Mid-Semester Speaking Review

This chapter will review the speaking skills you learned in the first half of the semester. Your teacher may assign lessons to review, or you can decide which lessons you want to review. This lesson will focus on providing practice for class time to practice these skills. However, some of the practice may require you to prepare before class.

Speaking Objectives We've Covered

Narrate in the past using simple, progressive, and perfect aspects
Narrate in the past using forms for past habits and states
Use correct stress, intonation, and reductions
Utilize a variety of sentence types (noun clauses and time clauses)
Support opinions with outside sources
Summarize ideas from outside sources
Organize ideas and use transitions

Exercise 1: News Reports

Choose a current event or other type of news report to learn about. Below is a list places to look for news on that topic, but you are welcome to choose whatever source you prefer:
Make sure you understand the topic fully. You may need to read or listen to multiple sources on the same topic.
Be prepared to give a summary of the news report you selected.

Exercise 2: Tour Guides

Choose a famous tourist destination in your country.
Learn as much as you can about the place and prepare to give the class a tour of the location.
- Interesting history
- A detailed description (consider all of the senses)
- Things you can do there
- Why is it popular?
- Your personal experience if you have visited
Create some slides with pictures you can use in your presentation as you guide your classmates through this famous place.
Present your tour to the class and answer questions about your location.

Exercise 3: Product Pitch

As a class, make a list of needs or problems in personal lives, communities, or the world at large.
With a partner or group, choose one of the items from the list. You will create a product to fill the need or solve the problem.
- What does it do?
- How much would it cost?
- Why should people purchase it?
- When would the product be available?
- How do you use it?
Create an image or model of your product to show the class in your presentation.
When you present, be sure to focus on organizing your ideas clearly and using good stress and intonation patterns.