes and it has four parts.

(1) Interview (3 minutes)
The first part are basic questions related with your home town, family, work or study.

(2) Individual tasks (4 minutes)
In the second part you compare two colour photographs and explain your personal feelings about them (you will be asked to speak for 1 minute, without any interruption). You´ll be asked to give your opinion about the other student's photographs, too. (Around 20 seconds).

(3) Joint task (3 minutes)
The examiner will show you some pictures, then you will be asked to discuss these with the other student and to make a decision. You will be asked to agree on the conclusion.

(4) Three-way discussion (4 minutes)
In this part, you will be asked to discuss (together with the other student and the examiner) some ideas that are connected with the part 3.

How can I prepare for it?

Before the exam, we recommend you to practice with another student (if you already know the other student who will be taking the speaking test with you, ask him/her to practice with you) the parts of the test. We think this would be useful in order to get confidence with your partner. However, if you do not know your partner, you could practice alone talking about different topics with a wide range of vocabulary.

Also, if it is possible, it might be a good idea to pay for some private lessons with an English teacher to prepare. If you do this together with a friend then the lesson may be cheaper for you, and you can practice the speaking test in a more realistic way.In addition, if you are a student of the University of Quintana Roo, campus Chetumal, you could go to the SAC and do some practice by yourself.

Another important thing to have into account is not to be nervous. We recommend you to relax a night before the exam, it was really helpful for us.

During the test

If you need time to think about something, try to keep speaking rather than remain silent. You could say things such as:
Please give me a moment while I think about the answer

Try to avoid complicated explanations or grammar if you are not sure about them. If the truthful answer is difficult to explain, you may want to say something easier in the exam. Also it is important to know that everything you say not necessary needs to be true.

If you do not understand what you are meant to do, ask the examiner to explain. For example, you could say:
Could you repeat the question, please?
This does not affect your final score.

At the start of the individual task, talking to yourself: Let me see ... what do these photographs show?
At the start of the joint task, talking to the other student: Shall we start by describing what we see in the pictures?
During the three-way discussion, asking either the examiner or the other student: What is your opinion?

To avoid wasting time, make it clear when you have finished talking. For example, say something like:
That's all I can think of at the moment

These phrases can help you to be more fluent at the moment you are speaking since you do not stop and do long pauses.

Coherence and Cohesion!!!

Based on our experience, we consider that two of the more important aspects of this skill are the coherence, which makes sense to the listener about what you are talking about, and cohesion, which is related to the use of linking words in the speech in order to avoid repetition, because if we don´t take them into account, the examiner cannot understand you; therefore, your grade will be decreased.

Do you understand her???????

In this video we can figure out the lack of coherence and cohesion.

Vocabulary

When we speak we use different vocabulary depending on the part of the test you are involved in, that is why we think it is important to have a wide range of it in order to do a good performance during the test.

Here there are some links that can be useful to learn vocabulary in specific topics:

Topic Vocabulary
English Vocabulary grouped by Categories

Something that has worked for us is to learn a certain number of words per day, it could be from 5 to 8. However, if you feel you can handle more words, try it. Do not memorize them instead use them as a part of your everyday speech, it is easier to remember and more practical.

Last, but not least!

This kind of test is worldwide recognized, that is why we consider it is important to take it.
Also, FCE gives you a pathway to higher qualifications such as the CAE (Certificate in Advanced English) and CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English).
According to our English teachers, students who present this test increase their confidence in using English in everyday situations, and we believe it is completely true.