Talking about Technology and Social Media

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Materials Daily News

Part 2 Preparation

Intermediate

Learning Objectives

In this lesson you will:

Practice answering questions based on Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test.
Learn and practice some different ways to talk about technology and social media.
Practice pronouncing /m/ as in "mine" and /n/ as in "nine."

Exercise 1

Warm-Up: Pronunciation Practice

Listen and Repeat

Listen and repeat after your tutor.

A) foam

B) phone

A) mine

B) nine

A) comb

B) cone

A) game

B) gain

A) warm

B) warn

Quiz

Your tutor will choose 5 words and say them aloud. After each word, say whether it is from Group A or Group B.

Quiz Your Tutor

Choose 5 words and say them aloud. After each word, your tutor will say whether it is from Group A or Group B.

Exercise 2

Helpful Vocabulary

Listen and repeat these words with your tutor.

Social Media

Facebook
Instagram
Snapchat
Twitter
Line

Listen and repeat these phrases with your tutor.

Using Social Media

to chat with friends
to search for entertainment
to waste time
to meet new people
to stay connected
to post pictures
to read the news
to post status updates

Tell your tutor what you do and don't use social media for.

For example:

"I use Facebook to chat with friends."

"I don't use Snapchat to meet new people."

Exercise 3

Speaking Test Part 2 Response

Read the following instruction based on Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test.

Describe the social media site you use most often.

You should say:

what it is called
when you started using it
what you use it for

and explain what you like or dislike about the site.

Model Response 1

Listen and read as your tutor reads Masa's response aloud. At the end, you will need to answer three short questions.

I'd like to tell you about Twitter. It's a social media site that I use a lot. I started using it about five years ago, I guess. I probably check it fifty times a day!

Basically, anyone can post messages and talk to other people. But you can only use 280 characters, so the posts are really short.

I use it to do lots of things: check in with my friends, read articles from my favorite writers, and keep up with the news.

The main thing I like about Twitter is that people are posting all the time so you can stay up to date on things. You can also choose who you want to follow. So, for example, I follow my friends, but I also follow a few celebrities and politicians. Besides that, it's always really interesting and can be really funny too.

There are some things I don't like so much though. Firstly, it's really easy to waste time on it. You start reading something that leads you to something else, that leads you to something else, and then before you realize it, you've wasted two hours! Also, there are a lot of trolls. Trolls are people who write mean or hateful things. You have to mute or block them.

Questions

How often does Masa use Twitter?

What does he use it for?

What does he like about it?

Useful Language

Masa uses these phrases to talk about technology and social media to structure his response. Listen and repeat them with your tutor.

I'd like to tell you about ...
It's a social media site that I use a lot.
I started using it about ...
I use it to ...
The main thing I like about …
Besides that, ...
There are some things I don't like so much though.
Firstly, ...
Also, ...

Exercise 4

Fill in the Blanks

Read the response based on Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test and fill in the blanks.

Model Response 2

I'd like to tell you (1) Facebook. It's a social media site that I use a lot. I (2) using it about 10 years ago. I use it to do a lot of things like reading the news and searching for entertainment. The main (3) I like about Facebook is that although I'm in a different country than many of my friends, we can stay connected. I can (4) with my friends, (5) status updates, and I also post lots of pictures. (6) that, I use it to keep up with the news.

There are some things I (7) though. (8), I feel like I spend too much time on my phone. Also, sometimes I feel like I've got more friends online than I do in the real world.

Choose answers from the options below that fit in blanks 1 to 8

Answer Pool (Questions 1-8)

about
Firstly
chat
started
Besides
dislike
post
thing

Exercise 5

Part 2 Test Practice

Complete this task based on Part 2 of the IELTS Speaking test. You have 1 minute to prepare your answer and up to 2 minutes to speak. Your tutor will stop you when the time is up.

Describe the social media site you use most often.

You should say:

what it is called
when you started using it
what you use it for

and explain what you like or dislike about the site.