This week, the Thinking in English Community is talking about exams and what it takes to pass them!
We’ve all had to sit an exam at some point. School tests, university entrance exams, driving tests, language exams, and professional qualifications all require testing.
But are exams really the best way to measure what we know and what we can do? Why do some people seem to be naturally good at exams, while others struggle under the pressure? And are there better alternatives to traditional exams?
Here are 10 questions to get you talking about exams, studying, and your own experiences of passing (or failing) tests!
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:
- What was the last exam you took? How did the exam go?
- When you were younger, how did you feel about exams?
- What advice would you give someone who has an upcoming exam?
- Do children take too many exams?
- What do you think are the hardest exams to pass in the world?
- Are exams a good way to test knowledge, understanding, and ability?
- What exam would you like to pass in the future? How will you prepare for it?
- Is it possible to be ‘good at exams’? If it is, how can we get better at exams?
- What would be the best alternative to exams?
- Make your own questions!
Vocabulary
- Advice: an opinion that someone offers you about what you should do or how you should act in a particular situation
- Upcoming: happening soon
- Knowledge: understanding of or information about a subject that you get by experience or study, either known by one person or by people generally
- Understanding: knowledge about a subject, situation, etc. or about how something works
- Ability: the physical or mental power or skill needed to do something
- Prepare: to make or get something or someone ready for something that will happen in the future
- Alternative: something that is different from something else, especially from what is usual, and offering the possibility of choice
- Genius: very great and rare natural ability or skill, especially in a particular area such as science or art, or a person who has this
- Stupid: silly or unwise; showing poor judgment or little intelligence
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 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?
