Hi Reader,

In one of our most recent live calls, you helped come up with some important things to remember in order to give a strong answer on your CELPIP speaking tasks. Let's chat about a few of them...but first:​
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Don't forget to mark your calendar!

Our next class is going to give you some speaking skills practice for task 3: Describing a Scene.

Wednesday, April 2 · 6:00 – 7:00pm

Time zone: America/Vancouver

Class link: https://meet.google.com/ejg-qwvj-jmx

Now, on with today's newsletter!

Key Elements of a Strong Response:

Personal stories: You should, whenever appropriate, use your own experiences in your answers. This will help you speak with confidence because you lived it!

Share feelings: Add life to your answers by sharing how your experience made you feel. (Or how you would imagine it would feel if it happened to you.) You can also include feeling statements when you offer advice! "I feel nervous about you doing X, maybe you should do Y instead!"

Use Details: Details can help you paint a vivid picture of what you're trying to say. Use them! For example, when you're giving advice you should try and use two detail filled reasons for every suggestion you make. This article from my blog will help. It's focused on writing skills and details, but it easily applies to speaking skills as well.

Remember verb tenses! Use the past tense for speaking task two, which is focused on describing a past experience. Sounds simple, but forgetting to use past tense verbs when talking about something in the past is a frequent mistake!

Which tip(s) will you practice using in your next speaking task practice session?

Have a wonderful rest of your week - and I hope to see you Wednesday.

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Have a great week,

Aaron