Daniela Postolova

CAE Speaking Part 1 – Examiner and test-taker

conversation
 The first part consists of general questions such as “How long have
you been studying English?”, “What do you think is the best about
your country?” and so forth. The questions then take a widened
scope, the candidates are asked about their life, hobbies, plans and so
on. The examiner asks both test-takers in turns. Test-takers do not
get to answer the same questions. This part takes about 2 minutes.
 Your responses shouldn’t be too long and will generally be as long as
two or three sentences. Don’t get too carried away with the answers,
you will have opportunity to give more detailed responses in next
parts of the exam. However, do explain and develop your responses.
Give the examiners something to assess – they are interested in your
command of English. They probably don’t care much for your hobbies
or food preferences.
 Unlike other parts of CAE Speaking, Part 1 doesn’t really have any
templates or useful phrases to learn. It’s just general English. A good
thing is not to repeat yourself – you wouldn’t believe how many test-
takers overuse words like very or other words that could
by synonymised.
 Part 1 Sample questions and answers
 Where are you from?
I’m from Germany, however I was born and raised in Warsaw, Poland. My
family moved to Stuttgart when I was five and I’ve been living there ever
since. It is a lovely place with spectacular architecture, rich cultural
heritage and generally a great place to live in.
 Do you have any hobbies or interests?
I’m really into road cycling. I used to participate in amateur competitions
when I was at school, I would consistently come in top three!
Unfortunately, I haven’t got nearly enough time nowadays for any hobby
that requires commitment. With my tight current schedule I’m lucky to
have thirty minutes a day to read a book.
 How long have you been learning English?
I’ve had English classes since I was seven, but I really started to apply
myself in this field when I turned sixteen – I really wanted to get a degree in
a prestigious university in England. Naturally, one has to have impeccable
command of English to have a shot at such an ambitious plan.
 What do you find most challenging about learning English?
Grammatically, it has to be articles and prepositions. My native language
doesn’t really have the former, so it is a foreign concept to me, it took me a
while to figure them out. As for prepositions in English, they take a lot of
time to get right as they don’t really work the way they do in my language.
CAE Speaking Part 2 – Individual Long Turn
 There are going to be two people – Candidate A and
Candidate B – these roles are assigned randomly. Candidate A
gets a set of three pictures from the examiner. The examiner
then asks Candidate A to look at the pictures and answer two
questions he provides. The questions can be something
like “What could this people be thinking about?” and “In
which situation might the people be feeling more
comfortable?” with three pictures of people in different
situations. Candidate A has to choose two of the three
pictures and they will have 1 minute to answer the questions.
 Then the examiner reads one additional question to
Candidate B using the same pictures. This time they have to
choose only one picture and spend 30 seconds for the
answer.
 After that the candidates swap roles, Candidate B goes first
with two questions and three new pictures and Candidate A
gets one question and half a minute to answer it.
CAE Speaking Part 2 tips and useful phrases

 1. Comparing
 This aspect of CAE Speaking Part 2 is really
straightforward – we highlight similarities and
differences in both photos. The only difficult part
might be finding a good phrase or a template to talk
about this.
 The comparison part can be extremely challenging if
you choose two pictures that you can’t see any real
differences in – keep that in mind when making your
choice.

 Here are some useful phrases for that:

Talking about similar things Talking about differences

Both pictures show… Unlike the first picture, the picture on the
In both pictures we can see… right has/shows…
Both pictures have… In contrast with the right picture, the
Both pictures are similar in the way picture on the left has/shows/displays
that there is/are… in each one. Picture one…, while picture two…
Just like the picture on the left, the Conversely, picture two…
right picture has/shows… Picture on the right shows a different
The two pictures have a number of approach to…
things in common, namely… While the second picture takes place…,
These two pictures convey the same picture one…
message/idea of… // share the same Contrastingly, these pictures show
message/idea different takes on… *some topic*
 2. Guessing and speculating
 You have to do this when answering the questions and
when you describe the pictures. Showing doubt or
uncertainty is one of the integral CAE Speaking Part 2 &
3 aspects.

Modals Verbs Adverbs

This must be… Seem like/to be Likely

It might be… Appear to be Probably
The people may be… Look like Seemingly/supposedly
It has to be Apparently/evidently
3. Describing the pictures
 When describing pictures in CAE Speaking, alternate
between different phrases:
The first picture has/shows/displays
In the first picture, there is/there are/we can see
 One thing to remember – don’t spend more than 15
seconds on describing BOTH pictures. Another
important aspect is not to just describe – you would
want to include either comparing them or speculating:
 “While in the first picture there is a man all on his own
looking at a picture, the second one shows a group of
kids, probably schoolchildren, enjoying a show together.”
 The part in bold introduces comparison and
the underlined part speculates (makes a guess) about
the picture
4. Answering the question
 When you address the questions from CAE Speaking
Part 2, you usually do so for both pictures, either talking
about differences or similarities based on the question
context. You are advised to speculate as well to make your
answer more hypothetical since we can’t really know it
for sure. See examples below for reference.
 Set #1
Candidate A, here are your pictures. They show
people having a nap.
I’d like you to compare two of the pictures, and say why
they might have chosen to sleep like that, and how
difficult it might be for them to relax.
• Why might these people have chosen to sleep like
that?
• How difficult might it be for them to relax?
• Why might these people have chosen to sleep like that?
• How difficult might it be for them to relax?
 Sample answer
 Candidate A: I’ll be comparing the top picture and the bottom right
one. The group of people in the top photo seem to be sleeping at
something that looks like a pier. It’s hard to guess what exactly they
are doing there – they might have come here to have a quick snooze
after classes. The lady in the other picture seems to be exhausted from
work – she must be so tired she doesn’t even realise she is sleeping on
her desk.
 I’m pretty sure that neither of the situations are comfortable for
sleeping – the pier’s boards are not the best surface to lie on. The
person in the bottom right picture is probably feeling marginally
better, seated on her chair with her head resting on her wrist.
 Candidate B, in which situation do people need to rest the most?
 Candidate B: I’d have to choose the picture with the young lady
sleeping next to her laptop. Obviously, it wasn’t her first choice of
place to doze off – she must be absolutely knackered from all the
work, otherwise she wouldn’t sleep there. She’s probably catnapping,
only to continue on her project as soon as she wakes up.
CAE Speaking Part 3 – Mind map discussion
between two candidates
 In this part, the candidates are given a mind map – a
question with five prompts, or aspects, which candidates
discuss together. You are given about 15 seconds to look at
the question and prompts, after which your partner has to
decide who starts the discussion.
 Both candidates have to discuss the aspects, suggesting
new ideas and developing your partner’s points. You try to
maintain a discussion, asking for other participant’s
opinion and giving one of your own. Neither of you should
dominate the talk. This part lasts for about two minutes.
 In the second part of this task, you have to choose one / or
two of the aspects and either agree or disagree on the
discussion topic. You have one minute in this part.
Part 3 tips and useful phrases

 I’d like to point out three important aspects of CAE

Speaking Part 3:
1 – Starting the dialogue
2 – Connecting and transitioning the ideas
3 – Reaching an agreement
 1. Starting the dialogue
 At the beginning of Part 3 you have to decide who will begin the
conversation. It is important to be respectful and give your partner
room choice. You can either initiate this yourself or wait for your
partner to go first. Here are some phrases for both:

Starting the dialogue Responding

Do you mind if I go first? Yeah, sure, go ahead.
Would you mind going first/starting? Okay, I will!
Care to go first? I’d rather you went
Shall I begin, or would you like to go first, if that’s okay
first? with you.
Would it be okay with you if I started By all means, go
this? ahead.
Is it okay for you if I start? Sure, not a problem
Let’s get the ball rolling..
2. Connecting the ideas
 A common mistake in CAE Speaking Part 3 is to
simply wait for your turn to speak, without paying
attention to your partner’s response. This is going to
bring your mark down! Instead, you want to
implement ideas from your partner’s answer into your
own. It’s important to transition the ideas smoothly –
your exchange should look like a dialogue, not a series
of isolated sentences! Here are some ways to make
your speech more cohesive:
 Supporting or including an
Introducing an idea
idea

What about… Speaking of…

I believe that .. deserves You’ve mentioned…, which is
mentioning/being interesting because…
mentioned I’d like to add another point
If we’re talking about (topic), regarding…
then… is definitely… There is one more thing about…
I’m not sure that… is really Another aspect of… is that…
important, however…
A point worth discussing is…
 3. Reaching an agreement
 In the second half of CAE Speaking Part 3 you have to
agree upon one or two aspects of the mind-map. If you
fail to agree on one, it is okay to respectfully disagree.
Here are some useful phrases for suggesting, encouraging
a conversation, agreeing and disagreeing:
Agreeing Disagreeing (politely)

I totally agree with your point… I see what you mean, however…
I’m with you on that one… You make some valid points, but let’s
Your arguments are very compelling consider…
I had a different idea, but your With all due respect, I can’t agree/I
arguments sound very convincing have to disagree
Your points are very persuasive, and Your logic here is flawless, but another
I side with you on that one. point to consider is…
Suggesting ideas Inviting to join

… is probably one of the things Where do you stand on…?

we should take/consider What’s your take on…?
/mention, since… Please share your thoughts on
I think/believe that… is worth this matter?
nominating/considering/ What about your idea on?
mentioning/pointing out… That’s what I think, but what
Let’s not forget about… about you?
Additionally,… should probably
be included, as…
 Part 3 sample task and answers
 Here are some different types of occupation people might choose
to have. First you have some time to look at the task. (15 seconds)
 Now, talk to each other about the advantages and disadvantages of each of these
occupations.
 Sample answer

Candidate A (Boris): Do you mind if I go first?

Candidate B (Ira): Sure, go ahead.
Boris: I believe that part-time job offers a serious advantage of giving you
more free time and flexibility to do something else while allowing to make
enough money for a living.
Ira: It might be so, but are you sure working part-time will be enough to cover
anything but one’s living expenses like bills and groceries? I really doubt it, to
be honest.. I think working in a smaller company offers similar advantages to
the ones you’ve mentioned, but the money must me better since you’ll be
putting in more working hours.
Boris: I guess you are right. And the smaller companies are usually willing to
give you more leeway with your schedule and your decisions. However, smaller
businesses tend to go under quite often, so there’s very little in terms of job
security. But what about self-employment? On paper, it should give you all the
freedom you wish for, being your own boss and all!
Ira: Oh, I’m not so sure about that. You’ve brought up financial security, and
working for yourself is such a dangerous venture! If stability is something you
prioritise, that is probably not your best option. It does sound lucrative though
– you earn as much as you make, there is nobody to order you around. It
sounds so invigorating!
 Thank you. Now you have about a minute to decide
which occupation is most stressful.
 Ira: Being self-employed is likely to be the most taxing
one emotionally, I mean you have the weight of
decision on your shoulders, everything depends on you,
all this has to really take its tall emotionally, wouldn’t
you agree?
Boris: To be honest, at first I was thinking about
working for a major company, but you do have a point
and you’ve managed to convince me. In the light of
your arguments mine seem to be irrelevant, I won’t
even bother with them.
CAE Speaking Part 4 – Topic discussion
 In this final part of CAE speaking you have an
individual conversation with the examiner. This task is
similar to the first one, but the topic of discussion is the
one from Part 3. You should express and justify your
opinion on the subject as the examiner guides you,
asking you related questions. You might get to answer
the same question as your partner. The examiner might
also encourage you to engage in a dialogue with the
other test-taker. This part of the exam lasts for up to 5
minutes.
Part 4 sample questions with answers
 Interolocutor: Boris, is it better to have a high-paying job or
the one that is more enjoyable?
Boris: Well, if I can’t have both, then I guess doing
something I really like should be the priority. I doubt that the
money I get for doing the job I loathe will do me any good.
But to reiterate, ideally the two should come hand-in-hand.
Interlocutor: Thank you. Ira, do you agree?
Ira: Of course, you’d be really blessed to do something you’re
passionate about and make good money out of it, but how
often is it the case? One must be extremely lucky to find
themselves in such position. If we take more realistic cases
into account, then I’d go with money over enjoying what
someone does – in the end of the day that’s what job is all
about – earning money! One can always have fun in their free
time.
 CAE Speaking assessment criteria
 It is important to understand how your CAE Speaking is assessed. It
helps to show the examiners exactly what they want and improves
your chances of getting a higher score.
 During the exam two independent assessing procedures take place.
The assessor (the person sitting in the back taking the notes) has 5
separate evaluation criteria that Cambridge uses to decide how good
your spoken English is:
 1. Grammar
2. Vocabulary
3. Discourse Management
4. Pronunciation
5. Interactive communication
 The interlocutor (the person asking the questions) assesses you using
a separate criterion, referred to as “Global achievement”. All of the
assessment aspects will be explained below.
 Each one is scored individually from 0 to 5 in 0.5 increments. They are
then combined to get the average of six.
1. Grammar
 What is assessed
 Naturally, the variety and accuracy of your grammar.
Some examples:
– Noun, relative and adverb clauses
– Active and passive forms
– Verb patterns (infinitives, to-infinitives, gerunds)
– Contrast and command of tenses (e.g. showing a
temporary situation with Present Continuous)
– Modal verbs and modality
– Conditional sentences
– Ability to produce longer, multiple-clause sentences
– Flexibility (able to rephrase in order to clarify).
 What to do
– Alternate between active and passive voice
– Try to introduce more advanced tenses into your narrative (e.g. Present
Perfect to talk about your experience of learning English or Future Perfect to
talk about plans that you are sure of)
– Learn verb patterns! They are extremely important in both written and
spoken English
– Use conditionals – Second Conditional for unlikely things in the present or
in the future, Third Conditional for unreal results of things that didn’t
happen. You should know all of this, since CAE is a C1 level exam.
– Use a variety of modal structures – modal verbs (could, might, must) and
phrases that express likelihood (probably, likely, seems to be, appears to be,
looks like)
– Be ready to rephrase your phrase or sentence if you feel that they might not
have sounded clear enough (usually introducing the rephrased sentence with
something like “What I mean to say is…”, “In other words…”, “Allow me to
clarify – I mean that…”)
 When you attempt to make your speech more complex, introducing two or
more clauses to your sentences, mistakes are likely to happen. If you notice
that you’ve made a mistake in your speech, it is perfectly normal to try and
rephrase the idea. As long as communication is achieved, your score won’t
suffer!
2. Vocabulary
 What is assessed
 Just like with grammar, it is all about the range and
appropriate usage of your lexical resource. Factors that
influence this mark:
– Appropriate collocations
– Register (formal/informal, depending on context)
– Rephrasing (if your speaking partner does not seem to
understand you (Part 3, 4)
– Using synonyms, avoiding repetition of words
What to do
– Don’t be lazy and look up collocations you aren’t sure
of when you practise. A good place to
start freecollocation.com dictionary. This applies to
writing as well.
– Keep your register consistent throughout your
response. Don’t make it too informal, be respectful to
both the examiner and your fellow test-taker
– If you see that your speaking partner struggles to
understand your phrase, make sure to rephrase it.
– Be mindful about your English – listen to yourself and
don’t use the same words over and over again.
3. Discourse Management
 What is assessed
 In essence, this is about how well you ideas are linked –
connection between words, phrases and even whole sentences.
Another important thing is how easy it is to follow and understand
your speech – how much sense it all makes, that is. It’s not about
your pronunciation. These two aspects are usually called
coherence and cohesion. Things that are assessed here:
– Cohesive devices
– Topical vocabulary (vocabulary related to the general theme that
is being discussed)
– Various grammar that helps the listener understand what you’re
referring to (articles and personal adjectives/pronouns)
– Discourse markers (words and expression that can normally only
be found in spoken English, like “You know…”, “I mean… “
– Staying on topic (so-called “relevance” – you have to talk about
the question, do not stray too far away from it)
– Introducing new ideas (rather than going over the thing you
have already said)
What to do
– Know and use cohesive devices. They can be roughly
grouped into ‘adding or elaborating’ (in addition, also,
moreover, as well as), ‘showing consequence or result’ (as a
result, consequently, so, thus, therefore) and ‘sequencing or
ordering’ (firstly, first of all, to begin with, secondly, finally).
These help structure your speech, making it both connected
and easier to follow.
– Expand your vocabulary. It is pretty sad to see CAE
candidates struggling to come up with any relevant words on
topics as simple as Food, Holidays or Career. There is no way
around it, learn new words!
– Make sure to know the basics of articles in English. Use
them to your advantage. Don’t forget about possessive
pronouns and adjective to make your speech more cohesive (it,
this, that, one).
4. Pronunciation
 What is assessed
 First of all, elephant in the room – it is not about your
accent. As long as you are understandable, you will do
fine. This part involves other things, namely:
– Clearly pronouncing all the sounds that should be
pronounced
– Stressing the right syllables in words (sound obvious,
but it is a rather common problem)
– Using intonation to highlight and emphasise points
in your speech (well-used intonation goes a long way)
What to do
– Know how to pronounce words – and pronounce them
with confidence. This is especially important when
saying the ending of each word, as test-takers who lack
confidence tend to omit the ending syllable. I would also
suggest avoiding contractions, i.e. say “I have” instead of
“I’ve” just to avoid ambiguity.
– Intonation is an extremely powerful tool that can
drastically improve general impression of your answer.
Use it to your advantage.
5. Interactive communication
 What is assessed
 Your ability to sustain a conversation as well as to
develop your individual response. This is what the
examiners look at:
– Expanding on your answer (not giving short,
uninformative responses)
– Including and encouraging your speaking partner
– Ability to initiate the exchange and to support it by
contributing to the conversation or the topic
– Helping the other candidate to either phrase their
ideas or suggest one for discussion
– Understanding the rhythm of a natural conversation,
not “hogging” it
What to do
– Short answers do not give enough information to
accurately assess your level of English. To please your
examiners, you should come up with at least two long or
three shorter sentences in Part 1 and about three to four
longer sentences in Part 4.
– Be sure to include your partner! There are some
phrases that you might find useful for that.
– More phrases to initiate the dialogue and to support it
with your ideas
– Do not take up too much time in CAE Speaking Part 3 –
remember that you only have two minutes in the first half
and one minute in the second one.
CAE Speaking Tips
 There is a number of typical Speaking mistakes. Know
them to avoid embarrassment and guarantee a higher
score.
 Do not attempt to answer other student’s question even
if you see them struggling. However, you might help
them by paraphrasing your ideas in the collaborative
task.
 Keep practising. The most effective way to improve your
speaking is using the language, you can do so by either
having live conversations or writing.
 5 Common Speaking Mistakes
 Answering the Wrong Question
 It may sound silly, but this is a common mistake. Make sure you
understand the question. Ask your examiner to repeat it if you are unsure
what exactly you are supposed to say. It is not going to affect your score in
any way. If you still fail to get the meaning, ask to rephrase. If your answer
will have nothing to do with the question then it won’t be scored at all.
 Memorising the Answer
 OK, this isn’t new, we’ve all done that. This time it isn’t going to work
because a memorised answer is easily spotted by a professional examiner.
Instead of rote-learning the whole answer try to remember some basic
phrases and constructions for each possible topic. An honest answer will
be much better than a learned one.
 Drinking for Confidence 
 This isn’t going to work. You will think slower, feel out of place. Not to
mention you will smell of alcohol — your examiner won’t be too happy to
have you. If you absolutely have to take the pressure off — have some
green tea before the exam. Mint works good too. Don’t overdo it — you
can get your thinking process slowed down by drinking too much.
 Short Answer
 The whole idea of Speaking part of exam is to showcase your
language. Some tend to forget this, responding to every other
questions with only a couple of words. Remember: your answer has
to be detailed. As long as it is relevant to the topic — it’s good. If
you start going over the time limit the examiner will let you know.
If you are unsure what to say, then make something up. Your words
don’t have to be one hundred percent truth.
 Spontaneous Answer
 Certain tasks give you preparation time (i.e. IELTS Speaking Task 2
— the card question). Some choose to keep all the bullet points of
the answer in their head. While this is acceptable, it isn’t the
optimal technique. You are much better to write the crucial
information down: the beginnings of sentences, some words and
phrases that you think you should use and so forth. Don’t be lazy –
some writing can make your answer much more structured
and cohesive.