Preparing an English speaking test at secondary school

Many secondary-school students do well in written English and freeze when they have to speak. That is not a level problem, it is a practice problem: you cannot learn to speak in silence.

Here is how to prepare an English speaking assessment at secondary school, with ten minutes of practice a day.

What is actually assessed

• Being understood: correct sentences, even simple ones.
• Not stopping: keeping going despite a missing word.
• Reacting: answering a question, asking one back.
• Pronunciation: being intelligible, not having a perfect accent.
• Using the topic vocabulary covered in class.

A student who speaks simply without freezing scores better than one hunting for the perfect sentence in silence.

The five-step method

1. A mini diagnosis (5 min, once)

The student speaks for 60 seconds about something simple ("my weekend"). Note three things: how often they stop, whether sentences are complete, whether they switch language. Repeat the test two weeks later.

2. Prepare ten rescue phrases (10 min)

• "Can you repeat, please?"
• "I'm not sure, but I think…"
• "How do you say… in English?"
• "For example…", "First… then… finally…"
• "I agree because…", "I don't agree because…"

Learned by heart, they cover 90% of the silences.

3. Build the presentation in four blocks

1. Introduce: the topic in one sentence.
2. Describe: two or three facts.
3. Give an example: something personal, which is what makes it alive.
4. Conclude: an opinion with "because".

Target: 8 to 12 short sentences, never a written script.

4. Practise ten minutes a day, out loud

• Monday: read the topic text out loud (pronunciation).
• Tuesday: retell it without notes (fluency).
• Wednesday: answer five questions from someone (reaction).
• Thursday: full timed run.
• Friday: improvise 60 seconds on a related topic.

5. Train reaction, not just monologue

This is the most common gap: the text is known, the teacher's question destabilises. Simple rule: always answer with a full sentence, then add "because…". It buys thinking time while speaking.

Pronunciation: four high-return points

• "th" (think, the): tongue between the teeth, ten repetitions a day.
• Aspirated "h" (house, happy).
• Word stress: ho-TEL, COM-fortable. Wrong stress hurts comprehension more than an imperfect sound.
• -ed and -s endings: they carry tense and plural; swallowing them costs grammar marks.

Classic mistakes

• Writing a script and memorising it.
• Practising silently in your head.
• Reaching for complex sentences instead of correct simple ones.
• Self-correcting on every word instead of finishing the sentence.
• Never practising answering questions.

How to help if you do not speak English

You do not need English to be useful. Three effective moves: read out the prepared questions and listen, time the run, and flag only the stops (not the mistakes). What matters is ten minutes of speaking a day.

If nobody can play that role every evening, Compagnon, our screen-free knowledge box for ages 8-15, lets the student hold a spoken English conversation, get questions and rephrase as often as they want. The same out-loud training pays off elsewhere, for instance when rehearsing the brevet oral. Full method: helping your child speak English at home.

FAQ

How early should you start?

Two weeks at ten minutes a day beats three hours the night before.

Should the presentation be memorised?

No: only the order of the four blocks and the rescue phrases. The rest should stay improvised.

What about a strong French accent?

Not a problem as long as it is intelligible. The four pronunciation points above make a clear difference.

Do series in English help?

For comprehension, yes. For speaking, no: watching does not train producing. You have to speak.