Cambridge CAE Exam Practice: Halloween Speaking

Halloween is a great excuse to take a break from more traditional exam preparation without actually sacrificing exam practice. This C1 Halloween speaking lesson follows the structure of the CAE Advanced Speaking test, so students can practise all four parts of the exam while discussing Halloween traditions and celebrations.

I originally created this lesson because I wanted to make Cambridge speaking practice a little more fun. Halloween gives students plenty to talk about, while the exam format ensures that they are still working on the skills they need for the real test. It can also be a nice change of pace for students who have spent weeks working through more serious exam topics. The lesson is designed for 31 October, Halloween, and works particularly well with adult or teenage C1 learners. It includes everything a CAE speaking does, a vocabulary warm-up, personal questions, picture comparison, collaborative discussion and follow-up questions, all based around the Halloween theme.

In case you have other exam preparation groups, make sure to check out two other Halloween-themed speaking classes:

• Cambridge KEY, PET, FCE, CAE Exam Practice: Halloween Speaking (bundle)
• Cambridge KEY Exam Practice: Halloween Speaking
• Cambridge PET Exam Practice: Halloween Speaking
• Cambridge FCE Exam Practice: Halloween Speaking

Or continue scrolling to find the examiner’s notes and the presentation, which can be downloaded at the end of the blog post.

Before the Exam: Halloween Vocabulary & Spelling

Before starting the class, explain what the examiners are looking for in the CAE speaking part of the exam. Students are assessed based on six separate criteria: Grammatical Resource, Lexical Resource, Discourse Management, Pronunciation, Interactive Communication, and Global Achievement. If you feel that your students could benefit from a deeper understanding of each criterion, you can find more information on The Cambridge English website in the PDF file How is my speaking assessed? At the end of each speaking session, I give feedback and tell students under which criteria each strength or weakness falls to help them understand the assessment better.

Before starting the speaking test, students begin with a short vocabulary warm-up. I give them a selection of Halloween-related words and ask them to spell them based on their pronunciation. The words include ominous, eerie, summon, cackle, gory, ghoul, cauldron, and séance. Some of them can be surprisingly difficult to spell! This makes this a useful way of getting students to pay attention to both pronunciation and spelling.

Part 1: Halloween Questions

After a short warm-up, students are ready for Part 1. Similar to the real exam, candidates are asked some personal questions, this time all related to the spooky holiday. This part of the exam aims to break the ice and relax the students before the more challenging sections of the exam. Some of the questions include If you could create your perfect Halloween costume, what would it be? and What’s something about Halloween that you think other people find fun, but you don’t enjoy as much? This is a perfect opportunity for students to share their personal stories while demonstrating a wide range of grammar, such as using the second conditional.

Part 2: Halloween Activities

Proceed to the second part of the exam, which involves picture comparison. You will find two sets of three pictures each, of course, all related to Halloween. The first set depicts three different Halloween activities, pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, and a Halloween costume party. Students are required to choose two of the activities and discuss how they might appeal to different people and the emotions of those involved. After this, ask the other candidate a brief question about their favorite activity.

In the second set of pictures, there are three places that people might find either scary or fun (or perhaps both!). These are a cemetery, an abandoned house, or a foggy forest at night. Students choose two of them and discuss why some people might want to visit those places and the feelings that they may evoke. Finish by asking the other student which of the three places seen in the pictures they find the scariest.

Part 3: Planning a Halloween Celebration

In the third part of the speaking exam, students work in pairs or groups of three. Since this class is designed for adult students, I suggest asking them to imagine a scenario in which they need to consider Halloween celebrations at their workplace or university. They choose the most suitable option for them and their colleagues from five choices. These include, a haunted house tour, a costume competition, pumpkin carving, a ghost story session, and a Halloween dance. Before they begin speaking for about 2-3 minutes, allow them about 15 seconds to review the question and the five options. After discussing the appropriateness of each activity, follow up by asking them to select the most memorable activity.

Part 4: Discussing Halloween

At the end of the exam, allow students to share their opinions and discuss their thoughts about the holiday. Each student should be given one or two questions to express their beliefs on topics. These include In what ways can Halloween be seen as educational or beneficial? and Does Halloween influence the way people feel about fear or danger? Encourage students to clearly state their opinions and support them with examples.

Feedback: Making Halloween Exam Practice Useful

As with any speaking exam practice, I don’t want the lesson to finish right after the last question. I usually take some time to give students feedback on their performance and, where possible, connect specific examples to the criteria they are assessed on in the C1 Advanced Speaking test. This helps students understand not only what they need to improve, but also why it matters in the exam. A Halloween-themed lesson doesn’t have to mean abandoning serious exam preparation. Students can have fun, talk about something a little different and still get valuable practice.

Are you teaching C1 exam preparation around 31 October (Halloween)? If yes, this is an easy way to give your students a spooky change of scenery while keeping the focus firmly on the Cambridge exam.

How are you planning to celebrate Halloween with your students?