Who has more influence on children, parents or teachers?
A strong Part 3 answer takes a position in the first clause, supports it with one reason and one concrete case, and then names where it stops being true. Around a minute.
The question, as the examiner gives it
Who has more influence on children, parents or teachers?
no preparation, about 1 minute to speak
A band 7 to 8 answer
About 129 words at a natural pace — roughly what 60 seconds holds.
Answer it yourself first
Record your own answer first. A model you have read three times comes out with a flattened rhythm, and examiners are trained to hear exactly that. Read it afterwards for the vocabulary and the shape, not to memorise the sentences.Parents, overwhelmingly, but I think the interesting point is that the two influences are different in kind rather than in amount. Parents shape what a child assumes is normal, which happens invisibly and is almost impossible to undo later. Nobody decides to have their parents' attitude to money or to arguing. It arrives. A teacher's influence is narrower and much more deliberate, and it tends to attach to a particular subject or a particular moment. That said, a teacher can occasionally do something a parent cannot, which is show a child a possibility that does not exist in their house at all. For a child whose family has no experience of university, a single teacher can be genuinely decisive, and that is a large exception to the general rule.
The words that earn marks
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- overwhelmingly
five syllables with the stress on the third
- invisibly
four syllables with the stress on the second
- undo
a compact verb, better than reverse
- deliberate
four syllables with the stress on the second
- possibility
five syllables with the stress on the third
- decisive
three syllables with the stress on the second
- exception
the noun that structures the closing turn
How a strong answer is built
- 1Answer decisively, then reframe the comparison.
- 2Describe each influence in its own terms.
- 3Introduce an important exception.
- 4Explain why the exception matters.
Sounds to watch
The ones this answer leans on most.
Straight answers
How long should my answer to “Who has more influence on children, parents or teachers?” be?
About 60 seconds. Long enough for the answer plus a reason or an example, short enough that the examiner can get through the rest of the set.
Should I memorise the model answer?
No. Record your own version first, then read the model for the shape and the vocabulary. A memorised answer changes rhythm and pace noticeably, and examiners are trained to hear it — it usually costs more than the better wording gains.
Does sayit score this answer?
It scores what a microphone can observe: an estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.
What the band on your result means
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.One question a day until your test
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