Guides
Speaking
AEAS speaking questions and topics
Interview topics, picture-task questions and monologue topics for each year level, with a model monologue.
Real Year 4-6 speaking questions from this site's practice tests, which follow the AEAS format, plus a model answer for one monologue.
Interview topics (not assessed)
- Your education
- Your experience of learning English (how long, where, etc.)
- Your family
- Your interests
- Your health
- Language(s) you use
Picture task questions
- What can you see in this picture?
- Do you like reading fairy tales? Did you like it more when you were younger?
- What is your favourite fairy tale?
- If you could choose to be one fairy tale character, who would you choose?
Monologue topics
- Talk about land creatures.
- Talk about your favourite city.
- Talk about monster movies.
- Talk about online shopping.
- Talk about lucky colours.
- Talk about anime.
- Talk about games.
- Talk about learning English.
Model monologue
Topic card: Talk about land creatures. Notice it follows the card's points in order and gives a reason or example for each.
Template · Talk about land creatures.
My favourite land creature is the elephant. I've loved elephants since I was little, because they look strong but they are actually very gentle. What makes them different from other land animals is that they live in families and they never forget anything. People say an elephant remembers a person for its whole life. To protect land creatures from dying out, I think we should stop cutting down forests, because that is their home, and we should never buy things made from animals. As for zoos, I don't think the animals are happier there. They are safe and they get food every day, but the space is small and they can't choose where to go. And if I saw a tiger in the forest when I was alone, I would not run. I would stay very still and walk backwards slowly, because running makes the tiger chase you.
Real Year 7-9 speaking questions from this site's practice tests, which follow the AEAS format, plus a model answer for one monologue.
Interview topics (not assessed)
- Your education
- Your experience of learning English (how long, where, etc.)
- Your family
- Your interests
- Your health
- Language(s) you use
Picture task questions
- What are the people doing in these pictures?
- Do you think they are having fun?
- Which one would you like to do? Why?
- What can you see in this picture?
- Where was this picture taken, do you think?
- What do you think the person in the picture is doing?
Monologue topics
- Talk about your favourite subject at school.
- Talk about a hobby you enjoy in your free time.
- Talk about your best friend.
- Talk about a place you would like to visit.
- Talk about your favourite book or story.
- Talk about a skill you would like to learn.
- Talk about your favourite season of the year.
- Talk about a memorable school trip.
Model monologue
Topic card: Talk about your favourite subject at school. Notice it follows the card's points in order and gives a reason or example for each.
Template · Talk about your favourite subject at school.
My favourite subject is definitely science, especially the parts about chemistry. I enjoy it because we get to do real experiments instead of just reading from a textbook, and there's something satisfying about watching a reaction actually happen instead of just imagining it. My teacher, Mr. Allen, makes it more interesting by connecting what we learn to things we see at home, like why bread rises or why metal rusts. Outside school it helps me understand the world a bit better. I read the ingredients on food packets differently now, and I actually questioned an advertisement last week because the science behind it didn't add up. It's made me more curious in general, not just in class.
Real Year 10-12 speaking questions from this site's practice tests, which follow the AEAS format, plus a model answer for one monologue.
Interview topics (not assessed)
- Your education
- Your plans for studying in Australia
- Languages you speak
- Your family
- Your interests
- Your health
Picture task questions
- What can you see in this picture?
- Where was this picture taken, do you think?
- What kind of music do you think they are playing?
- What do you think of their music style and their clothes?
- Can you play any musical instruments?
- If you could go to a concert next month, what kind of concert would you choose?
Monologue topics
- Describe a traditional holiday or festival in your country.
- Describe two chairs in your school or your home.
- Describe a taboo in your country.
- Describe your favourite traditional dish in your country.
- Describe your favourite season in your country.
- Describe your favourite family celebration.
- Describe your favourite toy when you were a kid.
- Describe your favourite plant.
Model monologue
Topic card: Describe a traditional holiday or festival in your country. Notice it follows the card's points in order and gives a reason or example for each.
Template · Describe a traditional holiday or festival in your country.
The festival I want to talk about is the Lunar New Year, which is easily the biggest holiday of the year in my country. It follows the lunar calendar, so the date moves, but it always falls in late January or February. The history goes back thousands of years. The traditional story is about a monster called Nian that came to the villages every winter, and people used red decorations and loud noises to frighten it away, which is why we still use red and fireworks today. On the day itself, families clean the house beforehand, have an enormous dinner together on New Year's Eve, give red envelopes with money to children, and visit relatives for about a week afterwards. I always spend it with family. It's the one time of year when even the relatives who work overseas come back. It makes me feel calm and slightly nostalgic, because it's the same every year, and almost nothing else in my life is.