Speaking in Spanish: Interpersonal and Presentational
What this section tests
The speaking assessment has two faces. In the interpersonal conversation you respond to the examiner's questions and prompts about yourself, your world and the topic studied, and you are expected to initiate as well as answer. In the presentational task you speak for a sustained turn on a prepared or prompted topic, then handle follow-up questions. Assessors reward fluency and flow, range of vocabulary and structures, accuracy, pronunciation and intonation, and communication strategies. Concepts to master: circumlocution (describing a word you lack - es una especie de..., lo que se usa para...), repair phrases (perdón, quería decir..., ¿cómo se dice...?), fillers that sound natural (pues, es que, la verdad es que, bueno), and the range of tenses that lifts a response from simple to sophisticated (present, preterite/imperfect contrast, future, conditional, present subjunctive after cuando, ojalá, es importante que).
Traps to expect
- One-word answers. Sí, me gusta ends the exchange; add a reason, an example and a contrast.
- Monologue drift in the conversation. Talking for two minutes without engaging the examiner's question.
- Silence when a word is missing. Learn circumlocution instead of switching to English.
- Memorised chunks that do not fit the question - examiners notice and marks fall for relevance.
- Ignoring the subjunctive in opinion and wish structures, and confusing por/para or ser/estar under pressure.
- Flat intonation and English stress patterns in cognates.
Worked example
Question: ¿Qué opinas del turismo en tu ciudad? Weak answer: Es bueno. Strong answer: Pues, la verdad es que tiene sus ventajas y sus inconvenientes. Por un lado, genera puestos de trabajo, sobre todo en verano; por otro, en temporada alta el centro se vuelve imposible. Si yo pudiera decidir, limitaría el número de pisos turísticos. Rule of thumb: answer, then extend with a reason, an example and a contrast, using a signposting pair like por un lado... por otro.
Practice habit
Record yourself for one minute on a topic, listen back, and count hesitation pauses and repeated words; then re-record aiming to replace one repetition with a connective or a richer verb.