Speaking and listening – Pre-intermediate to Upper-intermediate Let’s talk about ENGLISH Conversation cards Why are you learning English? Give reasons and explain What you find difficult when learning English? Give some examples Where in the world is English spoken as a first language? How often you speak English? Who you talk to? Do you think it is more important to speak fluently or without mistakes? Why? Do you ever read in English? If so, what you read? If not, why not? Who is the best speaker of English in your family? Where did they learn it? When did you last speak English? (outside the classroom) What did you talk about? Have you ever visited an English-speaking country? Talk about it How many words are there in English? How many you need to know? Do research What’s a good way to increase your vocabulary? Discuss in group Native speakers are hard to understand Do you agree? How to improve listening skills? What’s the best way to improve your English? Discuss in group How many native speakers of English are there worldwide? Guess Then research How many words you need to communicate effectively in most situations? Guess Speaking, listening, reading or writing? Which skill is most important to you? Why? Which is more important: grammar or vocabulary? Discuss in group How many words does the average native speaker know? English spoken*: y/n? Australia Canada England India Ireland Kenya Mexico New Zealand Scotland South Africa Wales Zimbabwe *(as an official language) Useful language • Could you repeat that, please? • Could you speak more slowly, please? • How you say (…) in English? • How you spell that? • I’m sorry, I don’t understand • What exactly you mean? • Pardon? • What does (…) mean? Numbers • 1,500 – 2,000 • 12,000 – 20,000 • 1,000,000 • 375,000,000 Read the numbers aloud Can you guess which questions they answer? Food for thought We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language — Oscar Wilde (English writer)