The Student Room Group

TIPS WANTED! How do I revise for a language (Spanish) speaking assessment?!

Hello,

In a few weeks I have a Spanish speaking assessment that will contribute to my final Spanish GCSE grade being worth 15%.

It's the Holidays topic, titled "En Mi Vacaciones" and I have already wrote out my exam and my teacher predicts I will achieve A* if I can remember it all.

However, what's the best way to revise for a speaking assessment for languages? Has anybody got any great tips that could help me?

I need all the help I can get!

Thanks!

revisioner

Scroll to see replies

I have a speaking CA in a couple of weeks too... God I hate them-_-
My way of remembering it is to write out 1 sentence on a flash card. If you have 4 paragraphs then use a different coloured set of flashcards per paragraph/answer.

Anyway, write one sentence on a flash card and draw little diagrams underneath to help you remember the sentence (ie. draw a plane = en avion). Then get a friend or family member so say a couple of words of the start of the sentence. And then you repeat them, and then they say a few more, and then you repeat them starting from the beginning. Heres an example (blue is a friend and red is me):

"Tengo muchos clases"
"Tengo muchos clases"
"Pero mi clase faverito es"
"Tengo muchos clases pero mi clase favorito es"
"Espanol porque es mas divertido"
"Tengo muchos clases pero mi clase favorito es Espanol porque es mas divertido"
"Ahora que antes porque hay"
"Tengo muchos clases pero mi clase favorito es Espanol porque es mas divertide ahora que antes porque"
"Hay una profesora nueva"
"Tengo muchos clases pero mi clase favorito es espanol porque es mas divertide ahora que antes porque hay una profesora nueva"


I hope that makes sense and good luck!! <3
Hi, i am doing both french and spanish and have got a*s in every coursework assessment. What i did is take one question and write out a sentence at a time.

First write out the question over and over maybe 5 time. Highlight the question as well. Highlight it in different colours to show yourself what part you will learn. Write out the first sentence/highlighted phrase and write that over and over. Ans continue. as you learn it make sure you link them, when yo have learnt the first 2 hihglighted phrase copy out the entire thing from the begining. Do this untill you know the whole question and can associate it with the question whihc is key!

Make sure as you learn it you sit in a quiet room so you can say it out loud as it will be a speaking exam.

Once you feel you have learnt the questions say them out loud to a friend or member of family.

Make sure you have learnt the whole thing by as least 2/3 days before the test. then in the last couple of days as your mum/dad to say the question (even if they dont speak it properly you will get the jist and say it to them. when you get a question wrong tell them to put a mark next to it and afterwards revise it again. Once you feel comfortable with the question ask them to mix them up as the questions you will be asked will not be in the same order as on your paper.

GOOD LUCK
Original post by revisioner
Hello,

In a few weeks I have a Spanish speaking assessment that will contribute to my final Spanish GCSE grade being worth 15%.

It's the Holidays topic, titled "En Mi Vacaciones" and I have already wrote out my exam and my teacher predicts I will achieve A* if I can remember it all.

However, what's the best way to revise for a speaking assessment for languages? Has anybody got any great tips that could help me?

I need all the help I can get!

Thanks!

revisioner


What do you actually have to do in the assessment? Like a speech, or a series of questions?
In all my speaking exams they've been different sorts of things.

Revision tips (woooo :wink:)

Try recording yourself saying it and then just listen to it whenever you can. This really helps because you memorise it without thinking about it. So, like, on a train/walking somewhere/before you sleep etc.

Get someone to listen to you, make sure you can't see a sheet with it all on, but they can, so they can stop you and correct you (or prompt you if you forget it) if you get any of it slightly wrong.

If there are some parts of it you're really struggling with, maybe use post-its and write little parts of it and stick them next to places you often go, e.g mirror/next to your bed etc. This is good because then you're constantly looking at the bits you're confused with, rather than a whole block of text which you might know say 80% of... Obviously you have to look at the actual one too, that's just a bit on the side.

You could also try learning it gradually, so like, a paragraph over a week or something (adjust to the length of your assessment and the time of the exam!), so gradually you can build up your memory, and you don't have to learn it all at once.

If I think of anything else I'll say... But these are the main things I do.
Hope this helps! :h:
Reply 4
the way i learnt it was to read a paragraph of the 'speech' and then try and say it back to myself without looking at the text, I usually went with one sentence at a time in each paragraph moving on to the next one when i could say it without looking perfectly, then once i had learnt one paragraph i would do the same with the second paragraph repeating what i had learnt in the first paragraph to myself before learning the second paragraph so that i didn't forget the first paragraph. i repeated this until i could say the whole thing without looking at my book once, and this got me 100% in my speaking assesments
Reply 5
Original post by CheekyGeeky
I have a speaking CA in a couple of weeks too... God I hate them-_-
My way of remembering it is to write out 1 sentence on a flash card. If you have 4 paragraphs then use a different coloured set of flashcards per paragraph/answer.

Anyway, write one sentence on a flash card and draw little diagrams underneath to help you remember the sentence (ie. draw a plane = en avion). Then get a friend or family member so say a couple of words of the start of the sentence. And then you repeat them, and then they say a few more, and then you repeat them starting from the beginning. Heres an example (blue is a friend and red is me):

"Tengo muchos clases"
"Tengo muchos clases"
"Pero mi clase faverito es"
"Tengo muchos clases pero mi clase favorito es"
"Espanol porque es mas divertido"
"Tengo muchos clases pero mi clase favorito es Espanol porque es mas divertido"
"Ahora que antes porque hay"
"Tengo muchos clases pero mi clase favorito es Espanol porque es mas divertide ahora que antes porque"
"Hay una profesora nueva"
"Tengo muchos clases pero mi clase favorito es espanol porque es mas divertide ahora que antes porque hay una profesora nueva"


I hope that makes sense and good luck!! <3


Thank you so much CheekyGeeky, I will consider those tips and have decided to write out some of my answers onto flashcards and will practise in that method. Oh, and thanks for the good luck! Good luck for your CA too, I hope everything turns out ok for you!

Original post by Icesk8ing97
Hi, i am doing both french and spanish and have got a*s in every coursework assessment. What i did is take one question and write out a sentence at a time.

First write out the question over and over maybe 5 time. Highlight the question as well. Highlight it in different colours to show yourself what part you will learn. Write out the first sentence/highlighted phrase and write that over and over. Ans continue. as you learn it make sure you link them, when yo have learnt the first 2 hihglighted phrase copy out the entire thing from the begining. Do this untill you know the whole question and can associate it with the question whihc is key!

Make sure as you learn it you sit in a quiet room so you can say it out loud as it will be a speaking exam.

Once you feel you have learnt the questions say them out loud to a friend or member of family.

Make sure you have learnt the whole thing by as least 2/3 days before the test. then in the last couple of days as your mum/dad to say the question (even if they dont speak it properly you will get the jist and say it to them. when you get a question wrong tell them to put a mark next to it and afterwards revise it again. Once you feel comfortable with the question ask them to mix them up as the questions you will be asked will not be in the same order as on your paper.

GOOD LUCK


Thanks for the reply Icesk8ing97, well done on your A*s! I don't think I could do two languages, I would definitely struggle then! :K: Your method actually sounds like how I revised for previous mock speaking CAs and I suppose I have done pretty well in them (achieving about an A/A*) so thank you! I have already written out about 8 flash cards and now highlighting and annotating and revising them. I am doing it a bit early as the assessment is not until 18th November, but I want to try and memorise the basic structure before word for word. Thanks for the good luck!

Original post by _CaitlinMichaela
What do you actually have to do in the assessment? Like a speech, or a series of questions?
In all my speaking exams they've been different sorts of things.

Revision tips (woooo :wink:)

Try recording yourself saying it and then just listen to it whenever you can. This really helps because you memorise it without thinking about it. So, like, on a train/walking somewhere/before you sleep etc.

Get someone to listen to you, make sure you can't see a sheet with it all on, but they can, so they can stop you and correct you (or prompt you if you forget it) if you get any of it slightly wrong.

If there are some parts of it you're really struggling with, maybe use post-its and write little parts of it and stick them next to places you often go, e.g mirror/next to your bed etc. This is good because then you're constantly looking at the bits you're confused with, rather than a whole block of text which you might know say 80% of... Obviously you have to look at the actual one too, that's just a bit on the side.

You could also try learning it gradually, so like, a paragraph over a week or something (adjust to the length of your assessment and the time of the exam!), so gradually you can build up your memory, and you don't have to learn it all at once.

If I think of anything else I'll say... But these are the main things I do.
Hope this helps! :h:


Thank you for the reply _CaitlinMichaela. Basically, my teacher will sit there with six questions that she will ask me in Spanish. I have to answer fully and near enough fluently. Then she gives you a surprise question at the end to challenge language improvisation, but it's usually one-worded like "Do you prefer to travel by train or aeroplane?" or "Have you ever been abroad?" and sometimes the answer is in the question (like the first example).

Thanks for the tips too, I like them! I have just about more than a fortnight to revise, so the sooner will be better. I like the idea of the post it notes as I have been struggling with some parts, like describing La Tomatina. But anyway, I also like the idea of the recording myself so I am going to do that as well.


Thank you so much everybody for your replies and advice! :smile::smile::smile:
Reply 6
Original post by tgwktm
the way i learnt it was to read a paragraph of the 'speech' and then try and say it back to myself without looking at the text, I usually went with one sentence at a time in each paragraph moving on to the next one when i could say it without looking perfectly, then once i had learnt one paragraph i would do the same with the second paragraph repeating what i had learnt in the first paragraph to myself before learning the second paragraph so that i didn't forget the first paragraph. i repeated this until i could say the whole thing without looking at my book once, and this got me 100% in my speaking assesments


Hi tgwktm,
Thanks for the reply. Wow, that sounds impressive. 100%?! Wow! How long did you do that for? Do you think that method could work for me before the 18th November?
Reply 7
Original post by revisioner
Hi tgwktm,
Thanks for the reply. Wow, that sounds impressive. 100%?! Wow! How long did you do that for? Do you think that method could work for me before the 18th November?

i usually spent around two weeks revising it, and i did it every day. mine were around 5 paragraphs long so by the end of the first week i knew it pretty well, and then in the second week i knew it really well. i think it could work for you before the 18th yes. just dedicate half and hour each evening to it and you should be fine.
do you have to do answers to unprepared questions as well? i remember i did and we were told the questions but we had to come up with a short answer to each. i think this happened in late yr10 so you might not be doing that now, but if/when you do a good way to practice them is to number the answers 1-6 and then roll a dice to deicide randomly which question you need to answer. since you don't know what question your teacher will ask this is a good way to keep it random and be prepared for any question.
if you aren't doing unprepared questions at the moment ignore the second paragraph :biggrin:
Reply 8
Original post by tgwktm
i usually spent around two weeks revising it, and i did it every day. mine were around 5 paragraphs long so by the end of the first week i knew it pretty well, and then in the second week i knew it really well. i think it could work for you before the 18th yes. just dedicate half and hour each evening to it and you should be fine.
do you have to do answers to unprepared questions as well? i remember i did and we were told the questions but we had to come up with a short answer to each. i think this happened in late yr10 so you might not be doing that now, but if/when you do a good way to practice them is to number the answers 1-6 and then roll a dice to deicide randomly which question you need to answer. since you don't know what question your teacher will ask this is a good way to keep it random and be prepared for any question.
if you aren't doing unprepared questions at the moment ignore the second paragraph :biggrin:


Haha, thanks! Not sure really about unprepared questions but the ideas still help. Thanks! Already started revising now :smile:
Original post by revisioner
Thank you so much CheekyGeeky, I will consider those tips and have decided to write out some of my answers onto flashcards and will practise in that method. Oh, and thanks for the good luck! Good luck for your CA too, I hope everything turns out ok for you!


Thanks Revisioner! I hope it works!! :wink:
I know it doesn't help everyone, but I just read it once, see what I can write out and then read it again, and write it out again until I can write the whole thing out.
Then I just read it in my head and speak it out loud or my friend who also does Spanish comes over and we'll ask eachother the questions. Also I find it helps when you know exactly what you have written in English. I often try to refer back to what I have said in English and translate it on the spot if I have forgotten.
Reply 11
basically what i always do to memorise mine is:

-ask someone to test me, they don't need to be able to speak spanish!
-write it out repetitively and read it aloud
Original post by revisioner
Hello,

In a few weeks I have a Spanish speaking assessment that will contribute to my final Spanish GCSE grade being worth 15%.

It's the Holidays topic, titled "En Mi Vacaciones" and I have already wrote out my exam and my teacher predicts I will achieve A* if I can remember it all.

However, what's the best way to revise for a speaking assessment for languages? Has anybody got any great tips that could help me?

I need all the help I can get!

Thanks!

revisioner

have a **** it always helps me
dont do it
Original post by revisioner
Hello,

In a few weeks I have a Spanish speaking assessment that will contribute to my final Spanish GCSE grade being worth 15%.

It's the Holidays topic, titled "En Mi Vacaciones" and I have already wrote out my exam and my teacher predicts I will achieve A* if I can remember it all.

However, what's the best way to revise for a speaking assessment for languages? Has anybody got any great tips that could help me?

I need all the help I can get!

Thanks!

revisioner


hey, do not worry I did my speaking in Spanish to a couple of weeks ago and it went really well. To revise I wrote my what I was going to say in flash cards and I carried them around reading and memorised them whenever I could. when you are doing the speaking you just have to say what you memorized it really helped for me.:biggrin: another tip is the teacher may ask you some questions you were not prepared for it so try and answer them simply un less if your Spanish vocabulary is big.:tongue: hope this helped
Well the best way is you should first obviously, memorise it then get a your mum or dad to test you. If they say you have got some bits wrong tell they shouldn't tell you what you did wrong because you want to find out what you did wrong. Keep testing yourself until it is flawless.
The way I did it (to achieve an A*) was sleep with the recording of the paragraphs playing. Admittedly it was hard to get to sleep at the start. But after a few nights it all sunk in.
firstly, i haven't read the above comments so sorry if im just repeating, however, last summer i did the spanish speaking exam and got 20/20 /A*, and i found flash cards very very useful (write one paragraph per card and learn in any order) but also i found that when i learned it but didn't memorise it off by heart (if that makes sense, so i knew it but not perfectly) i did this so incase i was to forget, i could just improvise and i wouldn't be stuck because i learned it too well (again, not sure if it makes sense haha) but thats all. so learn it well, but make sure you can improvise a bit too and know what you're talking about incase you forget! good luck!
Reply 18
Original post by Drizzy_Lad
The way I did it (to achieve an A*) was sleep with the recording of the paragraphs playing. Admittedly it was hard to get to sleep at the start. But after a few nights it all sunk in.



LOL
I also have mine in a few weeks, and the best way I find that helps me to remember it is as follows:

Write out a sentence or two on a whiteboard and read it out loud, then rub out a few random words and replace them with a line. then read it aloud again and include the rubbed out words. Then remove a few more words and read it out loud again. Keep going until you have no words left, and then repeat the whole thing if necessary.

:smile: Hope this helps :smile: Good Luck :smile:

Quick Reply

Latest