Tuesday, May 4, 2010

MUET SPEAKING 800/2 TIPS - SAMPLE ANSWERS

Candidate A

Instructions to candidates:

Task A: Individual presentation

Study the stimulus or topic given.

You are given two minutes to prepare your responses.

You are given two minutes to present.

Listen to the others while they are making their presentations and take down notes for the group
discussion in Task B.

Task B: Group discussion

You are given two minutes to prepare points to support or oppose the other candidates views.

After you have listened to everyone, try to come to a decision as to which of the four suggestions is
the best.

Your group is given ten minutes for the discussion.

Task A and Task B will be carried out consecutively.

Situation

Your brother has been given the opportunity to study in England on a government scholarship. You and
your family are very proud of him. Decide on a special gift for him to prepare for his trip abroad.
Task A: Suggest that they give him cash. Say why.

Task B: Discuss which of the following would be most useful.

i. cash

ii. a computer

iii. some suitable clothing

iv. some Malaysian foodstuff

Candidate A

Task A: Suggest that they give him cash. Say why.

Good morning to the examiners and my fellow friends. Im very happy that my brother has just received
a scholarship to study in England. My relatives and I would like to give him a special gift. We all think
that the best gift is money because it will be very useful for him.

The first reason is with cash he can buy the things that he needs when he gets there. There will me a lot
of things that he will need like new books, stationery, clothes and food. He will also need to pay for
transportation like taking the bus or train to go to the university campus. As we know, it is very
expensive in England so any money we give him will be very useful.

Secondly, my brother can use the money to buy a mobile phone when he gets to England. I think this is
very important in case of emergencies so we can contact him easily. Furthermore, he can sms us and
keep us updated with his progress in his studies there. Hence, if we really miss him we can just give him
a call.
Finally, I also think giving him money is the best choice because it is light and doesnt take up a lot of
space. If we were to give him a computer, books or winter clothes it will be very heavy and bulky for him
to bring to England. Therefore, I think that it is much easier to bring money and buy those things when
he gets there.

In conclusion, these are some of the reasons why I think giving him cash is the best choice. To me, it is
the most useful gift we can give him. Thank you.

Candidate B

Task A: You suggest that they give him a computer. Say why.

A very good morning I bid to one and all. My relatives and I are very proud of my brother. He has just
received a scholarship to study in England and so we would like to give him a special gift. We believe
that the best present for him is a laptop computer.

Firstly, as a university student, my brother will have to do many assignments. If he has a laptop
computer he can bring it everywhere and consequently, do his work anytime and anywhere. Thus, he
will not have to share the computers at the computer room with other students and he will be able to
do his work more quickly and efficiently.

Another point is that when he boards the plane from KLIA to London, he will be able to bring the laptop
with him easily because it is compact and light compared to a desktop computer. Hence, it will not be
too much trouble to transport it to England.

Last but not least, if he has a laptop he will be able to connect to the internet. This has two main
advantages as firstly, he can do a lot of research online. The world wide web is a fountain of information
so it will be very useful for him to make full use of this technology. Furthermore, he can keep in touch
with friends and family here in Malaysia by e-mail.

In short, a laptop computer will prove to be very useful to my brother. He can do his assignments,
research for information and keep in touch with us using it therefore it will make the best gift. Thank
you for listening.

Candidate C
Task A: You suggest that they give him some suitable clothing. Say why.

To the examiners and my fellow candidates, a wonderful morning I bid you. My brother was lucky
enough to receive a scholarship to study overseas. We want to send him off with a nice gift so we have
decided to buy him some suitable clothing.

The main purpose for buying him some suitable clothing is because the weather in England is very
different from the weather in our country. There are four seasons there so he will need to have different
clothes for different situations. For example, we can buy him some sweaters, cardigans, scarves,
snowcaps, thick socks and gloves and many more. These will definitely keep him warm in winter.

The second reason is we think that he should have clothes that reflect our Malaysian identity. This is
because he will be a young ambassador for our country so if he has a few sets of traditional clothing like
the Baju Melayu or formal Batik shirts, I am sure he will not only look good but promote our culture
overseas.

Lastly, neat clothes make a good impression. For instance, if we buy him some everyday clothes like
jeans and trousers with nice shirts and matching ties, this will give him a good feeling about himself so
he will walk a bit straighter and talk a bit wiser. Moreover, people will look at him and have a good
impression about Malaysian students.

To conclude, I think that the best present to give him is some suitable clothing because it will be very
useful and will reflect positively on him. Thank you very much.

Candidate D

Task A: You suggest that they give him some Malaysian foodstuff. Say why.

I would like to wish everyone here a very good morning. As we all know, my brother has won a
scholarship to study in England. Therefore, some relatives and I have decided to give him some
Malaysian foodstuff as a going away present.
First and foremost, one of the main problems Malaysians face when studying overseas is that it is hard
to find Halal food. We feel it is a good idea to give him some Malaysian foodstuff because it will take
time for him to get used to the place and find out where to buy Halal food. Thus, in the meantime he
can enjoy the Malaysian foodstuff that we have given to him.

The next reason is because some of the foodstuff we are used to having here in Malaysia is quite hard to
find in UK. Most students studying overseas really enjoy eating Maggi Mee and sambal belacan. For
instance, it is also hard to find the right spices for curry and rendang and so on so if we supply him with
enough Malaysian foodstuff, he can eat it whenever he misses home.

The final point I have is that he can use the Malaysian foodstuff we give him and cook it for the
Westerners there. Sometimes, universities organise events like Malaysian Night and so he and his
friends can cook some Malaysian specialities for them to taste a bit of our way of life. Hence, the
Malaysian foodstuff will be very useful to promote our culture.

In a nutshell, giving my brother Malaysian foodstuff to take with him to England is a good idea. This is
because he will have some familiar food to eat when he misses home and he can also share it with his
new friends. Thank you for listening to my opinion.

Task B: Discuss which of the following would be most useful.

i. Cash

ii. A computer

iii. Some suitable clothing

iv. Some Malaysian foodstuff

* Work together in your respective groups and complete the following discussion.
A: Good morning once again to everyone. We are here to focus on the issue at hand which is
__________________________________________________________. I would like to invite anyone of
you to kickstart this discussion by giving us your point of view.

B: Allow me to begin. First of all, Im happy that our brother has won the scholarship to study in England.
Therefore, we must decide what would be the most useful gift for him. In my opinion, I strongly believe
that _______________ _________________________________________________________________.
This is because I think he can _________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

For example, ______________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________.

C: I see your point but how about getting him ______________________________. In this way, he can
use it to ___________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

D: I dont quite agree with you because ____________________________________

_________________________________________________________________. I think it would be
more useful if we bought _______________________ for him. Does anyone agree with me?

A: Yes, I agree with you. To add to your point, I feel that ______________________
_________________________________________________________________.

This is so he will ___________________________________________________.

C: Im afraid I dont see eye to eye with both of you. Buying that as a present for him is not the most
useful gift because __________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

Moreover, ________________________________________________________.

Can you all understand what Im trying to say?

B: Indeed, I do see your point of view but I still feel that the most useful gift is __________________
because it can ___________________________________. Another reason is
___________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________. For instance,
_______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

D: Thats an interesting perspective and I agree with you that ___________________

_________________________________________________________________. However, I think we
should consider other points. We should also think about buying him
_______________________________________________________.

If he gets this as a present, he can ______________________________________ and

____________________________________________. Wouldnt you agree?

A: Im not sure I understand what you are saying. Can you explain it again, please.

D: What I mean is we should buy him _____________________________________ because it will me

more useful for him when he is studying in England. This is because
___________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

A: Aaah I see. Yes, I think it would be a very useful gift too. This way, he can
_________________________________________________________________.

C: Thats a good point, but dont you think if we gave him _____________________ it will be the most
useful for him as a student. I still believe that this is the most useful because
_____________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

Remember, we need to think of the best and most useful choice.

B: I agree with you, Candidate C. In addition, he can use this gift to _____________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
________. So candidates A & D, what do you guys think?
D: Now that youve explained it like that, I also agree that it will be the most useful. In fact, he could also
use it to _________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

A: As for me, I feel that it is also the most useful. When he arrives at his university in England, he will be
able to ____________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.

C: Thats right. Well, after listening to all the points on the four choices we have, I think it is time to
make a conclusion.

D: Yes, I think so too. Does everyone agree that we should give our brother
_______________________________________ as a special going away present?

All: Yes, I agree.

B: In a nutshell, we all agree that _______________________________ is the best choice because firstly,
he can _________________________________________, secondly,
__________________________________________-------______ and finally
____________________________________________________--_____________.

Thank you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The End~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What to conclude if after 10 minutes of discussion.

A) Agree = 3, Disagree = 1

Conclusion: To conclude, MOST OF US agree that ______________________

is the best choice because ________________________________.

___________________________________________. Thank you.

B) Agree = 2, Disagree = 2

Conclusion: In conclusion, we were unable to make a solid decision because

SOME OF US stongly believe that the best choice is __________ because

_______________________________________________ while THE REST OF US think that giving him
_______________ is the most useful because _________________

___________________________________________. Thank you.

C) All Disagree

Conclusion: In a nutshell, we were unable to come to an agreement on which of the four options is the
best choice. It seems ALL OF US strongly believe in our own points so as we have run out of time, we
think that we should each buy him a gift individually. Thank you
The MUET speaking test is one of the four areas which will be tested apart from reading, writing, and
listening. This test is to evaluate the students fluency as well as their level of command in the English
language.

Exam paper code: 800/2

Exam duration: 30 minutes

Total weightage: 15%

Unlike the other tests, the MUET speaking test is the only one which will require you to interact with
three other students. It is aimed at testing your ability to:

Effectively convey your message and opinion across to others

Think critically

Keep a conversation going

Use the English language in a fluent and confident manner

During the test, all four students will be given the same scenario but each of you is given different
questions. There are two parts to the speaking test Task A and Task B.

Below is a sample question obtained from I Like English, to help you practice your speaking skills.
Sample question:

A person's character is often influenced by other people around him/her. Who has the greatest
influence on a person's character? Discuss which of the following has the greatest influence on a
person's character:

Candidate A: Parents

Candidate B: Teachers

Candidate C: Friends

Candidate D: Famous Personalities

Task A Individual presentation

Given the situation, you now have:

2 minutes to prepare your responses

2 minutes to present

Tips:

Study the scenario or topic given carefully

 Double check which candidate you are (A, B, C, D) to make sure you dont prepare another candidates
speech

Make sure you dont run out of topic

Prepare 2 to 3 points to present on

You MUST agree with the point that is given to you (you can disagree or favor another point in Task B)

Make full use of the 2 minutes that you have. Dont go less than 1 minute 45 seconds / more than 2
minutes.

If you dont have as many points to speak about, talk slower.

Dont relax after your turn! Keep an attentive ear to what the other candidates are talking about.

Write down the other students answers as they present their 2-minute speech (to prepare yourself for
Task B)

Sample answer: Candidate A

Hi, a very good morning to the examiners and my fellow friends. As we are talking about how a
persons character can be influenced by another person, the persons whom I think have the most
influence in a persons life are parents. There are three reasons why I think so.

Firstly, parents are the people whom know us since birth. We become like the person whom we spend
the most time with. Parents are the people whom we see every day from the moment we are born, till
the day we are adults. Hence, very naturally, they become the people whom we look up to and start
imitating the way they talk, act, and even think.
 My second reason is because parents are the first educators to their child before anybody else. Table
manners and basic etiquettes are taught at home, by the parents. This gives an influence so vast that we
ourselves fail to recognize it sometimes

Thirdly, parents are the ones who impart values into our lives. Values are assets which we hold on to
for the rest of our lives and this is the greatest influence of all. Values are what we make our decisions
upon, and it is what shapes our character.

In conclusion, I think that though there may be many others who can influence a persons character
ultimately, parents are the greatest influencers of all. With that, I conclude my speech. Thank you very
much.

Task B Group discussion

You are given:

2 minutes to prepare your points to either support or oppose the other candidates views

Decide on which of the 4 points you think is the best (Note: it is perfectly fine to agree with another
candidates points just as long as you explain why and how it is the best point)

Example: I think that parents play a big part in influencing their childs character, but after listening to
Candidate D I would have to agree that famous personalities have more influence in a persons
character. The reason is because (add on one point to Candidate Ds answers).

The entire group is given 10 minutes for this discussion

Tips:

NEVER keep silent

It is a plus point when you initiate the discussion. (Example: To kick start the discussion, after listening
to all of the other candidates answers I still stand by my own point that parents can influence a persons
character the most.)

Ask other candidates questions to keep the discussion alive (Example: How about you, Candidate B?
What do you think? What do you mean by that, Candidate C? Could you elaborate more on that
point?)

If you want to interrupt when someone is speaking, do it politely. (Example: Im sorry, may I
interrupt?)

Overall Tips:

Speak loudly and clearly so that the examiners can hear you.

Dont be too nervous up to the point where you cant speak properly. Take a deep breath, and speak
slowly and clearly.

Make eye contact with the examiners and the other candidates especially during Task B as it is a
group discussion.

Use good language. Good choice of words and sentence structure are plus points.

Dont be rude. Always say excuse me when you wish to interrupt, and thank you after giving your
speech in Task A.
MUET SPEAKING PRACTICE

Good morning to the examiners and all my friends.

Firstly, I would like to suggest .

My main point is .. (explain/give example)

My next point is .. (explain/give example)

The next point I would like to make is ( )

However / But / Nevertheless . Etc

I have mentioned earlier that .

Therefore / Thus / Hence .. etc

In short

Thank you.

Good morning

First of all, I propose .

The most important factor is (explain/give example)

Next, lets look at . ( )

Another suggestion is( )

However / But / Nevertheless ..etc

Therefore / Thus / Hence / As a result .etc

Those are the suggestions ..

Thank you.
C

Good morning..

As a start, I would like to suggest ..

It is important to (explain/give example)

The next issue is .( )

Another point I would like to emphasize is ( )

However / But / Nevertheless ..

Therefore / Thus / Hence / As a result .

In summary, I would suggest .

Thank you.

Good morning .

I would like to begin by suggesting

One important reason is .(explain/give example)

Next, I would like to highlight ( )

Moving on to my next point, which is .. ( )

However / But / Nevertheless ..

Therefore / Thus / Hence / As a result .

As a conclusion, I would say..

Thank you.