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Written Nov. 5, 2008
How To Speak in Part 2 (Page 4)
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Understanding
the Instructions on the Card
Summary: a) Make sure your answer includes any key
adjective or adverb that is in the first line. b) The words, "You
should say" really mean, "You should include
these points but also include other suitable points".
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It's
very important for you to understand what the instructions on the task card really
mean and how to follow these instructions.
- The
first line, "Describe ...."
tells you the topic of your little story. For example, "Describe
some useful advice you received." Think of the word
"describe" as meaning, "talk about".
As
well as that, it is important to talk about the words that follow,
"Describe", not talk about something else. In other words,
stay on the topic. For
example, if the topic is, "Describe a teacher who greatly influenced you
in your education" then to mainly talk about how old Mr.
Wang, your maths teacher in junior high school, was such a 'nice man' is not
really describing the influence he had on you. Of course, it is natural to
include the information that Mr. Wang was a nice man but you should not change
the topic of your story to mainly describing Mr. Wang's personality if what
you say is not related to the influence he had on you.
- Usually
the task card includes a key adjective (or adverb) in
the first line, following the word, "Describe". For example,
"Describe some useful advice you have
received" or, "Describe an interesting animal
that you have seen". These adjectives mean 'useful to you' or
'interesting to you'. Right from the beginning of your story, you
should make sure that what you talk about fits that adjective. If you
describe some advice that you didn't follow (because you thought it was not
very useful) or if you mainly describe an animal as 'cute' rather than
interesting, then the coherence of your story will be damaged.
Usually,
the last line of the task card, beginning with the words 'and explain', asks
you to give details on how or why this adjective
applied to you. But you don't have to wait until the end of your story to give
these details –
it is much better to start giving these details at the beginning
of your story and to continue giving these details throughout the story. This key
adjective + noun (e.g., 'useful advice' or 'interesting animal') should be
the theme or the central idea of your whole story.
- The
words, "You should say"
really mean, "You should include". In other words,
you should include those three points that follow the words, "You
should say" but you should also include other points. If
you only talk about those three points, you will find it much
more difficult to continue talking for the required 1 to 2 minutes.
As
well as that, when you talk about those three points, you should not
just give the most basic, minimal answer to each of the three points.
Instead, you should also give (lots of) extra details when you answer those
three points. If you only give the most basic information about
those three points and give no extra detail, you will find it difficult to
keep talking for the required 1 to 2 minutes. To recap: In order to help you
speak continuously for 1 to 2 minutes, a) speak about more than just the three
points on the card and, b) whenever you speak about any point, add details.
Many
people (including some examiners!) think that "You should say"
means, "You must say", but this is a mistake. In fact,
these words are just a (strong) suggestion or a recommendation. However, I
think it is best to assume that the words do really mean, "must say"
because if you don't address those three points, you will probably not give a
very complete coverage of the task specified in the first line on the task
card, following the word, "Describe".
It
is not necessary to talk about the three points in the same order as they are
written. Just blend those points into you story in a natural way so that a
listener would not feel that you were simply answering points on a task card,
without much continuation or connection between the things you say.
- The
words following, "and explain"
are very important. If you don't adequately address this point on the task
card, your coherence will be
damaged. That is, if you don't talk about this last point, your little story
will not "make sense" (没有道理)
because
your story will not
adequately cover what the topic says. For example, the 'advice' topic asks
you to describe not just some advice you received but some useful
advice you received and the last line of the task says, "and explain
how this advice was useful".
You
should understand that this adjective, "useful" (or
"important" or whatever adjective is used), means "useful to you"
(or "important to you") –
you should speak personally here. What is useful, important or interesting to you
might not seem so useful, important or interesting to someone else but that is
not important; just explain how it was useful, important or interesting to
you.
Basically,
"explain" means "communicate to the listener (the examiner) how
or why you felt it was useful" (or whatever adjective is used).
- When
you talk about the three points and the last (the fourth) point, you should
try to just blend these points into your story in a natural way
–
don't make
your answer sound like you are addressing points on a task card, one by one.
If you suddenly jump to a new piece of information four times in order to
answer the 4 points on the card, it will make your story less easy to
follow. Instead, use discourse markers to introduce these points and to link
them to what you have already said. This is the main thing that examiners
are looking for when assessing your coherence.
Definitely do not read out the words of the task card in order
to introduce the three points on the card!
The
end result should be that someone listening to a recording of your Part 2
answer should not be able to detect that you are answering 4 main points from
a task card but should, instead, feel that you are just telling a short story
in a conversational setting that included those 4 points (as well as other information).
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