Exams looming ahead, the dreadded deadline is nigh! Is it “prone to jump” or “prone to jumping”? wonders a C1 student (both are correct. I use the latter, though). Should I plant a conditional sentence in the oral exam? thinks an Intermediate student. Let me tell you something. When it comes to oral tests there’s no such thing as a magic formula. That said, I can give you a couple of pointers you may want to consider…

Intermediate learners. One of the adjectives you should probably avoid is "important" (we’ve seen “influential”, “relevant”, “major”, etc.). Remember that a film can be entertaining, enjoyable, predictable, for example. Please, please don’t just say it’s a good movie, it’s a good idea. Ideas can be original, practical, unrealistic, etc.

C1 students. You are expected to show some serious knowledge of collocations and specific vocabulary “ruthless assassin” belongs to your spectrum. “Horrible killer” is definitely a no-no. Although I can imagine that sometimes a basic expression might be the only option that comes to mind. Anyhow, here’s a tip: use your hesitation to your own advantage. Show that you know how to hesítate in English (let me organize my thoughts for a seconds, I’m afraid I lost the thread, what I’m trying to get at is, and so on and so forth…).