Objective

 

To answer 2 or 3 questions about your life. That's it! 

 

How it works

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The examiner will ALWAYS start the exam like this:

 

Examiner: Good morning/afternoon/evening. My name is .......... and this is my colleague ...........

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And your names are?

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Jack: My name is Jack

Maria: And I'm Maria

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Examiner: Can I have your ID/COE please?

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Students give documents to examiner.

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Examiner: First we'd like to know something about you.

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Examiner: Jack, where do you live?

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Jack: I live in Barcelona in Spain.

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Examiner: And you Maria?

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Maria: I live in Almagro, near here.

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TIP! The only important thing to remember here (apart from your name!) is that when you are asked where are you live give a really short answer. I live in Madrid in Spain or I'm currently living in London is fine. Some websites say you need to give a longer answer - THIS IS INCORRECT! You are not assessed on this question.

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Both students will usually be asked two (or occasionally 3) questions about their lives. Here's some of the topics and example questions you might face:

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Where you live

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Tell us about your home.

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What do you like about living in your town?

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Hobbies/free time

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What do you like to do in your spare time?

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Who do you like to spend your free time with?

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Your family

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Do you prefer to spend time with friends or family?

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Who are you most like in your family?

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Sports

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Do you prefer to play or watch sports?

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Do you enjoy doing exercise?

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Studying

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Do you plan to study anything new in the future?

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Do you prefer studying alone or with others?

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Friends

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Tell us about your best friend.

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Have you done anything interesting with your friends recently?

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Technology

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Do you have a favourite website?

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Do you enjoy playing computer games?

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Travel

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Which country would you like to visit in the future?

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Have you ever used English while travelling?

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Your likes/dislikes

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Do you like shopping?

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Tell us about a TV show you really like.

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There a a few important things to note here:

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The tenses

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Many questions will be in the present but you can also expect questions about the past and future. Make sure you use the right tense when answering!

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Tell us about questions

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These questions are very general so you have more options in your reply:

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Tell us about your town.

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Here, you can talk about the size of it, the things to do, whether it is old or new, shops, parks, nature. It's your decision.

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Would questions

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These are a great opportunity to use the second conditional:

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Which country would you like to visit in the future?

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If I had the chance, I would love to visit France because I want to visit the Louvre and see the Mona Lisa and the food is said to be the best in the world.

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Note the word because in the example above. It's important to extend your answers and give reasons or examples.

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If the answer to the above question was I would like to visit France, the examiner will ask you why? because she wants you to say more.

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Useful Language

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Many of the questions in Part 1 share features which can be adapted to suit different contexts. For example, a lot of the questions begin with Do you like...? or (What) do you prefer…? and you could also use the expressions listed below in lots of different ways, such as in questions beginning with What’s your favourite…?

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You’ll see that the examples include phrasal verbs. By using them you’ll not only sound natural but your range of vocabulary (and grammar structures in some cases) will increase, helping you get high marks in this area of the marking criteria.

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​Do you like/enjoy questions

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Try not to say I like/I don't like! This is very basic vocabulary and to get higher marks, you need to do better. Here are some better options:

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I’m keen on playing football.

I’m fond of watching TV series on Netflix.

I’m (really) into fashion.

I enjoy travelling.

I’m passionate about sports.

I’m a fan of police dramas.

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Note that if you use a verb, it's always a gerund (i.e. ing).

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Do you prefer questions

 

These are quite common and you should avoid saying I prefer because again, it's basic! Some better options are:

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Do you prefer travelling by train or by car?

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I’d rather travel by train because...

If I had to choose, I’d pick the train because...

I’d go for the car because…

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Note: After would rather you use an infinitive WITHOUT to. Also to separate the two options you use than:

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I'd rather travel by car than train because...

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Reacting naturally to questions

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It’s always a good idea to react to some of the questions you’re asked during the exam to have a little time to think before jumping to an answer. Here are some examples:

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Well, let me see/think…

Mmm, I’ve never thought about that before!

Mmm, that’s a(n) interesting/tricky question.

Actually, it depends. I’d say…

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Length of answers

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Here's an example question and some answers:

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Do you enjoy cooking?

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Terrible

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Yes, I like cooking.

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Andrea writes: This is a really poor reply! It's a speaking exam so you need to speak! If you look at the marking criteria, you’ll see that the examiners check your performance based on different areas, like how you organize what you say, your vocabulary and range of grammar structures and so on. If your reply is too short, you aren’t giving the examiners what they need to check your English.

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Better

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No I don't to be honest. For me it's a waste of time because we can order everything online nowadays.

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Andrea writes: This is obviously better. It’s relevant and uses some nice expressions to give opinions - to be honest, for me and collocations - waste of time, order xxx online.

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Excellent

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​Absolutely! I used to hate it when I was younger so my mom cooked everything. But now I'm really keen on it and I'm looking forward to making a pizza this weekend although I know it's complicated.

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 Andrea writes: This is an amazing reply. Why?

 

It's an ideal length - 2 or 3 sentences.

 

There is a natural reaction at the start - Absolutely!

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A variety of tenses - past simple/used to and present simple/continuous.

 

Connectors give it a nice structure - but, although.

 

Great vocabulary - keen on, look forward to.

 

Of course it's difficult to include all of this in the real exam (it's difficult for me!) but it gives you an idea of what to try to include.