This post will help you when you have to talk or write about a photograph or an image.
Have a look at David Mainwood’s presentation below. He’s the English teacher and a blogger, who made this excellent presentation that will surely help you improve your oral skills and face the oral exam with much more confidence. Copy the useful language that appears in slide 28 and have it at hand. You can use the pics in David’s presentation or some others of your choice. The aim is to internalise the steps in picture description until it comes out naturally. It will take you more than one try. You have 18 slides to get you started.
You can also visit David’s blog by clicking on the image below
The more you practise the skill the easier it’ll become for you. Here you are some useful tips:
- Practise picture description with a friend, you’ll be able to help each other by prompting, asking questions, giving feedback and interacting.
- Follow the steps, but be natural. If a pic surprises you, you can say so! You do not have to wait until the very last stage to express your surprise.
By practising oral description of pictures you will also improve your writing skills. The language used in picture description is also useful for writing essays:
discussion/for and against / argument essays.
The writing plan would be:
- Introduction – describe the situation / topic to be discussed
- Compare / contrast ideas (for and against / advantages and disadvantages)
- Speculate on solutions to problems raised by the question
- Conclusion – give an opinion
Which pairs or groups of photos in the presentation could be used to demonstrate ideas for argument writing topics about education, technology, food, family, work, leisure, health, advertising etc? Can you think of titles for those essays?
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