ENGLISH EXAM TIPS AND ADVICE WITH EXAM EXPERT FRANK! PART ONE. YOUR ENGLISH EXAM QUESTIONS ANSWERED.

Need more help? Check out my B2 First, C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency online preparation courses here: ttp-exam-academy-ben.thinkifi...
As my long-term followers know, many of my KZbin videos focus on helping students prepare for and pass the Cambridge English exams - B2 First, C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency (FCE, CAE and CPE) by giving tips and advice based on my experience and knowledge. However, there are certain things that I don't know.
So, I decided to interview an English exam expert in order to clarify the doubts that I, and my students, have regarding the exams.
Frank Carrizo is that expert! What Frank doesn't know about English exams isn't worth knowing!
In this interview (Part 1) he answers questions that members of my Telegram group put forward and he shares lots of extremely useful insights to help exam students prepare for the exams and pass with flying colours.
2:11 Frank's background and podcast.
10:40 Importance of pronunciation in speaking paper.
15:02 Can examiners intervene when one candidate speaks too much?
20:04 In the discussion part of the speaking paper, is it ok to have a long conversation about just one question?
25:14 Do examiners consider, understand and accept the typical mistakes made by certain nationalities?
33:20 How important is it not to mix British and American pronunciation and spelling?
Frank also has an amazing podcast which I encourage anyone preparing for an English exam to listen to;
whatyousayinenglish.wordpress...
/ whatyousayinenglish
The Chat Box Facebook group where Frank and I made contact (it's the best FB group for English learners);
groups/world...
Cheers! 🕺
Ben
Website: ttpenglish.com
Instagram: to_the_point_English
Facebook page: Ben Gill English to the Point
#learnenglish #englishexamtips #tothepointenglish #caetips #fcetips #cpetips #bengill

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Thanks again to Frank for being so generous with his time and sharing his extensive knowledge. Check out part 2 here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ima9qKSrf996bcU

[@xilianarodriguez7016]

Great video! How can I join your Telegram group ? Thanks.

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Click on this link and send me a message t.me/BenGillTTP

[@BelleCracksItUp]

Very interesting insights that will for sure be helpful facing the examination. Thank you for arraging this interview!

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Thanks Bella 🙂

[@queensenglish123]

Kudos to you Ben for bringing such a smart and valuable person to discuss Cambridge Exams. Frank has a very organized mind for communicating his ideas.

[@ingushforever5863]

Thanks to both of you for ur work.

[@thechatbox18]

Hey Ben and Frank, what a pair! Thank you for sharing this treasure. Lovely to see you could meet. This is extremely useful. A must watch!!! Please please please, share it on the Chat Box, and thank you from the bottom of my heart Ben!

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Done! 🙂

[@agnieszkastachowiak8636]

Thanks a lot. It was very helpful and interesting. Can't wait for the part two, as I'm preparing by myself for an B2 exam.

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Coming soon! 🙂

[@EllenaOliveira]

Great video! Very helpful, thank you both 😊

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

I'm glad you liked the video. Frank's insights are invaluable.

[@thechatbox18]

I can't wait for the second part, the third, let's make a season!

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

😆 Yes... why not!

[@silviafernandezguerra5199]

Looking forward to watching Part 2

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Coming soon! 🙂

[@EllenaOliveira]

Never realised, until just now when Frank talked about it, that the reason I usually feel more comfortable doing anything in English (studying, general reading, watching, even communicating) than in my native language (Portuguese) is because I do most things in English, both at work and in my personal life, specially since I date an English native speaker. Really interesting reflection 👏🏻 (I’m still at 5:32 on the video, but had to comment on that already)

[@user-nr7wb9fe3x]

It was my dream to meet a real interlocutor. Thanks Ben. Awesome!

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Great! Glad to help make your dream come true! 🙂

[@giodietrich]

Frank is from Venezuela like me! I'm bilingual Spanish-Italian. Also speak English, French and German.

[@bolt8987]

Thank so much, that's really useful.

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Glad you found it useful! 🙂

[@Valerie_pt]

My first language is Russian and I can totally relate to counting in your mother tongue even though I'm C2 in English :) I guess it's so deep in our subconscious that we can't fight it back!

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

I think you must be right... It's some neurological 🙂

[@leonardotorres2160]

Dear Ben, thank you for asking!! Frank, thank you for such full answer to my question. These videos are helpful and meaningful. Thank you both for your time and dedication, look forward to watching more

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Thanks for your comment, Leonardo. 🙂

[@Noelito40]

Great video Ben and Frank. I have watched both of your videos and your podcasts, and I advise my students to do likewise. Good call to do this interview, as Ben I'm like yourself, I teach, but I'm not a Cambridge examiner, so I have all these nagging little questions on the exam and the marking process. And I also know the feeling of answering a student's question on instinct and experience rather than on cast-iron certainty, so to have the answer confirmed by an official examiner is very comforting. Look forward to the second instalment... PS: What's the best forum for teachers to discuss these matters? Or is it better to simply include students and not have a forum exclusively for teachers?

[@frankcarrizozirit1454]

I'm glad you found it useful. I know that students can ask very specific questions that sometimes teachers are not fully equipped to answer. Even before becoming an examiner and Team Leader, I had the same questions, but attending Cambridge webinars helped a lot. They do offer tidbits of information through their teaching guides and webinars. Maybe Ben can continue collecting questions. I'll be more than happy to answer them.

[@yurenasantana9037]

Hello Ben, I’ve got a question: in the writing tasks, can we use an erasable pen? Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think I understood that writing papers were scanned and then destroyed, so the only thing that matters is that they’re legible. I have difficulty in keeping my writings clean and sadly, I’ve always ended up crossing out too many words :-(

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

I would think that an erasable pen is ok. They only stipulate that you can't use a pencil.

[@kateshemyakina4707]

It is prohibited to use an erasable pen during the exam. The instructor of the exam tells this while reading rules of the exam.

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Interesting. Thanks Kate!

[@Noelito40]

Yurena, I think you need to stand back and look at this from another angle. You get no marks in the exam for a "clean" script. If you make a mistake, or simply want to change a word, (maybe use a better synonym), do not erase the word or words, simply put a line through it/them and put brackets around them, then write the word(s) over the space. You will not be penalised once your script is legible. If you are worried about such niceties, I would suggest doing the computer based exam as it solves a lot of the problems of editing/deleting. Finally, it goes without saying that the better your original planning, the less likely you are to make mistakes or to have to add in new words/phrases.

[@frankcarrizozirit1454]

Hi, Yurena, I'm Frank... As Kate Shemyakin said, using erasable pens is highly discouraged in the writing exam. Even if you get away with it and write your pieces with an erasable pen, you may think that your mistakes won't come up in the scans, when they actually do. The official support website from Cambridge states: "The use of erasable pen during writing examinations often leaves smudges, making papers harder to read. If you make a mistake during the written parts of your exam, please just strike through the work that you do not want us to mark. As long as the rest of your answer can be read, you will not be penalised for this." So, in theory, they aren't strictly prohibited but if I were you, I wouldn't gamble a disqualification because of this. Trust me, I've witnessed disqualifications for LESS than that. For more on this, you can go to: support.cambridgeenglish.org/hc/en-gb/articles/205802836-Can-I-use-correction-fluid-correction-tape-or-erasable-pen-

[@eugeneparmon6046]

Hello, Ben! I have a question about a computer-based test. The idea of typing an essay instead of writing and listening to audios in headphones looks appealing, BUT - am I supposed to take notes about everything else on the computer as well? Because it's much easier to do with a pen and paper rather than with a mouse. Thank you)

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

You should be provided with paper for notes

[@eugeneparmon6046]

@@tothepointenglishwithben. Thank you! that's relieving)

[@ciceroalvesjunior7069]

How can I get into CAE telegram group?

[@wenluckluck8878]

I would like to join your group for preparing c1/C2 exam

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Great... All the information and links are in the video description!

[@olgabber13]

Ben I'm giving speaking exams tomorrow. I know I'll kill it. 😂 hehe I'm not able to remember any word when I speak in english to other like I've never done a lesson even the 9 years of studying. WISH ME LUCK 😵😂

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Stay calm and focused! You'll crush it... Good luck!