B2 First long turn: Speaking Part 2 photo practice

• Speaking at length without being prompted.
• Comparing two images rather than describing them one after the other.
• Answering the printed question, which is usually about why or how people feel.
• Speculating: modal verbs and hedging language for things you cannot know.
• Organising a one-minute turn with a beginning, a middle and a close.
• Range of vocabulary for places, people, activities and feelings.
• Fluency: keeping going with natural hesitation rather than long pauses.
• Paraphrasing around words you do not know.
• Listening to the partner's pictures well enough to answer the short follow-up question.
• Timing, so that you are still speaking when the examiner stops you.

1. Step 1: 1

   Read the printed question before you look at the pictures

   The question is the task. If it asks why the people might have chosen these activities, a description of the clothes and the weather answers nothing.

2. Step 2: 2

   Start with a one-line comparison

   ‘Both photographs show people learning something, but in very different surroundings.’ This sets up the whole minute and shows the examiner immediately that you are comparing.

3. Step 3: 3

   Work in pairs of contrasts, not in two blocks

   Say something about both pictures, then something else about both. Describing picture one for thirty seconds and then picture two is the shape that loses comparison marks.

4. Step 4: 4

   Answer the question in the middle of the turn

   After the first comparison, move to the printed question with a clear signal: ‘As for why they might be doing this ...’.

5. Step 5: 5

   Speculate with modals and hedges

   ‘She might be a student, judging by the bag’ and ‘it looks as though they have just arrived’. Speculation is the language the task is designed to elicit.

6. Step 6: 6

   Use the pictures as evidence

   Attach every guess to something visible: judging by, it looks as if, you can tell from. This produces longer, better-supported sentences.

7. Step 7: 7

   Keep a closing line ready

   ‘So on balance I think the second one would suit me better.’ It is useful if you finish early and gives the turn a shape.

8. Step 8: 8

   Do not describe everything

   You have a minute, not a catalogue. Two or three points, developed, beat a list of objects in each frame.

9. Step 9: 9

   Paraphrase instead of stopping

   If you cannot remember ‘scaffolding’, say ‘the metal frame they build around a building’. Fluency is assessed; perfect vocabulary is not required.

10. Step 10: 10

    Listen during your partner's turn

    You will be asked a short question about their photographs. Candidates who switch off have to answer a question about pictures they never looked at.

• Not thisIn the first picture there is a man. He is wearing a coat. There is a dog.

  ThisBoth pictures show people outdoors, although the first looks far colder than the second.

  Listing objects is description, not comparison, and it produces short flat sentences that show little range.

• Not thisDescribing picture one for thirty seconds, then picture two.

  ThisAlternating: a point about both, then another point about both.

  The task says compare. Two separate descriptions can be accurate and still miss what is being assessed.

• Not thisIgnoring the printed question entirely.

  ThisAnswering it explicitly halfway through the turn.

  The question is the content of the task, and a turn that never reaches it is incomplete however fluent it sounds.

• Not thisHe is a teacher and they are enjoying it.

  ThisHe might be a teacher, and they look as though they are enjoying it.

  You cannot know what a photograph shows. Speculative language is exactly what the examiner is listening for.

• Not thisStopping after twenty seconds because you have run out of things to say.

  ThisMoving to the question: why might they be doing this, and how might they feel?

  The printed question always gives you more to say. Silence is the most costly thing in this part.

• Not thisTalking for two minutes until the examiner interrupts.

  ThisKeeping a closing line ready for the end of the minute.

  Time is controlled by the examiner, but a turn that ends mid-clause loses the chance to show a well-shaped finish.

both photographs show

opens a comparison

whereas

introduces a direct contrast

while the first ... the second

parallel comparison structure

judging by

introduces the visual evidence for a guess

it looks as if

speculation based on appearance

he might well be

strong speculation

I would imagine that

hedged guess

presumably

it is reasonable to assume

in the foreground

at the front of the picture

in the background

at the back of the picture

what strikes me is

introduces the most noticeable feature

as for

moves to the next part of the question

on balance

considering everything; useful for closing

the thing they use to

paraphrase for an unknown word

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