esl seminars

8/11/2019 ESL Seminars

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ESL

Seminars

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We Are The Leader In

Test of Spoken English (TSE)

And

IELTS (all modules)

Exam Preparation!

Printed in the United States of America. Copyright 2002, 2003. All rights reserved.

Copying, duplicating, or use of class materials by other refreshers or reviewers without

express written authorization by ESL Seminarsis strictly prohibited.


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SL Seminars Introduction

Hello! My name is James Rarick and I

have been invited to hopefully give yousome insight into how to pass the spokenEnglish exam you are preparing for(TSE or IELTS). I hope that most ofyou have read my biographical data. Ifnot, the short version is that I am aGraphic Communications graduate andhave taught Graphic Communications ina technical college setting. I am a pub-

lished author and hope to have a secondbook out sometime within the next year.I also worked for nearly 20 years as asupervisor and Director at one of theworlds most secure maximum-security

prisons. During the seminar, please callme Jim - I will just assume that those ofyou say Mr. Rarick will be addressingmy father and not me.

At this point I would like to congratulateall of you for being college graduates andhighly trained professionals. I believethat all of you have taken and passed theTOEFL exams (for the TSE examin-ees) and have a good understanding ofthe technical aspects of the English lan-

guage. I would like all of you to giveyourselves a figurative round of applausefor being scholars and professionals.

Some ground rules for our two-day sem-inar: Most of you are health-care profes-sionals. I will just assume that you knowthat the mind can only absorb what the

posterior can endure. That being said, if

any one of you feel the need to get up andstretch your legs, visit the C.R., or justtake a break, please do so at your conve-nience. I do encourage you to concen-trate on what is in this textbook and whatis in the CDs. The information is valu-able and time is short. But if you are not

relaxed and comfortable, you cannot ab-

sorb the material.

Again, take your regularly scheduledbreaks. But please try to network withothers that will be taking the TSE. Net-working is simply introducing yourselto someone you dont already know andexchanging names and addresses, oremail addresses, etc., with them. The

purpose of networking is so that youmight contact each other and work to-gether after the seminar, preferably just

before your scheduled TSE exam. Youwill need help from others!

During the live seminar some of youwere asked to stand and give a very short(one to two minute) verbal dissertationon a subject given by me during thecourse of the seminar. Try to use a taperecorder or ask a good friend to reviewyour spoken English as we proceedthrough this exercise. Having recordedor live feedback is necessary to help youspeak English as if you were a nativespeaker.

A very important quote is: If You Al-ways Do What You Always Did, You will

Always Get What You Always Got!What that means is: If you have failed theTSE or IELTS, after takingrefresher courses , it will only doomyou to failure if you take those samerefreshers again. This seminar is a fresh

look at spoken English exams, not arefresher of some tired old material. Wewill not dwell on the basics of the Eng-lish language but we will include some

basic exercises. We will focus primarilyon how to speak the English languageconcisely, precisely, and with authority.


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When we do have exercises on the basicsof the English language we will ask youto verbally give answers to the questions.We believe there will be ample opportu-nity for all of you to speak English and

be critiqued by your peers and the in-structors. Make no mistake; this seminaris tailored to prepare you to pass the TSEexam.

Just a few words on scams you mightencounter. There are any number of

recruiters out there willing to makeyou all kinds of promises and will giveyou visions of something for nothing.Dont believe them!

Lets dispel some myths:

1) Superman does not exist.

2) The streets in the USA are not pavedwith gold.

3) Health care and other recruiters thatsay: you do not have to pass eitherIELTS or TSE are lying!

4) To practice as a nurse or any other

type of professional in the USA or Can-ada you must pass proficiency tests inEnglish.

What I am trying to say to you is to bevery, very careful. There are plenty ofscams out there that can, at best, stealyour money and, at worst, can put you in

physical harm.

short story:Back in the early 1900sthere were many immigrants coming tothe USA from Germany. It has been saidthat when one German fellow arrived in

New York he immediately got off theboat and started walking down a New

York street. He noticed a $100 bill lyingon the pavement in front of him. Hereached down to pick it up but thensuddenly straightened up without re-trieving the money. He smiled brightlyand said to himself: Hey, this is just myfirst day in the USA. Why should I startworking right away?

Believe me, that isnotthe way it is in theUSA or any other place. You have towork for your money; you do not pick it

up off the streets. If a recruiter promisessomething for nothing run away as fastas you can!

Well, thats it for scams. If you have anyquestions please contact our office. Wecan possibly assist you or give you infor-mation on recruiters.

Later on I will talk about personal re-sponsibility. It is important and it issomething you need to work on. If youfail the TSE or IELTS the failure is en-tirely yours. These materials were con-ceived and designed to cause you to passspoken English proficiency exams.However, these materials require a time

commitment from you and you mustwork hard and long to improve yourEnglish. We show you how but we can-not do it for you. That is where personalresponsibility comes in. Youmust makethe effort. You must practice, practice,

practice. That is also why, during the liveseminar, you were asked to swear anoath that you would use English only

right up until exam time.

Those that understand personal responsi-bility, and accept it, and then they passtheir respective English proficiencyexam with no problems.


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What TSE and IELTS Are All About!

The IELTSand the TSEboth measure

English language proficiency. The TSEis exclusively spoken English. The

IELTS measures proficiency in a)writing; b) reading; c) listening, and; d)speaking. What you need to pass thespoken English exams is the ability totell stories nearly as well as if you werea native English-speaking person. I say"nearly" because the test reviewers know

you arenota native speaker. That is whyyou are being required to take the exam.You have already mastered the technicalaspects of the English language. Youundoubtedly know more about theEnglish language from a clinical stand-

point than your rater. Many of you have

passed the TOEFLexams with little orno problem. You have firmly demon-strated your knowledge of English themechanics of American English, thatis. Unfortunately most of you still speakin something other than American Eng-lish.

You need to be able to communicatethose mechanical English skills in averbal manner. That is something thatcan be difficult for those whose native

culture has no gender usage to speak ofand where verbal "shortcuts" are com-mon.

Recently I asked my LDW (that standsforLovingDevoted Wife) where the C.R.was. What I got back from her was this(pointing with lips, eyebrows raised).That's a shortcut and is definitely not a

verbal way to communicate. One othercustom I have seen in the Philippines andelsewhere is that of taking one's handand extending it in front of the body todemonstrate to people that the personwants to pass through. You will have tolearn to say, for example: "Excuse me, Iam trying to get to the elevator."

The objective in passing spoken Englishexams is to speak English clearly, with

authority, and precisely to the taskassigned. For those of you with amathematics background you can applysome of the algebraic logic you learned.Make your thoughts complete and linear.By linear I mean from the beginning othe assignment directly to the end withoutdiverging.

So, how do you go about changing yourspoken English to something moreAmerican? The only way it can beexpressed is this: Practice, practice,

practice! Then practice some more. Youcannot master spoken English by speak-ing another language for most of yourday. It is just that simple. Practice English

every single day, at least for a few hourseach day.

What else can you do? Plenty of things.Watching classic American movies canhelp a lot. So can reading. Read inEnglish as much as possible. Why? Thewhole purpose in immersing yourself inEnglish is so that your mind starts to

think in English. When that happensyou will reduce pauses and hesitationsto an absolute minimum. Your mind willnot need time to translate from yournative language to English before yourespond.

Dont spend your time trying to deviseclever answers. That will not get youa passing score. What you need is to be

heard clearly and distinctly when youspeak English. The only way to do thatis to immerse yourself to the greatestdegree in the English language. Whatevertime you can spend reading, listening orspeaking English will be very well spent.


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itfalls You Must Avoid To Pass!

This is one subject you might consider

taking ample notes of and something tobe very aware of as you review yourrecorded voice. (Once again, I will adviseyou to record your voice just as I speakto you on the CDs.) If you can emulateor imitate my speech styles so much the

better especially my diction. I am ableto pass the TSE with flying colors. TheIELTS might be a bit more difficult for

me due to the written essay module. I donot write so well. However, it is thesubtle techniques of spoken English thatI am trying to convey to you. Please payclose attention to those techniques.

One more reminder (please excuse myrepetition) use a tape recorder to recordyour verbal answers to the sample examquestions. Note any instances of the

pitfalls I describe when you listen to yourrecording. Work hard to overcome those

pitfalls. Once you have improved yourspoken English techniques to yourcomplete satisfaction pass on the tape toa friend for them to critique. There aremany traps that will cause you to failspoken English exams. The TOEFLMonograph Seriesby Lazaraton-Wag-

nerpoint out many of them that you mustwatch out for and avoid at all costs. Toovercome your tendencies to make thesespoken English errors takes practice lots and lots of practice. If you can findan American or an English person to

practice with, that would be the bestsituation possible. They should be

prepared to severely critique your speechand to help you overcome any inclinationto do the following:

1. Hesitation or periods of silence in yourstorytelling (use complete sentences andfollow the order of events as listed in thequestion or the picture you are interpret-ing).

2. Lengthening the sound of a word

(which usually happens when you aretrying to collect your thoughts in mid-sentence - collect your thoughts beforespeaking).

3. Not using the correct (or not usingany) intonation. When denoting the endof a sentence that has a period the voiceshould fall away. When denoting the end

of a question (question mark [?]) thevoice intonation should rise. Commas (,)should have just a short break in the voiceintonation. Sentences with an exclama-tion point (!) should have an animatedvoice.

4. Running sentences together (if thereis a period [.] the voice should clearlyend before starting with the next sen-

tence, etc.)

5. Uttering unintelligible words (use onlywords you can correctly pronounce andnever use words that are above your levelof understanding).

6. Speaking in a creaky voice, a too-softvoice, or a pattern of speech that speeds

up and slows down noticeably (speak ina clear tone with a measured cadence).

7. Wrong diction. You must learn topronounce words as native Englishspeakers do.

Again, I would like all of you to takenote of how I speak to you on the CDs.If you can emulate or imitate my speechstyles so much the better especially mydiction. It is the subtle techniques ospoken English that I am trying to conveyto you. Please pay close attention to thosetechniques. There are also some not-so-subtle techniques. We will get to thoselater.


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Another reminder: (and I might very wellremind you again and again!) use atape recorder to record your verbalanswers to the sample spoken Englishexam questions. Note any instances ofthe pitfalls I just described when youlisten to your recording. Work hard to

overcome those pitfalls. Once you haveimproved your spoken English tech-niques to your complete satisfaction,

pass on the tape to a friend for them tocritique. Bear in mind that you are

perfecting your conversationalEnglish,not giving a speech.

Be Advised That TheTSE Does NOT

Grade You On Answer

Content! Only On Your

Voice And Your Use

Of The English

Language!

Practice Your English!

NOT Clever Answers!


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The Goals of ESL Seminars

What are the general goals of this semi-

nar? 1) To prod all of you to think aboutthe exam questions in a linear and logicalfashion. 2) To have you speak Englishclearly, without hesitation, when takingyour spoken English exam. 3) To use thecorrect gender in your sentences or elim-inate pronouns altogether. 4) To imple-ment the correct verb usage. 5) To

implement the correct tense.

Of those five noted above, gender andtense usage are probably the most diffi-cult. Because you have grown up in aculture where gender usage is not a fac-tor in the spoken language, it has beenmy observance that it is easy for all ofyou to unconsciously switch between

his, hers, he, she, etc., without regard tothe gender of the person you are speak-ing about.

You will all need to become extremelygender conscious. In a health-care settingit is critical (you don't want your co-workers to set up a birth delivery roomfor a man you keep referring to as "she").In passing spoken English exams it isvery critical that you become aware ofgender. However, for those of you fromAsia, it is better if you avoid pronounstotally. You will never master their usein your spoken English. The best tech-nique is to avoid them.

I should have stated this from the startbut at least it's not too late to do it now:Please take notes in your class materialsto remind you of points made by the

presenters during this two-day seminar.Clear notes will serve you well in thefuture when the memory of my beautifulcountenance starts to fade. It is the infor-

mation here that is important, not me.

If you have taken a spoken English examin the past, and you failed, you must have

pondered why you failed. It had to dowith preparation and your previous les-sons,notwith you. Remember that! Youarenotthe fault. Of course, you are theone that actually failed the test, but you

did not formulate the correct preparation.If you were not prepared well, you couldnot succeed. If you take "refreshers"from the same material you should ex-

pect to have the same results - FAIL-URE. What that means is get rid of all oyour old refresher materials. They willonly cause failure once again. Destroythem!

It is our belief that failure, if it happensafter you takeourseminar, is due to yournot absorbing the material. It could also

be your trying to take our material andfitting it to what you learned before. Thatwill not work. Remember, we give youthe tools you need to pass but we cangive no guarantees. There are no guaran-tees in life!

Take our material at its face value. Thatmeans you should clear your mind andtry to view the task of passing a 20-min-ute test as an adventure, not a dreadedevent. We can get you to pass the exam.Believe in us and focus on our message!

Remember also that you are beinginstructed to, and we expect you to,maintain contact with the American guestspeaker right up until your exam time.You may also submit a cassette tape foranalysis before the exam. These benefitsare free so make sure you use them!


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Short Sentences, Direct To The Point, And

Use Very Simple Thoughts

When speaking in English, please keepyour sentences short and concise. Devel-oping compound or complex sentencesin your mind while storytelling willcause you to pause unintentionally orotherwise mar your exam. It is just toohard to keep complex thoughts in yourhead and speak correct English at the

same time.

Just remember: KISS- Keep It Simple,Scholar! The last "S" used to be "Stupid"

but none of you fit that description. Youare all extremely bright you just needhelp to speak like an American.

Break your story down into short, easilypronounced sentences, with correct verb,gender and tense usage. It sounds com-

plicated but it really is a simplification.

Keep in mind that spoken English examstake only from 12 to 20 minutes to com-

plete. Twelve to 20 minutes is a very,very, short time. A surprisingly short

time. That is all the more reason to useshort sentences. You can actually getmore information packed into those fewminutes using short, concise, sentencesthan you can by using difficult to under-stand, long, and complicated, sentences.

You will be expected to speak as a col-lege-educated professional. You are allcollege graduates and you are all profes-sionals in your chosen field. Apply yourknowledge and you will come across asthe professional you are.

But, back to short sentences. Please readout loud the following examples (yes,you have to use that darn tape recorder

again):

1a) I took a drive with John, who usedhis older Jeepney, the one with blue paintand a broken headlight, and he drovemuch too fast to Ulas, which was ourfinal destination. (Compound)

1b)I took a ride with John. He used hisold blue Jeepney. The Jeepney had a

broken headlight. John drove much toofast for my comfort. It was 4:00 p.m.when we arrived in Ulas. (Short sentenc-es)

Another example:

2a)Bing and Joy went to the Registrar's

office at San Pedro College to registerfor their classes at 9:30 last Tuesdaymorning and found that the office wasempty and they could not register. Theywaited for nearly 2 hours until they real-ized that the office was closed on Tues-days and that they might have to come

back the next day to register for the fourclasses each of them wanted to take.

(Compound sentences)

2b)Last Tuesday Bing and Joy walkedto San Pedro College. They were goingto register for classes. When theyreached the Registrar's office they foundit closed. They decided to wait until itopened. After waiting two hours theyrealized the office was closed on Tues-days. Both Bing and Joy came back onWednesday to the Registrar's office.They each then registered for four class-es. (Short sentences)

Which sounds better for each example?Avoid and, or, but, because, atall costs.


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ot Tips Important Stuff To Remember!

Slow Down, I Can't Keep Up!

Too fast a talker is usually a hyper per-son - a type-A personality. Fast talkersalienate people because they are so diffi-cult to understand. Slow down, speak ina measured pace! Normally you speakabout 140 or more words per minute.You must reduce that to 70 to 90 words

per minute. Record your voice for a

timed one minute. Then count the wordsyou spoke. Keep recording your voiceuntil you get to between 60 and 70 words

per minute.

Aren't You Done Yet?

Belaboring your points, or talking veryslowly tends to make the listener "tune"

you out. Make sure you talk fast enoughto retain the reviewer's interest but nottoo fast. Don't put them to sleep! Makeyour point and be done with it.

The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly In The

Plain!

Be articulate and pronounce words cor-

rectly. Avoid contracted words at allcosts (dont, wont, hasnt, shouldnt,etc.)

Defensive Breathing

When we are nervous - or, more com-monly, when we don't know how to

breathe properly - several things can

happen.

1. Our inability to focus and think calmlyis impaired.

2. We begin to gasp for air because wehave difficulty catching our breath as wespeak.

3. Without proper breath control, ourvoice sounds shaky and tremulous. Youappear nervous, tentative, or unsure.

4. Finally, improper breath control canmaintain, or escalate increased heart rateand blood flow, which can affect theoverall status of your health.

What Else Can Happen?

If you don't breath properly the follow-ing things may happen:

You may have trouble focusing andconcentrating.

You may be perceived as sounding des-

perate.

You may be perceived as sounding ner-vous or tentative.

Your heart rate may increase, therebyplacing you in a more agitated state.

What Can I Do To Avoid That?The Relaxation Breathing Technique isthe backbone for all other breathing tech-niques.

There are three basic steps for relaxationbreathing:

1. Breathe through your mouth only, sipin air for two seconds.2. Next, hold the breath of air for threeseconds without breathing.3. Finally, exhale the breath of airthrough your mouth slowly and deliber-ately for five seconds.


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While doing this exercise, you mustnever move your upper chest when in-haling, and your shoulders must bedown, not raised or hunched. All of the

movement - the sipping in of air, theholding of the air, and the release of airthrough exhalation - must take place inthe abdominal region. Why? The abdom-inal area is where we use our muscles to

breathe naturally. In fact, if you observea dog, cat, or small child you will clearlysee that their abdominal area goes in andout as they breathe.

Vocal Health

OK, do not forget these tips. Forget allthe others if you are unable to rememberall of them, but make sure you rememberthese tips! These tips help you remedyany speech and voice problems youmight have on the day of the TSE Examthat would be caused by outside influ-ences.

No Smoking! (24 hours)

No Drugs (except prescription and stillbe careful of them!!!)

No Alcohol!

Don't sleep with your mouth open thenight before.

Don't yell or scream including Kara-oke (24 hours).

Don't talk loud over the telephone (24

hours).

Don't talk loud over background noise(24 hours).

Don't clear your throat.

Don't talk too much.

Limit consumption of dairy products(Don't use any!!! They will cause nasal

drainage and irritation.)

Use throat lozenges whenever needed.

Drink lots of water.

Avoid spicy foods.

Swallow often (instead of clearing yourthroat).

I do not want to hear you! (AnnoyingSpeech Habits)

There are certain speech habits that an-noy. Make a conscious effort to removethese habits from your speech.

Mumbling, talkingtoosoftly.

Talkingtooloudly.

Monotonous, boring voice

Fillers "um," "like ah," "you know," etc.

Talking too fast.

Poor grammar, mispronouncing words.

High-pitched voice.

Accent and Diction. (Try to reduce yournative-language influenced diction.)

Do not talk too much only what isnecessary. Make your point and go on tothe next task!


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Truths To RememberRules For Being Human

1.You will receive a body. You may likeit or hate it, but it will be yours for yourentire lifetime.

2. You will learn lessons all your life.You are enrolled in a full-time informalschool called life. Each day you have theopportunity to learn. Whether you take

the opportunity to learn is up to you.

3.There are no mistakes, only lessons.Growth is a process of trial and error.The "failed" experiments are a part of the

process as is the experiment that ulti-mately "works."

4.A lesson is repeated until learned. A

lesson will be presented to you in variousforms until you have learned it. Whenyou have learned it, you can go on to thenext lesson.

5.Learning lessons does not end ever!There is no part of life that does notcontain its lessons. If you are alive thereare lessons to be learned.

6. Other people are merely mirrors ofyou. Learn to forgive yourself and toforgive others.

7.What you make of your life is up toyou. You have all the tools and resourcesyou need. God gave you a complete set

of tools to cope with life. What you dowith them is up to you. The choice isyours.

8.All your answers lie inside you. Theanswer to all of life's questions lie insideyou. All you need to do is look, listen,and trust in God and yourself.

Maturity. It is achieved when you:

Know yourself.

Ask for help when you need it and acton your own when you don't.

Admit when you're wrong and makeamends.

Accept love from others, even if you'rehaving a tough time loving yourself.

Recognize that you always have choic-es, and take responsibility for the onesyou make.

See that life is a blessing.

Have an opinion without insisting thatothers share it.

Forgive others and yourself.

Recognize your shortcomings and yourstrengths.

Have the courage to live one day at atime.

Acknowledge that your needs are yourresponsibility - not other people's.

Care for people without having to takecare of them.

Accept that you'll never be finishedlearning - you'll always be a work-in-progress.

Set goals for yourself and work hard toachieve those goals. Never lose sight oyour goal!


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PLEASE!If you have found our seminar and our materials to

be of value to you, please tell your friends! Wedepend on word-of-mouth from our friends. We

have believed in you, please believe in us and help

us continue our good work. Remember, we aim at

100% passing rate.

We bring in our American guest speaker at greatcost. This is done only for you, our close friends. To

make this worthwhile, and to keep us from losing

money, we need good participation. Please, tell your

friends!

emember the Seminar? Lets See

If you attended the live seminar for either

the TSE or IELTS exams, we should justhave a quick refresher:

1. Use your imagination to help create astory. Then tell the story so that the lis-tener uses THEIR imagination. Remem-

ber:What color was the grass?

2. Keep your sentences short and to thepoint.

3. Do not assume. Listen carefully anddetermine exactly what is being asked ofyou.

4. Keep your speech to about 90 wordsper minute. Do not rush yourself.

5. Know when 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 60seconds, and 90 seconds are up when youare talking. How? Practice!

6. Immerse yourself in English right up

until exam time.

7. Set your reference point first and thenfill in the frame of your story. Remember:What are you talking about?

8. What should you do the night beforethe exam? Relax, relax, relax and get yourmind off of it. Do not worry. You will do

just fine!

9. If you have questions, email, write, orphone Jim at any time. Remember also tomake that cassette tape well in advance oyour exam.

Thats it. Just keep practicing all of thetips and techniques you learned in the

seminar and in with the CDs. Practice!


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ractice Words And Sentences

Below are the words spoken on one of

the CDs you received with this kit.You should read these out loud whileyour voice is being recorded. Compareyour spoken English with the words asspoken by the American guest speakeron the CD.

Attention.

Prescription.

Operation.

Congratulation.

Congregation.

Devotion.

Television

Telephone

Cell phone

I went biking with my neighbor. He is aViking Football fan.

My phone is malfunctioning. I have totake it to the phone repair shop.

I drew a map of the town from thedescription given me by Bob.

Your voice and body are interconnected.

I would like to work in this factory.

I worked in a cotton mill and know howto clean bins and ventilators.

I enjoy creating simple designs.

I saw your ad in the newspaper.

When we travel we fly on a plane.

We would like to buy a house near thebase.

Please paint the board to match the painton the wall.

Does the bus stop on this corner?

I like natural foods and green vegetables.

The lady has a beautiful voice.

Bend over; the doctor will give you yourshot now.

I like my fish and crabs to be very fresh.

Someone is trying to enter our house.

It is hard to study everything by yoursel

Why will my spelling affect my score?

Some English words come from Latin orGreek origins.

In a republic we elect people to representus and express our ideas.

We have a list of presents to buy.

How is this object used?

Will the store gift-wrap our presents?

My friend will translate for me.

I am working very hard to learn to speak,

read and write English.

Please promote me to a better job.

Make sure you drink plenty of fluids.


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The responses presented in this infor-

mation packet are for the questionsposed in the sample test distributed byducational Testing Service. They are

for demonstration and practicepurposes only. Each response shouldtake from approximately 30 seconds to90 seconds. When you take the TSEexam you will be advised as to thelength of each response. Please note

the words, phrases or sentences un-derlined. They show you the most im-portant part of the question. Also notethe way the important parts are fullyaddressed in the answer.

From the sample test:Please look atthe six pictures below [next page]. I'dlike you to tell me the story that thepictures show, starting with picture

number 1 and going through picturenumber 6. Please take one minute tolook at the pictures and think about thestory. Do not begin the story until youare told to do so.

In this exercise there many ways to in-terpret the six pictures. However, therewill only be one sample response to thisexercise. Note that the instructions state:

"starting with picture number 1 and go-

ing through picture number 6". It is safeto assume that you should talk abouteach picture separately and completely.This is a test that also measures yourognitive and memory skills. Hint:Learn to sharpen your observationskills!Never forget, however, that if your

answer isnt accurate, no one cares. Iyou make an error just keep going! It is

all about how you sound, not what yousay.]

Question D.Tell me the story that thepictures show. (60 seconds)

Sample Answer:"There is a panel osix pictures before me that tell a story.In panel number one, there are twopainters who appear to have finished

painting a bench. One of the painters isnailing a sign titled "Wet Paint" to thebackrest of the bench. The secondpainter is observing the first. In panelnumber 2 the painters have left. Thesign that one of them attached to thebackrest of the bench is blowing off inthe wind. In panel number 3 a man in asuit and hat is approaching the bench.

There is a small squirrel hiding underone side of the bench and the "WetPaint" sign is barely visible on theground alongside the bench. In panelnumber 4 the man in the suit has satdown on the bench and is smiling whilehe reads a newspaper. In panel number5 the man in the suit has risen from thebench and has noticed that he now haswet paint on the back of his suit coatand pants. He looks very unhappy. Inthe sixth, and final, panel the man haschanged into a jacket and pants and isapproaching a Dry Cleaning store withhis paint soiled suit coat and pants. Itappears that he intends to have themcleaned at the Dry Cleaners."

The TSESample Questions & Answers


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Question E.What could the paintershave done to prevent this? (30 seconds)

Note: This question is solely about pre-

vention. You should limit your responseto this topic alone.

Sample Answer:"The painters couldhave used more than one sign to warnpasserby's not to sit on the bench. Theyalso could have used additional nails orstaples to hold the sign more securelyto the bench. In addition, they couldhave mounted the sign on a stick andplaced it in front of the bench so thatanyone approaching the bench with theintent of sitting down would quickly ob-serve the sign. An extreme solutionwould have been for the painters to staynear the bench until the paint was dry.That way they could have warned peo-ple in person not to sit on the bench. Inany event, in this particular case the

painter that attempted to nail the signto the bench did not do his job well. Heshould have anticipated the wind andsecured the sign appropriately."

Question F.Imagine that this happensto you. After you have taken the suit tothe dry cleaners, you find out that youneed to wear the suit the next morning.The dry cleaning service usually takestwo days. Call the dry cleaners and tryto persuade them to have the suit readylater today. (45 seconds)

Please note that in this exercise you arebeing asked to imitate a phone call. Hint:You are not face-to-face. You must use

mannerisms as if you were speaking onthe phone to the clerk at the Dry Cleaners.]

Sample Answer: "Hello? Is this theDry Cleaners? My name is (____yourname____), and I left a suit coat andpants with you a little while ago. Theclerk advised me at the time I droppedthem off that it would take two days tohave the paint removed from those

items. I just found out that my secre-tary scheduled me for a very importantmeeting tomorrow morning. I am fromout of town and that is the only suit I

brought. I really do need the cleaningcompleted by late today or early tomor-row. I hope you understand that this isa desperate situation for me. I cannotmiss the meeting and the meeting isformal. It is imperative that I wear thatsuit. Is there any way at all that youcould have it cleaned earlier than I wastold? Would it be possible for me to payan additional fee for any overtime orrush service fees? If you cannot get the

job done by early tomorrow morning isthere anyone else you could recom-mend. I certainly would pay you for thetime you have taken so far. Oh, you canhave it ready? Thank you very much. Iwill see you early tomorrow. Good-bye!"

Question G.The man in the pictures isreading a newspaper. Both newspapersand television news programs can begood sources of information about cur-rent events. What do you think are theadvantages and disadvantages of eachof these sources? (60 seconds)

Note: Give equal time to newspaper/television and good/bad aspects of each.

int: Do not talk about the man - theuestion is only about newspapers and

television.]

Sample Answer: "Newspapers areone of the oldest forms of informationabout news and current events. Theyhave been in existence for over 400years. They are inexpensive and easy

to take with you nearly everywhere.You may start reading on a subject andthen pause for as long as you like beforeresuming your reading. The ink stayson the page indefinitely. Newspapersalso give high value for the amountspent on them. Many newspapers con-tain coupons to directly save on the


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cost of consumer items. Newspaperscan contain coupons worth hundreds oftimes the actual cost of the newspaperitself. Newspapers cannot give up-to-

the-minute news reports. It is printedat one specific time and any news thathas happened between the printingtime and when you read it is lost. Tele-vision, on the other hand, can give youup-to-the minute news and informationon current events. Television is alsocapable of showing entire videos ofevents giving the whole picture ratherthan just one or two pictures of anygiven event. Television also gives youan opportunity to hear actual voices,sample music, and so on. Televisions,though, are much more expensive thana newspaper and it is impossible towrap anything with a television like youcan with a newspaper."

From the sample test:Now I'd like to

hear your ideas about several topics. Besure to say as much as you can in re-sponding to each question. After I askeach question, you may take a few sec-onds to prepare your answer, and thenbegin speaking when you're ready.

Question H.Many people enjoy visit-ing zoos and seeing the animals. Otherpeople believe that animals should notbe taken from their natural surroundsand put into zoos. I'd like to know whatyou think about this issue. (60 seconds)

Note: The interviewer is asking for youropinion, not two opposing opinions.

int: Select which side of the subject youre on (search your heart) then speak just

to that one issueor side of the subject.]

Pro type answer - (Pro means"for"):"I believe that zoos are not onlyenjoyable but also necessary to the wel-fare of all kinds of animals. Zoos protectand breed endangered animals thatwould probably become extinct withoutintervention. Zoos also do much valu-

able research on non-endangered ani-mals that help the animals, man, andthe environment. The educationalvalue of zoos cannot be stressed

enough. Children and grown-ups canvisit zoos and view animals that theywould not otherwise have an opportu-nity to see. Zoos also effectively informthe public about the various character-istics of animals. While providingwholesome entertainment zoos alsohelp to pass on appreciation and admi-ration of the animals they display to thepublic."

Con type answer - (Con means"against"):"Zoos are the cruelest waythat the public can view animals. Ani-mals from all over the world arebrought into one small place. In thatsmall place they are away from theirnatural environment. They cannot for-age for food, as they would do naturally.

They are given unnatural foods, whichis a detriment to their health and well-being. Most breeding programs at zoosutilize unnaturally small gene poolsthat weaken the species, rather thanstrengthening them. The monies spenton zoos would be better spent improv-ing habitat for the animals in their na-tive lands. Worst of all, in times ocrisis, zoos are the first to be neglectedand the animals suffer needlessly. Inwar-torn countries many zoos run outof food and animals starve. If war comesto their natural habitats at least the ani-mals could run away. They cannot runaway at a zoo."

From the Sample Test:I'm not famil-iar with your field of study. Select a

term used frequently in your field anddefine it for me. (60 seconds)

[Note: Whatever your degree wasawarded for, that is the subject youshould speak on. Hint: Pick a subject youare familiar and comfortable with. Sincethis is such a personal question sample


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nswers cannot be illustrated except forthe short sample below.]

Sample Answer:I am a nurse. I have

studied proctology. I would certainlylike to sign you up for a free extendedproctology exam for making me takethis test

Second hint: The task here is for you topeak about a term that is specific to yourield of study.]

Question J.The graph below presentsthe actual and projected percentage ofthe world population living in citiesfrom 1950 to 2010. Tell me about theinformation given in the graph. (60 sec-onds)

Note: Start at the beginning and justmake your talk simple. Do not over ana-lyze! Just take each general aspect andomment on it. Our hint - Make sure youay "the graph shows" or something simi-

lar for each observation you make aboutthe graph. Especially mention that "the

raph projects" for the period 2000 to010. The verb and tense are underlined

because they change throughout the storyrom past to present to future, etc.]

From the Sample Test: "The graphshows the percentage of world popula-tion living in cities for the period 1950

to 2010. It is graphed in ten-year peri-ods and for percentages ranging from10 to 100 percent in 10 percent incre-ments. The graph shows that in the

year 1950 roughly 29% of the world'spopulation lived in cities. By 1960 thatpercentage had risen to 35%. Therewas little growth between 1960 and1970, only about 3-percentage points.In 1980 the graph shows that approxi-mately 40% of the population were liv-ing in cities. By 1990 the figure hadrisen to 45% and by the year 2000nearly half (50%) of the population wasliving in cities. The graph projects thatby 2010 55% of the world's populationwould be residing in cities. The graphshows a steady movement toward ahigher percentage of people living incities. The only deviation from thissteady climb was during the 1960 to1970 period."

Question K.What might this informa-tion mean for the future? (45 seconds)

Note: The questioner is asking you toredict the FUTURE from past informa-

tion. Our hint to you: Focus on FU-TURE implications.]

Sample Answer: "Observing thegraph shows that the number of peopleliving in farming or rural areas hasbeen, and will be, reducing in number. Isay will be because of the projectedtrend shown in the year 2000 to year2010 time period. There will be lesspeople available to grow more food forthe world's increasing population. Thegraph also illustrates (if the figures aretrue) that many city-type jobs need to

be created in the future to ensure em-ployment for the many people movingto the cities. If this graph is projectedbeyond the 2010 time point using thesame projection level shown, in just afew short decades the vast majority othe world's population will be living incities."


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sorry for the increase but I am sure youwill thoroughly enjoy the trip and it iswell worth the cost.

"OK. Are there any questions? Good. Ihope to see you on Saturday morning,April 12, at 8:00 a.m.!"

This Concludes The TraditionalTSE Samples

Those were the traditional questionsthat have appeared in the sample examput out by the Test of Spoken Englishfor a number of years. Following thissection are the four new questionsthat were implemented in 2003.

What is the key to scoring high onthese exams? As stated earlier, it isexpressing yourself in clear, under-standable, English. Nothing more,

nothing less. Is there such a thing as aperfect answer? Of course NOT!These are not mathematics exams.They are not social studies exams.They are not designed to test yourability to interpret a graph. The testsare all about English language profi-ciency.

As we continue on to the new TSEsamples I will caution you to use your

logic and your powers of reading andunderstanding. Listening carefully isalso of primary importance. Listen towhat is actually being asked of you.

Reduce the problem, or the question,to its simplest and most pure form.This might appear to be difficult to dobut with practice it can become easy.

If you concentrate on finding exactlywas is being asked of you it is thensimple to devise an answer. An answerso composed will cover what is beingasked but only in a superficial man-ner. Do not go into depth. Do not con-fuse yourself or the rater. Make it assimple as possible. Fill up the timeallotted for the answer but do NOT tryto be clever!

Once again I will remind you: By con-centrating your efforts to speakingEnglish at all times possible before

your exam you will increase your scoredramatically. Speak in English, read inEnglish, think in English.

Now, lets tackle those four new ques-tions and see how simple we can makethem.

Nurses! Teachers!We have many employers asking us to refer prospective

employees to them. If you are interested in working in the

United States, please let us know. We will give your name andresume to them free of charge!

Write to us at: ESL Seminars, 1222 Hazel Street North, St.

Paul, Minnesota 55119-4500 USA


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The four new sample questions for theTSE exam are addressed in this sec-tion. The questions we will use are thosegiven on the TSE sample questions

page directly from their web site. Beadvised that these sample questions may

be different than those actually givenyou on the exam. However, the conceptsare the same and you should be able toconstruct adequate answers if you fol-low the logic given in this section. Be

prepared to take very good notes. Youshould practice note taking on a continu-ing and regular basis. In fact, here is ourfirst hint, or tip:

Have a partner read out loud some shortnewspaper stories. You should takenotes while your partner is saying thewords. Note all of the important parts ofthe story. When your partner finishes,should should then try to tell the story

back using just your notes. You shouldalso give your own short opinion on thesubject of the story if it seems appropri-

ate. This exercise will improve yournote-taking abilities.

Sale Pretest Question 10

On the first new question you will beasked to respond to a telephone message

containing a complaint. Imagine thatyou are the manager of a catalog com-pany that sells office furniture. Afteryou hear the message, you will havesome time to prepare your response. Inyour response be sure to:

Show that you recognize thecallers problem, and;

Propose a way of dealing withthe problem satisfactorily.

You will be given 60 seconds to listen tothe voice message:

Margaret: Hello. My name is MargaretWillis. Im calling because last week Iordered a wooden desk chair from yourstore. The sales person said it would bedelivered in five days. They also said itwould be easy to put together. Well, Imhappy to say that the chair arrived ahead

of schedule, in just three days. But whenI tried to assemble it, I discovered thatone of the legs was missing. Please callme back today and let me know whatyoure going to do about this. The modelnumber of the chair is C50, and it is thefront right leg thats missing. This is thethird message Ive left, and I am ratherupset.

Narrator: Now take 30 seconds to pre-pare your response to the caller. Do notstart your response until I tell you do doso.

Please begin your response now.

In your response you should try to reas-sure the customer, and try to work out asolution. There are many solutions tothis type of question. The most effectiveapproach would be to examine your ownattitude if this problem were to happento you. How would you want to be treat-

The Four New Dreaded

TSE Question Techniques


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ed? What kind of solution would youwant offered to yourself?

The real problem is very simple. Marga-ret is upset. That is the problem in anutshell. Create a response that ac-knowledges that Margaret is unhappyand offer solutions that will make herhappy.

For example: Hello Margaret, this is

(your name) from the furniture store. Iapologize for the unreturned phone callsand for the poor quality of the chair. Iwould like to give you a few options tocure the chair problem. I would also liketo give you a gift certificate for being so

patient. Please phone me back at yourconvenience so that we can go over the

options you have available to fix thisunfortunate problem. Again I apolo-gize.

Another example: Hello, may I speakto Margaret please? Margaret, this is(your name) from the furniture store. Iapologize for your calls not being re-turned. We are not open on weekends

and therefore your response had to waituntil Monday. Again, I apologize, butwe have done our best. In regard to the

problems you are having with your newchair, I have directed our repairperson toschedule an appointment with you tomake the necessary repairs. If the repair-

person is unable to make the repair Ihave authorized a replacement chair to

be sent along. If you have any questionsplease do not hesitate to contact me atany time. Goodbye.

Sample Pretest Question 11

You will be asked to take a few mo-ments to look at a flowchart showing the

process used by a certain company whenit revises its employee training manual.

You will then hear a conversation aboutthe revision of the training manual fornew employees. After the conversation,you will have some time to prepare areport on the situation for Mr. Jacobson,your supervisor at work. Please listen to

the conversation.

After listening to the conversation, youwill have 45 seconds to prepare yourreport for Mr. Jacobson. In your reportyou should talk about:

What the situation is;

What has been accomplished,and;

What remains to be done.


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Do not begin speaking until you are toldto do so.

Narrator: Please spend a few mo-ments looking at this flowchart showingthe process used by a certain companywhen it revises its employee trainingmanual.

Narrator:Now you will hear a conver-sation about the revision of the training

manual for new employees. After theconversation, you will have some timeto prepare a report on the situation forMr. Jacobson, your supervisor at work.Please listen to the conversation.

Ann:Hi, Bill! Still working on that

new employee training manual thatthe management team decided to re-vise?

Bill:Oh yeah! Its been quite a job. Iwish I hadnt been part of the revi-sions committee.

Ann:There was a revisions commit-

tee? I thought it was just a couple ofyou working on it.

Bill: No, the management teamchose six people for the committeeand we met a number of times. Weeventually came up with a series ofdraft revisions.

Ann:Did you agree on all the chang-es?

Bill:Oh no! Thats too much to ask!Well, we agreed about a lot of therevisions, but we ended up sending

some to the management team forthem to decide.

Ann:And theyre still arguing overit, right?

Bill: Nope! They chose what theywanted, approved it, and sent it right

back to us to prepare the final form forprinting. And this is it! This documentis the final form of the revised manu-

al! Im just taking it to be printed.

Ann: Really! Thats great! Andwhen will the new manuals be backfrom the printers? Were waiting togive them to the new employees toread through.

Bill: I expect youll be able to dis-tribute them on Tuesday next week.

Ann:Wow! That means we could dothe training workshop on Friday. Illset it up.

Narrator:You will have 45 seconds to

prepare your report for Mr. Jacobson. Inyour report you should talk about: 1.What the situation is; 2. What has beenaccomplished, and; 3. What remains to

be done. Please begin your report now.

The key to this response is to note whatis being asked of you to include in thereport. You must address each compo-nent: Past events; Current events, and;Future events. It is really that simple.Tell your supervisor that you overheardthe conversation between Bill and Annand then tell him those three elements.Thats it. Thats the whole thing. Youare an eavesdropper and you are now


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going to tattle about the conversationyou heard. You were not a part of the

conversation. You overheard the con-versation. Make sure you get the settingcorrect in your response.

For example: Mr. Jacobson? Could Ihave a minute of your time? I just over-heard a conversation between Bill andAnn. They were discussing the revisedemployee manual. Bill said he was a

member of the revisions committee.They had some difficulties but the man-agement team resolved the problems.Bill has the completed revisions withhim and he is going to take it to be

printed. It is complete! Ann expects todistribute them on Friday of next week.Isnt that great? Is there anything youwould like me to follow up on?


Imagine that the photocopy machine inyour office is out of order. The techni-cian sent by the office equipment com-

pany was unable to fix the problembecause an important part had to beordered. Your copy of the repair service

report is shown below. Please take a fewmoments to look at the repair service

report. Then listen to a telephone voicemessage that gives different informationabout the situation.

Now you will have 30 seconds to pre-pare your response to this voice mes-sage. In your response you should:

Explain the problem, and;

Offer more than one solution.

Do not start speaking until told to do so.

Narrator:Imagine that the photocopymachine in your office is out of order.The technician sent by the office equip-ment company was unable to fix the

problem because an important part hadto be ordered. Your copy of the repairservice report is shown below. Pleasetake a few moments to look at the repairservice report. Then listen to a telephonevoice message that gives different infor-mation about the situation.

James Cook: Hi. This is JamesCook at Acme Repair and Im callingto confirm the repair visit our techni-cian arranged with you yesterday. Asthe service report form says, the tech-nician will be back out to repair yourcopies on August 15 sometime in theafternoon. The technician does notcarry parts. So the ink cartridges are

being shipped to you. They will arriveby the end of this week. Please be sureto have the parts available for thetechnician when when he arrives to dothe repair. Thanks.


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Narrator:Now you will have 30 sec-onds to prepare a response to this voice

message. In your response you should: 1.Explain the problem, and; 2. Offer morethan one possible solution. Do not startspeaking until I tell you to do so.

Narrator:After the beep leave a voicemessage for James Cook, explaining the

problem and offering your solutions.

James Cook: [voice-mail filter]Youve reached James at Acme Repair.Please leave your message after the

beep.

In this question your response should

deal with the root problem. That problemis that your copier is broken and you

need it fixed. The discrepancies betweenwhat was written on the work order sheet

and what is being said by James Cookare what caused the problem. Your re-sponse must be the exact same type oresponse as if you were actually speakinginto a telephone answering machine.You must start with a standard telephonegreeting (such as Hello) and then youmust identify yourself, state the prob-lems you have discovered, and suggest at

least one solution to the problem. Endthe phone message with a goodbye orsomething similar.

Remember these points:

1. Say Hello at the beginning.

2. Tell the person who you are and whoyou represent.


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3. Tell the person exactly and brieflywhat the problem(s) are.

4. Suggest at least two brief solutions.

5. Make sure you end the phone conver-sation with a standard phone salutationsuch as Goodbye.

For example: Hello, this message is forJames Cook. This is (your name). Im the

one with the broken copying machine.We absolutely need that machine to befixed. Your phone message differedgreatly from the details on the servicereport form. I do not want to go over thedetails in this voice message so pleasecheck your copy of the form and give mea call back. In any event we need ourcopier fixed. Please make whatever pro-visions necessary for the repairs to bemade quickly. Thank you. Goodbye.


Imagine that you happen to meet a col-league who has recently received a pro-

motion. Greet your colleague and be sureto:

Mention the recent promotion;

Express your positive reactionto the promotion, and;

Extend appropriate wishes tothe colleague.

You will have 30 seconds to prepare yourremarks. Do not start speaking until I tellyou to do so.

Narrator: Imagine that you happen tomeet a colleague who has recently re-ceived a promotion. Greet your col-

league and be sure to: 1. Mention therecent promotion; 2. Express your posi-tive reaction to the promotion, and; 3.Extend appropriate wishes to the col-league. You will have 30 seconds to

prepare your remarks. Do not startspeaking until I tell you to do so.

Begin your remarks now.

For this question you will be greeting acolleague, a friend, if you will. You arecongratulating that person on a promo-tion. You must be excited for them (thatis your positive reaction) and extendappropriate wishes.

For example: Fred, how are you? I justfound out about your promotion! Whatwonderful news. You have worked hardhere and you are now receiving the re-wards. I couldnt be happier for you! Iknow that you will do just fine. Im surethat you will be receiving compensationto match the new responsibilities. If youneed anything during your transition

time please let me know. Id be happy tohelp. Again, congratulations and goodluck!

See? If you use logic and listen carefully(or read carefully as the case may be) tothe actual question being asked any ofthese can be made easy to answer. How-ever, you must have continuity in your

speech and eliminate pauses, etc. Howcan you do that? By speaking Englishonly and practice, practice, practice!That is how it is done. Practice.


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Those of you brought up in India, thePhilippines, and other Asian countriesare, without doubt, used to conversingwithout regard to gender distinctions.Differences between the sexes and dif-ferences in age, family position, aregiven in ways not like those used in theEnglish Language. Simply put, you

have no pronoun usage in your nativetongue.

When speaking about men, or male sub-ects, you must use him, he, his, etc.,

when speaking English.

When speaking about women, or femalesubjects, you must use she, her, hers,

etc., when speaking English

If you are speaking about a male sub-ect, and somewhere in your answer you

refer to that male person as a her youwill confuse the rater and you couldvery well fail on that question.

It may seem inconsequential to you ifyou ignore correct gender usage but it isan important and integral part of theEnglish language.

My experience with students from allover Asia has brought me to the firmconclusion that gender mistakes are en-demic throughout that region of the

world. I have no tips on how to easilyrectify this ever-present problem. I can-not wave a magic wand and make itall right. I have further noticed that therate of using incorrect pronouns is about50%. That is horrendous.

All I know is that the problem MUST becorrected and if this takes some addi-tional study on your part you must takethe time and effort to do so.

The only effective manner in which tocorrect gender mistakes is to eitherwatch TV or look through a picture

magazine and consciously say the cor-rect pronoun when looking at the imageof a man or a woman. Practice, practice,

practice is the key to learning any sub-ject. That means a lot of practice.

If your cultural background is Asian orIndian you must deal with this issue atthe earliest possible point. To not take it

for granted that the examiner or raterwill understand what you mean. Theywill not!

Now for the best advise I can give you:Just eliminate the use of pronouns alto-gether for the purpose of the spokenEnglish exam you are taking. Just dont

do it! How do you avoid them? By usingeither a proper name (ie: John Smith) oryou can simply say things like theman, the boy, the woman, etc. It isextremely unlikely that you will evereducate yourself to use pronouns cor-rectly. With that in mind, just eliminatetheir usage. That is simple, direct, andeffective advise. Take it to heart!

Gender, Pronouns, Speaking And

Your Asian Background


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hilippine Nurse

Smuggling Ringroken Up

U.S. Visa News Headlines United States Im-

migration Service

[This article is somewhat dated but the

message is still relevant and timely.The point of all this? Be careful. Bevery, very careful!]

Five people have pled guilty to runningthe biggest fraudulent visa conspiracyring in the U.S. According to Federalofficials, more than 560 nurses were

smuggled into the U.S., mostly fromthe Philippines. The nurses were sentto over 35 states for unauthorized em-

ployment. Federal officials have notyet verified the U.S. parties involved

but we understand that they may belinked to some of the folks that theImmigration Service has been warning

about for years. Some of these individ-uals are purported to be lawyers.

From information they have gathered,this is being characterized as a smug-gling operation. However, we suspectthat it may be more like what Filipinoofficials have often seen:

Suspect recruiters in Manilacharging an application fee ofhundreds or even thousands ofdollars.

False delays in getting thetemporary nurse license ap-

proved.

No job when the prospectivenurses get to the U.S.

Remember two things:

1. Its almost impossible to enter theUnited States (or Canada for that mat-ter) without having valid employment

beforehand and all the necessary visas,etc. It is also mandatory that prospec-tive nurses wishing to work in theUnited States must pass all Englishlanguage proficiency tests and be is-sued certificates for such.

2. If you or a relative wants to work in

the United States, protect yourself andthem by routing only through a legiti-mate United States recruiter. If indoubt, contact the appropriate Philip-

pine government agency to verify theircredentials.

Several years ago, a convicted nursesmuggler was invited by the Philippine

Overseas Employment Agency(POAE) to meet and speak with theirleaders regarding the types of scamsU.S. criminals were using to falselylure Filipino healthcare workers. Aftera two hour roundtable, the POEA offi-cials were: Flabbergasted: Theycouldnt believe the variety of tricks

and lies involved. The input from thesmuggler helped form some of thePOEAs anti-fraud provisions.


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Where should we begin? Logic tells usthat we should always start at the begin-ning, right? Well, for our purposes, weneed to start with the last subject you will

be confronted with during your IELTSexamination. That subject is your abilityto speak English but what type ofEnglish?.

For most other spoken English exams,the object is to speak in an AmericanEnglish manner. That is not necessarily

correct for the IELTS. The IELTS isan exam created by British concerns anddoes have a distinctly British bent to it.Must you use a British accent to pass

the IELTS? Absolutely not. Is it advis-able to speak British English? Maybe.We really just dont know at this time.

First, though, lets go through a short

description of what the IELTS is andits function.

The IELTSis an examination that mea-

sures how well you comprehend theEnglish language. It is broken up intofour separate modules: Listening; Read-ing; Writing, and; Speaking. The totaltest time is 2 hours and 45 minutes. Youshould reserve the entire day for yourexamination because there are delays

between each module and usually alunch break between the first three mod-ules and the Speaking module. In somecases the Speaking module is adminis-tered on a following day.

This publication deals only with the spo-

ken English aspect of the IELTS. Weassume that you are a college educated

person with a sound background in Eng-lish. Our experience has been that most

professional people should have littletrouble with their listening, reading, orwriting skills in English. However, spo-ken English is tricky and problematic forthe non-native English speaker to pass.

Those of you from India, the Philippines,and other areas where English is used bymany people on a daily basis may be-lieve that you have a command of spokenEnglish. Your friends and colleagues inyour native land have no problems withyour spoken English. Because of that,you might believe your English to bevery good. Do not be so sure.

The IELTSisnotan easy exam to pass.It is designed to ensure that the proposedimmigrant to the United States can com-municate at the level necessary for that

person to conduct their profession with-out problems.

The Academic Reading and Writingmodules are suitable for those seekingadmission to undergraduate and post-graduate courses and for nurses. Gen-eral Training Reading and Writingmodules are suitable for candidates whoare going to English-speaking countriesto complete their secondary education ortraining programs not at degree level.

TheAcademicmodules are also used forimmigration purposes. In your case, youwill be administered theAcademicexam,the more difficult of the two exams. Youmust be prepared thoroughly for thisexam. Practice thoroughly and well.

The IELTSExam Spoken English Module

nd You - What You Should Know


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Listening;

Reading;

Writing;

Speaking.

Assessment of the Cambridge examina-tions is linked to an international fivelevel scale established by the Associa-tion of Language Testers in Europe(ALTE) and used to assess Englishlanguage proficiency for those whose

native tongue is on of a wide range ofEuropean languages.

Level 5 Upper advanced level

Fully operational command of the lan-guage at a high level in most situations.For example: The examinee can argue acase confidently, justifying and making

points persuasively.

Level 4 Lower advanced level

Good operational command of the Eng-lish language in a wide range of realworld situations. For example: The ex-aminee can participate effectively in dis-cussions and meetings.

Level 3 Upper intermediate level

Generally effective command of theEnglish language in a range of situations.For example: The examinee can make a

contribution to discussions on practicalmatters.

Level 2 Lower intermediate level

Limited but effective command of theEnglish language in familiar situations.For example: The examinee can take part

in a routine meeting on familiar topics,particularly in an exchange of simplefactual information.

Level 1 Elementary level

Basic command of the English languageneeded in a range of familiar situations.

For example: The examinee can under-stand and pass on simple messages.

Universities in Britain, North Americaand throughout the world accept the cer-tificates awarded to successful candi-dates at Levels 4 and 5 as evidence of anadequate standard of English for admis-sion to undergraduate and postgraduatedegree courses. For immigration pur-

poses (to the USA via the visa screeningprocess) the candidate must be in theequivalent of Level 5.

The five level scale means that more

specialized examinations in Business

English and English for Academic

Purposes can be directly compared withthe internationally recognized

examinations in the Cambridge Main

Suite, and with examinations in other

European Languages offered by

members of ALTE.

The IELTSExam Modules An Overlook


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Many of you reading this booklet arefrom India, the Philippines, or otherAsian countries where English is spoken

by many people on a daily basis. Youmight even consider English to be one ofthe predominant languages in your coun-try.

That belief could very well give you afalse sense of security regarding the Eng-lish language. If you fail your respectivespoken English exam you probably willlook back at techniques or tips youlearned regarding the content you ex-

pressed during the exam and not ques-tion the qualityof the words you spoke.

If you have failed a spoken English examone or more times you are probablydumbfounded that despite having such awonderful background in English thatyou still fail the exam. In short, you

believe that you are an excellent English

speaker because you sound just likeother English speakers in your country.You received passing grades on yourEnglish language classes in college,right?

Unfortunately for you, that means abso-lutely nothing to the spoken English

exam raters for either the IELTS or theTSE. But, with your English back-ground the fault must be in thecontentofyour answer, right? Not at all. Pleaseread on. This segment could, and should,save you a lot of soul-searching and getyour focusoffof figuring out how to get

Sally to the Ice Cream Store with thefewest number of steps.

Your English language instructors inyour home country undoubtedly havetold you that you are a good or excellentEnglish speaker. What you have beentold in your native country by your in-structors wont get you a passing gradeon any spoken English exam. Chancesare, your college English instructorscould not pass a spoken English examthemselves. Why? Lets address that sit-uation criticallyand completely.

Please bear in mind, as I have statedbefore, that I amnotcriticizing anyonesculture, background, or their normal day-to-day English speaking abilities. What Imust convey, however, is that the person

youneed to satisfy when taking any spo-ken English exam is theAmericanrater.That persons ear is expecting you to

speak AmericanEnglish.Notthe dia-lect you learned in your home country.You MUSTspeak inAmericanEnglishtones.

If you speak too fast, as many of youfrom India and the Philippines do, youwill FAIL the exam. If you do not pro-

nounce words as they are pronounced byAmericans, in America, you will FAIL.If you do not pause sufficiently at the endof each sentence you will confuse thelistener and FAIL the exam. If you do notspeak in complete sentences, you willFAIL.

Some Gentle Admonitions Regarding English

nd Some Extremely Important

eminders For You When Speaking English


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Do not be so arrogant to believe that youknow how to speak your own style ofEnglish so well that the blame for yourfailure must be with the rater. If you

failed any spoken English exam before,the fault is entirely yours. You did notspeak American English. Instead, youspoke your own dialect, and that was notacceptable. It would be far better for youto become a little more humble, acceptthat your native style of English is notacceptable for spoken English exams,

and focus on learningAmericanEnglish.

One more thing: It isyourresponsibilityto learn how to read a map, how to inter-

pret a pie chart, how to interpret a bargraph, and all of the other subjects thatmight be a content segment of any spo-

ken English exam. ESL Seminarswas designed to get you to speak Ameri-can style English and nothing more.

It must be pointed out here that ESL

Seminarsis not a math, physics, or

science course. You should have learned

all of those subjects completely and

thoroughly during your college years. I

you did not, or if you have forgotten, you

must obtain that knowledge in order to

put your American English speaking

talents to work.

This entire book is Copyright 2003 by James

A. Rarick. ESL Seminars provides ex-tremely effective preparation seminars for spo-ken English exams. All of the printed material,

data CDs, and audio CDs of ESL Semi-narsare the product of James A. Rarick andare Copyrighted 2002 and 2003 by him. Allrights are reserved. No person or entity may

copy ESL Seminars materials for anyreason nor may they use them as either the

basis for, or as an adjunct to, any English lan-guage preparation service.

Purchasers agree not to share or trade materials

they obtain from ESL Seminars. Thesematerials are intended to assist professionals to

pass spoken English exams. No guarantees areexpressed or implied.


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At least one segment of the speaking

module of the IELTS will be com-pletely impromptu based on direct ques-tions by the examiner. You will beengaged in a discussion by the examinerregarding aspects of your previous spo-ken answer to a prompt card. One ormore of the answers might require you tospeak for up to 4 to 5 minutes. That is anincredibly long period of time. YouMUST be prepared to speak at length onalmost any subject. You must also be

prepared to listen carefully. It is not ac-ceptable to say pardon me to the exam-iner. You must understand what is beingasked of you immediately. As an aside,

with the TSE

exam the longest responsewill be about 90 seconds.

You will be required to address abstractissues and concepts linked to previous

answers with the IELTS. The examinerwill deliberately insert questions thatwill cause stress and are designed toforce you to make repairs to your spo-

ken responses. In the TSE you maymore or less choose which tense you willspeak in. You will also avoid makingrepairs to your spoken English with

the TSE if you take care in speaking.

With the IELTS, on the other hand, youwill be forcedto change tenses (and beappraised if you use them appropriately)

and you will be forced to make repairsto your spoken English.

While there is no comprehensive mannerin which to prepare for those kinds ofquestions, there are some strategies you

can employ to ensure your passing theexamination.

First, you must listen very carefully owhat is being said and asked of you. Donot assume a thing. Listen carefully andtake very good mental notes.

Second, your response should be givenin a logical fashion. Do not jump fromidea to idea or from one time-line toanother. Make your words cohesive andwell constructed.

Third, do not repeat things and do notmake extended responses. Speak directly

to the subject (and only the subject) anddo not go over the time allotted you forthat response.

Fourth, you must pronounce each wordcarefully and correctly. You must alsoverbalize your punctuation. Speak di-rectly to the examiner even if the exam-iner seems to ignore or tries to distract

you.

Remember, you are being interviewed ona one-on-one basis. Use that to youradvantage. Pretend that you are speakingto a friend butnever forgetthat you must

be concise with your response.

If you have taken our live seminar youshould know very well how to frameyour answer and how to stress yourreference point at the very beginningof your response.

The Impromptu Nature Of The

ELTS Speaking Module


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Duration and Format

The Speaking Module takes between 11and 14 minutes and consists of an oralinterview between the candidate and anexaminer. Be aware that the examinermay not appear to pay close attention to

you and may go about other tasks whileyou are speaking.

Do not let those distractions upset you.Do not be insulted nor should you stopspeaking if the examiner starts to doother things. The examiner is trying tostress you. Donotlet that happen.

All interviews are recorded on audiocassette. Recorded tapes may be re-eval-

uated by IELTS officials and theexaminers initial score determination is

notfinal. Remember to maintain enoughvolume in your voice so that it recordswell.

[NOTE: During the liveESL Semi-

naryou were given countless examplesof how to tell a story. The Americanguest speaker told many stories in manyways. Why? To give you a positive ex-ample of how it is done and how easy itcan be. During any spoken English profi-ciency exam what you will be doing istelling stories. Now, dont you wish you

would have paid more attention to theguest speakers techniques?]

The overall structure of the test is sum-marized below.

Task Types

There are three main parts. Each partfulfils a specific function in terms ointeraction pattern, task input and candi-date output. Review these carefully and

be fully prepared for each of them. The

fact of the matter is, be prepared to speakto just about any subject.

Part One

Candidates must answer general ques-tions about themselves, their homes andfamilies, their jobs, their studies, their

interests, and a range of familiar topicareas. This part lasts between four andfive minutes. That is a long time. It is avery long time. Try not to repeat yourselduring that long period. Try to speak in alinear fashion with clear thoughts andclear organization.

Part Two

The candidate is given a verbal prompton a card and is asked to talk on a partic-ular topic. The candidate has one minuteto prepare before speaking at lengthonthe topic shown on the card, for betweenone and two minutes. The examiner then

asks one or two rounding-off questions.The rounding off questions are care-fully constructed and you must listencarefully. This segment could be on anysubject. It is impossible to prepare for alleventualities but you must be prepared to

The IELTS Speaking Module

What To Expect On Exam Day


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speak even about subjects that you mightnot be familiar with. Good luck!

Part Three

The examiner and candidate engage in adiscussion of more abstract issues andconcepts which are thematically linkedto the topic prompt in Part 2. The discus-sion lasts between four and five minutes.This is the most likely segment when you

could become stressed and make fatalerrors. Be aware that the interviewer, orexaminer, will try to make you trip up.It is their job. They are testing you to seeif you will FAIL, they are not testing youto ensure your passing. Remember that.The examiner is trying to get you toFAIL.

What Examiners Look For

The Speaking Module assesses whethercandidates can communicate effectivelyin English. The band rating for health-care professionals has been set at 7.0, asomewhat high and difficult mark to

reach. Make sure you try as hard as pos-sible to make things easy for yourself.Talk only about subjects that you aretotally familiar with if you have an op-

portunity. Some of the subjects you willbe asked to speak to might be totallyunfamiliar but try to draw parallels inthat unfamiliar topic to topics you aretotally familiar with.

Please note that the speech functionswhich should occur in a candidates out-

put (which means you must address all ofthem adequately) during the SpeakingModule are:

Providing personal information

Expressing a preference

Providing non-personal infor-mation

Comparing (on any subject)

Expressing opinions (on any

subject)

Summarizing (on any subject)

Explaining (on any subject)

Conversation repair

Suggesting (on any subject)

Contrasting (on any subject)

Justifying opinions (your opin-

ion be prepared!)

Narrating and paraphrasing

Speculating

Analyzing

Other speech functions may emerge

during the test, but they are not forced bythe test structure.However, read throughthe items listed above. Those items are

being forcedof you. Keep in mind that

the exam is structured to stress the

examinee in very subtle but specific

ways. You must keep your wits about

you and focus on the topic at hand. Listen

carefully!!!


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One of the questions you may be posed

with during the IELTSspeaking mod-ule would be to describe a teacher whohas greatly influenced you in your edu-cation.

To respond to that question you should

address the following aspects:

Where you met them

What subject they taught

What was special about them

Explain why this person influ-enced you so much.

You will have to talk about the topic for1 to 2 minutes. You have one minute to

prepare your response. Think carefullyabout what you are going to say. You canmake some notes if you wish.

Other topics you might encounter? Itcould be anything. Music, movies, con-struction, education, cooking, whatever.Just be prepared for the unexpected.Look on the topic(s) you are given as awelcome challenge. Dont be afraid.

Never be afraid. That will only causeadditional stress that you absolutely donot need.

One quick tip: At the end of a logicalthought make a slightly longer pausethan normal. This will give the examinera chance to ask additional, or follow-upquestions. This actually helps you im-mensely, especially if you have ex-

hausted your knowledge of the root topicyou were speaking to, by giving the ex-aminer a chance to verbalize.

The Speaking module is a structuredinterview with an emphasis on generalspeaking skills. It assesses whether can-

didates have the necessary knowledgeand skills to communicate effectivelywith native speakers of English. Remem-

ber, as a healthcare professional the ex-pectations of your spoken English aregreater than that of students, etc. That iswhy you are taking the Academic exam.

As you have read on previous pages,

there are five sections you should con-cern yourself with, including an intro-duction; extended discourse on somefamiliar topic; a phase where candidatesare given a task card and encouraged totake the initiative and ask questions toelicit information; speculation and dis-cussion about future plans; and a conclu-

sion.

Just be prepared for the unexpected. Thatsounds trite, but it is true. The most im-

portant thing you can do is just practice,practice, practice and then practice yourspoken English some more. Practice

makes perfect, and for the IELTSexamyou must be near perfect.

What Questions May

You Expect With IELTS?


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We encourage all of our clients to attendour live seminar. We know full well that

most IELTS(and TSE) test takers donot really benefit from traditional studyguides and test-prep courses. We havethe solution our Interactive Participa-tion technique. It is intense and it

works! For those that cannot attend, wehave our audio CDs and seminar materi-als Kit.

Please remember, our Kits have as-

sisted hundreds to pass the TSE and

now the IELTS. You need to practicewith our materials on a frequent and

focused basis. The very best solution,however, is to use our materials after youhave attended our live seminar. The sem-inar is unbeatable! You will never forgetit during your entire lifetime!

We have assembled our research to-gether into a thorough, concise, and ef-fective seminar that allows any test taker,

at any skill level, to improve his or herscore dramatically with a minimum ofeffort. It is the use of simple logic.

The reason some exam takers do well ontest day is that they have made the criti-cal connection between the material theylearned and how to use that material to

succeed on the IELTS

. It means bring-ing out the lessons you have learnedthroughout your lifetime into 2 or 3hours of examinations. Of those hours,only a few precious moments will bespent speaking.

Our seminar materials Kit is the onlyproduct on the market that addresses thedifference between merely knowing thematerial and knowing how to use thematerial to perform on test day. The factof the matter is, being a college graduatetells us that you know the material. We

show you how to express it.

Time is the worst enemy of most spokenEnglish test takers. For short timed re-sponses (30 seconds or so) it is hard tocondense your thoughts to avoid goingover. On longer timed responses (2 to 5minutes) it is difficult to speak for thatlong a time (unless you are our seminar

guest speaker!). You need to make yoursentences simple, but be direct and to the

point. Unlike the way we write on thisand our other pages, you must avoid theuse of the words and and but atnearly all costs. By keeping your sen-tences short and your thoughts simple,you avoid falling into the many time

traps built into the IELTS

spoken mod-ule. This gives you an great advantageover those who go into the test unaware

Please be aware that this is the easiestmodule to prepare for. Simply speakEnglish at every available opportunity.Practice, practice, practice. You canspeak almost anywhere. It is hard to

write or to listen to English at all times,but speaking is possible nearly every-where at any time. Even if you only haveyourself to speak to, go ahead and speak,

but in English only!

The Live ESL SeminarAnd The

ELTSSpeaking Module


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Just as a carpenter uses a hammer, a saw,and a plane, the speech maker must usetools. Those tools are the actual words heor she uses. They are verbal tools.

Lets just look at what a carpenter useswhen he or she builds a house. Along

with the basic hand tools and materials,the carpenter must have a plan of what todo, or what to build. We call that plan theblueprint. Blueprint is an archaic termreferring to the color of the paper andimage, but that notwithstanding, a blue-

print is the complete detailed plan onhow to build something.

When you build a speech, you must usea type of blueprint. You must composethat blueprint in your mind but it must bedetailed and must be complete. In thiscase, you are preparing a blueprint for aIELTS question response. That is quitedifferent from a general toastmastertype speech. What should the blueprint

for a IELTS

response contain?

First of all, you need to keep in mind thetopic you are speaking to. What was, oris, the question(s) being asked of you. Ina toastmaster type of speech youwould have an introduction wherein youtell them what you are going to talkabout. Then you make your talk. At the

end you review, or tell them what youust told them. In the IELTSexam you

must get right to the point and answer thequestions posed to you directly and com-

pletely. No introduction segment and noconcluding segment. Just the heart ofthe subject.

Second, you must plot out the responsedirectly to the question but you must also

put your thoughts into a logical order. Iyou are asked, for example, to tell aboutthe major parts of an automobile fromthe front to the back you should notdo

this:

At the ver

esl seminars

Documents