Aptis reading Test: General Tips and Strategies

Part 1: In this part of the test, you are going to answer three personal questions about 
yourself and your interests. You will have 30 seconds to answer each question. Begin speaking 
when you hear the beep.
1.1. Please tell me about your plans for the weekend. 
On the weekend, I always need to unwind after such a busy week of teaching. I normally don’t do 
many activities, but this weekend, I have some interesting plans. It is my best friend’s birthday, so we 
are having a surprise party for her. She has plans to have dinner with her sister, but when she comes 
back to her flat, a few other friends and I will be there to shout “Surprise!” at her.
1.2. What kind of home do you live in? 
When I was a child, I used to live in a big two-story house with my family. It was nice to have a 
big backyard, but my parents had to mow the lawn in the summer and shovel the snow in the winter. 
Nowadays, I live in an apartment and I quite like it. Living in a city is more important than a home’s 
size, so I’d prefer to stay in a flat in the future.
1.3. Tell me about the place where you work. 
Currently, I am working in a large, private language school. During the day, we have a few 
classes for adults who are preparing for international language exams. However, most of my hours 
are spent in the afternoon with kids. The building itself is quite old, but the inside is completely 
modern. We have projectors and interactive whiteboards in every room. Moreover, it’s in the city 
centre, so it’s easy to get to by public transport.
Part 2: In this part of the test, you are going to describe what is happening in a picture. 
Then, I will ask you two questions about it. You will have 45 seconds for each response. Begin 
speaking when you hear the beep.

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2.1. Describe this picture. 
In this picture, I can see a classroom with a teacher and some students. From the ages of the 
children, I can guess that they are in middle school. The teacher is tall and bald. He is dressed in a 
business casual way as he is wearing a grey blazer with a yellow shirt and khaki trousers. However, 
the kids are dressed casually. I can infer that they are participating in a geometry lesson because 
there are shapes and formulas on the board. The classroom looks tidy, and there is a globe and a 
plant behind the teacher.
2.2. Tell me about a lesson you taught. 
Right now, I am teaching English as a Second Language to kids and adults. I try to make my 
lessons as fun as possible so that my students enjoy them. Last week, I was teaching a lesson about 
modals of necessity. You know, can, can’t, must, have to, etc. So, after I explained the rules to my 
teenage students, they invented their own country in small groups. The objective was to make laws 
and present them to the class. Then, we voted on where we would like to live. I was so impressed 
with their creativity and hard work during this activity.
2.3. Would you prefer to use a blackboard or technology to teach? Why? 
If you had asked me this when I began teaching, I would have absolutely said that I preferred to 
use a blackboard. Not only is it simple and traditional, but it is what students expect from a lesson. 
However, recently, I have started to attend training meetings about how to use interactive 
whiteboards in class, and I have changed my opinion. For starters, I can use it in the same way as a 
normal blackboard. What’s more is that I can project engaging videos or songs on YouTube to 
engage students in a different way. The students really enjoy the experience.