This week's talking point deals with our grasp of English and the way we learn English. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas flow more easily and you can overcome vocabulary issues when you get together with your friends.
How many languages do you speak?
How well do you speak each one?
What are your reasons for learning English?
Do you think people from your country are generally good at languages? Why (not)?
What are the main difficulties of English for learners?
Are you happy with the way you are taught English?
How could the teaching method be improved?
Do you think English will one day become a world language?
What other languages might take the place of English in the future?
What are the good and bad things about the popularity of English around the world?
1. What is a complete immersion in language learning?
2. Why is it seen as such a good way to learn a language?
3. Is it possible to get some of the benefits of a complete immersion without going to an English-speaking country? If so, how?
4. How beneficial is the Erasmus programme for learning a language?
To illustrate the topic of immersion in language learning, watch this video from the Learning English Video Project where foreign students living in Cambridge talk about their experience with immersion.