Speaking Lab
Image-based speaking practice with useful phrases, pronunciation focus and model response.
Lesson objectives
- Describe, compare and speculate more naturally under speaking-task pressure.
- Use useful phrases with better rhythm, stress and connected speech.
- Respond to image prompts connected to migration, asylum & borders with C1-level range.
Listen to the model audio before you answer the lesson tasks.
Speaking — describe & compare
Compara estas dos imágenes. En tu respuesta, debes describir las situaciones, comparar las diferentes reacciones de las personas y especular sobre las razones por las que se encuentran en este lugar. Debes hablar durante 2 minutos.
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Useful phrases
- It appears as though the subject is... — Parece como si el sujeto estuviera... 🔊
- One could infer that they are... — Se podría inferir que están... 🔊
- In stark contrast to the first scene... — En marcado contraste con la primera escena... 🔊
- There is a palpable sense of... — Hay una sensación palpable de... 🔊
- They might well be facing... — Es muy posible que se estén enfrentando a... 🔊
- The atmosphere seems to be somewhat... — El ambiente parece ser algo... 🔊
- While the foreground depicts..., the background suggests... — Mientras que el primer plano representa..., el fondo sugiere... 🔊
- It is highly likely that... — Es muy probable que... 🔊
- They both seem to be undergoing... — Ambos parecen estar pasando por... 🔊
- One could argue that the setting implies... — Se podría argumentar que el entorno implica... 🔊
- The juxtaposition of... and... highlights... — La yuxtaposición de... y... resalta... 🔊
- Judging by their expressions, it's evident that... — A juzgar por sus expresiones, es evidente que... 🔊
Pronunciación
Para sonar más natural en el C1, presta atención al 'sentence stress' (acentuación de la frase). En inglés, enfatizamos las palabras con contenido (sustantivos, verbos, adjetivos) y reducimos las palabras gramaticales (preposiciones, artículos) mediante 'weak forms'. Por ejemplo, en la frase 'She's looking at the plane', la palabra 'at' y 'the' deben ser rápidas y débiles, mientras que 'looking' y 'plane' deben llevar el peso de la frase.
Model answer
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Both images depict scenes within an airport terminal, yet they convey vastly different emotional undertones. In the foreground of the first image, we see a young woman sitting alone, gazing out of the window at a departing aircraft. Her posture suggests a sense of melancholy or perhaps reflection. It appears as though she might be contemplating a significant life change, perhaps related to relocation or leaving her home behind. In stark contrast, the background shows a group of travellers moving towards the gates. They seem to be in a hurry, carrying heavy luggage, which might well indicate they are in the middle of a journey. While the woman's solitude highlights a personal, introspective moment, the group represents the more chaotic, collective aspect of migration and travel. One could infer that the woman is experiencing the emotional weight of departure, whereas the travellers represent the physical movement of people across borders. Ultimately, the juxtaposition of her stillness against the movement of the crowd highlights the dual nature of travel: it is both a fleeting moment of transition and a profound, life-altering event. It is highly likely that the setting serves as a metaphor for the uncertainty of new beginnings.