Using Topic Sentences
Share In the Cambridge Advanced and Proficiency writing exams, the quality of answers depends on very good organisation of ideas and topics. In this post we’ll look at one
In this post we take a look at a sample Cambridge Advanced Speaking test from the YouTube CambridgeEnglishTV channel and add our own Cambridge Advanced Speaking Review. Go to the times listed to see a particular part of the speaking exam.
The candidates are Raphaelfrom Switzerland and Maudefrom France.
Part 1 0:00Part 22:21Part 36:39Part 410:45
Part 1
In this part both respond well to the questions and give reasonable answers without hesitating. Although there is some noticeable own language influence on pronunciation it does not affect communication too much.Maudeis the more forthcoming.
Part 2
Raphael compares both pictures well and uses an adequate level of language. Although there are some clear grammar errors he completes the task with very little hesitation.
Maudehas no hesitation in this task and uses a reasonable range of vocabulary. She has some very basic grammar errors but they do not affect the overall communication too much.
Part 3
In this part of the test both interact reasonably well with Maude leading the discussion a lot more. Sheencourages her partner to speak, gives more detailed responses and shows a greater flexibility in language use. At times Raphael doesn’t communicate his ideas and some of his answers are very short and very simply expressed. There are more examples of grammar errors here and a few occasions where the pronunciation of individual sounds is not completely accurate. Nevertheless, he copes with the task adequately.
Part 4
Raphael shows he can organise his ideas despite somegrammar errors. His answers are a lot longer and more detailed and he copes with the topics, although there are are times when he returns to shorter responses. WhileMaude responds to topics and links quite well there are more errors. She often deals better with questions directed to her Both respond without hesitating and have sufficient grammar and vocabulary to express their opinions.
In this video both candidates complete the speaking test with confidence and little hesitation.
Maudeis the stronger of the pair and she is able to extend her answers, using suitable grammar and vocabulary. There are some very basic grammar errors at times but it largely does not affect communication.
Her partner Raphael is also at reasonable level for the Advanced exam. He has sufficient grammar and vocabulary, can organise his ideas without much hesitation, even when the responses are short. While there are some errors in both grammar and pronunciation they do not adversely affect his overall performance.
Share In the Cambridge Advanced and Proficiency writing exams, the quality of answers depends on very good organisation of ideas and topics. In this post we’ll look at one
Share Unreal Past An unreal past structure is one that considers impossible situations. While conditional forms are the most obvious, there are also a number of other ways we can
Share So how do you pick the right Cambridge exam for you? Well, you can take a Cambridge online test and see for yourself. It’s a good place to start and
Share Nominalisations: Other words as nouns Nominalisation describes a word formation in which a verb (or other part of speech) is used as (or transformed into) a noun. We’ll take a
Share Using Inversion Inversion is a way of changing the information placed at the beginning of a sentence and in this post we will looked at a variety of ways
Share Writing Paragraphs Paragraphs are a very important part of writing essays and other forms of writing as they help us to communicate information more clearly to a reader. In