3.4. Repair Without Restarting
Fix a sentence that went wrong without losing the thread.
The short version
A quick clean repair is a sign of control.
Repeating the same repair over and over is not.
Finish the sentence rather than abandoning it.
Correct once and move on. Do not dwell.
Slips are not what is counted
Everyone slips, and the examiner is not counting them. What they hear is what happens next. A one second repair keeps the turn moving. A restart throws away everything you had said.
Three repair moves
I pay the rent to the agency, sorry, the landlord, and he lives two doors down.
If the word will not come, describe it: the person who owns the flat.
If you blank, pick up the last sentence you were sure of and continue from there.
None of them starts again
Not one of those moves begins with let me start again. Each costs about a second.
I pay the rent to the agency… sorry, I mean the landlord.
Wait, let me start again. So, about the bus…
The same slip, two repairs
I live on the third floor of a… no, sorry, wait, let me start again. OK. So, the place where I live. I live in a flat. It is on the second floor. It is near the station. And, um, the rent is…
I live on the third… the second floor of a block near the station, which is why I chose it. The rent is high for the area, but I save the bus fare every day.
If it goes further wrong
If you blank, return to the last clear point. If a word will not come, describe it instead of hunting for it: the thing you use to open the door.
If you mishear, ask: Could you repeat the question? In Part 3 you may also ask them to explain a term.
Quiz time3 questions
Which repair move is this?
A candidate is answering: What do you like about your neighbourhood?
There is a small… the place where they bake bread, a bakery, on the corner, and it opens at six, so I get breakfast on the way to the bus.
Find the restart
Three candidates answer the same question: Tell me about the place where you live. Each one slips. Choose the answer that repairs the slip in the way that costs marks.
Which sentence contains the error?
Repair and continue
Answer the question and make one small slip on purpose (for example agency for landlord, or third floor for second floor). Repair it inside the sentence, then carry on with a reason. Do not restart.
Tell me about the place where you live.
Record your answer (40s maximum)
0:00 / 0:40
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Recap
One quick correction shows control of the language.
Repairing every other sentence breaks your fluency.
Finish the sentence, then keep going.
Next: Part 1, and how to handle short questions about yourself.