Photo card and conversation
Saying what is in a photo, then a conversation on its theme.
Learn
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, when the teacher asks you to tell them about the photos, say at least one thing about each: 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. The two need not get equal time, and anything relevant counts.
Describe the photos with simple, sure structures
Build the description from a few frames: En la primera foto hay (in the first photo there is), a la izquierda (on the left), están comiendo (they are eating), llevan (they are wearing), hace sol (it is sunny). Then add an opinion or a guess: Creo que están contentos porque es su cumpleaños.
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 good development with regular extended responses. Develop an answer with a reason (porque), an example (por ejemplo), a contrast (pero, sin embargo) 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 (El verano pasado fui a Escocia) and the future (Voy a estudiar ciencias), and add a few more complex phrases: me gustaría, se puede, lo mejor es que, and at Higher cuando sea mayor.
Keep the conversation moving
If you do not understand a question, ask ¿Puedes repetir, por favor? and the teacher will say it again. Buy a second of thinking time with bueno or a ver. 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. With AQA it lasts three to four minutes at Foundation and four and a half to five and a half at Higher.
- Theme
- One of AQA's three contexts (People and lifestyle; Popular culture; Communication and the world around us) 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.
- Time frame
- Past, present or future. Moving between them, as in normalmente voy and ayer fui, shows range.
- En la foto hay
- In the photo there is or there are: the simplest way to start describing a photo, followed by a noun, as in en la foto hay dos chicos.
- A la izquierda and a la derecha
- On the left and on the right: phrases that let you say where people and things are in a photo.
- Creo que
- I think that: a quick way to give an opinion or a sensible guess about a photo, as in creo que es verano.
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.
Talking about only one photo costs a mark. Say at least one thing about each, even if you say much more about the one you find easier.
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 (an opinion, a reason, an example) and shape them to what you are actually asked.
Answering every question in the present tense.
Variety of structures earns the language marks. Listen for the tense in each question and answer in it, then add a past or future sentence of your own where it fits.
Giving one-word or one-sentence answers in the conversation.
Develop each answer with porque, por ejemplo or pero. The top bands ask for regular good development at Foundation and extended responses at Higher, so aim for two or three linked sentences.
Falling silent when a question is not understood.
Ask ¿Puedes repetir, por favor? and the teacher will say it again. If a word escapes you, say the idea a simpler way rather than leaving a gap.