Speaking
Speaking tests your ability to interact in Italian: general conversation, picture description, and role-play. Examiners reward communication, range of vocabulary, grammatical accuracy, pronunciation, and ability to keep going.
Core rules
- Prepare topic vocabulary for school, family, hobbies, holidays, food, and daily routine.
- In conversation, answer then add a reason or detail: Mi piace il calcio perché gioco con gli amici.
- Use repair phrases: Scusi, può ripetere?, Come si dice...?, Non capisco.
- For a picture, use c’è / ci sono, positions (a destra, a sinistra, in alto, sullo sfondo), and present progressive: stanno parlando.
- In role-play, learn functional chunks: Vorrei prenotare, Quanto costa?, Dove si trova?, Posso pagare con la carta?
- Pronounce double consonants and stressed vowels clearly: anno vs ano, pala vs palla.
Worked example
Picture: a family in a kitchen; mother cooking, children setting the table. Model: “In questa foto c’è una famiglia in cucina. La madre sta preparando la cena e i bambini stanno apparecchiando la tavola.” Reasoning: c’è introduces one family; sta preparando and stanno apparecchiando describe actions in progress; in cucina and la tavola give precise vocabulary.
Traps
One-word answers; silence instead of using a repair phrase; using tu with an examiner who uses Lei; inventing vocabulary from English; flat pronunciation that makes anno and ano sound the same.