Conversation
A conversation across two themes, the first of them your choice, with longer answers, opinions and reasons, and a question of your own for the teacher.
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Conversation, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Know how AQA's general conversation works and is marked
The general conversation ends AQA's speaking test and is worth 30 marks: 10 for communication, 10 for the range and accuracy of your Chinese, 5 for pronunciation, intonation and tones, and 5 for spontaneity and fluency. It lasts 3 to 5 minutes at Foundation and 5 to 7 at Higher, on the two themes your photo card didn't cover, with about the same time on each. You choose which theme comes first. Your notes are handed in before it starts, and you must ask the teacher a question at some point or lose a communication mark.
Know how Pearson Edexcel's conversation works and is marked
Pearson Edexcel's conversation is Task 3, worth 36 marks: 12 for communication and content, 12 for interaction and spontaneity and 12 for the accuracy of your Chinese. It lasts 3.5 to 4.5 minutes at Foundation and 5 to 6 at Higher, in two equal parts. Part 1 opens on a topic you choose and agree with your teacher at least two weeks before; you can start by saying which parts of it you'll talk about, for up to a minute. Part 2 is on a different theme. There are no notes, and you need the past, the present and the future.
Prepare by theme, not by script
AQA's three themes are Identity and culture; Local, national, international and global areas of interest; and Current and future study and employment. Edexcel's five run from Identity and culture to the International and global dimension. For each topic, prepare a few flexible answers that give an opinion and the reason for it, so you can bend them to whatever the teacher asks.
Develop your answers across time
Take each answer beyond the question, with a reason or a step into another time frame: 我很喜欢学中文，因为老师很有意思。可是写中文很难。明年我想去中国。 Plan how each topic reaches back and forward, with 以前 or 去年 for the past and 以后 or 明年 for the future.
Link your ideas
Linked sentences show range at both tiers. Use 因为……所以……, 虽然……但是……, 如果……就……, 一边……一边……, ……的时候, 比 and 最: 虽然中文很难，但是我很喜欢学。 如果明天不下雨，我们就去公园。
Say the tones clearly
Both boards mark how you sound, and in Chinese that includes the tones: a tone slip that changes the word can hide your meaning. Learn each word with its tone and say it that way. Two changes happen in speech: 不 is said bú before a fourth tone, as in 不是 (bú shì), and in two third tones in a row the first rises, as in 你好 (ní hǎo).
Interact and keep going
Answer the question you were asked, then move the conversation on. React with 是吗？ or 对, and ask the teacher something back, such as 老师，您周末喜欢做什么？ If you don't understand, say 对不起，我不明白。 If a word escapes you, say the idea another way. These moves are rewarded; silence isn't.
Show the Higher structures where they fitHigher only
At Higher, work in a few structures beyond the Foundation list: 不但……而且……, 除了……以外，还……, 越来越, 一……就…… and 为了. 我越来越喜欢学中文。 除了中文以外，我还学法文。 Use them where they answer the question, not as a list.
Conversation key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- General conversation
- AQA's last speaking task: a conversation on two themes, worth 30 marks.
- Chosen topic
- The topic you pick for Part 1 of Edexcel's conversation, agreed with your teacher at least two weeks before.
- Theme
- One of the broad areas the topics belong to: three with AQA and five with Edexcel.
- Spontaneity
- Answering naturally, as the question comes, rather than reciting something learned by heart.
- Repair strategy
- A way to keep talking when you're stuck, such as asking for a repeat or saying something another way.
- Extended answer
- An answer of several linked sentences rather than one short one.
- Tone
- The pitch of a syllable. Saying the right tone is part of your pronunciation with both boards.
- 您呢？
- And you? A polite way to turn a question back to the teacher.
Common mistakes in Conversation
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Reciting a learned answer that doesn't fit the question.
Listen to the question and use the parts of your preparation that answer it. Changing a learned sentence to fit shows spontaneity.
Giving short answers and waiting for the next question.
Add at least one more sentence each time, such as why you think so or what happened last time.
Staying in the present for the whole conversation.
Bring in the past with a time word and 了 or 过, and the future with 想, 要 or 打算 and a time word, on every topic you can.
Never asking the teacher a question in AQA's conversation.
AQA takes a communication mark off if you don't. Plan one natural question for each theme, such as 您喜欢看电影吗？, and ask it when the moment comes.
Saying words without their tones, or all in one flat tone.
A tone can change the word: mǎi is buy and mài is sell. Learn each new word with its tone and say it aloud that way.