What can I say?
Well, the day of the speaking test has finally arrived, one day before the written.
Having gone through the British Council website and judging from my past experience, walking in for the interview with a clear, focused mindset is a pretty good idea.
This is my strategy to get a good score (as good as last time or better):
1. Be relaxed and natural, but also confident, upbeat and super-interested in conversing with the interviewer
2. Remember not to simply reach the interviewers level of communication, but to exceed it - articulating thoughts skillfully as well as dripping lexicon and idiomatic phrases all over the place.
A good way to do this would probably be to imagine that I'm an expert on Wall Street that has been approached by only the most glorious news channel for a short fifteen minute radio interview. The topic could be anything, so I need to communicate as much information as richly as possible, especially in my 2-minute monologue and in the ensuing conversation.
Of course, repetition and hesitation are out of the question. Incomprehensibility is a shame. And pronunciation is Wall Street, don't forget. Smart, expert, brainy, crystalline, with the kind of pitch that you want to listen to and learn something from. Also versatile and flexible, swinging from one sentence structure to another, tarzan--like, and using all the tenses in the English Language, or at least as many as you can manage.
Oh my God. I just realized I probably needed more practice sounding like that, recording my voice and such and fitting in big words and idioms into my conversation. Heck, this reminds me of a popular place that I used to like (though I should never digress this way during the interview) - Thank God Its Friday.
And one more thing - SPONTANEITY IS KEY
Since I already have practice talking on the phone with my friends and cousins in the US and Canada - I guess I can manage sounding like I'm on air.
Okay, now ten minutes before leaving, here's the final list of do's and don'ts:
DO
- Be polite, courteous and conversant
- Feel like you're having a radio interview
- Make rich conversation and thoroughly enjoy it
DON'T
- Dry up on words or take time checks, just keep going on
- Have conversation that's not part of the test
Having gone through the British Council website and judging from my past experience, walking in for the interview with a clear, focused mindset is a pretty good idea.
This is my strategy to get a good score (as good as last time or better):
1. Be relaxed and natural, but also confident, upbeat and super-interested in conversing with the interviewer
2. Remember not to simply reach the interviewers level of communication, but to exceed it - articulating thoughts skillfully as well as dripping lexicon and idiomatic phrases all over the place.
A good way to do this would probably be to imagine that I'm an expert on Wall Street that has been approached by only the most glorious news channel for a short fifteen minute radio interview. The topic could be anything, so I need to communicate as much information as richly as possible, especially in my 2-minute monologue and in the ensuing conversation.
Of course, repetition and hesitation are out of the question. Incomprehensibility is a shame. And pronunciation is Wall Street, don't forget. Smart, expert, brainy, crystalline, with the kind of pitch that you want to listen to and learn something from. Also versatile and flexible, swinging from one sentence structure to another, tarzan--like, and using all the tenses in the English Language, or at least as many as you can manage.
Oh my God. I just realized I probably needed more practice sounding like that, recording my voice and such and fitting in big words and idioms into my conversation. Heck, this reminds me of a popular place that I used to like (though I should never digress this way during the interview) - Thank God Its Friday.
And one more thing - SPONTANEITY IS KEY
Since I already have practice talking on the phone with my friends and cousins in the US and Canada - I guess I can manage sounding like I'm on air.
Okay, now ten minutes before leaving, here's the final list of do's and don'ts:
DO
- Be polite, courteous and conversant
- Feel like you're having a radio interview
- Make rich conversation and thoroughly enjoy it
DON'T
- Dry up on words or take time checks, just keep going on
- Have conversation that's not part of the test
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