Fluency in Parts 1 and 2: talking about sleep and exercise
You can keep talking while you think, and fix a mistake quickly without starting the sentence again.
Fluency shows most in one small moment: the second when you don't know what to say next.
Some people go silent there. Others start the same sentence again, two or three times. There are three better things to do with that second, and you'll practise each one.
Fluency and Coherence is one of the four Speaking criteria, and they count equally. We practise it on Part 1 questions about sleep and a Part 2 talk about exercise.
Warm-up
Which one keeps going?
The examiner asks: How much sleep do you usually get? Here are three answers, written down as they were spoken.
Which answer is the most fluent?
How it works
Now, in this first part, I'd like to ask you some questions about yourself.
Let's talk about sleep.
- How much sleep do you usually get?
- Do you ever have a nap during the day?
- What do you do when you can't get to sleep?
- Has the amount you sleep changed since you were a child?
Part 1 questions are short, and the examiner moves on after each answer.
Now I'm going to give you a topic and I'd like you to talk about it for one to two minutes. Before you talk, you'll have one minute to think about what you're going to say. You can make some notes if you wish.
Describe a kind of exercise you started doing in the last few years.
You should say:
- what it is
- when and why you started it
- how often you do it now
and explain how you felt about it at first.
You get one minute to prepare, with a pencil and paper for notes. Then you talk for up to two minutes.
Fluency is how smoothly you keep going. Everyone pauses to think, and a few ums are part of normal speech. What breaks the flow is a long silence, or the same sentence started again and again.
In Part 1 you need that for two or three sentences at a time. In Part 2 you need it for up to two minutes, and your notes help you there.
Three things to do in that second
- 1Buy a moment
Say a short phrase while you think: Let me think. Well, it depends. That's hard to say, but... One phrase, then the answer. Use a different one each time.
- 2Correct in a few words
If you hear yourself make a slip, fix it and carry on: I start, I mean I started, last year. A quick sorry or I mean is enough. Don't go back to the start of the sentence.
- 3Add the next thing
When an idea runs out, add a reason, an example, or then and now: When I was younger... In Part 2, look down at the next line of your notes.
The same question, two ways
What do you do when you can't get to sleep? Er... I don't know. (a long silence) Maybe... I don't know.
What do you do when you can't get to sleep? Hmm, let me think. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, I get up and read something boring until I feel sleepy again.
Watch me do one
The question: Has the amount you sleep changed since you were a child? I've never thought about it, and this is where people freeze.
First, a few words to think with, and they're true: Hmm, I've never really thought about that.
Then the first honest answer I find: But yes, it has. When I was ten I sleep, sorry, slept about ten hours a night.
The slip, sleep for slept, takes one word to fix. I don't stop, and I don't start the sentence again.
Then I add the present: These days I'm lucky to get seven, because I start work early. And I stop there.
There was no silence anywhere in that answer, though I was thinking the whole time.
A model answer
Describe a kind of exercise you started doing in the last few years. You should say: what it is, when and why you started it, how often you do it now, and explain how you felt about it at first.
OK, I'd like to talk about swimming, which I started about two years ago. Actually, I should say I learned to swim two years ago, because before that I couldn't swim at all. I started because of my nephew. He was having lessons, and one Saturday I took him to the pool. He jumped straight into the water without any fear, and I felt a bit embarrassed, to be honest. So the next week I signed up for an adult beginners' class at the same pool. It was on Tuesday evenings, sorry, Wednesday evenings, from seven till eight. These days I go twice a week, usually early in the morning before work. I do about thirty lengths, which doesn't sound like much, but for me it's a lot. How did I feel at first? Hmm, how can I put it... nervous is the honest word. In the first lesson I held on to the side of the pool for most of the hour. There were six of us in the group, all adults, and we were all a bit scared, so we laughed about it, and that helped. The teacher was very patient, too. What surprised me was how quickly that changed. After about two months I was looking forward to it, and now it's the one part of the week when I don't think about work at all. Next summer I'd like to try swimming in the sea.
- CoherenceFluency: the speaker makes the story more exact while it is moving, with no pause to start over.
- CoherenceFluency: a slip fixed in a couple of words, and the sentence carries on.
- GrammarMuch in a negative, which is where it sounds natural.
- CoherenceFluency: one short phrase buys a moment to find the word.
- CoherenceFluency: the card's prompts are used up, and a new angle keeps the talk going to the end.
Coloured text shows what the examiner is looking for.
Practice with Elita6 questions
Four questions on the moves, then two answers to record. I'll listen for where you keep going and where you stop.
Buying a moment
The examiner asks: Do you ever have a nap during the day? You've never thought about it.
Which answer keeps you talking while you think?
Correction or restart?
Read this part of an answer, written as it was spoken.
I've been going to the gym since, er, I've been going, I've been going to the gym for, since, for about a year.
Correction or restart, again
Another part of an answer, written as it was spoken. Decide the same way.
We usually play on Saturdays, I mean Sundays, in a park near my flat.
What each phrase does
Match each phrase to the job it does in an answer.
Record: a Part 1 answer
Answer as you would in Part 1. If you need a moment, use a short phrase.
What do you do when you can't get to sleep?
Record your answer (45s maximum)
0:00 / 0:45
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Record: the Part 2 talk
Take one minute to make notes on paper about the card above, then talk for up to two minutes. When an idea runs out, look at your notes.
Describe a kind of exercise you started doing in the last few years. You should say: what it is, when and why you started it, how often you do it now, and explain how you felt about it at first.
Record your answer (120s maximum)
0:00 / 2:00
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Words to keep
Manage to fall asleep. I can't get to sleep if I drink coffee after lunch.
A short sleep during the day. My grandfather has a nap after lunch every day.
Sleep more to make up for nights when you slept too little. I catch up on sleep at the weekend.
A morning when you stay in bed later than usual. Sunday is my day for a lie-in.
Start doing a new activity. I took up swimming two years ago.
Keep doing something, even when it is hard. The first month was hard, but I stuck with it.
Before you go
When you need a moment, use a short phrase, and a different one each time.
Fix a slip in a word or two and carry on. Don't go back to the start of the sentence.
When an idea runs out, add a reason, an example, or then and now. In Part 2, look at the next line of your notes.
A few ums are normal. Long silences and repeated restarts are what the examiner hears as poor fluency.
Next: The next lesson is a Task 2 essay on why many adults do too little exercise, and what could change that.