Cambridge English: Starters Speaking test commentary: Olivier

Please read this document and watch this video of Olivier doing a Starters Speaking test:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHAnqjI4cU8

Part 1
In this part, children taking the test point to the correct part of the picture. Olivier starts very
confidently with Hello Jill (00:14) and is able to respond naturally to the examiners description of the
picture, Yes, Yes, very happy, Yes, apple (00:26 00:30). He then points to the man, adding a
comment Here, its sad (00:35-00:39). He does not understand trees, and the examiner gives him
some time and then repeats the word trees and asks Are these the trees? so that Olivier does not feel
worried at not being able to answer. He then adds two trees (01:00), which is good. Tell your students
that its good to take your time in the test, like Olivier, but not to worry if they dont know the answer,
as the examiner will help them.

To prepare for this part of the test, download the Starters Word List Picture Book from the Cambridge
English website and use the pictures of various different scenes, such as at the zoo, in the street, at
home or at school to practise identifying different items of vocabulary from the Starters word list. If
you have a smart board at school, you can project one of the pictures onto the board, and ask children
to come out and point to different parts of the picture. If not, you can print the pictures instead.
Children can also practise this part with the Monkey Puzzles game or app. You can find this on the
Cambridge English website.

Part 2
In this part, children put three small picture cards in the correct place on the large picture. Olivier shows
he understands the picture cards flower, dress and radio but has more difficulty with prepositions
next to, under and between. In each case, the examiner moves the card into the correct position
and repeats the prepositional phrase next to the house (01:36-01:47), under the boat (02:04-02:17),
between the frog and the cat (02:30-02:40). Olivier responds with Oh excuse me and indicates that
he has understood between by indicating with his hands and explaining the word in French (02:30-
02:40). Tell your students that they should not worry if they dont respond in the right way, as the
examiner will help them by repeating the question, using a simpler question, leading the candidate to
the right answer by pointing or simply giving the right answer. Its also good if candidates can respond
naturally when corrected, as Olivier does, and confidently use expressions like Sorry and I dont
understand where appropriate.

An active way to practise prepositions is to get one child to stand in various places in the class, e.g. in
front of the desk, behind the chair, between the door and the table, and ask the other children to tell
you where he/she is. In the Starters Word List Picture Book, theres a game
where children have to find the monkey. You can also practise by cutting
out small pictures of objects and placing them in different places on a
larger picture. There are small and larger pictures in the Starters sample
papers (downloadable from the website), and you can print and cut up the
pictures from the Listening, Reading and Writing sections to practise with too.

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 Part 3
In this part, children answer questions about the picture, using only one or two words. Olivier shows he
knows the word duck, its three duck and one duck swimming (02:52-02:58) and some numbers and
colours, Brown. The two duck is yellow (03:07-03:12). He can also say that the dog is swimming
(03:19-03:25). This is very good.

To help your students in this part, they need to do as much speaking practice as possible, using the
vocabulary from the word list. You could make multiple sets of small pictures and in pairs or small
groups the children could play snap, where they each turn over their pictures and say the word on the
card. If they turn over the same picture, the one who says the word first collects all the cards played,
and they continue until one child has all the cards, and is the winner. Another game is pairs, where the
cards are arranged face down on the table, and children take turns to turn over two pictures and say the
words. If they match, they take them, and have another turn. The winner is the one who gets the most
pairs at the end of the game.

Part 4
In this part, children answer questions about three of the small picture cards. First, Olivier answers
questions about chips (Do you like chips?, And what do you eat for lunch?) He answers very well, and
extends his answers, chips, hot dog, salad (03:46-04:00). Note that if Olivier had used the word fries
rather than chips, this would have been equally good. American and British forms of language are
equally acceptable. Then he answers questions about shoes. He answers I dont know (04:08-04:16)
when asked What are these? which is very communicative. He can talk about the colour of his shoes in
some detail (04:25-04:37) and uses the word between (from the second part of the test) to answer the
question, Are your shoes new or old? He answers the question, What colour are the buses in
Luxembourg? very well, despite using some French to help him. At this level, this is not a problem.
(05:09-05:28). The examiner asks about the buses in Luxembourg because she knows Olivier lives in
Luxembourg.

You can practise this part of the test by encouraging the children in your class to ask each other lots of
questions about everyday objects, and their personal experience of them.

Part 5
In this part, children answer three questions about themselves. Olivier takes more time to think in this
part, and the examiner gives him time to think, then repeats the question, Who do you play with at
school? When he still does not respond, she asks him a simpler question, Do you play with your
friends? so Olivier can answer the question. His response, French and Deutsch and English indicates
that he may not have understood the question and that he has confused friends with French. (05:46-
06:06). This is not a big problem at all, as Olivier answers the other questions
very well.

To practise for this part of the test, it is important to ask the children a
variety of questions, on topics such as age, family, school and friends, and
make sure they are very familiar with the question words, how, how many,

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 how old, what, where, which, who and whose (from the Starters word list). A good revision activity
could be to do a matching game where children match questions on cards with answers and then
change the answers so they are true for themselves. For example, How old are you? and Im 10 years
old could be on the cards, and then they say, Im 11 (their actual age).

This whole test with Olivier lasts for just over 6 minutes, which is longer than average (3 -5 minutes), but
this is acceptable. The length of the test depends on the candidates confidence, the time it takes to
respond and the amount of support needed. In Oliviers case, this is longer than usual, as he needs
thinking time both to understand the examiner and construct his own responses. The amount of
support he needs is reflected in his marks.

General tips
Remind the children to say Hello and Goodbye to the examiner at the beginning and the end
of the test.
Tell the children not to worry if they dont understand something. They should just say, Sorry, I
dont understand. The examiner will ask the question again or tell them the answer.
Remind the children to be ready to answer everyday questions about themselves for Parts 4 and
5 such as How old are you?, Is your house big or small?, Whats your favourite colour? etc.
Encourage the children to think of the test as something fun and enjoy it!

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