Our first speaking topic is Family & Friends. If you are new here, you may want to learn more about how the online speaking group work

1- Discussion questions for Topic Family & Friends 

  1. Do you have a large or small family? Do you have any brothers or sisters?
  2. Do you think it’s good to be the only child in the family?
  3. What are your parents like?
  4. Do you spend much time with your family ?
  5. Who are you closest in your family?
  6. Do you prefer spending time with your family or friends?
  7. Who is your best friend?
  8. Are you still friends with people from your childhood?
  9. Is family important in your country?
These are suggested questions. You may not want to limit your conversation to those questions. Feel free to add your own and raise any question to your partner during the online meetup. To keep your conversation as long as 1 hour, you can print out or open the meetup guide on a new tab to help you follow through the topic. 

2- Suggested videos – Topic Family & Friends

You need to train your ears to get familiar to how native speakers talk about Family & Friends, and also to broaden your vocabulary.

eJOY Epic – Laptop

If you own a PRO eJOY account, you can learn with the following video to practice listening comprehension, grammar, and vocabulary.

Learn with IELTS Speaking – Part 1 – Friends & Culture.

Read more: How to learn on Epic.

eJOY App/ Go web – Mobile & Laptop

Below are English videos that you can practice with 4 skills (listen-speak-read-write) on eJOY App and eJOY Go web.
  1. IELTS Speaking Test Band 8.5-9.0 – Part 1 – Friends & Culture 
  2. IELTS Speaking 8.5 SAMPLE ANSWERS | Part 1 – FAMILY
  3. Why Are Families Important?
  4. A Skype Friendship
  5. Celebrating Friendship Day
  6. An Unlikely Friendship
  7. Motivational Minute #53 – Friendship
  8. What Friendship Is to a Boy
Read more:

3- Prepare for the talk

This is the to-do list for you:

  • Watch the suggested videos to get some ideas and vocabularies. Add new vocabularies from section 5 as well, if you need them. Use eJOY extension (laptop) or eJOY Reader app (mobile) to save them.
  • Write your own answers to the questions in section 1 of this article. Try to answer them out loud by yourself as well.
  • Install Skype on your device & create an account if you don’t have one. Make sure your internet work well and you have a quiet place.
  • Print out or open the topic guide 

Please be noticed that you will use Skype to talk with your speaking partner:

  • Audio call is used to make sure the connection stable
  • Have free talk and maintain your conversation as long as possible with no limit.
  • Turn on recording so that you will have your audio file to review after the talk
  • We will help convert your file into script and you can review your word choices and learn from your partner.

4- Check in to find your speaking partner for topic Family & Friends

When you have done the homework, try your best to write down the answers to the discussion questions (Section 2) and do rehearsal on your own. And then, fill out the check-in form to help us find your perfect speaking partner who has the same English level, same level of confidence, and same time slot with you. Don’t forget to open the meetup guide when you start the online talk.

5- Từ vựng tham khảo

  • Nuclear family
  • Receive primary education
  • My house is close to school
  • My house is 5 minutes far away from school 
  • Friends from childhood 
  • Close-knit family
  • Drift apart
  • Lose touch with sb
  • Have a lot in common
  • Share the same ideas
  • Get on well with
  • Have/in good term with
  • Have a good relationship with
  • That sound great
  • Wow, amazing 
  • I’m so sorry to hear that 
  • Get on well with, 
  • Keep in touch
  • Far away from my apartment 
  • My Dad and I, we’re not that close
  • I like the melody, the sound very energetic, touching, romantic, girly
  • I join the school musical team
  • What? is that true? surprised
  • Oh, you are the matchmaker
  • Speechless
  • Talkative
  • I’m quite the opposite.
  • It’s the same here in my company
  • My brother is 3 years younger than me
  • I work too far away
  • Oh really? Such a coincidence 
  • I love crowds, I love being busy with children
  • Japanese are polite, cold-hearted, reserved, introvert
  • They are notorious 
  • Such a long winter break
  • We would go skiing 
  • They retire, stay at home and enjoy their life 
  • She was very caring, thoughtful,  
  • She has a pain in her legs
  • Couples should share housework equally
  • I want my husband to share the housework 
  • Housework should be split between husband and wife
  • Independent , assertive, sharp, feisty (active, forceful, determined)
  • We share some common values 
  • How many times in a year / how often do you get back to Vietnam?
  • Things are getting worse. We get used to it. We have to live with it. It becomes part of our daily lives.
  • I totally agree
  • I’m so sorry to hear about that
  • Doing housework, running errands
  • Separated not divorced 
  • Really, such a long time
  • You must be very lucky 
  • Prioritize family over career
  • I’m too busy to have a boyfriend.  I’m too busy for a relationship
  • Have no time for dating 
  • I moved 10 times in 3 years , after each relocation i had to make new friends again
  • I haven’t seen them for years 
  • Close to each other
  • Meet each other very often
  • Family is far more valuable than anything else
  • Family is the most important in life
  • Family is worth more than anything 

Check-in to find your speaking partner