28 TO 31 JANUARY: YOUR SPEAKING PRACTICE

Speaking practice                                                                                                
  28 to 31 January

1. Check the pronunciation of the words below:

Height   Heart   Famous   Young   Difficult  Successful   Talk   Daily   Childhood  Comfortable

 Heels     Clothes      Public         Dressed    To sum up     Cloud   Tanned      Stare at   Called

Generous      Determined    Affected    Prejudice   Variety      Fashionable       Unfashionable

2.      Linking sentences:

In addition to, What´s more, Besides, As well as…, Apart from…, Moreover, Furthermore

As a result, Because of, As a consequence, Consequently, For this reason, So, Therefore, Due to the fact

However, Although, Even if, Even though, Despite, In spite of, Contrary to…

In fact, Actually, As a matter of fact

As for, Regarding, With regard to, In regard to, Concerning, When it comes to…

All in all, In conclusion, To sum up, In a nutshell

·        3.  Let me highlight some useful words and expressions you have used throughout your practice:

I wonder…

How come?

What do they look like?

Do you know what I mean?

Are you capable of…?

Instead of…

The older...,the better

She sees herself as…

Spring to mind

Let me move on to…

Significant contribution

Unlike…

Let me move on to…

To some degree, To some extent

It is said/believed/ thought…

Regardless of

Over time/over the years

Over/In the course of my life

Throughout my life

Be aware of

On a daily basis

On a regular basis

Every single day

I found out that…

There is no harm, is there?

It depends on…

Undoubtedly, There is no doubt…

It cannot be denied…

it goes without saying

​ used to mean that something is obvious:

•       Of course, it goes without saying that you'll be paid for the extra hours you work.

We must admit…

Get to the point

Beat around the bush

It turns out that…

It´s worth dealing with…

To be honest

It causes a lot of…

S4. SOME VOCABULARY THAT YOU HAVE USED:

Self-employed

Mindset

Way of thinking

Misconceptions

Misleading information

 I struggle to…

I find it hard to…

Affordable, Unaffordable

Strict

Flexible, Lenient

Self-conscious

Attend a meeting, a concert, an English class…

Take a toll on…(If something takes its/a toll, it causes suffering, deaths, or damage:

The problems of the past few months have taken their toll on her health and there are shadows under her eyes)

Take after

(to be similar to an older member of your family in appearance or character:

·         He takes after his mother/his mother's side of the family.

·         Lazy? He takes after his father.

·         She takes after me with her love of horses.

·         I hope the children don't take after their grandfather.

Alike

very similar

·         My mother and I are alike in many ways.

unnoticed

without being noticed 

·         Elsa stood unnoticed at the edge of the crowd.

go/pass unnoticed 

·         His remark went unnoticed by everyone except me.

Show-off

someone who always tries to show how clever or skilled they are so that other people will admire them – often used to show disapproval 

·         She’s a bit of a show-off.

Show off

to behave in a way that is intended to attract attention oradmiration, and that other people often find annoying:

·         She only bought that sports car to show off and prove she could afford one.

·         He's always showing off to his classmates.

Look up to

to admire or respect someone 

·         I’ve always looked up to Bill for his courage and determination.

Retirement

Stylish

Snobbish

Scruffy

Stunning

Big-headed

Self-centred

Odd-ball    someone who behaves in a strange or unusual way SYN eccentric

Build castles in the air

To create dreams, hopes, or plans that are impossible, unrealistic, or have very little chance of succeeding. 

·         You need financial advice and a strong plan if you're going to start your own business—don't just build castles in the air.

Impression

the way that something seems, looks, or feels to a particular person:

·         It makes/gives/creates a very bad impression if you're late for an interview.

·         [ + (that) ] He likes to give the impression (that) he's terribly popular and has lots of friends.

Don’t judge a book by its cover

used to say that you should not form an opinion based only on the way something looks

have a memory like a sieve      informal to forget things easily.

• You'd better remind him about the party - he's got a memory like a sieve!

a heart of gold (=a very kind character) 

She was rather brisk in manner but with a heart of gold.

live life to the full

to enjoy doing a lot of different things 

• ·         She believes in living life to the full.

run in the family

if something such as a quality, disease, or skill runs in the family, many people in that family have it 

•      Asthma seems to run in our family.

•      Good looks must run in the family

·         The truth was that deafness ran in the family

·          Writing books about grandparents seems to run in the family.

·         Twins run in the family, so it didn't surprise us when we heard the news.

young at heart      thinking and behaving as if you were young, even though you are old.

•      Arthur's 96, but he's still young at heart

•       It's ideal for children aged over five and adults who are young at heart.