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The Three Rounds drill for fluency

By Michael Ukwuma

Our version of a well researched fluency technique. Same answer, less time, three times.

There is a classic technique in language teaching where a learner gives the same talk three times, in four minutes, then three, then two. In one study, learners who repeated the same topic kept their fluency gains weeks later. Even more interesting, the gains showed up when they spoke about new topics. Their pauses were shorter and they spoke for more of the time.

We adapted it for CELPIP. We call it Three Rounds.

How to do it

1. Pick one practice prompt. Prepare for 30 seconds like the real test.
2. Round 1: answer with the full time, plus 30 extra seconds. Record it.
3. Round 2: same prompt, the real test time. Record it.
4. Round 3: same prompt, 20 per cent less time. Record it.
5. Listen to all three. Notice how the pauses shrink and the ideas get sharper.

Ten minutes. That is all. Do it four or five times a week with different task types.

The rest of this lesson is part of full access.