Photo card and conversation
Saying what is in a photo, then a conversation on its theme.
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Photo card and 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 the photo card and the picture task are set and marked
Both boards end the speaking test with photos and a conversation. AQA's photo card is worth 25 marks: two photos from one theme, the same at both tiers, which you describe (5 marks) before an unprepared conversation on the theme (15 marks for what you communicate and 5 for the range and accuracy of your language). Edexcel's picture task is worth 28: the card has two pictures and you choose one to describe (8 marks), then the teacher asks two questions about it, the second about the past at Higher, before the conversation (20 marks for the questions and the conversation together).
Talk about the photos the card asks for
With AQA, say at least one thing about each photo: talking about only one costs a mark. With Edexcel, choose the picture you have more to say about and describe it fully. Aim for about a minute at Foundation and a minute and a half at Higher, prepared in your preparation time.
Describe the photos with simple, sure structures
Build the description from a few frames: Auf dem ersten Foto gibt es (in the first photo there is), links (on the left), rechts (on the right), im Hintergrund (in the background), sie spielen (they are playing), er trägt (he is wearing), es ist sonnig. Then add an opinion or a guess: Ich glaube, sie sind glücklich, weil sie Ferien haben.
Prepare for the conversation by theme, not by script
The conversation can cover any topic in the card's theme (AQA's People and lifestyle, Popular culture, or Communication and the world around us; Edexcel's six thematic contexts run from My personal world to Travel and tourism), and you cannot know the questions in advance. Prepare a few flexible answers for each topic, each with an opinion, a reason and an example that you can bend to fit different questions.
Develop every answer
At Foundation the top band for the conversation asks for quite a lot of information and regular good development; at Higher, for consistent development with regular extended responses. Develop an answer with a reason (weil, denn), an example (zum Beispiel), a contrast (aber, jedoch) or another time frame. Two or three linked sentences per question is a good habit.
Show a range of tenses and structures
The language mark rewards a variety of vocabulary and structures. Mix the present with the past (Letzten Sommer bin ich nach Spanien gefahren) and the future (Ich werde Biologie studieren), and add some subordinate clauses with the verb at the end (weil es Spaß macht, wenn ich Zeit habe). At Higher, ich würde, ich hätte gern and um ... zu add range.
Keep the conversation moving
If you do not understand a question, ask Wie bitte? or Können Sie das bitte wiederholen? Buy a second of thinking time with also or na ja. If a word escapes you, say the idea in simpler words rather than stopping.
Photo card and conversation key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Photo card
- The card with two photos on one theme, used for the last and biggest part of AQA's speaking test, worth 25 marks. Edexcel's counterpart is the picture task, worth 28, where you choose one of two pictures to describe.
- Unprepared conversation
- The discussion after the photos, on any topic in the card's theme, with questions you have not seen.
- Theme
- One of AQA's three contexts or Edexcel's six thematic contexts. The photos and the conversation stay within one.
- Development
- Adding to an answer with a reason, an example, a contrast or another time frame, which is what lifts conversation marks.
- auf dem Foto
- In the photo: Auf dem Foto gibt es zwei Kinder, with the verb straight after the phrase.
- links and rechts
- On the left and on the right: words that let you say where people and things are in a photo.
- im Hintergrund
- In the background; its opposite is im Vordergrund, in the foreground.
- ich glaube, dass
- I think that: a quick way to give an opinion or a guess, with the verb at the end: Ich glaube, dass es Sommer ist.
Common mistakes in Photo card and conversation
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Describing only one of the two photos on an AQA card.
Talking about only one photo costs a mark. Say at least one thing about each.
Reciting a memorised speech that does not answer the question you were asked.
The conversation is unprepared, and an answer that misses the question conveys little. Prepare flexible chunks and shape them to what you are actually asked.
Answering every question in the present tense.
Variety earns the language marks. Answer in the tense of the question, then add a past or future sentence of your own where it fits.
Leaving the verb second after weil, as in weil es ist interessant.
After weil, the verb goes to the end: weil es interessant ist. Or use denn, which keeps the verb second.
Falling silent when a question is not understood.
Ask Können Sie das bitte wiederholen? If a word escapes you, say the idea a simpler way.