Category: Fun for all

¿Siempre dices lo mismo para dar tu opinión en inglés? Para mejorar tu puntuación en el examen, deja de usar ‘I think’ y empieza a usar estas frases.

Mejorar tu puntuación en el Speaking

Lo difícil de los exámenes de inglés es que tienes muy poco tiempo para mostrar tu nivel. En el Oxford Test of English por ejemplo, tienes entre 20 y 30 segundos para dar tu opinión y tienes que contestar varias preguntas. Así que no puedes utilizar ‘I think…‘ una y otra vez porque no te van a otorgar un B2 si repites siempre lo mismo.

Tampoco es recomendable memorizar lo que vas a decir ya que no sabes exactamente lo que te van a preguntar, pero lo que si puedes hacer es empezar a utilizar con naturalidad las frases que te mostramos a continuación para decir tu opinión. Estas frases te pueden ayudar tanto en el Speaking como en el Writing.

Como prepararse para el examen

Hay 3 claves en las que debes centrarte:

1. Fluidez
2. Uso de gramática / vocabulario
3. El tiempo

Así que cuando practiques,

1. algunas veces debes intentar hablar con fluidez sin preocuparte por los fallos gramaticales.
2. Otras veces, céntrate en hablar sin errores sin prestar demasiada atención a la fluidez. En ambas situaciones, te vendría muy bien grabarlo para luego escucharte.   
3. Y por último, intenta hablar con fluidez, utilizando la gramática adecuada y un vocabulario variado dentro de los límites del tiempo exigidos por cada examen. Es importante acostumbrarte a estos tiempos para medir que y cuanto decir. Es muy probable que así también estés menos nervios@ a la hora del examen ya que habrás preparado todos estos aspectos.

Cada examen tiene su parte en la que tendrás que expresar tus opiniones:

• Oxford Test of English/A2-B2: En el parte 1 (20 segundos x 6 preguntas) y en el parte 4 (30 segundos x 6 preguntas)
• FCE/B2: En el parte 3, tendrás que hablar en pareja durante 4 minutos
• CAE/C1: En el parte 3 (4 minutos) y el parte 4 (5 minutos).

Temas habituales en los exámenes

Hay muchos temas que con frecuencia aparecen en los diferentes exámenes. Es bueno pensar en lo que dirías sobre estos temas. Como dije anteriormente nunca vas a poder saber exactamente lo que te van a preguntar, pero tener unas ideas sobre estos temas puede ser de gran ayuda. Haz un listado de posibles preguntas sobre los siguientes temas:

• Health/exercise
• Leisure/Free time
• Shopping/Fashion
• Sports
• Books
• Buildings
• Environment
• Travel
• Work/Education
• Movies/TV

Ahora que has escrito algunas preguntas y sabes cuánto tiempo vas a tener para hablar sobre ellos, es una buena idea utilizar un reloj y practicar ajustándose al tiempo fijado.

Ejemplos:

How can exercise have an impact on someone’s quality of life?

In my opinion, exercise can only improve your quality of life since you will feel better and sleep better. It’s important that everyone does some exercise every day in order to stay fit and healthy. Otherwise, we may see an increase in health problems in the future, which will have a negative impact on one’s quality of life.

Do you believe you have more or less free time than your parent’s generation?

It seems to me that we have much more free time than when our parents were younger. We tend to go to the gym or do exercise outdoors and even go to the bar for a coffee whereas my parents never really had time or even thought about doing these types of things.

Do you think fashion is something that is always changing?

In my view, fashion trends always come back at some point. They may not be exactly the same, but some part of them return. For example, high-rise jeans were in fashion in the 80s and now we see girls wearing them again. They may not have the same hairstyles or the bright colors, but the jeans are the same.

Do you think sports players earn too much money?

As I see it, football players earn way too much money. I know that they get a lot of their money from advertisements, but I still don’t think justifies them making so much, especially when the country is not doing so well economically. Surely sports clubs can reinvest some of that money into their communities.

Will e-books eventually replace printed books?

I would say that although e-books are really popular, printed books will always be around. You made a good point about how printing less books is good for the environment but I just love the experience of opening up a good book and feeling the pages. I think most people would say the same.

Should copy-cat architecture be banned?

Personally, I don’t believe it should be illegal for people to make copy-cat architecture, but I don’t really like it. But all forms of art today are a mix of someone else’s ideas, so why should architecture be any different? What do you feel about it?

Should individuals or the government be responsible for lowering the effects of climate change?

As far as I’m concerned, we do not do enough as a country to take care of the environment. I know that every person needs to do what they can but without policies governing the big corporations, we will never lower the amount of pollution in the air.

What are more important to know when visiting another country, the language or the culture?

It seems to me that cultural differences are often more important to learn than the language when you are in a foreign country. It’s good to know the language to be able to communicate with the people but being respectful and knowing how to act can make a bigger difference. We all know the importance body language has on communication.

Is working from home common in your country? What do you prefer?

As I see it, in Spain people will work from home more often in the future. In many countries they have been doing it for years, and it really cuts down on costs for the company. Personally, I would prefer to work from home at least two days a week so I can get paperwork done without any distractions.

People are going less and less to the cinema these days. Why do you think that is?

Most people would agree that they prefer to watch movies and TV series at home instead of going to the theatre. For the price of four tickets to the cinema, you can get a yearly subscription to an on-demand streaming service. Having said that, I still enjoy seeing an action film on a big screen, but I only go maybe once a year because it’s cheaper and more comfortable watching it from home.