Improve your Speaking online in our Episode 27:
This week we bring new current topics in Episode 27 so you can improve your online speaking from home.
Topic 1: Black Friday
«Am I actually getting a good deal?»
Black Friday is known for widespread sales across the world. But not every seller has your best interests to heart.
We will focus the conversation on the following questions:
- Have you or someone you know ever been scammed while shopping? How?
- What type of product is usually the most heavily discounted?
- In what way do you think companies make a profit from this event?
- When it is Black Friday, which products do you usually buy?
- Have you ever found an awesome sale on Black Friday? If so, which was it?
Here we leave you some vocabulary you can use during the talk:
- Consumer: person who buys goods or services for their own use.
- Sales: a period of time where a shop lowers its prices to attract customers.
- Scam: illegal plan for making money or taking personal information, involving tricking people.
- Retailer: person, shop, or business that sells goods to the public.
- Data theft: the illegal transfer or storage of personal, confidential, or financial information.
- Discount: reduction in the usual price.
- Hacker: person that gets into other people’s computer systems without permission in order to find out information or do something illegal.
- Fraudster: someone who makes money by deceiving people.
- E-commerce: the business of buying and selling goods and services on the internet.
Topic 2: The 4-day work week
«Less time, same productivity?»
The reduced work week is a growing demand between the younger skilled workforce, but not everyone is convinced about it.
We will focus the conversation on the following questions:
- Do you believe this idea to be merely utopian or could be the base for productivity in the near future?
- If Henry Ford did manage to reduce from six to five days in the workweek, why does it sound that strange to reduce it even more?
- What would be the impact of a shorter workweek on the personal and professional lives of employees?
- How would you account for the same economic profit with a reduced workweek?
- How would you explain the productivity records in countries such as The Netherlands or Germany in terms of their working week?
Here we leave you some vocabulary you can use during the talk:
- Utopian: Unrealistic, an ideal but unachievable goal.
- Negative correlation: An inverse relationship between two factors. For example, if factor X grows, factor Y will decrease.
- A shout out to someone: An acknowledgement to someone or an appreciation of what they accomplish.
- Workload: The amount of work a particular employee has.
- To sack someone: To fire someone, meaning they’re no longer an employee.
- Economic output: The amount of goods and production created.
- Commonplace: Standard, a normal thing found in most places.
- (to be) mocked: To be laughed at.
- To commit to something: To become strongly involved with something / To pay your best effort when doing something.
Topic 3: Football and the World Cup
«A worthy award for the greatest football tournament»
The World Cup is one of the biggest sport events celebrated. But only one country can take the coveted trophy with them.
We will focus the conversation on the following questions:
- Do you like football? Why?
- What do you think about this particular sports championship?
- Do you think the FIFA world cup increases rivalry between countries? Comment on that idea.
- What do you think about the design of the trophies and their history?
- Which design do you like the most? Why?
Here we leave you some vocabulary you can use during the talk:
- To be awarded: To be given something as a prize or a reward.
- Winged: Something that has wings.
- Tournament: a series of contests between a number of competitors, competing for an overall prize.
- Perpetuity: the state or quality of lasting forever.
- Parentage: When you refer to people’s parentage, you mean their parents and/or their parent’s country and social class
- To clinch: to finally get or win something
- To retain: to keep or continue to have something, especially a position or money, or control of something
- A comeback: a return to an earlier and better position or condition
- Headquarters: the main office or centre of control of a company or organisation
- To melt down: to heat a metal object until it becomes liquid again
Topic 4: Free topic
Do you find these topics boring or uninteresting? Don’t worry. Dilo gives you the opportunity to choose your own topic for a conversation class.
Think of some vocabulary you would like to learn related to your topic and send us some information about it with the subject «Free topic». We are certain your ideas will be great! 😁.
This is the end of Episode 27. See you on the next one!