English speaking exam.

[Huwaida F.]

so i've heard that in this CIE xtremepapers site, sometimes, the topics (the cards) for the oral exam are leaked before the exam. i want to know if that's true. and please please inform me what are the topics, if the topics for 2013 may june are leaked. english speaking exam is the only exam im dreading the most.
i know that might be considered as cheating, but every year this is what happens. it would be unfair if i didnt know the topics, and somebody else did.
or at least suggest me some ways to improve my speaking.

 

[Master Minds]

I don't know about any such stuff of the disclosing of speaking topics before the exam day. Even if I knew about it, I would never help or support you in any such matter. However, I can give you some tips for acing with the speaking test. Here are they:
1) Don't be nervous on exam day. I know it's natural but you must overcome it because if you are unable to do so, you will never be able to perform well. For this, just consider it as a daily chit-chat with your friend (but be aware, don't use slangs and informal language).
2) You must be familiar with the test criteria. Don't be disturb by what others say, remove all the thoughts about your examiner, center etc. Cambridge always hires well-experienced and polite examiners for this test and you are provided comfortable environment for your test i.e. friendly. Also before starting the original test, the examiner, in order to relax you, takes your interview in an informal manner. This part of test is not recorded. During this informal introduction, you are also given you topic and sufficient time for preparing your talk. Don't worry that you may not be able to prepare yourself on the given time. Let me give you a tip. You are given a set of key questions under the topic. Just consider those questions as the examiner will only ask those. Don't try preparing speeches as that sounds too artificial. Note, you are awarded for your speaking style and confidence, not for what you speak.
3) Try having a common dialogue with anyone so that you may be used to of speaking English. This will help you to build up a better style and fluency in your speech.

Thats all about it, practice makes perfect. Also don't forget to talk about this to your teacher as she can solve ur problem really well. Also try searching some useful stuff about the test from your teacher (i would not prefer friends or anyone else) and from cambridge website.