OET Speaking for Hindi and Arabic Speakers: 10 Habits That Cost Marks, With Fixes

Hindi and Arabic speakers are the two groups least likely to fail OET Speaking among the languages TalkDrill covers. The OET "Demographic data 2025" PDF shows 89.1% of Hindi first-language candidates and 91.1% of Arabic first-language candidates reached Grade B or above in Speaking. So this page is written for two readers: the nurse or doctor who wants a secure B rather than a lucky one, and the doctor on the PLAB, GMC or ECFMG route who already scores well and wants the A that 4.5% of Medicine candidates reached in 2025. For each language we give five habits, the OET criterion each one hits, why the habit exists, the fix, a 60-second drill and a before and after line written by TalkDrill. The two sections stand alone; read yours, then the shared section on the clinical criteria.

The honest picture for both groups

The figures are from the first-language tables in the OET 2025 demographic PDF. The "B or above" column is A plus B.

By nationality the picture is the same: Indian nationals reached B or above in Speaking at 85.9%, Egyptians at 93.2%, Saudis at 89.4%, Iraqis at 88.8%, Jordanians at 94.3%, Sudanese at 91.2% and Syrians at 95.2%. By profession, Medicine candidates reached 92.8% with 4.5% at A, Nursing 82.2% with 0.2% at A. Two conclusions. For Hindi speakers, Reading is the blocker: more than half missed B. For Arabic speakers, Listening and Reading are weaker than Speaking but not dramatically so, and Writing is where one in four miss B. In both cases Speaking should get the smallest share of your preparation hours, and what it gets should be aimed at the specific habits below rather than at "accent".

How the nine criteria turn habits into marks

Per the OET results and scoring page, Speaking has four linguistic criteria scored out of 6 (intelligibility, fluency, appropriateness of language, resources of grammar and expression) and five clinical communication criteria scored out of 3 (relationship building, understanding and incorporating the patient's perspective, providing structure, information gathering, information giving). The scores are combined and converted to the 0 to 500 scale; B is 350. The role-plays are recorded and assessed by at least two trained OET assessors (OET speaking criteria post, 5 November 2024). Our criteria and scoring page has the descriptors. In the two tables below the right-hand column names the criterion each habit hits; where a habit hits a clinical criterion the cost is higher, because each clinical criterion has only three points to lose.

Hindi speakers: five habits

These are TalkDrill's judgement from Hindi-speaking learners in our role-play practice; OET does not publish the reasons behind its grade tables.

H1. Retroflex t and d, and th

Why it exists. Hindi has dental त/द and retroflex ट/ड but no alveolar t or d; English t and d are mapped to the retroflex set, which gives the heavy quality listeners call an "Indian t". English th, which Hindi lacks, becomes dental t or d, with the aspirated थ sometimes standing in for "th" in "think". The patient hears "tree tablets" and "dis side". It costs intelligibility, especially in numbers and dosing.

The fix. Tongue tip on the ridge behind the upper teeth, not curled back, for t and d. Tongue tip between the teeth for th: blow for "three", hum for "this". Exaggerate in practice.

60-second drill. "Take two tablets three times a day, then nothing after Thursday. This dressing stays dry for thirty days." Mirror on the th; light taps on the t and d. More sets on our Hindi speakers' pronunciation page.

H2. Aspiration on p, t, k

Why it exists. Hindi has a four-way contrast (प फ ब भ), so Hindi speakers hear English p as the unaspirated प and say it that way. English listeners, who have no unaspirated p at the start of a stressed syllable, hear it as b: "pain" becomes "bain", "test" becomes "dest", "cough" is fine but "can" sounds like "gan". In a role-play the pairs "pill" and "bill", "pain" and "bane", "cold" and "gold", "tore" and "door" are the ones that matter. It is a pure intelligibility habit and an easy one to fix, because the aspirated sound exists in Hindi (फ, थ, ख); you only need to use it in English.

The fix. Hold a sheet of paper in front of your mouth. "Pain", "test", "cold" should make it move; "bain", "dest", "gold" should not. Aim the Hindi फ-type puff at every English word that starts with p, t or k before a vowel.

60-second drill. "Pain, bain; pill, bill; test, dest; cold, gold; cut, gut." Then: "The pain is from the test we did; take one pill for the cold and keep the cut clean." Paper in front of the mouth for the whole sentence.

H3. Progressive for states

Why it exists. Hindi uses the same "raha hai" structure for ongoing actions and, colloquially, for states, and Indian English has carried the habit into "I am having two children", "you are having sugar", "I am not knowing", "are you understanding?" English separates them. "Are you having any pain?" is acceptable nursing English and need not be corrected; conditions, knowledge and understanding are the problem. It costs resources of grammar, and in information giving it makes a diagnosis sound temporary ("you are having diabetes" sounds like it may pass).

The fix. Learn the short list that stays in the simple form in a role-play: have (a condition), know, understand, need, mean, want, believe, seem. "You have diabetes." "I understand that's worrying." "You need to take this daily."

60-second drill. Explain one condition in four sentences with no -ing on a state verb: "You have high blood pressure. That means your heart is working harder than it should. You need one tablet a day. I know that sounds like a lot." Repeat for asthma and for a wound infection.

H4. Yes/no answers that do not match the question

Why it exists. In Hindi, "haan" to a negative question agrees with the negative ("You don't smoke?" "Haan" means "right, I don't"). English works the other way: "yes" means "I do smoke". Add the Hindi head movement that means "yes, go on" but reads to a British observer as "no" or "maybe", and the habit of answering with "hmm" or "okay okay", and the interlocutor is often unsure what you confirmed. This is the one Hindi habit that lands on a clinical criterion: information gathering is scored on whether you clarify and summarise, and an unclear confirmation is the opposite. As the clinician you are usually the one asking, so the habit shows up when the patient asks you ("So I don't need to stop the aspirin?" "Yes.").

The fix. Answer the fact first in a full clause, then the yes or no if you like: "No, you don't need to stop it." "That's right, keep taking it." Never answer a negative question with a bare yes. And summarise what the patient told you in your own words before moving on.

60-second drill. Have the AI patient ask you six negative questions ("I shouldn't drive, should I?" "You're not going to admit me, are you?") and answer each with a full clause before any yes or no.

H5. Hindi-English register

Why it exists. Indian English has a set of friendly forms that British and Australian patients do not share: "do one thing" before an instruction, "only" for emphasis ("today only"), "what is your good name", "kindly", "no?" as a question tag, "myself Priya" as an introduction, "prepone", "the same", "revert". None of them is wrong in India; all of them mark the speaker as reading from a different script, and appropriateness is scored on whether the language fits the patient. "Do one thing, take rest" sounds like an order; a British patient hears bossiness where you meant warmth.

The fix. Swap the list and leave the rest of your English alone. "Do one thing": drop it, state the action. "Only": "just" or nothing. "Good name": "your name". "Kindly": "could you", "please". "No?": "isn't it?", "is that right?". "Myself Priya": "I'm Priya". "Prepone": "bring forward". "The same": "it".

60-second drill. Record a one-minute opening and count the Hindi-English forms. Re-record with each replaced. Twice.

Arabic speakers: five habits

Also TalkDrill's judgement, from Arabic-speaking doctors, pharmacists and nurses in our practice (Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and the Gulf). Dialect matters: Egyptian speakers, for example, have a j/g difference from Levantine speakers. The five below are shared across dialects.

A1. p as b, v as f

Why it exists. Standard Arabic has b but no p, and f but no v. English p and v are therefore mapped to the nearest Arabic sounds: "pressure" becomes "bressure", "pain" becomes "bain", "very" becomes "fery", "vomit" becomes "fomit". Most Arabic speakers can produce p and v; the slip happens in connected speech under pressure, exactly when the role-play is being marked. The cost is intelligibility, and in clinical speech the pairs "pill/bill", "pain/bane", "van/fan", "vast/fast" are heard often enough to matter.

The fix. p: both lips closed, then release with a puff of air that moves a sheet of paper (b has no puff). v: upper teeth on the lower lip with voice (f is the same position without voice; put a finger on your throat and feel the buzz for v).

60-second drill. "Pill, bill; pain, bane; pack, back. Very, ferry; vast, fast; vine, fine. Your blood pressure is very high, so please take one pill in the evening." Paper for the p, finger on the throat for the v.

A2. The missing copula

Why it exists. Arabic has no verb "to be" in the present tense: "the pain severe" (al-alam shadeed) is a complete sentence. Carried into English it produces "the pain severe", "she tired", "it normal", "the result negative". A British listener fills the gap most of the time, but each gap registers as a basic error under resources of grammar, and in a string of short clinical statements the sentences start to sound like notes rather than speech, which also costs intelligibility.

The fix. Every present-tense description of a state needs "is" or "are": "the pain is severe", "the result is negative". Put the verb in before the adjective every time. In the past tense Arabic does have a verb, so "was" and "were" usually survive; the habit is present tense only.

60-second drill. Describe a set of results in ten sentences, each with is or are: "Your blood pressure is high. Your sugar is normal. The scan is clear. The two results we are waiting for are the kidney tests." Record and listen only for the verb.

A3. Vowels inserted into consonant clusters

Why it exists. Arabic syllables do not begin with two consonants, so English s-clusters get a helping vowel: "steroid" becomes "isteroid", "stress" becomes "sitress", "sport" becomes "isbort", and final clusters pick one up too: "film" becomes "filim", "next" becomes "nexit". In a role-play "istroke", "isbecialist" and "iscan" are heard often. It costs intelligibility, and because the extra syllable shifts the stress, the word can become unrecognisable.

The fix. Start the s early and let it run straight into the next consonant with no vowel: "sss-troke". For final clusters, close the word without an extra beat: "film", one syllable. Practise the cluster on its own, then the word, then the sentence.

60-second drill. "Stroke, stress, scan, specialist, sprain, strict. The specialist will scan for a stroke, so stay as still as you can. Next, the film from the X-ray." Record and count the syllables in "stroke" (one) and "film" (one).

A4. Long pauses mid-sentence

Why it exists. Many Arabic speakers build the sentence in Arabic and translate, and Arabic often puts the verb first, so the English sentence has to be reordered on the way out. The result is a confident start, a silence of two or three seconds in the middle, and a rush at the end. The OET fluency descriptor names pausing and hesitation directly. The silence also hurts providing structure, because the patient cannot tell whether you have finished, changed topic or lost the thread. For doctors who speak quickly and well in their own language, this is usually the habit that keeps a 6 in fluency out of reach.

The fix. Speak in short clauses and signpost before each one, so the plan is said out loud before the content: "There are two things. First, the medication. Second, the follow-up." A spoken signpost buys you the planning time that silence was taking. When you do need a moment, fill it in English ("so", "right", "let me explain that a different way") rather than leaving a gap, and keep the rate even rather than fast.

60-second drill. Explain one diagnosis to the AI patient in sentences of no more than ten words each, with a signpost at the start of every chunk: "First, what the test showed. Second, what it means. Third, what we do next." Record it, then count the silent pauses longer than two seconds. Aim for zero.

A5. Gender and pronoun slips

Why it exists. Arabic marks gender on verbs, adjectives and pronouns, and the gender of an English noun is not always the gender of its Arabic translation, so pronouns slip under pressure: "my wife, he is worried", "the patient, she took his tablets", "the nurse will call you, he". The patient notices every one, and in information giving a wrong pronoun in "she should take his tablets" can genuinely confuse who does what. It costs resources of grammar first.

The fix. Decide the pronoun the moment you say the noun and hold it for the rest of the sentence. In a role-play card the patient's name tells you the gender; say it to yourself in the preparation minutes: "Mrs Haddad, she, her." Use "they" for an unnamed third person ("the doctor on call, they will see you").

60-second drill. Take a card that mentions a relative and tell the story of the card in six sentences, naming the person once and then using only pronouns. Record it and listen for the switch.

For doctors: the clinical criteria and the one-sitting rule

Medicine candidates reached Grade A in Speaking at 4.5% in 2025, more than twenty times the Nursing rate, so the move from B to A is a realistic project for a doctor who already speaks with range. The A is won on the five clinical criteria, scored out of 3 each, and three of them are where Hindi and Arabic-speaking doctors most often leave a point behind.

• Understanding the patient's perspective. Ask for ideas, concerns and expectations explicitly ("What do you think might be causing this?", "What worries you most about it?") and respond to the hint the card plants. A doctor who moves straight from history to plan scores 2 here, not 3.
• Information giving. Chunk and check. "There are two parts to the treatment. The first is a tablet. Shall I explain that first?" The Arabic pause habit (A4) and the Hindi state-verb habit (H3) both weaken the chunk; signposting fixes the first and the simple form fixes the second.
• Relationship building. Register (H5) and a clipped, fast delivery read as cold. One warm opening line and an acknowledgement before each new topic hold the point.

On regulators: per the GMC page on using your OET certificate, read on 20 October 2026, the GMC accepts OET Medicine with Grade B in all four sub-tests from one sitting, and it must be your most recent sitting. Per the ECFMG Pathways OET page, read the same day, the 2027 Pathways require 350 in Listening, Reading and Speaking and 300 in Writing from one administration. The NMC, by contrast, allows two sittings taken within 12 months of each other, provided every score in both sittings stays at or above C+ for Listening, Reading and Speaking and C for Writing (NMC OET and accepted tests pages, read 20 October 2026). The practical consequence for a doctor: a C+ in Reading on test day wastes a B in Speaking, so the one-sitting rule is one more reason to give Reading the hours. Our regulator page keeps the table current, and the medicine role-play page is built around ideas, concerns and expectations.

A two-week drill plan for either language

Where your remaining hours should go

Go back to the first table. For Hindi speakers, 10.9% missed B in Speaking in 2025 and 51.1% missed it in Reading: for every candidate this page rescues, Reading method would rescue almost five. For Arabic speakers the gap is smaller but points the same way: 8.9% below B in Speaking, 30.3% in Reading, 33.9% in Listening, 26.9% in Writing. The habits above are worth the ten minutes a day because a C+ in Speaking is avoidable and a Speaking B is required everywhere. They are not worth an evening. Put the evening into Reading Part A timing and the referral letter, using the Listening and Reading page and the OET hub, and walk into the Speaking room knowing that nine out of ten candidates who sound like you already pass.

Sources: OET "Demographic data 2025" PDF (cdn-aus.aglty.io), the OET post "OET Speaking: overview of criteria for the test" (5 November 2024), the OET results and scoring page and the NMC OET page and the NMC accepted tests page (the 12-month combining window), read on 19 and 20 October 2026. GMC and ECFMG figures are from the GMC page on using your OET certificate and the ECFMG Pathways OET page, both read on 20 October 2026. The habit lists, drills and example lines are TalkDrill's own; the names in the examples are invented.