Full video

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hello everyone thank you for joining me

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again and welcome to any new viewers

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this is to the point English with Ben

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I'm Ben and in this video I'm going to

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give you six very useful tips on what to

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do on exam day so this is for those of

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you who have your Cambridge English

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exams or any English exam uh coming up

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in the next few days weeks or even

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months now if you've been following my

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YouTube channel for some time now you'll

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know that I've made dozens and dozens of

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videos on how to prepare for and pass

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the Cambridge English exams or the B2

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first C1 Advanced and C2 proficiency and

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I've also have my online preparation

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courses which give sort of all the

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details and all my tips on strategy and

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approach for those exams but I've

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realized that I haven't actually made a

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video on what to do on the day of the

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exam and it's very important to think

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about this because this is not just any

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day right it's not just a normal day

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it's it's quite a nerve-wracking and

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possibly stress full day for many people

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so it's a good idea to think about what

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you're going to do on the the day of the

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exam to make it as stress-free and and

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pleasant as possible so that everything

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runs smoothly and I think these tips

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will really help you so let's go

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straight to number one and we're

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starting at the beginning of the day so

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my first tip is to wake up early now if

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you've seen my video on what to do the

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day before the exam you'll know that I

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really emphasize and stress that sleep

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is extremely important the night before

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the exam I don't recommend you study

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late into the night or do these last

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minute tasks because really you'll get

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much more benefit from sleeping those

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extra hours but I do recommend that you

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wake up early so you'll have to go to

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bed extra early the night before that's

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very important to get at least eight

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hours sleep you don't want to be rushing

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around or worrying about last minute

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things to do

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um on the morning of the exam you want

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your your mind to be as relaxed as

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possible and to be focused on what you

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have to do in the exam not worrying

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about other things and that's why I also

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recommend that you prepare your clothes

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and anything you you're planning on

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taking to the exam Center the night

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before and all you have to do is have a

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shower have breakfast put on your

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clothes pick up your bag and go to the

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exam Center you don't want to be

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panicking about anything that the day of

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the exam you just want to have plenty of

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time and to be calm and be ready to to

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leave your house to go to the exam

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Center okay tip number two and perhaps

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this is a bit of an unusual tip but it

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is to eat your usual breakfast

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now I get this tip from from running

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I've run in in marathons and half

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marathons and 10 kilometer races and the

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recommendation for runners is always to

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eat your usual breakfast don't try

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anything different now you can probably

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imagine why that's important for runners

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you don't want to get an upset stomach

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or anything like that in the middle of a

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race but I think that's also true on

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exam day right as I said it's going to

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be a very nerve-wracking day it's quite

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stressful

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so you don't want to be eating things

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you you wouldn't normally eat in the

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morning for example you may think that

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okay I need energy for today so I'm

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going to eat a banana I don't recommend

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that if you don't usually eat a banana

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in the morning I know it's not a normal

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day but you want to keep your dietary

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routines the same as always because you

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don't want any surprises and you don't

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want any distractions in the middle of

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the exam either okay so now it's time to

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leave your house so tip number three is

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to leave early

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again that's probably pretty obvious but

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you want to make give yourself plenty of

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time to arrive at the The Exam Center as

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I said in my video on what to do the day

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before the exam you should have a clear

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idea of how to to get to the exam Center

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you if you're going by car the best

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route if you're taking public transport

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which lines to take or which buses to

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take but however you're planning to go I

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recommend you leave early again you

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don't want any stress of getting stuck

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in traffic or or having to run to the

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exam Center at the last minute and

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arriving out of breath and exhausted if

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you need to travel by car then ask a

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family member or a friend to give you a

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lift so to take you in the car again you

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don't want to be worried worrying about

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stressful traffic situations are getting

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stuck in traffic jams or finding a

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parking place and if you can find

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someone to take you they can worry about

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that and you can just think about the

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exam all the other alternative is to

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take public trans transport which I also

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recommend at least when you're on the

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transport when you're on the Metro train

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or the or the bus you don't need to

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think about driving you can just focus

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on the exam itself and that leads me on

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to tip number four and tip number four

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is to visualize the exam

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so that's another reason why it's a good

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idea to to get a lift from someone so

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you don't have to drive or take public

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transport so you can have time to think

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about and visualize the exam and think

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about what you're going to do in each

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part of the exam think about literally

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opening the exam paper for the reading

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and use of English part one and thinking

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about your strategy how you're going to

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approach each part and for the speaking

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paper think about walking into the exam

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room with the interlocutor the assessor

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your partner and again how you're going

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to answer the first question or how

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you're going to approach each part of

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the exam hopefully it will calm you down

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a little bit and give you some kind of

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preparation for what you're going to

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experience on that day okay so now

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you've arrived at the exam Center you're

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there what can you do now well you'll

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probably have some time to wait because

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hopefully you've arrived early enough

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before the exam you should you should

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arrive at least 40 minutes before the

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exam that's what Cambridge recommend but

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if you arrive even earlier that's fine

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but in those minutes before the exam and

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between each part I recommend that you

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chat to other candidates if you can I

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mean if you're very shy and maybe an

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introvert you may find this a little bit

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uncomfortable and awkward but I think

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there are a couple of benefits to that

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first of all

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speaking to other people in the same

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situation who are probably also nervous

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and and feeling stressed it will

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probably calm you both down I mean

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you're both when you realize other

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people feel like you do are in a similar

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situation I think it will make you feel

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slightly less less intimidated by the

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whole experience

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but also another benefit of speaking to

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a candidate

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um in the speaking exam if you can find

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your partner before you enter the exam

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room for the speaking paper you can talk

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about strategy literally talk about

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strategy for the exam so how you're

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going to approach the interactive parts

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of the exam so the collaborative tasks

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and the discussions in the speaking

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paper itself so that's a huge benefit

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because then you don't need to worry

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about interrupting each other too much

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or the pleasantries and polite and who's

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going to go first and who's going to

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continue things like that so it's really

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a huge benefit if you can speak to some

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of the other candidates and the last tip

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number six is relax and try to enjoy the

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experience

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now I know that's easy for me to say

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because I'm not going to take the exam

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um and it's very difficult to do in

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practice because I know some people get

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extremely nervous and extremely stressed

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but just try to remember that this is

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your opportunity it's an opportunity for

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you to demonstrate your English level

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and get that certificate you want so

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badly yes you have to take it seriously

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and hopefully you've prepared well over

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the months before the exam but there's

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nothing more you can do now so just

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relax and try to enjoy the experience

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stay focused throughout the exam of

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course so I recommend you breathe take

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deep breaths before you start each paper

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of the exam and this really has a

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scientific benefit when you breathe

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slowly and deeply it sends a signal to

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your brain that everything is okay there

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is no imminent or immediate danger so

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you can think more clearly and focus on

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on what you're doing you need to be able

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to control your nerves a little bit and

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breathing deeply and slowly will help

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but as I said yes it's a it's an exam

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and yes you will be nervous but just try

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to relax and enjoy the experience okay

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if you have a couple more days before

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your exam then check out my video on

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where I give recommendations on what to

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do the day before your exam I think

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you'll find that useful but if you have

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any more tips on what to do on the day

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of an exam please share them in the

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comments and help your your fellow

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students and I'll see you very soon for

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another video