HK Secondary School Oral Interview

A friend's son is trying to find an internet or publication resource which lists possible/typical questions that may be asked during his interview (oral) for admission to an English Medium secondary school. My friend's son is currently in a Chinese Medium school. You're welcome to reply directly to Richard at rickavon@kos.net. Thanks in advance to any responders.

The oral assessment is not an exam (and as such cannot be studied for) - it is to see if they can speak English well enough to participate in class - if they are not confident in conversational english to answer simple questions about themselves, then possibly an english medium school is not an option.

The interview will likely start with "closed" questions about self, home, school etc and work up to abstract "open" questions about the wider world. Very hard to prepare for the abstract questions.

inethical my arse! i'm happy to give kids at our school as much help as they want, it's wrong they're put under such pressure in the first place... Here's some typical quesitons...


Individual interview questions


About Yourself

- Introduce yourself

­ What is your name?

­ Which school do you come from?

­ Where is it?

­ Where do you live?

­ What hobbies do you have?

- Describe some of your likes and dislikes.

­ What does your father / mother / brother do?

­ Do you do any housework at home?

­ Do you have any siblings / brothers or sisters?

­ What do you like to eat?

­ When is your birthday?

- When do you get up / go to bed?

- Will you be scared if you have to perform on the stage?

- What do you want to be in the future?

- What type of husband / wife do you like?

- Have your read Pride and Prejudice / Harry Potter? What is the book about? What is the most impressive part in the book?

- What sports do you like to play?

- What other countries have you visited?

- Which park have you been to? What did you do there?


About School and Study

- What is your favourite subject / Which subject do you like best? Why? (e.g. Music)

­ Do you know how to play the piano?

­ What kind of music do you like?

­ Why do you like music?

­ Which song do you like best?

- Who is your favourite teacher in school? / Tell me something about your teacher.

- How do you go to school?

- Have you taken part in any competition / English activities? Have you got any prizes in the competition? (e.g. Speech Festival / Penmanship Competition / Writing Competition / Basketball / Football Match…)

- What do you do in your English / P.E. / music… lesson?

- Which subject are you good at?

- What kind of extra-curricular activities do you participate in / take part in?


About Spare Time Activities

- What do you like to do in summer?

- Do you play any musical instruments?

- Tell me about your favourite activity.

- Do you play computer games? MSN? How often do you play computer games?

- Have you been to Ocean Park / Disneyland?

- Do you have a computer at home? How often do you use it? What do you use it for? What software do you use to finish your school project?

- Which books do you like to read?


About Family

- Talk about your family.

- What does your father / mother look like?

- What is your father / mother good at?

- Why does your mother like your father? Why did your mother marry your father?

- What does your father / mother do in his / her free time?

- Which one do you like more, your father or mother? Why?

- Do your parents help you with your homework?

- What do you think about your father / mother?

- Do you love your parents?


About Friends

- Tell me about your friends.


About the Secondary School

- Why do you want to study in our school?

- How did you come here?

- Who came here with you today?

- Why do you choose an EMI school? Is this your parents’ will or yours? What do you know about our school?


Others

- Why did you take the Flyers exam? Can you tell me something about the Flyers test? How much did it cost?

- When did you last go abroad / traveling? Are there any scenic spots? Which country do you like?

- Whom, among the people you know, who do you think is the prettiest?

- Why is it important to be polite?

- What will you do if you see a little girl crying in the street / someone shoplifting in a supermarket?

- Please read your passage. (Then ask questions about the passage / Student choose one topic from the passage to develop)

- Picture description. (e.g. What day is it today? What is the weather like today? / Students are shown pictures of different places and are asked questions about the places.)

- Do you have any pet? Why do you keep a pet? Tell me about your pet.

- What else do you want to tell me?

- Do you want to ask me any questions?


Group interview questions:

- Listen to your group members talking. Then ask them some questions about what they say or read.

- Discuss on the passages (e.g. talk about how you will cope with some specific problems…)

- What will you do if you are absent from school? (Or other imaginative situations)

- Have you ever seen any one who is very pretty? Who? What do you think about her / him?

- Do you watch any English TV programmes? Which channel / What kind of programmes do you watch?

- What do you do on Sunday?

- If you have time, what will you do at home?

Yes Mod83 - Faustus is right - you are a good sport. And more than that, your response is exactly the information I was seeking. So on behalf of my friend and myself I wish to thank you all for your helpful and insightful responses.


Thank you Mod83 / Miss P / 2006 / dimac4 / Shane / Faustus.


Richard Avon

rickavon@kos.net