Listening and Speaking
What is assessed
Where the board includes a listening and speaking component, it tests comprehension of short spoken exchanges and your ability to respond intelligibly. Expect tone discrimination, question-answer matching and short oral responses using prescribed patterns.
Listening strategy
- Preview the question stems; they predict the vocabulary field.
- Note tone pairs that change meaning: 买 mǎi (buy) vs 卖 mài (sell); 问 wèn (ask) vs 闻 wén (smell).
- Listen for question particles 吗, 呢 and 吧, and for 还是 vs 或者.
- Write only the key word, not a full sentence, while listening.
Speaking strategy
- Answer the question asked, then add one detail.
- Use polite openings: 请问, 谢谢, 对不起.
- Keep sentences short and use structures you control.
- Practise tone pairs aloud; a wrong tone is a wrong word.
Worked example
Prompt heard: 你喜欢什么运动？ Weak answer: 运动。 (repeats the word, no answer) Better answer: 我喜欢打篮球，因为很有意思。 Reasoning: The question asks for a preference (喜欢什么). The answer supplies the activity (打篮球) and a reason (因为…). The verb 打 is the correct collocation for basketball.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing 有 yǒu and 要 yào in fast speech.
- Answering 是/不是 to an open question that needs information.
- Speaking in a flat tone that neutralises lexical tone.
- Delivering an overlong memorised speech that does not fit the prompt.