Resting on your laurels? No way! Finals are fast approaching!! Time to give your English a final push!
Here you have another example of picture description. This time the theme is Houses.
Remember that in the Oral Exam you’ll be shown two ( sometimes three) theme-related photographs ( eg types of houses). You’ll be asked to describe and compare them and to talk about them in relation to yourself for a short time (approx 3 min.)
More examples and practise here
Source: Premium B2
The Speaking Test is knocking on your door? I have added two more Speaking+Vocabulary Speaking Lessons to the ever-growing list of Discussion Topics( check them out here); this time about Learning English. I hope they’re useful!
Yes, it’s this time of the year. My students’ second term has already finished. Time to start a new one. The last one. It’s when every single year, I have serious doubts about whether I should be doing something else to help them improve. It’s like the yin and yang. The selfish side of my brain tells me I am giving them my best, staying up late preparing classes, creating new material students seem to swallow in 5 minutes …etc- and here 🙂 I cannot but remember my grandmother when she complained about how quickly we ate everything it took her all morning to cook- ; while the other side of me keeps reminding me of all the times I had to rush through a specific point or how on a particular day we didn’t have time enough to discuss a given issue in detail…etc.
But the truth is that although I should say that I honestly think I am doing my part, sadly the truth is that some students, unfortunately more than I wish, don’t seem to be able to understand that
Studying+Practising= Improving
The main difficulty my students need to overcome is their insecurities. They feel safe using a limited number of structures and they are afraid to use the new ones. New structures, new vocabulary is like a challenge to them and it is my intention to help them rise to this challenge; so this is what I’ll be trying next time we focus on Speaking.
1. FIXED PAGE
I am going to ask my students to write at the back of their notebooks some structures we have learnt this year; structures they instinctively know would show they have acquired the necessary level, like for example:
• It is not worth+gerund
• Get/be used to +gerund
• There is no point ….
• Want/ would like someone to do something
• It’s easy/difficult /nice + to infinitive
Students should be aware that this is their own personal list, to which they will be adding new structures or expressions they want to use as we move on towards the end of the course.
2. MOVABLE PAGE.
Most of the activities we do in class are topic centred, so we talk food, health or technology. Lessons in textbooks are also normally topic – based, and they provide students with the necessary vocabulary, phrasal verbs, readings …etc.
Before we start speaking about a given topic I am going to ask them to write on separate piece of paper all the vocabulary, expressions, idioms they can remember related to the topic. This should take like about two minutes and will give them an idea of how much they already know and how much they still need to study and then I am going to ask them to compare it with their partners to give them the opportunity to add any new ones they might have forgotten.
FIXED +MOVABLE PAGES. Once the speaking task is set, students will need to try to use as much vocabulary written on their movable page and as many expressions as they have at the back of their books. My experience is that most students tend to rush and just speak without caring about the structures or vocabulary they use, so I’m pretty sure that if I want this experiment to be successful I’ll need to use lot of persuasion and monitoring, but I think it’s worth a try. What do you think?
This is a lesson for Intermediate students (B1).
Hopefully, at the end of this lesson you’ll have learnt useful vocabulary to talk about a city/town/ village you like, you’ll be able to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of living in the city or the countryside and you’ll be able to understand people talking about it.
What’s your hometown like?
These are some common questions in oral exams. Before reading any further, think about how you coud best answer these questions. Try really hard. Imagine you’re taking the real test.
Ok! Now!!! Do you have all the words you need or, are there things you couldn’t say because you didn’t have the right words? If this is the case, then go on reading, this post is for you.
Below you’ll find some ideas to help you get started.
Mapa Mental creado con ExamTime por cristina.cabal
Now, watch these two short videos and answer the questions below. The first one is about the advantages and disadvantages of living in a big city and the second about the advantages and disadvantages of living in a small town ( could also be applied to living in the countryside)
Video 1. Advantages and disadvantages of living in a big city
Speaker 1. What’s the disadvantage he mentions?
Speaker 2. What are the disadvantages he mentions?
Speaker 3. What is, in his opinion, the main advantage? What two disadvantages does he mention?
Speaker 4. What’s the huge advantage cities have compared to rural areas?
Speaker 5. What’s, according to this speaker, the main advantage?
Video 2. Advantages and disadvantages of living in a small town (could be applied to the countryside)
Speaker 1. What’s the advantage and the disadvantage he mentions?
Speaker 2. What does he say about the pace of life in small towns?
Speaker 3. What’s the advantage and the disadvantage he mentions?
Speaker 4. For him, what’s the advantage and the disadvantage of living in a small town?
Speaker 5. What does he say happens in small towns?
♥By the way, do you know the difference between a city and a town???
A city is larger than a town and it has a cathedral 🙂 , at least in the UK
Now, do you think you can describe your hometown? Can you talk about your favourite city? Can you talk about the advantages and disadvantages of living in a city or in the countryside? Hope you can!
Has our lifestyle changed so much that it has affected the way we socialise, date and communicate with our family? Here is a nice visual lesson plan to talk about these issues TASK 1 Look at the picture below. Which of these adjectives would you use to describe the picture? Give reasons
|
Awesome disgusting funny unreal pornographic sexist romantic interesting unusual provocative depressing |
Can you think of any more adjectives? 
Task 2. Introducing &Revising Vocabulary : Dictogloss.
(Dictogloss technique here )
As I normally have large classes I have written two texts containing the target language so I will divide the class into two groups and I’ll dictate the texts in turns, following the dictogloss technique. Texts will be then written on the board or /and a copy of the texts handed out.
TASK 3 SPEAKING
Has traditional dating become a thing of the past? Look at the pictures below showing different ways of dating. In pairs, discuss which ones you prefer, which ones you wouldn’t mind trying and which ones you would never try, giving reasons to support your opinion.
Time to improve your listening abilities. This time we are going to listen for specific vocabulary. Ready?
Listen to a man talking about What Makes a Good Friend and fill in the spaces in the exercise embedded below.
TASK 5 . SPEAKING: A CLOSE FRIEND. Think of one of your close friends. In pairs, ask and answer these questions
TASK 6. SPEAKING.
Students sit facing each other using the speed-dating technique. Some students remain seated during the whole event ( in real speed dating, women remain seated). When the bell rings, students sit across from another student and they use their questions to start a conversation. They need to keep on talking for 3 minutes. Then a bell rings and “men” need to stand up and move to their right to start a new conversation with a different partner and the whole process is repeated again. Instead of a bell so I use a Class Timer (here).
Display with the OHP, on the whiteboard, the pictures with the questions and ask students to talk about the question on the picture for about three minutes. When the time’s up, students change partners and a new picture is displayed.
I have created this slideshow with Google Sites.
TASK 5 Writing. Choose any of the questions in the exercise above and write an essay making sure you use the vocabulary you have learnt in this lesson. Do you need some inspiration? See what other students have written here, here, here and here
I hope you’ve enjoyed the lesson!!