1 PART 1 : INTERVIEW TIP 1 : BE PREPARED WITH FAMILIAR TOPICS PART 1 Questions are normally on these topics: 1.1 Your hobbies 1.2 Your education 1.3 Friends and family 1.4 Holidays 1.5 Sports 1.6 Entertainment Your hobbies • What do you usually do in your spare time? • Do you prefer to stay alone or with your friends? • What do you usually do on weekends and weekdays? • What do you usually do when you go out? • What do you usually do with your friends? • Do you like reading? What kind of books do you like best? • Do you like English? Why or why not? Your education / ambition / work • Do you use the internet to learn new things? What are they? • Do you prefer working on your own or with other people? Why? • What do you think would be the most interesting job to do? • Do you find it easy to study where you live? Why? • What were the most important things you learned at primary school? • What kind of work would you really like to do in the future? Friends and family • Do you have many friends? Are they casual acquaintances or close friends? • Do you prefer one or two close friends or many friends? Why? • Can you talk about your best friend? • What do you usually do with your friends? • Is the time you spend with your friends as much as that you spend with your family? • What do you expect from a good friend? • Are friends as important to you as family? Holidays • Do you like traveling? Why? • Do you like travel alone or with your friends? Why? • Have you traveled to other places? Where are they? • What do you usually do when you first arrive in a new place? Sports • Are you interested in sport? Why? • Is there a sport you’d really like to try? Why? • What sports do people play most in your country? • How much exercise do you take each week? • Do you like to be physically active or do you prefer relaxing? Entertainment • How important is TV to you? • How much TV do you watch in a week? What do you normally watch? • Do you like the same TV programmes as your parents? Why? • Where do you like listening to music? • Do you like going to the cinema? • Tell me about your favourite film star. • Tell us about a film you really like. • Do you enjoy playing computer games? English Paper 3 Speaking
2 PART 2 : INDIVIDUAL LONG-TURN TASK TIP 1 BE PREPARED TO TELL STORY / PERSONAL ANECDOTE 1.1 Tell me about a holiday you had. 1.2 Tell me about a difficult journey you had. 1.3 Tell me about a perfect day you’ve had. 1.4 Tell me about a special event in your life. 1.5 Tell me about a birthday you remember. 1.6 Tell me about a time when you lost something important. 1.7 Tell me about a time when you gave someone a surprise. TIP 2 BE PREPARED TO DESCRIBE PEOPLE, PLACES AND EVENTS/INCIDENT. 2.1 storyline/s for a new story. 2.2 main character / minor character 2.3 adjectives to describe people, places, views, feelings and events / incidents. TIP 3 MASTER THE NARRATIVE TENSES 3.1 Past tense : I was selected to play in the match. 3.2 Past Continuous : I didn’t know that they were planning for my birthday party. 3.3 Past Perfect : They hadn’t mentioned anything about my birthday before the match. TIP 4 MAKE THE STORY INTERESTING 4.1 Use adjectives : So, our class needed to encounter another very strong opponent. 4.2 Use adverbs : I secretly hid somewhere she couldn’t find me. TIP 5 USE SEQUENCING WORDS Connect the actions until you reach the end of the story. 5.1 First, At first, Earlier, Before, 5.2 Next, Afterwards, The next day, Meanwhile 5.3 Later, Once, After, Soon 5.4 Last, Finally, At the end TIP 6 USE ALL THE PROMPTS GIVEN 6.1 Follow the sequence of the prompts TIP 7 TALK ABOUT YOUR LIKES AND DISLIKES 7.1 Avoid saying “I like ….. / I don’t like…….” 7.2 Say this instead : • I enjoy ….. • I’m fond of ……. • I get a lot of satisfaction when ….. • I can’t stand it when …. • I’m not fond of ….. • I don’t have much interest in ……
3 PART 3 : DISCUSSION TASK TIP 1 : BE PREPARED WITH FAMILIAR TOPICS PART 3 • People and Culture : Travel / Your home country / City / Free time • Consumerism and Financial Awareness : Shopping • Health and Environment : Pollution • Science and Technology : Social media / Internet / Online gaming / Television TIP 2 : BE PREPARED WITH USEFUL PHRASES 2.1 To start discussion 2.2 To give opinion 2.3 To justify reasons 2.4 To agree / disagree / partially agree To start discussion • Which one shall we start with? • What do you think, Bob? • Bob, I think you know a lot about [topic]. What's your opinion on it? To express opinion • I think that….. • I don’t think that….. • I feel that….. / I don’t feel that….. • I would say that ….. • I believe that….. / I don’t believe that…. • For me…. • Personally, I think…. To give reasons • I say this because……… • I think this is the case because…….. • That’s my opinion. • My opinion is ….. because….. • My reason for saying this is that …. • I chose this because…… To ask partner’s opinion • What do you think? • Don't you agree? • Do you have anything to say about that? • Do you have anything to add to that? • Did I forget anything? To agree • Right. • Good point. • I fully agree. • I was just thinking that! • I was just going to say that! • That's just what I was thinking. • I couldn't agree more. • You're totally right. To disagree • Maybe, but what about...? • I think it would be better to... • I'm not so keen on that.
4 • I don't really agree with you there. • Weeeeeell maybe, but... • Yeah, but, the thing is... • The problem with what you said is... • For one thing...[reason 1] And for another... [reason 2] To partially agree • You have a point, but…. • I see what you mean, but…. TIP 3 DELEGATE THE TASK EQUALLY 3.1 Mark the points on the mind-map clockwise. Refer to the example below. TIP 4 : APPLY SORA-SORA 1.0 TECHNIQUE TO MAINTAIN A DISCUSSION SORA 1.1 (Speaker 1) • Start discussion = S • Give your opinion = O • Give your reason = R • Ask your partner’s opinion = A SORA 1.2 (Speaker 2) • Say again and agree with your partner’s point of view = S • Introduce your new point and opinion = O • Give reason to justify opinion = R • Agree = A
5 Sample discussion : Speaker 1 : Shall I start first?(S) Speaker 2 : Yeah sure! Speaker 1 : I feel (O), people like to shop online because there are no crowds. I say this because (R) if we go shopping during Hari Raya or Chinese New Year or Deepavali, there will be a lot of people, but if we shop online, that will not be a problem. What do you think? (A) Speaker 2 : I completely agree with you. As you said,(S) some people shop online because they don’t like crowds. I think (O) time saving is also a reason why people shop online. My reason for saying this is because(R) some people are very busy with work and they don’t have time to go shopping. Don’t you agree with me?(A) Speaker 1 : I was just thinking that! I agree that (S) time-saving is why people shop online. But, if you ask me, (O) people also shop online because they can get better prices because (R) there are many sales online. Do you have anything to add?
6 SPEAKER 1 Point 1 Point 3 Point 5 S Shall I start first? Absolutely! I totally agree with your idea that …. I couldn’t agree more. You are right when you said…… O I think …… But, I also think that… What do you feel about this point? In my opinion, I think ……. R My reason for saying this is that….. The reason is…… I think this is the case because…. A Do you agree? What do you think ? What say you? SPEAKER 2 Point 2 Point 4 Point 6 S Oh yes, I completely agree with you. As you said…. I was just thinking that! I understand why you said.. …. Good point there. As you said…. O Well, for me, I feel that …… What about this point? The way I see it……. What do you think about this idea? I might be wrong but I think… R My reason is simple ……….. Because….. This is because……….. A Don’t you agree? Do you have anything to add? TIP 5 : APPLY SORA-SORA 2.0 TECHNIQUE TO MAKE DECISION SORA 2.1 (Speaker 1) • Suggest your choice = S • Give your opinion = O • Give your reason = R • Ask your partner’s opinion = A SORA 2.2 (Speaker 2) • Say again and agree with your partner’s choice = S • Give your opinion = O • Give reason to justify opinion = R • Ask your partner’s opinion = A
7 Sample discussion (to make a decision) S1 : Why don’t we choose this one? (S) S2 : Uh-huh… S1: I think (O) people shop online because online shops give better prices. I say this because (R) can buy straight from the factory without any middle man. What do you think Raj?(A) S2 : Well, I totally agree with you. As you said (S), people like to shop online because it gives better prices. Besides, for me, I think (O) because there are so many online stores, all of the online stores are trying to give the best prices to customers. I say this because (R), they offer many rewards, vouchers and discounts to attract customers with attractive prices. I’m glad we can agree that (A) people shop online because it gives them better prices. TIP 6 : AVOID SILENCE. BUY TIME! 5.1 So ... 5.2 Erm ... 5.3 Well ... 5.4 I've never really thought about that, but... 5.5 What a good question! 5.6 That's a good question. 5.7 That's an interesting question. 5.8 Oh! Let me think. Well, ...