Many years ago I owned a few exam preparation books.
The FCE…the CAE…the iELTS…
If a student wanted to practise for the exam, and had cash, I was willing.
Then, one by one, as my students got their certificates, I noticed the same thing…
Certificates Do NOT Equal Better English
Jan now could put “FCE” on his CV, but he was still too nervous to speak at conferences.
Petra now had her CAE certificate, but she didn’t want to meet foreign clients for dinner because she was afraid of making mistakes.
Whereas Monika, who never got one certificate, and who didn’t even go to college, and was only my student for a few months, now works in an international company and travels the world speaking English to foreigners.
So when some Society members suggested I give them questions to practise in the weekend chat rooms — questions similar to the kinds they must answer during the iELTS test — I was skeptical (translation: I had doubts).
But I did some research. (Remember, it’s been a long time since I did exam prep.) And what I discovered was…
I Would Fail the Speaking Exam
When I typed “iELTS speaking questions” into Google, here’s what I found:
Do you like flowers?
What’s your favorite flower?
Do you think flowers smell good?
The only correct answer is: “Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom.”
And then you should walk quickly to the parking lot, drive away very fast, and don’t look back.
What’s the matter with these grammatically-correct questions?
They’re BORING!
Who cares?!
If you’re talking with a florist (someone who sells flowers)…ok, maybe.
But a regular person…? A man? No way!
And why practise boring?
How much harder is it to ask an interesting question? A question the other person really wants to answer? A question that will make the minutes fly by and possibly even create a friendship?
It’s not.
I’ve got some ideas for you.
That’s tomorrow.
