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  • Hello and welcome to another Isles video today.

  • We're looking at the speaking section of the examination, and we're looking at a few strategies that you can follow in certain situations.

  • So I've entitled this video.

  • What do I do if now in the video we're going to look at a few different situations that can arise while you are engaging the speaking portion of your examination, and I want to provide you with a few phrases that you can use in these situations to help you better control them.

  • Ah, and to help you better come across to your Eilts examiner as a fluent speaker of English.

  • If you find this video helpful, I encourage you to visit my blawg at I'll.

  • I'll start calm.

  • And today's video is coming to you in partnership with Eilts podcast, Don't calm, so please also check out that Web site.

  • There are lots of good resources there, too, so let's get started now.

  • The first thing we're going to address is what do I do if my wants to share an example to prove my point?

  • So eso in part two of the speaking examination, as you know you're going to have to speak, um, in a monologue and two to share your opinions about a certain topic now.

  • Often when you're when you're sharing your opinion, it's helpful to use an example.

  • And actually, often your cue card will ask you to use an example.

  • But the problem is, how do we introduce this example and are speaking well?

  • There are a number of phrases that we can use to do this, so let's go over a few of them.

  • Firstly, we can say to illustrate this.

  • Now, of course, the word this indicates that we have been talking about a topic before, and now we're going to share an example that shows that topic in action.

  • So to illustrate this, to give you an example to show you what I mean and then you might actually continue this to say something like to show you what I mean, let me give you the example of.

  • And then whatever a case in point is so a case.

  • If we were talking about perhaps some successful advertising campaigns, I might say something like a case in point is the McDonald's Restaurant advertising campaign or the McDonald's restaurants slogan I'm loving it or something like that.

  • That was the topic that we were talking about.

  • Take McKinsey, for example.

  • So Mackenzie could be replaced with whatever our example is just this would be a way to introduce it.

  • So I could say I could say, take McDonald's, for example.

  • Or if we're talking about, um, you know, places around the world, I might say, Take Dubai, for example.

  • Okay, so I hope that helps in that area.

  • Now, what do I do if I need a few extra seconds to mentally prepare my answer?

  • So now this is a question that I get asked all the time.

  • And, um and there are a number of phrases that you can use, and these phrases really help you to sound like a fluent English speaker.

  • So, you know, don't be shy in using them.

  • And you know when you're when you're speaking, there are things.

  • There are pauses.

  • There are two kinds of pauses.

  • There are good pauses or healthy policies, and there are bad pauses.

  • Good pauses are the kinds of pauses that you even here when native English speakers are speaking.

  • So these are the kinds of pauses that they're quite brief and they're just used when a native English or when an English speaker is trying to prepare their response properly.

  • Now a bad pause is when a student stops and has to think for extended period of time.

  • And this kind of pause makes it obvious to the Examiner that they are having difficulty, um, thinking of what it is that they're going to say.

  • So we don't want to have bad pauses in our speaking response.

  • So some ways that we can avoid this is to use thes following phrases.

  • So now if you're asked a question and you just need an extra couple of seconds to think about what it is you're going to say, try one of these.

  • It's difficult to say now if you say it in that sense, I mean, you even give yourself a few extra seconds to think further.

  • So if the Examiner asked me something, I'm not really sure what I'm going to say.

  • I might say, um, it's difficult to say.

  • Then I prepare, you know, in my mind a few seconds what it is I'm going to respond with.

  • Hmm?

  • Let me think Well, to cut a long story short, that's a good question.

  • Well, to be honest, now, this is a good phrase to use if you're being asked your opinion about something.

  • So So if the examiner asks you what, What?

  • You know, maybe you've lived in Dubai for a number of years.

  • What is your What's your opinion of Dubai?

  • The culture of the lifestyle here.

  • Well, to be honest, and then you can go on from there.

  • It's funny.

  • You should ask.

  • Now, this is a phrase that you would probably use if there is some sort of ironic connection between what the Examiner is asking you and what it is.

  • You are going to respond.

  • Okay, So I hope those air helpful now what do I do if I want to show my examiner that I that I am actively listening?

  • So an important, um, part of the speaking portion of the aisles examination is to show that you are engaged in the conversation.

  • So it's not really just you're sitting there, The examiner asks you a question, then you respond, and then you wait.

  • The examiner ask you another question, then you respond and you ate note.

  • That's that's not what you want to do.

  • you want to be engaged.

  • So in part three of the speaking exam, you're going to have to, um, you know, share a dialogue with your examiner, and it's very important that you show the Examiner that you're you are.

  • You're fluently speaking the language, which is just as much about listening as it is about speaking.

  • So here's some phrases that you can use to demonstrate to your examiner that you are involved in what the topic is of your conversation.

  • So trite phrases like that's an interesting point.

  • And then this is also helps you lead off from something that the Examiner says I was interested in what you said about.

  • Now this could be a phrase that either the student might see or the Examiner might say, But But if the Examiner is talking about something and then you know you want to perhaps engage in the conversation, you might actually, um, you know, use a phrase like this to talk about something the Examiner had brought up previously and what they were saying.

  • So I was interested in what you said about, and then whatever.

  • And then maybe even you could you could ask them a question at this point.

  • Two.

  • So when you say leadership, do you mean Oh, I'm sorry.

  • Did I miss something cute?

  • Oh, no.

  • Uh, okay.

  • Sorry.

  • I think I meant to put in here.

  • What do I do if I don't fully understand?

  • What?

  • What the what?

  • The Examiner's question is, I'm sorry I missed my one of my small subtitles here, But anyways, so what do I do if I don't fully understand what the Examiner is asking me?

  • So it's okay to clarify, Please understand that that's it's not instantly a mistake If you ask your examiner to clarify themselves because, you know, even native speakers do this sometimes it if there's if something's being asked of somebody and you don't want 100% understand exactly what they're getting at, it's okay to ask them to clarify.

  • Now, of course I mean it.

  • You can ask them every single time to clarify.

  • That's obviously not going to work in your favor.

  • But if you are asked something and you didn't hear clearly or or perhaps there's a phrase that you think you understand, but you're not quite sure Uh, it's okay.

  • Just just ask them to clarify.

  • So So when you say leadership, do you mean so we can use this?

  • Of course.

  • Leadership.

  • We could replace with anything.

  • Could you explain what you mean by okay?

  • So these kinds of phrases are okay to use to clarify what it is you're being asked.

  • Now what do I do If I have been talking about a topic and I want to stop talking about it Or in other words, I want to reach a conclusion.

  • So in part two of the exam you're talking, you know, you're you're delivering your monologue.

  • You're talking to your examiner about a certain topic, and you've been talking for a bit of time about it.

  • And now you want to come to some sort of conclusion, or you want to stop the monologue on a, um on a good in a good way.

  • So what are some phrases that we can use to do this now, if you've been talking about the good and bad points about something I'd recommend using a freeze, like so weighing up the pros and cons, I feel that and then deliver whatever your conclusion is, Or perhaps I think most people can generally agree that okay, so a good phrase to use if you're if you're being asked, you know, for your thoughts on Perhaps, um, perhaps the place where you live or if you're if you're being asked about, you know, a certain topic in the world.

  • And you just wanted to come to some sort of general conclusion.

  • I think most people could generally agree that so all in all, I would argue that essentially what I feel is the most important point is so to sum up and, uh, that is a helpful phrase, sometimes to be to be totally honest with you And I'm not sure if there are any other Isles instructors or examiners listening to this video.

  • But the words some is, I think sometimes used excessively.

  • I find students these days seem to use it all the time.

  • Every s a mark it seems to have at the end, the words sum up.

  • So maybe this is a phrase.

  • I mean, you know, course it's it's not incorrect to use it, but might be when you better know, maybe not.

  • Not the best one to use just because it's used so regularly.

  • So I'd say my conclusion is that it looks like we can agree that now, of course, this is probably something that you would use, perhaps in the in part three of the speaking exam.

  • When you're talking with your examiner, if there's, you know, some area that's common between the two of you are an opinion that you both share.

  • Uh, you might want to use a phrase like, Oh, it looks like we can agree that you know that, um, that living standards in Dubai are very high or whatever.

  • Okay, so I hope that that that video helps sort out a few of the issues that you might have with different situations that you might face on the speaking portion of the examination.

  • Now, if you have anything else that you would like to share, or phrases that you want to check, whether they would be accurate or inaccurate, or even phrases that you feel, um, are helpful to speakers in this portion of the examination, please leave them as a comment.

  • And then we can discuss and perhaps create a bit of, ah list between us that could become a good resource for other I'll students around the world.

Hello and welcome to another Isles video today.

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