If your first language is Spanish, Catalan, Italian or Portuguese, you are not marked down in the Cambridge Speaking test for your accent. The B2 First handbook defines intelligible speech as speech that can be understood "even if the speaker has a strong or unfamiliar accent". You lose marks for specific habits: a vowel added before or after a consonant, short and long vowels merged, stress on the wrong syllable of a cognate, "people is", "I am agree", the present tense where English needs the present perfect, and false friends such as "actually" and "sensible". This page lists the twelve habits that matter most for B2 First and C1 Advanced, maps each one to the criterion it costs, shows what Cambridge's own examiners wrote about the same patterns in their published sample tests, and gives a 60-second drill for each.
The short answer: accent is not marked, habits are
Cambridge Speaking is marked by two examiners. Per the B2 First handbook, the assessor scores Grammar and Vocabulary, Discourse Management, Pronunciation and Interactive Communication on a 0 to 5 scale, and the interlocutor gives a Global Achievement mark. At C1 Advanced, Grammar and Vocabulary is split into Grammatical Resource and Lexical Resource. Candidates "are assessed on their own individual performance and not in relation to each other", so your partner's English does not pull you up or down.
Romance-language speakers start with real advantages. Many English words share Latin roots with Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, so vocabulary range comes quickly. Most speakers are fluent and willing to talk, which helps Discourse Management and Interactive Communication. The marks are lost in a small number of places, and almost all of them are predictable from the first language. That is good news: a predictable habit has a predictable fix.
- Accent: not marked. Intelligibility, intonation, stress and clear sounds are (B2 First handbook, Band 5 Pronunciation).
- The costliest habits for this group, in our judgement: added vowels, merged vowels, cognate stress, "people is", "I am agree", present for present perfect, false friends, flat intonation.
- Corrections are free: the handbook says false starts and reformulation are "not penalised" where communication is achieved.
- Fix three habits, not twelve. Record a task, tick what you hear in the table below, and drill only those.
How the four criteria turn habits into marks
The B2 First Band 5 Pronunciation descriptor reads: "Is intelligible. Intonation is appropriate. Sentence and word stress is accurately placed. Individual sounds are articulated clearly." Band 3 adds the word "generally" to each line: "Intonation is generally appropriate. Sentence and word stress is generally accurately placed. Individual sounds are generally articulated clearly." So the difference between a 3 and a 5 is consistency, not accent. A habit that appears in every sentence keeps you at "generally".
| Criterion | What the handbook rewards | Romance-language habits that cost it (our judgement) |
|---|---|---|
| Grammar and Vocabulary | Control of simple and some complex forms; vocabulary that fits the context ("appropriacy") | "People is", "I am agree", present for present perfect, "I have 20 years", uncountables made plural ("advices"), false friends |
| Discourse Management | Extended stretches, relevant and organised, with cohesive devices and discourse markers | Long chains joined only by "and", fillers ("o sea", "cioè", "tipo", "like"), a long turn that stops at 40 seconds |
| Pronunciation | Intelligible; appropriate intonation; accurate stress; clear individual sounds | Added vowels, merged vowels, b and v, cognate stress, final consonants lost, flat or rising statements |
| Interactive Communication | Initiating and responding, linking to the other speaker, negotiating towards an outcome | Overlapping before the partner finishes, long turns that cover three prompts at once, invitations said with falling, flat intonation |
The criteria and scale page prints every band at B1, B2 and C1 and shows how the marks combine into the Cambridge English Scale.
What Cambridge's own examiner comments show
Cambridge publishes Speaking test videos with written examiner comments and marks on its B2 First preparation page. Cambridge does not say what first language these candidates speak, and we do not guess. But several of the patterns the examiners noted are exactly the habits on this page. The quotations below are from the official comment PDFs.
| Official sample | What the examiners wrote | Habit on this page |
|---|---|---|
| B2 First, Giulia (Pronunciation 4.5) | "the frequent substitution of the /i/ sound" in "river, city, television, opinion"; "Occasionally, she uses rising intonation inappropriately at the end of statements" | Merged short and long vowels; statement intonation |
| B2 First, Giulia (Discourse Management 4; Grammar and Vocabulary 4) | "there is overuse of fillers, such as 'like' and 'you know'"; grammar example "I really appreciate advices (advice)" | Fillers; uncountables made plural |
| B2 First, Tabatha (Pronunciation 3.5) | uses /d/, /f/ or /t/ sounds for the two "th" sounds "in words like that, this, or with"; "She overuses an intrusive schwa at the end of words"; "proTEST (PROtest)"; intonation varies less in statements, "which can lead to a rather flat sound" | th; added final vowel; cognate stress; flat statements |
| B2 First, Natalia (Grammar and Vocabulary 3.5, Discourse Management 3.5) | "There has been a long time that I don't go to the beach"; "contry [country]"; Part 2 "rather short at only 36 seconds rather than a full minute" | Translated time structure; vowels; a short long turn |
| C1 Advanced, Teresa | "Be able to put them on practice on your everyday life"; "You have an idea how it's like" | Translated prepositions; "how it's like" |
Two lessons follow. First, the examiners describe every one of these candidates as intelligible, and the B2 First Speaking marks quoted run from 3.5 to 4.5 out of 5: Giulia's Pronunciation mark was 4.5 despite the vowel habit. Habits cost half-bands, not grades. Second, the examiners name the exact words. Your own recordings will show the same kind of list, and a list is something you can drill.
The twelve habits at a glance
This table is TalkDrill's judgement from how the sound and grammar systems of these languages differ from English. It is not Cambridge data. Tick the habits you hear in your own recording and work on no more than three at once.
| # | Habit | Who | Criterion | What the examiner hears | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vowel added before s plus a consonant | Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese | Pronunciation | "espeak", "estudents", "Espain" | Start on a hiss: "sss-peak" |
| 2 | Vowel added after a final consonant | Italian, Brazilian Portuguese | Pronunciation | "work-a", "big-a", "Facebook-i" | Close on the consonant and stop |
| 3 | Short and long vowels merged | All four | Pronunciation | ship and sheep, live and leave, full and fool sound the same | Minimal pairs in your own Part 2 sentences |
| 4 | b and v merged | Spanish, many Catalan speakers | Pronunciation | "berry" for very, "boat" for vote | Top teeth on the lower lip for v |
| 5 | Stress on the Romance syllable of a cognate | All four | Pronunciation | comFORtable, euROpe, photoGRAPH | Learn the stress with the word |
| 6 | Flat or rising statements | All four, often Spanish | Pronunciation, Interactive Communication | Statements that sound unfinished or bored; invitations that sound like statements | Fall at each full stop; rise on yes or no questions |
| 7 | "People is", "the life is" | All four | Grammar and Vocabulary | Singular verb with people; article before abstract nouns | "People are"; "Life is" |
| 8 | "I am agree" | Spanish, Italian, Portuguese | Grammar and Vocabulary | The same error in every Part 3 turn | "I agree" |
| 9 | Present for present perfect | All four | Grammar and Vocabulary | "I live here since 2020", "It's a long time that I don't..." | "I've lived here since 2020"; "I haven't... for a long time" |
| 10 | "I have 20 years", "I think yes" | All four; "I think yes" mainly Portuguese | Grammar and Vocabulary | Translated set phrases | "I'm 20"; "I think so" |
| 11 | False friends | All four | Grammar and Vocabulary (appropriacy) | "Actually" for currently, "sensible" for sensitive | The table below |
| 12 | Overlap and long multi-prompt turns in Part 3 | All four, often Italian and Spanish | Interactive Communication | The partner cannot get in, or three prompts go in one turn | One prompt per turn, then a question back |
Spanish and Catalan speakers
Spanish has five vowels and English has many more, so the vowel habits come first. Catalan speakers, nearly all bilingual in Spanish, share most of the list, with two differences worth knowing.
Sounds
- The "e" before s plus a consonant. Spanish words never start with s plus a consonant ("escuela", "España"), and Catalan does the same ("escola"). In English the "e" turns "study" into "estudy". It is the most recognisable Spanish habit and one of the easiest to fix (drill 1).
- b and v. In Spanish they are one sound. Many Catalan speakers merge them too; speakers of Valencian and Balearic varieties often keep a separate v, which helps. In a Part 2 about travel, "a very nice view" can come out as "a berry nice bue".
- Vowels. ship and sheep, full and fool, cat and cut. Spanish also has no schwa, the weak vowel in "a", "the", "to" and "of", so every syllable gets full weight and English rhythm sounds hammered. Catalan has a schwa and reduces unstressed vowels, so Catalan speakers often find weak forms easier: use that.
- Final consonants. "-ed" endings vanish ("I work there last year"), clusters shrink ("tex" for texts, "mons" for months). In parts of Andalusia, the Canaries and much of Latin America a final s is weakened at home, so plurals in English can disappear too. Catalan speakers tend to devoice final consonants instead: "dog" can sound like "dock".
- h and j. The Spanish "j" is a rougher sound than the English h, so "hello" can sound harsh. "Yes" and "Jess", "use" and "juice" can merge.
- th. Speakers from most of Spain already have the "th" of "think" (the "z" in "zapato"), so use it. Latin American speakers usually replace it with s or t ("sink", "tink"). The "th" of "they" is close to the soft Spanish d in "nada"; do not harden it to "day".
Grammar and vocabulary
- "People is" from "la gente es". "People" is plural in English: "People are", "Most people think".
- The present for the present perfect. "Vivo aquí desde 2020" becomes "I live here since 2020". Part 1 asks about your life and your studies, so this error can appear in every answer. "I've lived here since 2020." Natalia's sentence in the official comments, "There has been a long time that I don't go to the beach", has the shape of Spanish "hace mucho tiempo que no voy" (Italian "è da tanto che non vado", Portuguese "faz muito tempo que não vou"); in English it is "I haven't been to the beach for a long time".
- Missing subjects. "Is very interesting" from "es muy interesante". English needs "It's very interesting".
- Translated phrases. "I have 20 years", "I am agree", "depend of", "explain me", "married with". In English: "I'm 20", "I agree", "depend on", "explain to me", "married to".
- Discourse markers. "O sea", "bueno" and "no?" slip in under pressure. English equivalents are "I mean", "well" and "don't you think?". Using the English ones counts as cohesion; the Spanish ones do not.
Italian speakers
Sounds
- The final vowel. Italian words end in vowels, so "work", "big" and "and" can grow a tail: "work-a", "big-a", "and-a". It changes the rhythm and can make the listener wait for a word that is not coming (drill 3).
- h. Italian spells h but never pronounces it, so "happy" becomes "appy" and "hair" sounds like "air". Some speakers then add an h where none exists: "h-I think".
- Vowel length. Italian has no long and short pairs, so "live" and "leave", "sit" and "seat" merge. This is the same pattern the examiners noted for Giulia (/i/ in "river, city, television, opinion"). Her mark was still 4.5, so treat it as polish, not a crisis.
- The a sounds. "Cat", "cut" and "cart" can all become one Italian "a". In a Part 2 about food, "a cup" and "a cap" matter.
- th. Usually t and d: "tink", "dat". The official comments for Tabatha list the same substitution "in words like that, this, or with".
- Stress. Italian prefers the second-to-last syllable, so long cognates move: comFORtable, interESTing, caTEgory. Learn the English stress with the word (drill 6).
Grammar and vocabulary
- "I am agree" from "sono d'accordo", and "I have 20 years" from "ho vent'anni".
- "Since" for "for". "Studio inglese da tre anni" becomes "I study English since three years". In English: "I've been studying English for three years".
- "Make a photo", "make a party". "Take a photo", "have a party".
- Plural uncountables. "Informations", "advices", "furnitures". Giulia's official comments include "I really appreciate advices (advice)".
- Fillers. "Cioè" and "tipo" become "like" in English. The examiners flagged "overuse of fillers, such as 'like' and 'you know'" for Giulia under Discourse Management.
In Part 3, the Italian habit is energy: long, fast turns that cover three prompts before the partner speaks. That is fluent, but Interactive Communication rewards "linking contributions to those of other speakers". One prompt, one reason, then a question back.
Portuguese speakers, Brazil and Portugal
Sounds
- The added "i" (Brazil). Brazilian Portuguese adds a vowel after most final consonants, so "big" becomes "bigi" and "Facebook" becomes "Facebooki". After t and d the added vowel can also change the consonant: "good" towards "goodji".
- Final l as w (Brazil). "School" sounds like "schoow", "people" like "peopow". In a Part 2 about schools, that is the key word.
- r and h (Brazil). An initial r is pronounced close to an English h, so "rice" can sound like "hice" and "red" like "head".
- Reduced vowels and "sh" (Portugal). European Portuguese reduces or drops unstressed vowels and says a final s like "sh": "photosh". Both can blur plurals.
- Final m and n. These become nasal vowels in Portuguese, so "team", "him" and "seem" can lose their closing consonant.
- Vowel length and th. As for the other languages: ship and sheep, full and fool; "th" as t, d, f or s.
Grammar and vocabulary
- "Have" for "there is". Portuguese "tem" means both, so Part 2 openings come out as "In the first photo have a family". In English: "In the first photo there's a family".
- "I think yes", "I think no" from "acho que sim" and "acho que não". In English: "I think so", "I don't think so".
- "How it's like" from "como é". In English: "what it's like". The official C1 comments quote exactly this error ("You have an idea how it's like"), and it is shared by Spanish ("cómo es") and Italian ("com'è") speakers.
- "Assist a film". "Assistir" means watch in Brazilian Portuguese. In English, "assist" means help: "I watched a film".
False friends that cost Grammar and Vocabulary marks
The B2 First handbook defines appropriacy of vocabulary as "the use of words and phrases that fit the context of the given task", and its example of an inappropriate word is a Romance-language false friend: "in I'm very sensible to noise, the word sensible is inappropriate as the word should be sensitive". These are the false friends most likely to appear in a Speaking test, in our judgement.
| English word | Looks like | What you probably mean | Say |
|---|---|---|---|
| sensible | sensible (ES), sensibile (IT), sensível (PT) | sensitive | "I'm very sensitive to noise." |
| actually | actualmente (ES), attualmente (IT), atualmente (PT) | currently, at the moment | "At the moment I'm studying law." |
| eventually | eventualmente (ES, IT, PT) | possibly, if necessary | "Possibly I'll study abroad." |
| career | carrera (ES) | degree, course | "I'm doing a degree in engineering." |
| assist | asistir (ES), assistir (PT) | attend; in Brazil, watch | "I attend classes", "I watched a film" |
| argument | argomento (IT), argumento (ES, PT) | topic; in Spanish and Portuguese, often the plot | "The topic of the task is..." |
| library | libreria (IT), librería (ES) | bookshop | "I bought it in a bookshop." |
| parents | parientes (ES), parenti (IT), parentes (PT) | relatives | "All my relatives came." |
| costume | costume (IT, PT) | habit, custom | "It's a custom in my country." |
| discuss | discutir (ES, PT) | argue (in many uses) | "I argued with my brother." |
| embarrassed | embarazada (ES) | pregnant | Use "pregnant" for that meaning |
C1 Advanced marks Lexical Resource separately, so at C1 a false friend costs the vocabulary mark directly. Our common English mistakes book has more.
Eight 60-second drills
All drills are written by TalkDrill. Each takes one minute: say the lines once slowly, once at speaking speed, then use the target in a fresh sentence of your own. Record the last run.
- The s-start (habit 1). Hiss before you speak: "sss-tudents, sss-pain, sss-port". Then: "Students in Spain study sport at school." Then a Part 2 line: "In the second photo, some students are studying in a small space."
- Short and long vowels (habit 3). live and leave, fill and feel, sit and seat, full and fool. Then the examiners' own list: river, city, television, opinion, all with the short vowel of "sit". Our minimal pairs guide has more sets.
- Close and stop (habit 2). "It's a big park. The kids look relaxed. They work hard." Stop dead on every final consonant. Test: whisper the line; if you hear a vowel after "big", it is still there.
- Teeth on the lip (habit 4). very, view, vote, village, travel, vegetables. Then: "We have a very good view of the village." Then contrast: berry and very, boat and vote.
- The perfect frame (habit 9). "I've lived in... for... years." "I've been learning English since..." "I haven't been to... for ages." Answer three Part 1 questions using one frame each: where you live, your studies, your free time.
- Cognate stress (habit 5). COMfortable, VEGetable, INteresting, PHOtograph and phoTOGrapher, EUrope, CAnada, CATegory, CHOColate. Clap the stressed syllable. Then put three of them in a Part 2 sentence. Our word stress guide explains the patterns.
- No article on big ideas (habit 7). "Life is easier with a phone." "People are busier than before." "Nature is good for us." "Technology has changed school." Then answer a Part 4 question about technology with two of these openings.
- React, then add (habit 12). Your partner (the AI or a friend) gives an opinion; you start every reply with a reaction before your idea: "That's a good point, and...", "I see what you mean, but...", "Going back to what you said about...". Six turns, one prompt each.
Before and after: a Part 3 exchange
The task: a town council has money to improve the town for young people; the prompts include a sports centre, a music venue and better public transport. Both versions are written by TalkDrill; neither is a real candidate.
Before (written by TalkDrill)
A: "I am agree that the sports centre is important, because actually in my town there is not, and the people is very sedentary, and also the music is very important for the young, and the transport, it's a long time that the buses are bad..."
B: "Yes, but..."
A: "...and eventually the council can make a party for the young."
What costs marks: "I am agree", "people is", "the music", false friends ("actually", "eventually"), the translated time structure, three prompts in one turn, and the partner cut off before the first sentence.
After (written by TalkDrill)
A: "Shall we start with the sports centre? There isn't one in my town at the moment, and a lot of people don't do any exercise. What do you think?"
B: "I agree it matters, but I'd say transport is more urgent."
A: "That's a fair point. The buses where I live haven't been reliable for years, so if young people can't get anywhere, a new centre won't help much. Shall we look at the music venue next, or decide between these two?"
What changed: one prompt per turn, a question back, a reaction before each idea, "at the moment" for "actually", the present perfect for the time structure, and "people don't" with a plural verb.
The Part 3 phrases page has the full set of inviting, agreeing, disagreeing and deciding phrases, and the Part 2 phrases page has the one-minute structure for the long turn.
Your practice route
- Record one Part 2 and one Part 3 task from the paired practice bank with the AI as your partner.
- Tick the habits you hear in the twelve-habit table. Choose three.
- Do the matching drills daily for two weeks, ten minutes in read-aloud practice for the sound habits and role-play practice for the grammar and interaction ones.
- Re-record the same two tasks and compare. If a habit has gone, pick the next one.
- Fit it into a plan. The eight-week B2 First plan has first-language days in weeks 1, 2 and 5.
If you are in Spain or Italy, note that the British Council says on its own country pages that it no longer delivers Cambridge English exams there (Spain from 23 April 2023, Italy from April 2023). Use the official Cambridge centre finder, and see the fees and registration page and the Cambridge English hub for dates and results.