SPEAKING TIPS FOR B1

PET
SPEAKING SECTION
PART 1 (2-3 minutes / two students and the interlocutor and the assessor)

The questions are about your daily life.

They ask for your surname (last name), name, middle name.
You need to spell your name or surname
Full answers are much better than one-word answers
Do you study English at school?
Yes.
Yes, I study English twice a week at school and I really enjoy it.

1. Whats your surname? (My surname is.)

2. How do you spell it? (G-A-R-C-I-A)
3. Where do you live / come from? (Name of village/town/city/country. Some information about where it is, an
adjective to describe it, the number of inhabitants)
4. Do you study English at school? (Yes/No, how often you study English, how many years you have
studied English, if you also study English elsewhere, e.g. at a private language school, or if you study
any other languages)
5. Do you like it? (Your feelings about it now and in the past, reasons)
6. Whats your favourite school subject? Why? (Name a subject, say how you feel about it, use an
adjective, e.g. exciting, interesting, useful, fun, etc, give reasons the teacher, the topics, how
easy/difficult it is, how you can use it in the future)
7. Tell us about your English teacher. (Name, character, age, appearance, teaching methods)
8. What do you enjoy doing in your free time? (Name at least one activity, how often you do them, why
you like them)
9. Tell us about your family. (Names, number of people, relationships, your favourite member of the
family, their jobs, their characters, any pets)

PART 2 (2-3 minutes / The examiner describing a situation and two students interacting with
each other)

In this part of the test the topics are chosen to be relevant to typical PET for Schools candidates,
so they should be quite easy to talk about. The examiner is going to describe a situation to you
both and he is going to give you a visual aid. You should take turns to speak with your partner, it
is not a competition to see who can speak the most. Its good to agree and disagree with your
partners ideas as long as you give reasons for your ideas.

Interactive communication is important because you are speaking together, and this
means using phrases for:

Starting the activity

Shall we start with this one?

Let's start with this one, shall we?
I think this would be good because

Suggesting

This wouldnt be such a good idea because

This might work
So, what do you think?

Asking your partner

Do you think thats a good idea?

Do you agree?

Showing preferences

I prefer
I think this is better because
Yes, thats a good point.

Agreeing

I see what you mean.

That a good idea!

Disagreeing

Well, Im not so sure about that.

I dont think thats such a good idea.
Which one shall we choose?

Choosing / summing up

So, shall we choose this one?

Do you agree that this is the best one?

Assessment criteria
Grammar and Vocabulary
This includes how accurate and appropriate the candidates grammar and vocabulary are as well
as the range of language that they use.
Discourse Management
This is how well the candidates ideas are linked together and how long and relevant a
candidates answers are.
Pronunciation
This is how clear the candidates English is and how easy it is to understand. An accent is fine as
long as the examiners can understand what the candidate is saying.
Interactive Communication
This is how well the candidate uses their language to communicate with their partner, including
skills like introducing an idea, responding to what their partner says, taking turns to speak and
keeping the task going.
Global Achievement
This is the overall assessment of how well the candidate does the tasks in all four parts of the
speaking test.

PART 3 (3 minutes / The examiner and two students talking on their own )
In this part of the test:
The examiner gives each candidate a different photograph. (Big and in colour)
Each candidate has to talk on their own.
The task is to talk about what they can see in the picture.
Grammar and Vocabulary (the range, accuracy and appropriacy of language, i.e. the right
language, used in the right way, at the right time) and Discourse Management (the organisation
of ideas) are important in Part 3.
SAMPLE

Place

This photo shows a girls bedroom.

People

The girl is a teenager, she could be around 15. She has got long
blonde hair. Shes wearing white trousers and a black top.

Activity

The girl is lying on her bed and she is reading a book.

Objects

The room is very tidy. Theres a guitar next to the window which
the girl probably plays. Theres a picture with bright colours on
the wall, some shelves with a stereo and a desk with a computer
on it. I think shes a student. The bed is made and has clean
white sheets on it.

Colours

The walls are white and the bed covers are light green. The girl
must like green as the curtains and the cushions are dark green
too.

Atmosphere

The girl looks very relaxed and interested in her book and the
room is very tidy so it looks like a peaceful place.

Time of day

It could be morning or afternoon as its light outside.

Weather

You can see through the windows that it is sunny outside.

Study the following useful phrases for Part 3. Try to use them when you are practising Part 3
speaking.
Saying what you can see:

Saying where something is:

In the picture, I can see

In the foreground there's

There's

In the background you can see

There are

On the left

I think it's

On the right

I don't think

At the bottom

Describing something:

In this corner

It looks like (+ noun)

In the middle

It looks quite (+ adjective)

Comparing things

He looks (+ adjective)

The girl looks much older than the boy.

The girl looks a bit (+ adjective)

The yellow car is the biggest.

The mother isnt as pretty as the baby.

PART 4 (3 minutes / The examiner and two students discussing the topic)
Part 4 is always a continuation of the topic in Part 3 so that candidates are already familiar with it.

You have to talk about two tasks (things in their bedrooms now and things in their bedrooms in
the future)
You have to discuss the topic together.
The interlocutor sets up the task and then doesnt interrupt the candidates again until the end, so
the candidates are responsible for keeping the conversation going.
Imagine your life in the next 10 years. Review future tenses as appropriate by contrasting plans
and intentions Im going to study at university in the UK with predictions Ill probably be rich
and famous when Im 20.