Preparing the EOI B1 and B2 exam with Marek Connel

Marek Connell is an English teacher with a YouTube channel who regularly posts videos on aspects of oral English for intermediate-to-advanced learners.

He has put together a collection of videos to help Spanish students of English prepare for the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas speaking exam at intermediate (B1) and upper-intermediate (B2) level by giving them examples of what a native speaker would/could say in the oral paper.

Each video deals with a different topic and in them Marek provides strategies and vocabulary which prove really helpful for students to resort to.

I have compiled a list of all the exam-related videos Marek has made. The B1/B2 tag is Marek's and it is very likely that it doesn't coincide with the level the topic is assigned to in the students' region.

Healthy eating
Motivation
Leisure time
Living in a city or the country
Illegal downloading
Work conditions

Stress (B1)
Parental Relationships (B1)
Sports (B1)
Animals and pets (B1)
Education (B1)
Stereotypes (B1)

Travelling (B2)
Mad about shopping (B2)
Science and technology (B2)
Breaking the law (B2)
Relationships (B2)
The world of work (B2)
Environment and climate change (B2)

Bird’s Eye View Of Norway’s Picture Perfect Lofoten Islands

While leading a photo tour with fellow photographer Magali Tarouca, Portuguese photographer Joel Santos dedicated as much time as possible to documenting Norway’s Lofoten Islands famous landscape with his drone camera.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the blanks in the transcript with the missing words.



On a recent visit to Norway, photographer Joel Santos was able to capture the beauty of Lofoten. Lofoten is an archipelago, known for its incredibly dramatic (1) ... . And though it (2) ... within the Arctic circle, because of the Gulf Stream, the weather here is much (3) ... than other parts of the world, which are found on a similar latitude.
The landscape here is characterised by snow-capped (4) ...-..., stretches of snow covered beaches and (5) ... inlets.
For over 1000 years, the islands of Lofoten have been at the center of Atlantic cod (6) ..., especially during the winter months, when cod migrate south to spawn, right off the coast of the area.
The picture perfect cherry coloured (7) ... ... of Reine and Hamnøy were particularly (8) ... for Joel, who had always being intrigued to see the dramatic fjords.
During his visit, Joel was able to make the most of the (9) ... as the daylight during April starts from the very early hours of the morning and lasts until 11 o’clock at night.

KEY:
1 scenery
2 lies 
3 warmer
4 mountain peaks
5 sheltered 
6 fishing
7 fishing villages
8 captivating 
9 landscape

Talking point: Influence of television on our lives

This week's talking point is the influence of television on our lives. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

Do you spend a lot of time watching TV?
Why do you think watching television is a popular pastime?
Why would people choose to watch these TV programmes?
talent shows
news bulletins
documentaries
sports programmes
comedy series

Do you think young people who watch a lot of violence on TV tend to be violent themselves?
What do you think about advertising on television?
Which type of TV show would be the most popular and would attract more advertisers to spend money on advertising their product?

Does TV have a bad influence on people’s lives? Answer the question in relation to these topics:
Moulding our minds
Time with family
Talking about programmes with friends
Educational programmes
Other leisure activities
Adverts

A war of words

900 teenagers from around the world participated in The New York Times' latest 15-Second Vocabulary Video Contest.

The New York Times invited teenagers to create a short video that defines or teaches any of the words in their Word of the Day collection, which has now over 1,600 words.

Drop by The New York Times to have a look at the winners listed in alphabetical order as well as a list of runners-up.

The videos were chosen on the grounds of their originality and how well each video showed an understanding of the word and its use in a specific context.

Welcome to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantysiliogogogoch

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantysiliogogogoch is a town name really difficult to pronounce.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1. Where is the town?
2. How many people speak Welsh in the town?
3. How many letters does the name have?
4. Why was the name invented in the mid 19th century?
5. What does the name mean?
6. What is the short version of the name?
7. In what area does the town have the longest name in the world?

Any more passengers for Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch?
Anybody?
Nope, anybody for Fan-Merc?
Plans-clull Llanfair
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
Right.
It's a small town in Northern Wales.
Around 76% of the population here speaks Welsh. It's also the longest town name in Europe with 58 letters. There are literally four Ls next to each other. Right there. What is with this name?
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is not the original name of the village.
You've got to be kidding.
In the 1860s, the name was contrived by the local cobbler, and it was meant to bring in people and tourists.
Alun, help us break this name down.
The name means places within the village.
You've got the Church Mary, in the hollow of the white hazel, near to the rapid whirlpools, at the Church of Tysilio, and the red caves.
Okay, so, let's say you wanna mail a letter. Do you have to write the whole name, Postmaster Jim Evans?
You could. But you'd have to write very small. Or, you could use a shortened version, which is the first 20 letters.
If you play for the local football league, does the name fit on your jersey, team manager Steve Smith?
It does, and it's the longest name of any football team in the world. And it just about fits.
Can you say it after a pint, pub owner Kevin Bryant?
I'm sure I can.
Let's see.
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
God, you did it.
But, can you put it in a song?
Wow, apparently you can.
Llanfair, Llanfair, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
It might be the greatest PR stunt of the mid-1800s. I don't know, even of today. After all, we're here.
Here in  Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. I think that's pretty good.

Key:
1 In Northern Wales 
2 76%
3 56 
4 to attract people and tourists 
5 places within the village
6 the first 20 letters 
7 football team

Talking point: Study habits

This week's talking point is study habits. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

Do you plan when you are going to study?
If so, how much time in advance do you plan?
Do you prefer to study late at night or early in the morning?
Do you usually find excuses to postpone starting to study? If so, which ones?
What places do you like studying in?
Do you like to be away from people or do you prefer to study with one or more friends?
Do you like studying with background music?
What sort of light do you like to study with?
Do you like studying in public places like a library?
Do you find it difficult to concentrate while studying?
If you are studying for a long period do you prefer: no breaks / several short breaks / one or two long breaks?
What do you do while you are taking breaks, have a chat, check your mobile, have a snack?
Do you quickly revise everything you have done during the study sessions when you are finishing studying?

Longest-serving lollipop lady retires

After 45 years on the road, Britain's longest-serving Lollipop lady, Margaret Cattle, has retired.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the missing words in the transcript.



Every day, every morning, every afternoon, in all (1) ..., winter, summer, autumn and spring, Margaret has patrolled this crossing for four and a half (2) ... and now she's decided to call it a day as Britain's longest-serving lollipop lady. She explains how she felt on her first day.
Very (3) ... , never done it before.
45 years on and the kids she helped that day have all grown up. They remember her well.
So when you’re walking around and somebody (4) ...-headed and older-looking shouts, hey lollipop, you think, oh dear.
She is retiring under (5) ...   ... to put her feet up. For kids and for parents, it's a sad day.
She's really nice and she gives you lollies sometimes and (6) ... ... .
Now we've seen her every morning and every night and she always says hello, she’s always got a big (7) ... on the face.  She's lovely but we're gonna miss her right away.
She makes us feel like we're not gonna get hurt.
Her real (8) ... in 45 years, the number of children hurt on this crossing, not a (9) ... one.
I am proud, very, very, and I really will miss them all but I've got to stop sometime.

Key:
1 weathers
2 decades 
3 nervous
4 bald
5 doctor's orders
6 Christmas cards
7 smile 
8 achievement 
9 single

101 English idioms

A few days ago, Jeffrey Hill posted 101 English idioms on his The English Blog.

101 English idioms is a slideshow of idiomatic expressions that he has put together using the idioms that have been appearing on the BBC Learning English twitter feed.

Each idiom is presented with a visually engaging picture and comes together with its definition and example sentences.

If you download the presentation, you can use it to study and revise English idioms by guessing the meaning of the idiom before displaying the definition.

Working in 140°F heat

Unforgiving temperatures beat down on these hardworking salt miners every single day. The salt mines, situated in the Afar triangle, stretch across 100,000 square kilometres and at their lowest point are more than 300 feet below sea level.

Professional travel photographer and videographer Joel Santos travelled to the area to capture the dry beauty of this brutal expanse of land.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the missing figures in the transcript.



This breath-taking drone footage of Ethiopia’s Danakil Salt Desert was captured by travel photographer Joel Santos. The desert’s huge salt crusts are often (1) ... meters thick. Each day around (2) ... camels and (3) ... donkeys pass through, transporting salt to a small local town.
It’s a hostile environment over (4) ... feet below sea level. Workers mining in the area toil in temperatures that often reach (5) ...°C. That’s (6) ...°F.
The surrounding landscape is one of volcanos, sulphur caked hot springs and black lava flows.
It’s one of the lowest, hottest places on Earth and definitely, one of the toughest places to work.

KEY:
1. 100
2. 2,000
3. 1,000
4. 300
5. 60
6. 140

Talking point: Online shopping

This week's talking point is online shopping. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

When did you first shop online?
What did you think of it at the time?
How has your online shopping experience changed over the years?
What products are your perfectly happy to buy online?
What products would you never buy?
Do you think online shopping is absolutely reliable?
What potential problems are there?
Have you (or anyone you know) had a really bad experience with online shopping?
How can you protect yourself from cybercrime when shopping online?
Have you ever used an online auction site like e-Bay?
To what extent is online shopping harmful for conventional retailers?
What do you think online shopping will be like in the future?
Who is the person you know that buys the most online?
Do you know anyone who would never buy anything online?

Drama from BBC Learning English: The Race

In mid-Febraury this year, the BBC Learning English site launched The Race, a new drama suitable for intermediate students.

The Race, tells the story of Phil, a writer living in London. His life isn't very interesting but it's about change dramatically!

Students can can download the weekly instalments of the audio file and PDF of the transcript and they can also subscribe to the podcast.

H/T to The English Blog.

The town where people endure -50 C

The industrial Russian city of Norilsk, sitting on the permafrost above the Arctic Circle, is the seventh most polluted city in the world. Rich deposits of nickel, copper and palladium provide mining and smelting industries that create jobs and continue to draw people to the harsh landscape from other regions of Russia.

Elena Chernyshova's stark and beautiful photographs of life in the city are featuring in a new exhibition, "Days of Night - Nights of Day" at the Half King in New York City. She spoke to Dan Damon.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1 When were deposits discovered in Norilsk?
2 At what freezing temperatures do people go out?
3 Why did Norilsk attract people in Soviet time?
4 What services are good in the city?
5 What do families sometimes come back to Norilsk after leaving the city?

Very rich deposits were discovered in the beginning of 20th century.  They thought just to create mines to do extractions of minerals and to send them to other regions, but after they decided to build factories and actually to create city.
It’s a city that’s freezing cold for much of year. Do people really go out in - 45 degrees weather?
Yes, we can of course, we can go out, - 45, - 50, we just need to wear quite good clothes to protect ourselves.
What brought people to Norilsk?
In Soviet time, it was very attractive economically, so a lot of people arrived there just to earn money to get a flat after in better regions of Russia, and they suppose to stay for five or ten years, for children like guidance, schools, and medicine are really good in the city.  The salary there is very stable, so they stay there just to have a job. And I know also some families that left Norilsk, they spent one year outside,  and after they just came back, because in some ways, the quality of life was better for them in Norilsk. It’s paradoxical, but it’s like this.

Key:
1 At the beginning of 20th century
2 -45, -50
3 It was attractive economically
4 guidance, schools, and medicine
5 Because the quality of life is better

Melania Trump on her life, marriage and 2016

Mika Brzezinski sits for a one-on-one interview with wife of Donald Trump, Melania Trump, to discuss growing up in Slovenia, her marriage and her husband's campaign.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1. When did Melania Trump first arrive in the US?
2. What did Melania study in Slovenia?
3. How many languages does she speak?
4. What did her father do?
5. What did she see in Donald Trump when they met?
6. What does she think when she hears her husband being insulted?
7. Has Donald Trump insulted Mexicans?
8. What’s the difference between Melania’s immigration story and that of the immigrants her husband talks about?
9. Why does Donald Trump want to ban Muslims into US?
10. Do Melania and Donald always agree?
11. How does she communicate with her husband?
12. How does Donal Trump treat women?

Melania Trump first arrived in the United States from her native Slovenia back in 1996 and now, two decades later, she is facing the prospect of becoming First Lady. Yesterday I sat down with Melania Trump and got her to weigh in on everything, from her husband's rhetoric surrounding immigration to his propensity for profanity on the stump to his treatment of women. I began by asking her how the entire experience has been so far.
Well, it's amazing what's going on, and we’re having fun. I like to keep life as normal as possible for my son better Baron and I'm a full-time mom and I love it, so I decided not to be in the campaign so much but I support my husband hundred percent.
We want to understand who Melania is.
I grew up in Slovenia and I went to school there. I studied design and architecture and then I moved to Milan and Paris to live there. And I had a successful modelling career. I came to New York 1996.
How many languages do you speak?
I speak a few languages.
A few?
Yeah.
English…
English, Italian, French, German.
Tell me about your mother.
Really special. She's with a lot of elegance and style. She was in fashion industry for a long time. What did your father do?
He was a sales person and then he was a manager of the company, and once the Slovenia separated, it was possible to have his own business, he opened his own business.
What was it that you saw in Donald when you met him or fell in love with him?
His mind, amazing mind, and very smart, very charming, a great energy. We have a great relationship. We are, we are our own people. I'm my own person. He's his own person, and I think that's very important. I don't want to change him, he doesn't want to change me.
I got a list of terms that have been used to describe your husband from the left, the right and the center, and they're not pretty, from stupid to demagogue, jerk, idiot, racist, sexist, race-baiting, xenophobic, vulgarian-in-chief, textbook narcissist. It goes on. What do you make of all this when you hear it?
It's normal that it will come up it's… we are prepared for that, we have a thick skin and we know that people will judge him and people will call names, and they don't give him enough credit from June that he announced, they don't give him enough credit.
What about people who feel he is let's just go down the list because the campaign started and many felt he had insulted Mexicans no I don't feel he insulted the Mexicans.
No I don’t feel he insulted the Mexicans, he said illegal immigrants, he didn't talk about everybody. He talked about illegal immigrants and after a few weeks, like after two weeks giving him a hard time and bashing him in the in the media, they turned around and said, you know what, he's right, he's right what he's talking about, and he open conversation that nobody did.
But you're an immigrant?
Yes.
Do you ever think he's gone too far?
I follow the law. I follow a lot of the way is supposed to be. I never thought to stay here without papers. I had visa. I travelled every few months back to the country, to Slovenia, to stamp the visa. I came back, I applied for the green card. I applied for the citizenship later on after many years of Green Card, so I went by system, I went by the law, and you should do that, you should not just say, okay let me just stay here, and whatever happens, happens.
When he talked about a ban on Muslims, which can't happen for so many reasons, I mean do you ever think he's going too far with some of this, do you ever worry about it?
What he said is it would be temporary and it's not for all the Muslims. It's the one… we need to screen them who is coming to the country, he wants to protect America, he wants to protect people of America so we have a country and keep our country safe. That's very important to him, and what's going on in the world, it's very dangerous. You have people coming in the country you don't know who they are, you don't know what they will do, and that's why he was talking about that. It's temporary, we need to figure it out how and what we will do that we know who is in this country.
What about some of the language he uses, he curses.
Well, do I agree all the time, we team? No, I don't, And I tell him that. I tell him my opinions. I tell him what I think. Sometimes he listens, sometimes he don't.
In what areas do you advise him?
I follow the news from A to Z and I know what's going on. I’m on the phone with my husband few times a day. He calls me, I call him. I tell him what's going on, he's on the road. I give him my opinions.
Let me ask about women. He's taken a lot of criticism, kerfuffle, of course, during the debate with Megyn Kelly. In the Trump Organization, how are women treated compared to men?
They’re treated equal. I see him in life. He treats women the same as men. He will tell you what is in his heart, what he thinks, he will not hold it back if you're a woman. You’re human, you're human, you're not… it's a woman or a man, it's no difference, you’re human.
So I asked Melania if there are any specific issues she hopes to take on if her husband wins the White House. She said she has ideas but wouldn't reveal yet what they are, she wants to focus on their son.
Yeah.
Well, I've met her on many occasions before and so I was not surprised she's extremely cultured and articulate. She speaks many languages and thought that, you know, she put it out there and explained exactly who she is and where she's come from, and people can make their own decisions. She seems quite lovely, though, and they were very welcoming last night.
Up next, we'll head to the New York Stock Exchange for oil is once again pulling Wall Street into negative territory. Stay with us.

Key:
1 1996
2 design and architecture
3 four (English, Italian, French, German)
4 He was a sales person and then he was a manager of the company
5 His mind, and very smart, very charming, a great energy
6 She feels it’s normal, but doesn’t mind
7 No, he only spoke about illegal immigrants
8 She went by the law. She did everything legally
9 To protect America
10 No
11 On the phone several times a day
12 The same as men

Introducing Amazon Go

Amazon Go is a new kind of store featuring the world’s most advanced shopping technology.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the blanks in the transcript with the missing words.



Four years ago, we started to (1) ... : what would shopping look like if you could walk into a store, grab what you want, and just go? What if we could weave the most advanced machine learning, computer vision, and (2) ... into the very fabric of a store so you never have to wait in line? No lines, no (3) ... , no registers.
Welcome to Amazon Go.
Use the Amazon Go app to enter, then put away your phone and start shopping. It's really that simple. Take whatever you like. Anything you pick up is automatically added to your (4) ... ... . If you change your mind about that cupcake, just put it back. Our technology will (5) ... your virtual cart automatically.
So how does it work? We used computer vision, deep learning algorithms, and sensor fusion, much like you'd find in (6) ...-... cars. We call it just walk out technology. Once you've got everything you want, you can just go. When you leave, our Just Walk Out technology adds up your virtual cart and (7) ... your Amazon account. Your (8) ... is sent straight to the app, and you can keep going.
Amazon Go.
No lines, no (9) ... . No, seriously.

Key:
1 wonder
2 AI 
3 checkouts
4 virtual cart
5 update 
6 self-driving
7 charges 
8 receipt 
9 checkout

BBC's English at university

English at university is a new animated series by BBC Learning English that brings intermediate students the English words and phrases they need to help them through their first year of study abroad.

Every week you can follow new student Mary, through her first year of study abroad - at The University of Studies – that's the UK's thirty-second best university - where she's been offered a place to study for a degree in Business.

In each episode English at university provides key phrases and vocabulary that may come in handy for foreign students planning to study in Britian or in an English-speaking country.

The course comes complete with a downloadable PDF with the transcript and audio file, which makes it possible for students to listen to the episodes as a podcast.

In addition, students have the opportunity to expand their learning through the external links each unit provides.

Talking point: Old people

This week's talking point is old people. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.
 
What problems do old people usually have?
What is your personal experience with old people?
Do you spend any time with older people?
What can young people learn from the old?
Where do old people generally live in your country?
What do retirement homes offer elderly people?
How do the elderly spend their time?
Does society have a responsibility to look after its elderly?

Interaction –How the elderly can contribute to society
You and your partner(s) have just retired and as you feel both physically and mentally fit, you want to get involved in some activity that benefits society, especially those in need.

Discuss how beneficial to society the activities below can be and then try to agree on two to do together. Give reasons for your choice.

Food bank: Distribute food and clothes to poor families
Teaching immigrant children: Teach Spanish or literacy
Lollipop man/woman: Bring safety to children on their way to school
Help line: Check on other elderly people with no one to talk to
Prison visitor: Give support and advice to people doing time
Babysit: Look after the children of working parents
Computer literacy: Teach technology to other elderly people
Helping vet: Rescue and look after stray pets

To illustrate the topic you can watch this video by Prudential, where a woman talks about her first day after retirement.



Well I think that happy is a momentary thing. Happiness comes and goes. I think contentment is there all the time even underneath when you’re having a problem. I mean to be content, you have to work with what you’ve got.
I guess there is something in me that I’ve always been strong. I’ve always gotten through some pretty rough stuff without falling to pieces. It’s my nature to survive, it’s my nature to land on my feet.
It’s kind of hard to make decisions by yourself all of a sudden when you’ve been making them with somebody else for 35 years.
I had a wonderful, wonderful happy marriage and I was well loved and so many people don’t have that. So they gave him three to six months but we all knew better. He sort of sit enough and he reached out and touched my face and died in my arms.
The good thing about change is that you grow each time, you expand each time I think. My executive director and I started talking about it  in the spring that I might take early retirement and I just got antsy, I just said, you know I need to go and do this if I’m going to do it, I need to do it.
Good morning, buddy, what’s up there? Ok, Ok, I’m getting up, I’m doing it.
He don’t talk back, he just looks like he understands.
Tom didn’t leave very much but  he left me a little money. I bought Dicken with the last of the money that he left me. Just the companionship is, made a huge difference. I think when you hug somebody you just feel that sense of being loved and being held. I think that’s contentment. I think if you can carry that with you which pretty much do just feel like I’m walking around in one big hug.
Day one. First day of my retirement. First day I never had to answer anybody for anything, except Dicken. Gotta give him his treats or he’d be unhappy.

Talking point: Relationships

This week's talking point is relationships. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

Who is your oldest friend?
And your closest friend?
What is your relationship with them like?
In what ways are the two relationships similar or different?
What do you have in common with these two friends?
Do you usually have a lot in common with your friends or do they introduce you to new things and ideas? Which is more important?
Which of your friends is most different from you in personality?
What is he/she like?
What do you mainly expect of a friend, support or to have fun?
Do your friends come from the same background as you?
How long can a friendship last when you keep in touch but don't spend time together?
Do you get on well with people of different ages?
Do you ever talk to strangers? If so, in what situations?

Look at the film poster below. What do you know about the film? You can find some information about the film here.
Do you know any real-life stories of unlikely friendhip?

To illustrate the topic, you can watch Laila talking about her friend. To watch the video, click on the image below or here.

Talking point: Apps

This week's talking point is apps. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

What apps have you got on your phone or tablet?
What's your favourite app?
Which apps do you like or use most?
What unusual apps have you heard of? What do they do?
How much do spend on apps on a regular basis?

Would you like to use any of the following apps?

ThingsToDo (it sends you a list of things you've done in a week)

SkyWatch (to know the stars in the sky)

Imagegram (to make photos and images look different)

Balloon Pop (game where you select groups of balloons and pop them)

ActivityTracker (it records the speed, distance and heart rate when running)

Tunespotter (to identify the name of a song you've heard)

StopApp (to turn off apps that make your phone go slower)

Crazy Faces (to change the faces on the photos you've taken)

Talking point: Learning English

This week's talking point is learning English. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

• In how many languages can you have a basic conversation in (to order a meal or to greet people)?
• What languages do you have a good grasp of?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning a language using these methods?

being immersed in the language/culture

studying grammar and vocabulary

attending a language school

keeping in touch with people who speak the language through social media and new technology

• Do you know any other ways of learning a foreign language?
• Which ones have you personally tried?
• Which one has really worked for you?
• How often do you hear foreign languages where you live?
• How important do you think memory is to learn a foreign language?
• What do you want to be able to do with English?
• How far away from that objective are you at the moment?
• Do you ever review what you have learnt?
• How often do you watch or read things in English?
• How often do you communicate with native speakers?
• Do you keep a small notebook to note down and revise new expressions?
• Are you subscribed to any podcasts that you listen to while you are doing housework or travelling or waiting?
• What are you doing to learn English at the moment?
• Are you having any problems with English at the moment?
• Do you enjoy learning English?

To illustrate the topic you can watch this video about Memrise, a new system to learn a foreign language.

Talking point: Talking

This week's talking point is talking. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

Do/did you talk a lot at school/university?
Do you talk a lot when you are with your friends?
And what about with your family?
Do you think you should change anything about the way you talk (e.g. talk more, talk less, more loudly, more quietly, pay more attention)? Why (not)?
When was the last time you were in the following situations?

a face-to-face conversation
expressing your feelings
at a job interview
telling a joke
speaking in public
giving opinions
socialiasing with friends
talking on the phone
talking to someone from a different country
speaking English
talking to older/younger people

What of the situations above do you enjoy the most/least?

Do you have any difficulties communicating with people of a different generation from yours?
If so, which difficulties do you face?
What topics you feel more comfortable talking about?
What topics do you usually avoid?
Are there any taboo topics in your family or in your group of friends?
Do you ever gossip?

To illustrate the topic, you can watch the video The Art of Conversation.