Students' first priority when learning another language is usually the oral skill. They want to speak the language as fast as possible so that they can communicate through it effectively. That's fair enough.
On occasion, they tackle the teacher and ask him/her, 'yes, I have to find as many opportunities to talk as possible but are there any techniques that might help me develop my oral skill faster?'.
Dominic Cole has addressed this issue on one of his blogposts in his extraordinary IELTS Blog. He suggests the 10 techniques below for the students who are preparing the IELTS exam. As Dominic has in mind students who are preparing for an exam, I think that his advice comes in handy for EOI students preparing for the Nivel Básico or Nivel Intermedio exam, although the format of the exams may be slightly different.
Click on this link to find out the way these techniques should be implemented, and a big thank-you to Dominic.
1. Record yourself and then write down your answer
2. Do it first in your own language
3. Don’t practise the whole part, do it bit by bit
4. Practise by describing photographs
5. Read then speak
6. Improve your memory – write your life history
7. Practise saying “I don’t know”
8. Talk to a mirror
9. Write your own questions
10. Improve your coherence and fluency – easy as 1-2-3 or 3-2-1
