Speaking Today

 

Essay Topic:  Nowadays we are producing more and more rubbish. Why do you think this is happening?

Sample Answer:

Introduction

Rubbish production is one of the serious problems in the modern world and it has already damaged our environment to a great extent. In the past, the world did not have an incredible number of population. Today, however, the world population is soaring, and hence, the wastage they produce has increased significantly as well. This essay will analyze the primary causes of rubbish production.

Body Paragraph 1

Several factors have contributed to increasing debris production. The top-most factor is the high number of various productions and factories. Today, companies manufacture a large number of goods and it is easy for people to have a variety of those at different shops. Furthermore, many families consume far more goods that necessary which increases waste materials. Another contributing factor is the lack of awareness. For example, there is almost no training system for people to learn how to apply efficient ways to reduce rubbish production. The government training facilities are inefficient and cannot create an impact. Therefore, people go their own way to contribute to these environmental damages.

Body Paragraph 2

Moreover, the productions of waste materials have been accelerated by various adverts all around us which lure people to buy more. Every day, because of those advertisements, people experience new styles of life and purchase more than they need. This leads to high tension and pressure to consume those new products. Such consumption has significant impacts on the amount of waste we produce.

Conclusion

Overall, rubbish is mainly caused by overpopulation and people’s consumerism lifestyle. If the government provides more facilities for training and encourage people to care about their consumption habit, I am sure the volume of waste materials will decline in the near future.

Written By
Prof Qasim

0334-8073431

 

 

Topic - "Languages."

Q.  How many languages can you speak? [Why/Why not?]
Answer: I can speak three different languages - My mother tongue, English and Spanish. I can speak the first language, obviously because it is the language of my home country. As for the two foreign languages, I can speak English because I learned it at school, and the other one is because it is very similar to my mother tongue.

Q.  How useful will English be to you in your future? [Why/Why not?]
Answer: Well, since "English" arguably is the most widely spoken language around the world, there is no doubt that this language is going to be very useful for my future, especially in regards with finding a better career opportunity and communication. Moreover, I have a plan to travel to as many countries as possible in the future, and then English would be the language to communicate with others. Finally, it will help me read many books that I wish to read in the future.

Q.  What do you remember about learning languages at school? [Why/Why not?]
Answer: As far as I can remember, it wasn’t really much of an issue for me to learn any of the languages, which I can speak, mainly because I overall enjoyed learning them. In some cases, I even used to boast about my foreign language learning skills and abilities to my classmates. My language teachers always appreciated my effort and performance in the class while learning a foreign language and it inspired me to do even better.

Q.  What do you think would be the hardest language for you to learn? [Why?]
Answer: Well, I haven’t exactly tried to learn any other languages than the ones I can already know about.  But, I think that Chinese, Mandarine to be more exact, language is going to be the hardest language to learn because one literally has to memorize thousands of its characters.

 

Part 2 - Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card

[The topic for your talk will be written on a card which the examiner will hand over to you. Read it carefully and then make some brief notes.]

Describe a website that you bought something from.

You should say:

what the website is

what you bought from this website

how satisfied you were with what you bought

and explain what you liked or disliked about using this website.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

[Examiner: All right? Remember you have one to two minutes for this, so don't worry if I stop you. I'll tell you when the time is up. Can you start speaking now, please?]

 Part 3 - Details discussion:

Discussion topic: "Shopping online".

Q.  What kinds of things do people in your country often buy from online shops?
Answer: With the increasing popularity of online shopping among all kinds of customers, no wonder that many people in my country are also taking its advantages, especially during this time of the pandemic, by ordering foods, medicines and regular grocery items. Other than these things, people are using online shops also to buy electronic devices, home appliances, clothing items, cosmetics, perfumes, computers, mobile/smartphones, and fashionable items from wristwatches to sunglass and every other thing in between.

Q.  Why do you think online shopping has become so popular nowadays?
Answer: Online shopping has become popular all over the world nowadays for several reasons. Number one reason is that it saves our time and energy since we don’t have to run to a physical store, deal with the crowds and stand in lines to buy things. Another reason is that it offers a wide range of options in choosing a product and price comparison before actually buying a product. Besides, the fear of being infected by the recent Covid-19 Virus, while going outside to do the shopping, also has made online shopping popular these days.

Q.  What are some possible disadvantages of buying things from online shops?
Answer: There are several disadvantages to buying things from online shops.  The major one is probably the "delivery" as most of the times, delivery doesn’t arrive on time, and even if it arrives on time, the product/the product package gets damaged. Then, of course, the price of the product is also an issue as it gets higher because of adding the shipping charge with it. Finally, there are also chances of being scammed as the delivered products can be inferior in quality to the products that are shown on the websites.
 

Discussion topic: "The culture of consumerism".

Q.  Why do many people today keep buying things which they do not need?
Answer: Well, people like to attribute different reasons to the culture of consumerism, but the major ones could be summarized like these: we think that possessing more and more things will make us feel more secured and happy in life. Then we try to impress other people or want to feel more important in front of others with the things that we own. And finally, we, in general, are more susceptible to the advertisements on the media and their catchy messages than we like to believe.

Q.  Do you believe the benefits of a consumer society outweigh the disadvantages?
Answer: Well, it is a tough question to answer as there is no conclusive research data or evidence to simply say “yes” or "no". But, when we look at our societies which seem to have become more affluent and happy with their works and lifestyles, it is really hard to suggest that consumerism trend has many disadvantages. Besides, given the fact that the culture of consumerism has resulted in more international commerce and communication among people from different parts of the world, it also suggests that it has many benefits. On the other hand, the way people have become materialistic and self-centred, and the way the gap between the rich and poor has widened, makes it hard to say that this trend only has positive effects.

Q.  How possible is it to avoid the culture of consumerism?
Answer: In my humble opinion, in this age of international trade and commerce, it is almost difficult to avoid the culture of consumerism because we have become so much used to the luxury and comfort of life. After all, it is mostly the culture of consumerism which encourages us to become more productive in our life, which, in turn, makes sure that people have food on their tables, houses to live in, and clothes to wear. We have to have some kinds of genuine hopes to survive in this world, and the culture of consumerism does just that.

 

Topic - "Email".

Q.  What kinds of emails do you receive about your work or studies?
Answer: At my work, I receive at least a few emails every day either from my boss or co-workers. Most of these emails are sent to me either to update me about the work progress on a certain task or project, or to inform me about the tasks that I should take care of.

Q.  Do you prefer to email, phone or text your friends? [Why?]
Answer: I always prefer to send text messages or emails to my friends, instead of calling them, mainly because it allows me to organize my thoughts more thoroughly. Besides, it also allows me to become more flexible with my communication since I don’t get “forced” to say something that I don’t want to.

Q.  Do you reply to emails and messages as soon as you receive them? [Why/Why not?]
Answer: Yes, I do have a habit of replying my emails as soon as possible because I want the message senders to know that the message has reached the right person. Besides, I do it also because doing so gives me peace of mind, knowing that I value other people as well as their needs.

Q.  Are you happy to receive emails that are advertising things? [Why/Why not?]
Answer: No, I don’t really feel happy to receive emails that send advertising because they waste my valuable time by confusing me to a point where I just don’t know whether to read them or not. Besides, sometimes such emails carry computer viruses or other harmful things.

 

Part 2 - Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card

[The topic for your talk will be written on a card which the examiner will hand over to you. Read it carefully and then make some brief notes.]

Describe a hotel that you know.

You should say:

where this hotel is

what this hotel looks like

what facilities this hotel has

and explain whether you think this is a nice hotel to stay in.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

[Examiner: All right? Remember you have one to two minutes for this, so don't worry if I stop you. I'll tell you when the time is up. Can you start speaking now, please?]

Part 3 - Details discussion:

Discussion topic: "Staying in hotels".

Q.  What things are important when people are choosing a hotel?
Answer: Well, I can’t really speak for other people here because, frankly speaking, there could be “millions” of important things for them for which they choose a hotel. But as far as I am concerned, I choose a hotel based on a couple of important factors: one is how far it really is from the noises, hustling and bustling of city life so that I can have a sound and interruption-free sleep at night. The other important factor is how spacious the hotel really is so that I don’t feel congested or suffocated in it, especially, when there are too many guests there. From the reviews I often read about hotels, I can say that people often prioritise rent amount, location and amenities of a hotel while booking or deciding to stay there.

Q.  Why do some people not like staying in hotels?
Answer: In my opinion, some people don’t like to stay in hotels for a couple of reasons. The number one reason probably is that they don’t just feel enough comfortable (probably even feel a bit unsafe and scared as opposed to living in a familiar place with familiar people) in such environment where too many unknown and strange people live. Another reason could be that they don’t get enough privacy (again, it is “privacy”, not a fear factor) at a hotel, especially, when they need to finish some important tasks in an isolated environment.

Q.  Do you think staying in a luxury hotel is a waste of money?
Answer: As far as I am concerned, I never really like to stay at a “luxury” hotel, (even though, luxury is a “relative” term) and pay too much money to rent it because I do think that it is a terrible waste of money. Of course, if you are celebrating a wedding anniversary or celebrating multi-million dollar business deal, then it is a different thing. But, just to have some nice sleep at night and a place to relax, spending anything extra beyond a “reasonable” amount of money is certainly considered to be a waste of money in my book. But, it is quite different for rich people who would be ready to spend an exorbitant amount of money to stay in a luxury hotel due to the amenities and environment these hotels offer.
 

Discussion topic: "Working in a hotel".

Q.  Do you think hotel work is a good career for life?
Answer: Speaking from a personal experience (Yes, I have worked as an Assistant Manager at a hotel when I was a young college student), I don’t really think that hotel work, in most of the cases, is a good career choice for life, mainly because it is a “service-oriented” industry or career.  In other words, in service-oriented careers, there isn’t any tangible skills or abilities to display, be it to a customer or the superiors, and as such it is not always easy for others to value the skills, no matter how good one really is at his or her job. So career growth is a big issue here. But if someone is really passionate about working in a large hotel and meeting new people daily, it could be a different story for him or her.

Q.  How does working in a big hotel compare with working in a small hotel?
Answer: I think that working in a big hotel has more advantages than working in a small hotel. For example, a big hotel usually would have more opportunities for career growth since they will always need more skilled people to do the jobs. Besides, the chances of getting “laid-off” at a big hotel are rather slim since there will probably be another opportunity in a different department. Finally, working at a big hotel, like a large hotel chain, will offer you a better job satisfaction since people would value you more for working at a bigger and famous place.

Q.  What skills are needed to be a successful hotel manager?
Answer: Well, in order to become a successful hotel manager, a person would pretty much need to know anything and everything that is related to hotel operation, finance, customer service, hygiene and cleanliness, superior communication skills and team building. Besides, in order to become a successful hotel manager, one would also need to understand the industry trends, as well as the taste and preferences of a diversified group of prospective customers during different times of the year so that the manager can make an informed decision about his or her service and pricing strategies.