Unfamiliar Topics
Preparing to Speak
Most people dread the speaking exam because they worry about getting a topic they don’t know anything about. It’s hard enough to talk about something you don’t know about in your native language, let alone a foreign one.
However, you shouldn’t worry too much. All questions talk about every-day topics and are things most people have some experience with or opinion about.
Instead of worrying, it’s better to have some strategies for dealing with unfamiliar topics.
3 Strategies
1. Think of something similar and adjust it to fit your answer
Did they ask you to talk about the last book you read but you never read? Talk about a TV show or movie instead, but say it was a book.
Can't remember the last time you had a nice family dinner? That's fine. Talk about a dinner you remember as a child.
Did they ask you to describe a room in your house, but you can't remember the word for "fireplace"? Just say there's a big TV instead.
It doesn't really matter what you say, as long as whatever you say is relevant and on topic. The easiest strategy to answering a question you don't have an answer to is often to think of something similar, and adapt it for your answer.
2. Be Honest
You can admit that you aren’t really familiar with a topic or that it is not relevant to your life or experience.
You must, however, explain why.
Explain why something isn’t important or why you’re unfamiliar with something. This way, you're still talking about the topic and showing off your skills, which is the most important part.
You can also take this opportunity to hypothesize about why other people might be interested in the topic, and what they might like about it. This is a great strategy that lets you use speculative language.
3. Make up a Story
It's always best to talk about something you know about. Inventing something + thinking about the vocab + thinking about grammar can completely ruin your fluency.
However, nobody is going to check if your answers are real or not; you’ll never lose marks for making up something, as long as the response sounds believable.
It’s completely fine to make up a story when answering a question. The point is to show off your English, not your knowledge of a subject.
Obviously this strategy works better for people who are naturally creative or good story tellers. However, it’s a very valid way of responding to questions you don’t know anything about and I personally use this one a lot.