EXAMS

 Reading exams

 

This section gives you help and advice for all types of reading tests and exams. We explain what you can do before a reading exam and during the exam to get top marks.

Before you read

 Before you even start to read the texts in the exam there are lots of things you can do to help you get a good mark. Read these tips and feel confident and prepared before you start. 

Discussion

What do you usually do before you start reading in an exam? Do you have any top tips to share?

                            While you read

The way you read texts in a reading exam is very different to how you read a magazine, a web page or a book. These tips will help you to read the text in the right way and give you lots of advice on how to get the best mark you can in the exam.

Discussion

What do you think you should do while reading in a reading exam?

             Reading tasks

There are lots of different types of tasks in reading exams. This section will help you learn more about them.

Discussion

What type of tasks can you remember seeing in your school exams?

            Writing exams

        

  This section gives you help and advice for all types of writing tests and exams, and focuses on planning time, writing time and reviewing time

  

Before you even put pen to paper or finger to keyboard, there are several things you should do in order to do well in writing exams. This section will give you advice on how to plan for your writing exam so you get the best marks possible.

Discussion

           Planning time

This section will give you advice on how to plan for your writing exam so you get the best marks possible.

Before you even put pen to paper or finger to keyboard, there are several things you should do in order to do well in writing exams. This section will give you advice on how to plan for your writing exam so you get the best marks possible.

Discussion

Do you always plan what you are going to write in an exam or do you just start writing?

Writing time

 This section will give you tips and advice for how to get top marks in writing exams.

Planning your writing is very important, but the actual writing is what you will spend most of your time on. When you are happy with your plan and you have the reader in mind, then you are ready to start the writing process. This section will give you tips and advice for how to get top marks in writing exams. Good luck! :)

Discussion

How much time do you usually have to write in your English exams? 

Reviewing time

This section will show you how to review your work carefully so you get top marks in your next writing exam.
When you finish writing, leave enough time to review. It is important to review your work properly and check for mistakes with language, spelling and punctuation. This section will show you how to review your work carefully so you get top marks in your next writing exam. 

Listening exams

 

 This section gives you help and advice for all types of listening tests and exams. We explain what you can do before a listening exam and during the exam to get top marks.

Before you listen

 This section gives you lots of advice to help you do well in listening exams even before you start listening.

In any listening exam there is a lot you can do to prepare yourself before the teacher plays the recording and you actually listen to the text. If you are well prepared before you even hear the first word of the text, you will do much better in the test.

Discussion

Tell us what you usually do before a listening exam.

While you listen

 Find tips and advice for what to do while you're listening to the audio or video in the exam.

While you are listening to the text you need to concentrate 100%. This is not a time for looking out of the window or thinking about what you are going to have for lunch! The actual listening part of most tests is very short so try to focus only on the exam.

Discussion

Is it easy for you to concentrate in school exams? Do you have any top tips to help others concentrate better?

After you listen

 This section helps you to get more points when you've finished listening to the audio or video.

When the listening text has stopped you may think the exam is over, but there are still things you can do to get a few more points.

Discussion

What do you usually do after listening to the recording in an exam?  Do you think this helps your final score?

Speaking exams

 

 This section gives you help and advice for different types of speaking tests and exams. You can watch six videos of real students doing speaking exams.

Speaking tips

 This section will give you lots of tips and advice so you can do as well as possible in any speaking test.

This section is going to help you to prepare for speaking exams, which for many learners are the exam that is most feared! This section will give you lots of tips and advice so you can do as well as possible in any speaking test. Remember that everyone gets nervous in exams, especially oral exams. So, don’t worry, our tips will help you feel more confident in a speaking exam.

• Listening to as much English as possible will help to improve your speaking. Listening to songs, podcasts, films, TV series or video clips will help you to feel more confident about speaking.
• Speak as much English in class as possible. If you speak English regularly in class, you will find it easier to speak in an exam.
• Slow down! It’s not a race. Before you speak, think carefully about what to say and speak a little slower than normal.
• Use language you know is correct. Use words and expressions you have used before.
• If you don’t know a word, think of another way to say it. For example, if you know the word ‘expensive’, but can’t remember the word ‘cheap’, you could say:
  It’s not expensive.
  It’s a good price.
  It’s not a lot of money.
• Listen to yourself while you speak and if you hear a mistake, correct it. Native speakers make mistakes and correct them all the time.
• Look at the examiner’s or other student’s face and eyes when you speak. Do they understand you? If not, say it again with different words.
• If you don’t understand the question or the activity, ask the examiner. Say: ‘Could you repeat that, please?’
• Always say something. Don’t just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Explain your answer with a reason. Say ‘Yes, I agree because....’
• If you can choose the question or topic, choose one you know something about. It’s easier to talk about something you know.
• Speak clearly so that the examiner can hear you. If you find this difficult, practise with a friend at home. Stand at opposite ends of a room and speak to each other in English. Or speak to each other in English on your computers.
• What can you prepare before the exam? Ask your teacher. For example, questions about personal information. Prepare what to say at home and practise with a friend, in front of a mirror or record yourself on your phone or computer. 
• In some exams, there are two examiners. One who talks to you and one who listens. Say hello and goodbye to both examiners, but during the exam, focus on the examiner who talks to you.
• This is your opportunity to show the examiner what you know. Use your best language and pronunciation.
• Remember that everyone feels nervous in exams. So, take some deep breaths before the exam and try to relax.
• Finally, remember that the examiners are normal human beings, not aliens!

 

Communication strategies

 This section offers you practical advice and language for you to prepare for your speaking exams.

This section offers you practical advice and language for you to prepare for your speaking exams. The examiner or teacher won’t expect your speaking to be perfect, or for you to know every single word that you need to do the task.

However, if you don’t know all the words you need you should have a plan for what you are going to say to help you in this situation.

Discussion

What makes you more nervous; listening exams, reading exams or speaking exams?  Tell us why. 

 

Accuracy and Fluency

 This section will give you some tips on how to become a more accurate and fluent speaker.

If you speak English with a high level of accuracy it means you speak correctly, with very few mistakes. If you speak fluently it means you speak easily, quickly and with few pauses.

The ideal is obviously to speak accurately and fluently but that will come after years of practice! This section will give you some tips on how to become a more accurate and fluent speaker, the important thing is to create a balance between the two.

Discussion

Do you think you speak with more fluency or more accuracy?  How about your friends or family?  Is it the same for them, too?

Typical speaking tasks

 This section helps you understand the types of tasks in speaking exams. 

Speaking exams can vary a lot and there are many different tasks you might be asked to do. Make sure you know exactly what you are going to be asked to do before you start a speaking exam.

You can often prepare for certain sections before the big day. Here are some typical activities you might do in a speaking exam. Click on the links below or on the right-hand side of this page to watch six videos of different speaking exams.  

Discussion

Tell us about your last speaking exam. Did you do well?

 Grammar and vocabulary exams

 

 This section gives you tips and advice for grammar and vocabulary tests. There are lots of different ways to test grammar and vocabulary and this section will introduce you to some of them.

Learning new grammar

 This section has top tips for learning and practising grammar. 

Are you the kind of person that loves studying new grammar rules? Or do you hate doing grammar exercises? Love it or hate it, learning and practising grammar will help you improve your spoken and written English. Using grammar correctly is always very impressive and it's also very useful for passing exams! Here are our top tips for learning grammar:

• Don’t worry about making mistakes. Every time someone corrects you, you learn something new.
• Do you know which mistakes you make most, and which mistakes are common for speakers of your language? Make a list of your common mistakes and pay special attention to them.
• Be patient. Maybe you can do the practice exercises, but when you’re speaking you don’t have time to think about the correct grammar. Don’t worry, that’s completely normal! If someone explained to you exactly how to swim, could you just get in the water and swim without practising? Of course not! It’s just the same with grammar. The more you practise, the better you’ll be. 
• Read and listen to English as much as possible. Think about grammar when you’re reading and listening. Do you know why they used that particular structure? Do you notice any differences between your language and English? Noticing which structures are used and knowing what the differences are will you help get English grammar right.
• Use the Grammar section on LearnEnglish Teens to revise grammar. Watch the videos, read the snack and then do the exercises.
• Practise, practise, practise! Try to use the new grammar you have learnt immediately.  When you can do the practice exercises, try writing a sentence of your own, and use that grammar next time you’re speaking. This will help you remember new grammar really well. If you register on LearnEnglish Teens you can write comments on the site and put your English into practice every day by communicating with other users and our team of moderators.

Discussion

Have you got any tips for learning new grammar?

Grammar exercise types

 In this section we explain some of the most common types of exercises and we give you tips for you to be able to get top marks in your exams.

There are lots of different types of tests and exams to test your level of grammar. In this section we explain some of the most common types of exercises and we give you tips for you to be able to get top marks in your exams. You can also practise your grammar by doing the exercises. Let us know what you think about the tips and advice in this section by writing comments on the pages.

Discussion

What type of grammar tests and exams do you have to do at school?

Learning new words

 This section gives you lots of advice and ideas on how you can learn new words.

This section gives you lots of advice and ideas on how you can learn new words. When you’re learning a new language it’s really important to keep learning new words to improve your vocabulary. When you learn new words you need to try and use them as soon as you can so they will become part of your active vocabulary. We need to see a new word at least five times before we are able to use it correctly. There are lots of opportunities on this website to learn new words, and by writing comments on the site you can put your new vocabulary into practice.

Don't forget to use the Vocabulary exercises section on our website to help you learn new words. Also, reading and listening to as much English as possible will help to improve your vocabulary.

Recording vocabulary

 It's very important to keep a record of new words as you learn them. This section shows you how. 

It's very important to keep a record of new words as you learn them. There are many ways to do this and this section will give you ideas about how you can do this. Different ideas will work for different people, so try some of them out and see which ones work for you.

Discussion

How do you keep a record of new vocabulary?

Vocabulary exercise types

 This section will introduce you to the main types of vocabulary tests and will give you advice and top tips. 

There are many different types of tests to see how much vocabulary a learner knows, from matching words to pictures to completing gaps. This section will introduce you to the main types of vocabulary tests and will give you advice and practice exercises so you will get top marks in your next test.

Discussion

What type of vocabulary tests do you have at school?