This week the ‘Thinking in English’ Community is talking about news, media, and learning English!
News is one of the best ways to learn about the world while also improving your English. You can practice vocabulary, listening, and critical thinking by reading articles or watching reports. But news can also be difficult to understand for non-native speakers.
In this conversation club, we’ll discuss how we consume news, which sources we trust, and how news media has changed in the age of social media and smartphones. We’ll also think about whether learning English changes the way we understand global events and different cultures.
This is a great opportunity to practice discussing opinions and current events in English.
Here are 10 conversation questions to get you talking about news, media, and learning English!
The Thinking in English Conversation Club takes place every TUESDAY and THURSDAY at 12pm, 6pm, and 24pm UK time!
You can find more details on how to participate here!
Conversation Questions:
- Do you follow the news regularly? Why or why not?
- Where do you usually get your news?
- Have you ever used news articles to study English?
- Is “news” English difficult to understand? Why or why not?
- What topics are easiest to read about in English? What topics are most difficult in English news?
- How has social media changed the way people get news?
- Do you trust online news? Why or why not?
- Does learning English change how you see the world?
- Is it possible to report news without bias?
- Make your own questions!
Vocabulary
- Follow the news (Phrase): To regularly read or watch news.
- News article (Noun Phrase): A written report about recent events.
- Study English (Phrase): To learn or improve English.
- Difficult to understand (Phrase): Hard to understand clearly.
- Topics (Noun): Subjects or themes.
- Social media (Noun): Websites or apps used to share information online.
- Trust (Verb): To believe something is honest or reliable.
- Online news (Noun Phrase): News shared on the internet.
- Bias (Noun): An unfair preference or opinion.
- Report (Verb): To give information about an event or situation.
- Regularly (Adverb): Often or repeatedly.
- Change the way (Phrase): To affect how something is done.
- See the world (Phrase): To understand or view life and society.
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 TRT
- 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 TRT
- Taipei, Taiwan Wed/Fri at 01:00 CST
- Tokyo, Japan Wed/Fri at 02:00 JST
24:00pm 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?
