Picture-based task
Saying what a picture shows, then four more questions on its topic, answered in the past, the present and the future.
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Picture-based task, 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 picture task works and is marked
The picture-based task is the second speaking task, worth 24 marks: 16 for communication and content and 8 for the accuracy of your Japanese. Your card has a picture and five prompts in English, and the teacher asks five questions. The first is about the picture, and the other four go beyond it, on the same topic, asking for your views. It lasts 2.5 to 3 minutes at Foundation and 3 to 3.5 minutes at Higher.
Use the past, the present and the future
At both tiers you must refer to past, present and future events. Prepare one of each for the topic: きのう 山に 行きました (past), よく 山に 行きます (present), らいねん 山に 行きたいです (future). The accuracy marks depend on getting all three right.
Describe the picture clearly
Say who and what is there with います and あります, and what people are doing with ています: こうえんに 男の 子が 二人 います。 サッカーを しています。 Add where things are with 右, 左, まえ or うしろ, and the weather: 天気が いいです.
Give opinions with reasons
Questions 2 to 5 ask for your views, so say what you think and why: サッカーが だいすきです。 たのしいですから。 The communication marks reward opinions you back up with a reason.
Develop each answer
Add a second sentence: a reason, an example, a link with くて or が, or another time frame. 山は きれいでした。 でも、 とても さむかったです。 A developed answer earns far more than a single word.
Ask for a repeat when you need one
At both tiers you can ask for a question to be repeated: すみません、 もういちど おねがいします。 Glance at your notes for key words, but speak to the teacher rather than reading whole sentences.
Handle the unexpected question at HigherHigher only
At Higher, the fifth prompt is a ! question you haven't seen. Listen for the question word and the tense, and reuse the teacher's verb: 来年 何を する つもりですか。 日本語の 勉強を つづける つもりです。
Picture-based task key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Picture-based task
- The second speaking task: a picture and five questions on its topic, worth 24 marks.
- Communication and content
- The 16 marks for what you say: answering, developing your answers and giving opinions with reasons.
- Linguistic knowledge and accuracy
- The 8 marks for how accurate your Japanese is, including the past, the present and the future.
- Development
- Adding to an answer with a reason, an example or another time frame.
- Justification
- The reason behind an opinion, often given with から.
- 〜ています
- Is doing: the way to say what the people in a picture are doing.
- Time frame
- Past, present or future. The picture task needs all three.
Common mistakes in Picture-based task
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Describing only the picture, and never moving on to your own views.
Only the first question is about the picture. For the rest, talk about yourself and give opinions with reasons.
Leaving out the past or the future.
Plan a past answer and a future answer before you go in, with time words like きのう and らいねん to anchor them.
Using a time word that clashes with the ending, as in らいしゅう 行きました.
Match the ending to the time word: らいしゅう 行きます, せんしゅう 行きました.
Answering with one word, such as はい or サッカー.
Answer in a full sentence, then add a second: サッカーを します。 とても たのしいですから.
Reading prepared sentences from your notes.
Your notes are for key words only. Glance at them, then talk to the teacher.