Our VIP students took their OET examinations just over a week ago. I’m so eager to find out how they did in their examination. I want all my students to achieve their ambitions of passing this exam and starting their careers in the UK. That’s why I always post in our Facebook group: how did you do? How did you address the exam questions? Was it challenging for you? Do you think you got your four B’s? Of course, they will have to wait three weeks for their examination results to come through. We are waiting patiently.
Today, I want to focus on the OET speaking role play. If you came to our Facebook live session where we had Maureen, who’s an ex-OET speaking interlocutor. You would have learned a huge amount from her. To have an ex-OET speaking interlocutor – someone who’s been there, seen it and done it in real life, is helpful.
Anyway, when I looked through a lot of Facebook groups and read through lots of YouTube video messages. I found that some doctors and nurses were a little bit upset when they finished their OET speaking examination. They mentioned that they thought the OET interlocutor wasn’t helping them. And they felt that the interlocutors were trying to take marks away from them even though they are not examiners. They think that they’re against them. Like a medical professional against the interlocutor. It’s not like a fight. Keep in mind that they are there to help you. They are part of your team and they are part of your grade B team. And they’re trying to steer you in the right direction the whole way through. They’re not there to make your performance worse. They are not lowering your chances to get B. They don’t get on a Skype call with other examiners and have a big laugh about how you fail. There is a lot of gossip and rumours about that amongst students doing both OET and IELTS. It couldn’t be further from the truth. We’ve got two ex-OET speaking interlocutors working here at Swoosh. And it’s incredibly valuable for our VIP students. They’re taking advantage of that in our programmes. If you want to hear more about that, you can go to www.swooshenglish.com.
Anyway, as much as possible you should be looking to complete all the bullet points that are on the role play card. In a lot of cases, the interlocutor will try and steer you in that direction. You might have missed out a bullet point so they’re there to help you every step of the way. They also want you to give your best performance. They want you to display that English language ability that you have to get that grade B.
There might be some prompts from them, perhaps, on their side trying to tease that information out of you. Also, if you experience an interlocutor who’s angry, frustrated, worried, and upset. Always remember that they are just playing a role given to them. So, if the interlocutor is angry, that’s not the interlocutor’s personal feelings. That is the character that was provided to them on the role play card. You just have to play along. You and the interlocutor have to be like an actor or actress. I guarantee you will get a lot of these scenarios when you start your career in the UK. You’ve got a patient who’s angry, frustrated or upset etc.
So, you have to know how to take them on that journey from worried to relieved, or angry to calm.
In conclusion, remember that the interlocutor is on your side because they’re on your team. Remember that the interlocutor is trying to help you as much as possible. They are not the ones examining you. And they are trying to tease the English language out of you. Make sure that you give your very best performance because you only have five minutes for each role play so make the time count!
If you are looking to pass QUICKLY and EFFECTIVELY in the LEAST AMOUNT OF ATTEMPTS possible. Go to www.swooshenglish.com to learn about our OET courses. Many of our students are passing the first time and I want that for you too.
