Part two of the B2 First Speaking exam creates
a lot of confusion. People have watched my video about the five biggest mistakes that students make
when taking the B2 First Speaking exam and they've asked me: "Toby! Why is your advice different
to the advice that my teacher gave me!?". Well is your teacher wrong? Yes... Yes... Definitely...
No! No no maybe not. Well, let's see. Together as a team. My name is Toby, I am a Cambridge speaking
examiner. This is SMASH English and here is why your teacher might be, could be, may be wrong
about part two of the B2 First Speaking exam. Before we begin let me tell you something. You can
trust me. Look at this face. Don't you trust this face? But how do you know that you can trust me!?
Well firstly, I am a Cambridge speaking examiner. I examine Cambridge speaking exams.
It is literally my job! And secondly, hundreds of people have commented on this
channel telling me that they have used my advice to get them the high marks that they
want. They're happy. I'm happy. And I want you to be happy too! Isn't that great? Aren't I great!
And very very trustworthy. Seriously I never ever lie. So I receive this question a lot:
"But Toby, my teacher said that in part two of the B2 First Speaking exam I must describe
two pictures and then answer a question. You tell me not to describe the pictures and
only answer the question. Are you a liar, Toby?" Am I a liar? Well we are all liars. We
all lie every single day. But am I lying to you, my dearest student, about part two of the
B2 First Speaking exam? Absolutely not. God! And is your teacher wrong to tell you to describe
the pictures in part two of the B2 First speaking exam? Well it's it's complicated. No,
they're not. But kind of... maybe... yes. Okay okay listen! Here is the B2 First
Cambridge Handbook for Teachers. This handbook was created to help teachers prepare
their students for the b2 first speaking exam. Let's turn to page 72 and see what it says
regarding part 2 of the B2 First speaking exam. "Candidates are expected to point out similarities
and differences between the photographs and then move on to deal with the question answering
it with reference to both photographs". So in light of this your teacher will probably
want you to describe the pictures first and then answer the question and this
is okay! This is not bad advice! But on page 73 of the B2 First Cambridge Handbook
for Teachers it says this! "Candidates are not expected to give detailed descriptions of each
picture rather they are asked to compare the pictures and to give their reaction to them".
Okay so in your answer you must describe the pictures but not in detail and you must definitely
answer the question. So Toby! What is the problem with teachers telling their students to describe
the pictures!? Well let's look at an example and I will show you. I will show you! Yes!
Here is our sample picture of people outside. Let's not worry about a question for now.
Instead let's focus on trying to describe it. What can you say? There are three people. They are
outside. They are gardening. There are two adults and a child. The girl is putting a plant in the
ground. The man is watering the plant. The people are smiling. Great... Is there anything else
we can say here? Well... no. Not really. Maybe we could describe what the people are wearing but
what's the point? So the question is, what have we accomplished with this answer? Well we've used
the present simple and the present continuous. We have also used some fantastic words
like people, gardening, plant, ground, to water, to smile. Brilliant! These are really
good words if you are taking an A2 exam... Will this help you score high marks? Well here is
the B2 First marking scheme for the speaking exam and here is the section on grammar and
vocabulary. What we have just said would score us an amazing score of ONE and definitely no
higher. This is the equivalent to a THREE, a pass, in a B1 Preliminary exam and that's because
you are using simple grammar and you're using it well and you're using a range of vocabulary
to talk about everyday situations: to smile, to water. Yeah... So what are you
achieving by describing the picture? Well basically nothing. It's not helping you so
why do it? You're wasting your time. Now okay, in the exam you don't have to talk about one
picture. You talk about two pictures and so things do change once we introduce another picture.
So let's do that now! Here is another picture and it shows teenagers playing football. So what
could we say? Well we can finally introduce a linking expression! In the first picture there are
three people gardening WHILE in the second picture there are teenagers playing football. Now our
marks improve but not because of our description of the pictures, right? Instead because of the
way we are approaching the question with linking expressions. The description itself is not what is
giving us the marks. Remember that you only have one minute and I know one minute seems like a lot
of time to talk on your own but it's not. You have two pictures. That's 30 seconds for each picture.
Not a lot of time. Especially if you describe the picture! That gives you 15 seconds to describe
each picture and 15 seconds to answer the question for each picture. That is no time at all! And
seriously this is a big problem. As an examiner I have seen this problem time and time again.
Students will start to describe the picture and they get so lost in their description
that they will forget to answer the question. Or maybe a student wants to answer the question
but they have not managed their time effectively and so instead they have described the pictures
for too long and I have to tell them to stop talking because their one minute has passed. Oh
no! This is a big problem because we have already seen that the description itself cannot give you
high marks. This means that the student has missed a fantastic opportunity to show the examiner all
the wonderful, brilliant grammar that they know and that's a terrible thing. So instead I tell
all of my students to immediately start answering the question. Yes! Immediately start answering the
question! This is because the act of answering the question should also be descriptive! How can you
answer the question without describing the picture in your answer!? Let's look at an example. We will
use the two images from before but this time we will introduce a question: Why might these people
have decided to spend their time outside in these ways? If you answer the question correctly
then you will be describing and answering at the same time. Fantastic! So here we have to
speculate about the past this means we need to use PAST MODALS OF DEDUCTION. And seriously if you do
not know this grammar then make sure you learn it before the exam. It's very very important for part
four of the use of english but also for part two of the speaking exam. Seriously this is essential
grammar! There is a video about it right here! So let's have a look at our perfect answer using
past modals of deduction. In the first picture these people may have decided to go gardening
in order to spend some quality time together. They look as if they are grandparents with their
granddaughter so they might be on holiday together and enjoying the nice weather. On the other hand
in the second picture they are teenagers so they could have decided to spend time outdoors to be
away from their parents. They are playing football and so they must have decided to go to the
park in order to have a lot of space to play. In this example answer we
are describing the pictures but we are describing the pictures in order to
speculate to answer the question. Our descriptions are connected to our speculations. They are not
random. And this is why it's so so important to start answering the question first.
Only describe in relation to your answering of the question! For example "they look as if
they are grandparents with their granddaughter so they might be on holiday". Our description
"they look as if" is linked to our answer "so they might be on holiday". This is the sort of
thing that you need to do! And when you describe the picture your descriptions must, must, must be
linked to your answer. So again! Don't describe the picture! Just answer the question! So in this
answer we have used complex grammatical forms in the form of past modals of deduction and "they
look as if". We have used modals to speculate. We have connected our ideas with linking
expressions like "so" and "in order to". We have also contrasted the two images with the
expression "on the other hand". If you can give an answer like this in the exam you will do very very
well. And this is the entire point of the video: if you describe the pictures then you cannot use
complex grammar. In fact the only grammar you can really use to describe a picture is the present
simple and the present continuous and this is A2 level but you're taking a B2 First exam right?
Yes! If you answer the question immediately then this enables you to show the examiner
that you can use some fantastic grammar like modal verbs and past modals of deduction
to speculate, "look as though" and "look as if" to describe and then linking expressions to
link your descriptions with your speculations! Wow! That's fantastic! That's amazing! And you
know what? You can do it! Yes? Yes you can! Focus on the question and only describe the pictures to
the extent that it helps you answer the question. And that sounded great! I'm a philosopher!
So let me repeat it: focus on the question and only describe the pictures to the extent
that it helps you answer the question. Amazing. Wow. And that is why I tell my students
no no no no do not describe the pictures, answer the question! And if you don't know
everything you need to know about part two and you're thinking but toby i have so
many questions about part two of the B2 First Speaking exam then watch my video all about
part two! It's long it will tell you everything, it will give you every single grammar structure
that you need to know for part two. That's very generous of me and I'm giving it to you... for
free. Great! And with that we are finished. Now you know everything you need to know about your
teacher possibly being wrong about part two of the B2 First speaking exam! But I don't think they're
wrong! I think we have different techniques and different strategies. I've had more success with
my strategy which is why it's my strategy! I'm not criticizing anyone, all right!? God! Stop accusing
me of being negative! I'm not negative at all! If you like the video don't forget to SMASH that
like button, subscribe if you haven't already, leave a comment down below! My name
is Toby and this was SMASH English...
