FCE Use of English Part 1 Tips

Here is a slightly longer version of the technique that I recommend you use when facing part 1 of the Use of English paper in the exam:

1. Take 30 seconds to quickly read the whole passage. This will make it easier for you to answer the questions.

2. You should revise common expressions, phrasal verbs and collocations before the exam. If you want to see some examples of these, you should watch the video above or buy a coursebook. I use ‘Ready for First’ with my students.

3. Find the first gap. Read the whole sentence surrounding it.

4. Concentrate on the words before and after the gap. Ask yourself, ‘do I need a collocation/expression/phrasal verb?

5. Ask yourself, ‘what type of word do I need to use in the gap…do I need a noun, a verb etc.?’ If you need help identifying English word families and sentence structures, read this page: https://studentlanguages.com/english-word-families-and-sentence-structures/

6. Look at the four options. If you think one option is correct, check if it is the correct type of word and that it fits any possible expression, collocation etc.

7. Finally, check again to make sure your word fits the overall meaning of the sentence.

FCE Use of English Part 1 – Practice

I recently made a dictation style video and combined it with a Use of English Part 1 exercise. I think you’re going to love it, so make sure you have a pen and paper or you can write the dictation online here:

Here is the passage from the dictation without the answers. Below that you can watch a live video I made where I explain all the correct answers. My students loved that video!

English word families and sentence structures: https://studentlanguages.com/english-word-families-and-sentence-structures/

FCE Use of English Part 1 – More Practice

If you want to practice using my technique with more sample tests, you should check out this website or write a comment below.

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