This week the Thinking in English Community is talking about books!
In my recent bonus episode, I looked at the novel Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence, a fascinating story about language, translation, and colonialism. Books like Babel remind us how powerful reading can be in shaping our ideas and understanding of the world.
In this session, we’ll share our experiences as readers: from favourite novels to books that changed the way we think. Talking about books is also a great way to practice expressing opinions, making recommendations, and discussing abstract ideas in English.
Here are 10 conversation questions to get you talking about books this week!
The Thinking in English Conversation Club takes place every TUESDAY and THURSDAY at 12pm, 6pm, and midnight UK time!
You can find more details on how to participate here – Patreon!
Conversation Questions:
- What is the last book you finished? Did you enjoy it?
- What is your favorite book of all time?
- Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction?
- Can you recommend a book that changed the way you think?
- Is there a book from your country that you wish more people in the world would read?
- Is there a book you started but never finished? Why?
- Do you prefer reading paper books, e-books, or audiobooks? Why?
- Are “classics” always worth reading, or are they sometimes overrated?
- If you could recommend only one book to the group today, what would it be and why?
- Make your own questions!
Vocabulary
- Fiction (noun): writing that tells imaginary stories, such as novels or short stories.
- Non-fiction (noun): writing about real events, people, or facts, such as biographies or history books.
- Recommend (verb): to suggest something as good or useful.
- Overrated (adjective): described as better or more important than it really is.
- Classics (noun): books, music, or works of art that are considered excellent and important, often from the past.
- Audiobook (noun): a recorded version of a book that you can listen to.
- E-book (noun): a digital version of a book read on a computer, tablet, or e-reader.
Resources
Conversation Club Times
12pm Conversation Club Around The World
- London, United Kingdom Tue/Thur at 12:00 BST
- Mexico City, Mexico Tue/Thur at 05:00 CST
- Bogota, Colombia Tue/Thur at 06:00 COT
- Santiago, Chile Tue/Thur at 08:00 CLST
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Tue/Thur at 08:00 BRT
- Rome, Italy Tue/Thur at 13:00 CEST
- Warsaw, Poland Tue/Thur at 13:00 CEST
- Istanbul, Turkey Tue/Thur at 14:00 EEST
- Taipei, Taiwan Tue/Thur at 19:00 CST
- Tokyo, Japan Tue/Thur at 20:00 JST
18pm Conversation Club Around The World
- London, United Kingdom Tue/Thur at 18:00 BST
- Mexico City, Mexico Tue/Thur at 11:00 CST
- Bogota, Colombia Tue/Thur at 12:00 COT
- Santiago, Chile Tue/Thur at 14:00 CLST
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Tue/Thur at 14:00 BRT
- Rome, Italy Tue/Thur at 19:00 CEST
- Warsaw, Poland Tue/Thur at 19:00 CEST
- Istanbul, Turkey Tue/Thur at 20:00 EEST
- Taipei, Taiwan Wed/Fri at 01:00 CST
- Tokyo, Japan Wed/Fri at 02:00 JST
00:00am Conversation Club Around The World
- London, United Kingdom Wed/Fri at 00:00 BST
- Mexico City, Mexico Tue/Thur at 17:00 CST
- Bogota, Colombia Tue/Thur at 18:00 COT
- Santiago, Chile Tue/Thur at 20:00 CLST
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Tue/Thur at 20:00 BRT
- Rome, Italy Wed/Fri at 01:00 CEST
- Warsaw, Poland Wed, Wed/Fri at 01:00 CEST
- Istanbul, Turkey Wed/Fri at 02:00 EEST
- Taipei, Taiwan Wed/Fri at 07:00 CST
- Tokyo, Japan Wed/Fri at 08:00 JST
Model Answers & Vocabulary
To help you prepare for the Thinking in English conversation club this week, I have created vocabulary lists and some model answers.
The model answers are split into intermediate, upper-intermediate, and advanced level responses. Hopefully this will give you an idea on the differences in quality between intermediate and advanced responses, and perhaps inspire your own answers to these questions!
B1 (Intermediate)
Model Answers
Vocabulary
B2 (Upper Intermediate)
Model Answers
Vocabulary
C1 (Advanced Level)
Model Answers
Vocabulary
See you all at this week’s conversation club!
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Further Questions?
