Speaking Part 1 in B1 Preliminary, B2 First and C1 Advanced are all quite similar and can be practised with these fantastic chat cards! Chat cards are great because you can use them in lots of different ways. They could be a warmer for a rainy day, they could be used as part of a game where the chat card serves as a type of forfeit, they can be used in examiner/candidate role plays or they can be extended into vocabulary building activities where the teacher pushes the students to improve their answers by using specific lexis.
Contents
Possible topics for Speaking Part 1
For all the exams, Speaking Part 1 is a short ice breaker where the examiner will ask the candidates a few personal questions. The topics are more or less the same from one exam to the next, the noticeable difference is in the way the questions are written.
- Your home
- Daily life
- Friends and family
- Free time
- Education
- Work
- Travel
- Hobbies (sports, games etc.)
- Entertainment (TV, film, music etc.)
- Media (news, radio, newspapers etc.)
- Technology (mobile phones, internet etc.)
- The future
How to prepare for Speaking Part 1
Students often take this part of the exam quite lightly. They might not worry about it because it seems like an easy and inconsequential part of the speaking exam. This opening part gives students a chance to settle into the exam and show how well they can answer familiar questions.
Help your students by preparing them for all the topics listed above and getting as much practice as possible. Don’t let them ramble on, but make sure they extend their answers too. As the levels increase from B1 Preliminary to B2 First to C1 Advanced, the expectation that candidates will produce something substantial also increases.
The materials
Use these Speaking Part 1 chat cards as a warmer, cooler or filler. As students get closer to their exam date, they should be able to give nice extended, but concise, answers to these questions. Extend the activity by having your students make their own!
EXAM PART: Speaking Part 1
EXAM SKILLS: Discussing familiar topics, discourse management
TIME: 20 minutes
PREPARATION: Print on to card and cut up a set for each group of 2-3 students
Download
Preview
Speaking Tests Complete Pack
Extend your Speaking Part 1 practice with fifteen complete tests: five each for B1 Preliminary, B2 First and C1 Advanced.
Digital PDF: €9.95
