Speaking exams can be stressful! What if you don’t understand the examiner（考官）? Remember that everyone gets nervous in exams. And 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 and watching films will help you feel more confident about speaking.

★ Speak as much English in class as possible. If you always speak English in class, you will find it easier to speak in an exam.

★ Slow down! Before you speak, think carefully about what to say and speak a little slower than normal.

★ Use the correct language that you know. Use words and expressions you have used before. If you don’t know a word, think of another way to say it.

★Listen to yourself when you speak and if you hear a mistake, correct it.

★Look at the examiner’s face and eyes when you speak. Does he understand you? If not, say it again with different words.

★Speak clearly so that the examiner can hear you. If you find this difficult, practice with a friend at home. Speak to each other in English on your computers.

★ Remember that everyone feels nervous in exams. So take some deep breaths before the exam and try to relax.

How to start a conversation when you have nothing to talk about?

Starting a conversation to get to know someone or ending an awkward(尴尬) silence can be very stressful. To start a conversation when you have nothing to talk about, use these guidelines.

【小题1】

Open questions like “What kind of books do you like?” “What are you doing right now?” are better than closed questions like “Do you like books?”. Because an open-ended question requires an explanation for an answer rather than just a simple yes or no.

【小题2】

If you like animals in general, it’s easy to relate to other animal lovers whether they prefer dogs, horses, birds, cats or wildlife. Asking the owners about their pets is a great way to get people to open up and start having fun.

【小题3】

Negative(消极的) worries like “Am I boring/good enough/too unimportant?” can leave you feeling stressful. Feeling awkward when carrying on conversation with others is usual but it’s also not good for continuing the conversation. Just relax and be brave.

【小题4】

If he or she appears interested, then continue. If he or she is looking at a clock or watch, or worse, looking for an escape strategy, then you’ve been going on for too long.

【小题5】

Show respect to someone who remains awkward or uncomfortable in front of you. If your conversation partner appears unwilling to share information with you, don’t continue too much.

How many tests do you have to take at school for a day? How do you usually prepare for them or are you really able to prepare for each of them well? Understanding how your brain works can be very helpful for you.

Our memory is in fact made up of three parts—sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory. Sensory memory takes in information from our five senses and stays for only a few seconds. Short-term memory is where we store the new information that we have just taken in. However, the information also won’t stay there very long if we don’t keep doing something to that information. In other words, we turn it into long-term memory, which includes everything from all our best friends’ birthdays to our favourite poems. When studying, either for tests or other purposes, you are trying to turn the information from the books into long-term memory.

Remember that our brain works better when we are interested in a subject, already have basic knowledge about it, and know that we are going to need it for future use. So helpful methods include speaking out the ideas loud in your own words or draw a picture of the information. Also, remember that our brain can deal with limited information at one time, so filling your brain with materials for several tests in one night isn’t a good idea.