B1 Dialog #65 Talking about speaking activities

Today we are going to talk about speaking activities in English. As always you can read the text in the PDF which you can find in the description. Follow our podcasts on iTunes and Yandex Music. For more new dialogs subscribe to our channel.

How to work with the dialog?

  1. Listen to the dialog and read the PDF transcript. Turn on subtitles if necessary.
  2. Listen to the dialog again, repeating the questions and answers aloud (!!!).
  3. Come up with your own answers to the questions. Use PDF vocabulary if needed.
  4. Listen to the questions and answer them aloud (!!!), with a correct intonation, pronunciation and rhythm.
  5. Go back to the video from time to time and repeat the exercise.

Talking about speaking activities

(1) What springs to mind when you hear the term ‘speaking activities’?

This is any kind of activity that improves our speaking skill. No matter how good your English is, it’s important just to speak. 

(2) Do you think speaking activities are important? Why?Почему?

Yes I do. We learn languages to be able to talk to other people. That’s why speaking is such an essential part of any language. 

(3) What kind of speaking activities do you like best?

The best activity for me is real speaking with people. Especially with native speakers. That’s why I always recommend taking classes from native speakers of English.

(4) Do you like the speaking activities your teacher gives you?

It’s not easy to find a good teacher. I had many different ones. Some of them were good, some of them were bad. If you are looking for a good teacher, try learning on 

Verbling with one of my old teachers, Andrew. You will find the link to his profile in the description!

(5) Do you have an example of how a speaking activity improved your speaking?

Our YouTube channel is a good example I think. We have made over 60 different dialogs already. Our goal is to help other people to learn English, but at the same time we improve our English as well! Our speaking skill is getting better with each new episode!

(6) Do you know of any websites that have good speaking activities?

The best speaking activity is talking to your teacher. There are many websites for learning English. I like Verbling and iTalki. So I’d recommend these ones to you.

However there is another technique called shadowing, that lets you improve your speaking on your own. Watch more about it in one of my videos!

(7) Do you always understand the reasons why the teacher asks you to do a particular speaking activity?

A good teacher knows better how to make you fluent. So it’s important to listen to your teacher. But I don’t think you should do a speaking activity that you don’t like. Don’t hesitate to tell your teacher about that. It’s very important to enjoy studying.

(8) What kind of partner do you like when you do speaking activities?

I like talking to active partners who are interesting to talk with. It’s not easy to find a good topic sometimes. So I really like people who can do it. 

(9) How important are speaking activities compared with reading, listening and writing activities?

Speaking is the most important thing. Then goes listening I think and then all the rest of the skills.

Rinat —> Anya

(1) Do you prefer speaking activities with one or two other partners or speaking activities with the whole class?

I prefer speaking with one or two other partners, because it’s much more convenient. 

(2) Is the topic important when you do a speaking activity?

Yes, I think the topic is important, because in this way we improve our vocabulary and speaking skills in general.

(3) What things are important for a speaking activity to be successful?

I think that regularity and different topics are important. Also we should learn new words and phrases in order to be successful.

4) What advice would you give to a shy student who lacks confidence to do speaking activities?

I can only recommend overcoming this feeling, because we don’t have any other ways to become confident. I know what I am talking about because I was such a student too.

(5) How important are mistakes when you do speaking activities?

I think it’s not a big problem, but it’s important that someone corrects you if possible. We should learn from our mistakes and try not to make them in the future.

(6) How long do you think speaking activities should be?

I think one hour or so. Then people usually get tired and it’s better to have a rest.