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		Ask for help > Oral Exams     
			
		 Oral Exams 
		
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 EstherLee76
 
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							| Oral Exams 
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							| Hi,   I have a student who is nervous about her upcoming PET Oral Exam.  She often breaks down during practice exams, especially when she can �t think of the word she wants to say.   I am looking for a list of phrases that she can say when she gets into these situations. I have been looking through the printables but I haven�t exactly found anything helpful.   Anyone have any ideas?
 Thanks as always,
 Esther |  10 Nov 2012      
					
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 emece
 
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							| In the first part (personal information), prepare with her all kinds of topics that usually appears in PET exams (your town your family, hobbies, etc), in order to get confidence; In the second part (simulated situation), she has to learn perfectly estructures about suggesstions, agreement or disagreement, expressions of opinion,...); In the third part (describing a photo), teach to her how to do it correctly. Finally, in the last part, it�s useful the language about likes/dislikes, opinions, preferences,...It�s a question of practice and practice to be less nervous in the exam |  10 Nov 2012     
					
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 EstherLee76
 
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							| Thanks so much for your input emece.  It �s very detailed!She can do all these.  It �s just that she gets nervous and shuts down.  I wanted to give her phrases like "Let me think about it."  "I can �t remember the word.", etc.  Things like that.  And to give her strageties for when she gets stuck. |  10 Nov 2012     
					
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 cindyfreksen
 
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							| A few years ago I compiled a list of  �fillers � to help my students to  �buy time � in an exam situation- here they are: 
 
 Useful
phrases for the exam!   Could you
please repeat the question?   I am sorry
I didn�t quite catch that, could you say it again?   Could you
rephrase that please?   I am not
sure I understand exactly what you mean, could you be more precise?   I am sorry
I am not sure that I fully understand the question, do you mean�?   That is a
good question, I need a minute or two to think about it.   It is on
the tip of my tongue.   Can I come
back to that later?   I believe
that�   I think
that�   It is my
opinion that�   That
reminds me of �   I saw a
programme on the television about that�   That is a
good point, however�   I don�t
know much about that, but I can tell you �   I don�t
remember having read anything on that subject, but we have read about�  Another trick/helpful tip was to make a list of all of the words and phrases that were subject specific for the themes that we had through the year. 
 Most important of all boost her confidence, praise her for what she CAN do. I always say to my pupils the exam is about showing off what you can do and hiding what you can �t!
 
 Good luck
 Cindy
 
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 izulia
 
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							| Thank you Cindy, That �s a useful list! |  11 Nov 2012     
					
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 EstherLee76
 
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							| Yes, Cindy.  That �s really great.  I can �t thank you enough! |  11 Nov 2012     
					
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