READING EXAM: Advice to students  What type of text: poem, newspaper article, brochure?  Examine pictures/title for clues?  Go for the gist – skip out words that aren’t essential  Say the text out loud IN YOUR HEAD  Identify how a sentence breaks down and which are the separate parts of it (nouns/verbs)  Make sensible guesses by looking at the context  Pick out cognates (words which look like English)  Substitute English words e.g. Ella lee un libro = She *somethings* a book  Analyse unknown words – break the word down/have you seen them anywhere before?

READING EXAM: Advice to students  Work out the grammar behind the words/phrases – is there past tense/future tense timephrases or verbs?  Look at punctuation for clues/question marks/capital letters  Keep a list of small but important words and phrases and learn them regularly.  Always follow the example – if the example is a one word answer, ONLY write one word.  If an answer asks for two points, only include two points. You will not gain any extra marks by writing more because the examiner will only mark the first two.  If a word is written in bold in the question it means that you must focus on that word and take account of it when giving your answer.

READING EXAM: Advice to students  Ensure your writing is clear and legible. Do not use stylised or unusual letter formation in the examination as examiners may not be able to read your answers.  Do not hedge your bets by writing an ‘a’ that could be a ‘d’, too.  Always answer in English if the question requires you do so.  Read the questions first as they will give you an idea of what the text is about.  Read the question carefully. Underline the key question word.  Practise spotting the distracters in a text. Perhaps write your own short texts with them in so that you can get used to them.

READING EXAM: Advice to students  If a question has exact or exactly in it this means that you must give full details or give a longer answer to be awarded the mark.  The questions normally relate to the order that the information is given in a text, especially if the questions relate to a longer text and you are required to answer in English. This means that the first questions will most probably relate to the first part of the text.  Never leave a gap. Have a guess – you may be right! ¡Buena suerte!= Good Luck!

LISTENING EXAM: Advice to students  What type of text is it: conversation, advert, news programme?  What is the topic: try to get the gist /main message?  Predict – what is likely/unlikely given the topic?  Listen to the tone of the speakers’ voices for clues  Pick out cognates – words that look like English words  Identify phrases which are unfamiliar (if you can try to repeat them back to yourself over again)  Hold the unfamiliar sounds in your head, say them over and over  Break down the stream of words into individual sounds  Try to write the sounds down and relate them to written words previously seen/learned  Listen out for the clues of tense/ word order

LISTENING EXAM: Advice to students  Write one letter in the answer box!  You will not gain a mark if you write more than one, even if one of the letters is correct!  If you want to change your answer, cross out your wrong answer and write your changed answer next to the answer box.  Ensure your writing is clear and legible. Do not use stylized/unusual letter formation in the examination as examiners may not be able to read your answers.  Always look at and follow the example where given.

LISTENING EXAM: Advice to students  Learn vocabulary. Learn words a few at a time but on a regular basis. Set yourself a target of perhaps 5 words a day from the new words you have learned in class during the week. Over five days you will have learned 25 words.  Always listen to the whole item before writing your answer.  Use the 5 minutes reading time wisely and pay careful attention to those questions which ask you to answer by writing in English. During that time, you can make notes on the paper, of words you expect to read  Answer both parts of the question if labelled 3)i and 3)ii as you will hear it all in one go ¡Lo puedes hacer! = You can do it!