This time, we're going to consider a G.B.C. question about you. As we have mentioned before, personal questions should, in theory, be the easiest to answer. However, because they are considered easy questions, it is important that you have a really good answer prepared.
The American election will be held on November 8th and may factor into speaking tests like the GBC held around this time, as this race has had historically high levels of coverage.
This time, we are going to look at a question that naturally follows the issue of how the Japanese lifestyle has changed over the last 10 years, which was considered in a previous blog.
Pronunciation is completely different from other language skills. While grammar and vocabulary are internal, meaning you think about them and understand them; pronunciation is external, it’s a muscular skill. Pronouncing a word correctly is more like hitting a ball or playing piano.
There is something a lot of people do when they are nervous while speaking. This is true for both native and non-native English speakers. It is actually a surefire way to tell if someone is not confident in themselves or what they are saying.
In this blog, we are going to look at a G.B.C. question that should be quite easy to answer. However, sometimes the easiest questions cause the most confusion when you are thinking about what to say.
Giving feedback when people make mistakes is hard to do. This post will tell you three phrases you can use to guide someone to do something differently, or do more, while still showing them respect for the effort they put in.
In this first blog of the series, we are going to look at a question about which many of you may not have specialised knowledge or a strong opinion. However, with some basic information, a good structure and some sophisticated vocabulary, it is still possible to produce a very good answer.
Many non-native English speakers make a mistake choosing between get or become. This is especially an issue for Japanese people, since both words can be translated as なる.
Why do we have clear memories of childhood TV shows, while we struggle to remember what happened last week?
A lot of non-native English speakers say "I recommend you to [verb]...", but a native English speaker would never say this.
Native speakers would usually say "I recommend [noun]" or "I recommend [verb+ing]..."
Many people taking the GBC test make this mistake: they focus on communicating their answer specifically to their test administrator. This is a problem because you are graded on the level of English you use, not on how easy it is to understand you.
