How to pass the Speaking paper of the Cambridge English exams - FORGET THE VOCAB! FCE, CAE, CPE tips

*My Online B2 First, C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency Cambridge English exam preparation courses:
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The speaking paper of the Cambridge English exams is challenging and demanding whether you're preparing for the B2 First, C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency. So, it's important to have a strategy and a clear idea of how to approach each task.
In previous videos I have given plenty of tips on how to pass this tricky paper of the exams. However, in this video I share a new tip that I've never shared before - which you might find surprising.
Let me know what you think in the comments!
Watch this next: Computer based or Paper based exam? • COMPUTER-BASED OR PAPE...
Enjoy the journey!
Ben Gill
English teacher
Website: ttpenglish.com/
Instagram: to_the_point_English
Facebook page: Ben Gill English to the Point
#cambridgeenglishexams #c1advanced #c2proficiency #b2first #caeexam #cpeexam #fceexam #fceexam #tothepointenglish #bengill #britishenglish
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[@quellotte]

I definitely agree! I was doing my C2 exam 16 days ago and when it came to the speaking part I just completely blanked out. Ive never really had any experience with talking while using these so called "C2 words" as Im only 18 and never traveled abroad so i just completely ditched them! The only thing I focused on was really communicating with my partner, nodding, adding some quips here and there if there was space for it. I got 224 points out of possible 230, but to be honest, people often tell me that i have very "poetic" way of saying stuff so that may have gained me some points. The only sentence i remember was on topic of "too much" and i think i said something along the lines of: we are stuck in viscious never ending cycle, and if children will perceive staring days on end at the diplay of their electronical devices as normal quality time between them and their parents, we will be stuck forever between our slowly rotting, eroding minds and the inability of having healthy realitonships. And if im not mistaken, the last question we were asked was about politics. I Have zero clue about politics lol, definitely shocker, made me lose my carefully crafted composure xD I think I answered something akin to that they shouldnt be blinded by their greed and not force people to go against the waves. Overall, if there is someone who is doing any kind of certificate, the first thing you should do is to find your speaking partner - that was the first thing that Ive done. Just walk into the place where you will all have to gather at and ask: "whose speaking exam ends at xx:xx? (It is definitely weird, but that is small price to pay for the salvation, especially if theres humongous gap between you and everybody else) Do that and talk between the parts of the exams if you can. Also, while doing the reading and use of english part, if you have time to spare, go to the toilet! It will help you relieve your mind and it definitely works wonders as youll notice new details! Thats what i did and it helped me immensly. While doing listening, dont wait for the robot, read ahead multiple times. Not once did i wait for it and its definitely the reason that i was having great time contrary to others. So yeah, overall i didnt prepare at all, i dont think i can count my obsession of reading on archive of our own as a proper way of learning english, but it definitely made me more comfortable in different aspects of the language. Most people who were with me at the exam just studied for every single thing.What words can you transform in adverbs and such, let me tell you - i was surprised when they told me that "hotly or firmly" dosnt exist xdd (why is youtube recommending me these types of videos when i got my CPE certificate 3 days ago? Just why? :DD)

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Great comment! Very useful advice for other students 👍

[@richmck007]

For a candidate to write that lot is certainly food for thought…I smell a rat! Well done nevertheless. Now focus on your writing skills when using IT. Seriously!

[@quellotte]

@@richmck007 Why would it be sus? I smell paranoia 🤣 I don't really care about formating when writing on phone, it's horrible as it is

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

I'm not sure what you're insinuating... Could you clarify?

[@darioberretti4169]

No way "firmly" doesn't exist, I swear to god I heard native speakers say that ahaha Anyway, thank you for the comment. I was thinking of trying the C2 but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to hit the examiner with an answer like yours. I guess I still need to practice more :)

[@abyssal8490]

Thank you Ben for these fantastic videos. I've been extremely nervous about my CAE exam coming up this 1st of December and I can't put into words how helpful it's been to watch your content regularly. I've prepared for this exam myself, out of stubbornness but also a lack of economic resources, and I want to give people one single piece of advice: surround yourself with the language as much as you can, music, movies, news and articles, heck, if you can find someone to speak in English with, that'd be the cherry on top. Don't be cocky but don't be scared, you can do it! I wish everybody good luck, and saludos from Argentina.

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Great advice 👍

[@mane.mirakyan]

You are going to do great! God bless you

[@ninalisazu1521]

I'm also from Argentina pero tengo el examen este mes

[@gianinaachim3010]

Thanks Ben!!!❤

[@fabriciogarcia3196]

Outstanding tip .less is more some times. Thanks for you support Ben😄

[@miliabete]

thank you Ben!! you’ve helped me a lot 💝

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Great! I'm happy to help 🙂

[@izabelacymborska6996]

I have my CAE exam on Thursday, 2-nd of December, Thank you for supporting me with crucial tips I am going to follow!

[@kropkakreska8215]

Good luck!🙂

[@romelianeagu8360]

Same here! 2.12 :-)

[@NAHELZA]

oh wow me too! :0 speaking test on the 1st of december, and the rest on the 2nd!

[@nicolascedresalonso1220]

We are going to excell at it !!! I'm having it this week as well (but on the 4th)

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Great! All the best for the exam!

[@sanderooh1834]

I just finished my second CPE exam yesterday, but man I wish I'd found you a few years back! I love your way of presenting and your tips are spot-on, I'll certainly be referring my students to you going forward!

[@sanderooh1834]

Went pretty well! I passed it for the first time 3 years ago at Grade A, and I hope to have done so again this time! Thanks for asking :)

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Great! Looking forward to welcoming your students 🙂

[@Anna-mc3ll]

Definitely! And that’s exactly why everything boils down to constant (and regular) learning and PRACTISING over a (sufficiently) long period of time. PERSEVERANCE! 🙂

[@ritagreco3359]

Ben, your tips are really impressive and soooo helpful and listening to you I can't help wondering why I didn't have a teacher like Ben Gill when I was a student😔🤔anyway now my condition is really amazing, my exam time is over and I can enjoy your advice without performance nightmare, lying on the couch😊👏👏👍

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

I'm sure many of the students preparing for the exam right now would rather be lying on the couch! 😆

[@tehyonglip9203]

Use phrasal verbs instead, they are much easier to use, and more natural and native!

[@Ricardo-xg6gx]

I think I understood 100 % your massage, the vocabulary must be pop up natural and spontaneous as the consequence of our previous training if don't so it will sound artificial and even worse will be unaccuracy.

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

You've got it 👍

[@Crisguay]

Straight to the point again, Ben. I absolutely agree with you, the most important thing is to be a good communicator, having a way with words and expressing yourself properly are key takeaways when taking an oral test. But, how can I get it? 😰

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Practise, practise, practise

[@Crisguay]

@@tothepointenglishwithben. Yep. Indeed, practice makes perfect. BTW, thanks for always answering your students' comments, that says how awesome you are.🙌

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

😊

[@annaaimeri]

I wish I'd come across this video before taking my C2 exam last Saturday 😅

[@TheMostAestheticBlaisan]

I just got my results from the C1 Advanced exam. I got 197 points overall and got C1. I believe that your channel helped me to achive that. Keep up the good work!

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Congratulations! Now the C2 Proficiency? 🙂

[@aloveshk]

Thank you for your advice although i am not taking English exams (Studying German currently🤣)..Your advices are useful and genuine👍

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

I'm glad you find my advice useful 🙂

[@SouthCoastRyda]

Thanks a lot for sharing Ben, however, I should add to your point that consistent revision of topic vocabulary is, to my opinion, still obligatory in order to perform advanced lexis more naturally and effortlessly. Just saying. I'm only about to have the Cambridge Assesment exam yet.

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

Yes, that's right. It's important to study the vocabulary before the exam so it can come up naturally when needed in the exam itself.

[@Scrany99]

Hi Ben. I wanted to thank you for all your amazing content, it has been a great way to prepare and to introduce myself to the different parts of the CAE exam. I know it may sound a bit contradictory to the whole point of this video, but if those phrasal verbs/idioms/good vocabulary do come to mind when doing the exam, how many of this impressive vocabulary is necessary to be awarded with full marks?

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

It's impossible to quantify. The examiners don't count vocabulary, they give a score related to lexical resource. You can get full marks without using dozens of impressive words.

[@tomsl7111]

This video was right on point!! I'm having my speaking part tomorrow. Now I'm just lying on the couch too hahaha.

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

😆 Good plan for the day before the exam!

[@tomsl7111]

@@tothepointenglishwithben. Lol...I mean, I had been preparing myself for the exam in advance obviously. This video was just to reinforce the speaking part regarding what you just brought up here. I already had the speaking part this morning and with my partner got through it pretty well ;) Thank you Professor 🙏🙏

[@sorayachquiry9147]

I have the speaking exam tomorrow morning and I'm just trusting in fate rn 😗

[@agnieszkastachowiak8636]

I should have an B2 exam on 30th of Novber but they cancelled it 🥺 because of little interest. But in 2022 I'm going to take an CAE exam. So I have more time to prepare.

[@namitakapoor5352]

Sir I've been watching your videos on ielts nd your videos are pretty awesome but sir I've a doubt how can I use as a matter of fact ... please check my sentence is it right or wrong well there are three kind of foods that I really like the one I love the most is Indian food as a matter of fact they're highly nutritious... Did I use as a matter of fact perfectly please tell sir

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

It's ok but you should put a full stop after "food" and start a new sentence with "As a matter of fact"

[@buki999]

Hi! Kind of unrelated to the video but I need to ask somewhere. I recently took the Cambridge CPE Exam and I think I put in the wrong topic number on the answer sheet in part 2 of the Writing component. Could someone with experience with the exam tell me how big of an impact this will have on my grade and if the test goes through a human who could spot the error? It'd be such a shame to lose out on so much effort and money over a fleeting lapse of focus.

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

I can only confirm that the writing compositions are marked by humans but I don't know if they'll take the mistake into consideration. Let's hope so 🤞

[@buki999]

@@tothepointenglishwithben. Thank you for the reply! The choice of topic is so obvious from the sentences themselves so I do hope it won't be that big of an issue. 😅 On an unrelated note, I wanted to take the time to properly thank you for all of the content you've put out, it's been invaluable in my preparations and it's made me a better English speaker in the process. Keep it up! 😄

[@fleurblanche7642]

You have to be spontaneous

[@TheLittlechicthings]

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 just listening to you speaaking is good enough, so even if the advice were bad, which it isn't, it would be time well spent!

[@tothepointenglishwithben.]

😊 That's nice

[@catalinavallejor]

I find this tip to be certainly true! What you actually prepare for is to take a test that certifies the English level you have... you might upgrade your English level in the process, but the main point is just proving to Cambridge you do have a certain level of English. Well, of course one is also focused on impressing the examinator, now if we claim we have such level, why not just let it go and prove we have immersed that vocabulary? This is what I think should happen in an ideal scenario, let me know what's your take on this guys :)

[@helloenglish6414]

Me watching this video a week before

[@franciscopontesvelasco4315]

Using English in real world is tough😪

[@StudyElleAhr]

I used all the vocabulary I knew and got 225 haha 😂

[@StudyElleAhr]

Maybe my vocab is limited then 👀