Speaking - Bubbles Discussion Tips

What to do

Conversation with the other candidate. The examiner gives you spoken instructions with written bubbles which are used in a discussion. You have to talk with the other candidate for about 2 minutes about the bubbles.

After the discussion time, the examiner will ask you another question that requires you to reach an agreement. You have 1 minute to talk together and make the decision.

You don’t need to talk about 5 points! In fact, you probably shouldn’t. it’s much better to have a really good, deep conversation about three/four of the topics than to try briefly mention five.

Both you and your partner should take an equal part in the discussion. Make sure you give your partner a chance to speak.

Remember that you don’t have to agree with your partner’s opinions, but you should reach a final agreement together.

Before the exam, learn and practise phrases for giving your opinion, asking for your partner’s opinion, and agreeing/disagreeing, for example “As I see it,” “From my point of view,” “I believe…” Practice with them so they sound natural.

If you don’t know anything about a topic in the Speaking paper, do not talk about anything else. You need to show your language skills, not your knowledge about a specific subject.

Again, use expressions to react, but they should sound natural. You can use expressions like: “I completely agree with you.” “I’m not sure we see eye to eye on this point.” “That’s a great point.”