SPEAKING

SOCIAL
INTERACTION



PART 1 – SOCIAL INTERACTIONS
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Family
1. Describe your family.
2. Do you have a large or small family?
3. How many brothers and sisters do you have? What do
they like doing in their free time?
4. Can you tell me about your family?
5. What do your parents do?

Email
1. Do you send and receive email regularly?
2. Who do you usually communicate with?
3. How often do you check your email?
4. Do you think writing email has strengthened or
weakened people's writing skills?
5. What are some disadvantages of email?

Education
1. Describe your education.
2. What kind of school did you go to as a child?
3. What was your favorite subject as a child?
4. Who was your favorite teacher?
5. What is the education system like in your country?


Hobby
1. Do you have any hobbies? /What are your hobbies?
2. Have you got any interests or hobbies?
3. What are some of your hobbies?
4 . What are some of the advantages of having a hobby?
5. How much time do you spend on your hobby?


Free Time
1. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
2. How much time do you have each week for doing these
things?
3. Why do you like doing these activities?
4. How did you start doing this activity at first?
5. Is there some other hobby or sport you would like to try?
Why?

Shopping
1. How much time do you spend shopping every week?
2. Do you enjoy going shopping? Why (not)?
3. How do you feel about shopping?
4. Do you like shopping on the Internet?
5. Which is the most popular place to shop in your
hometown?

Neighborhood
1. Can you describe the house where you live to me?
2. What is there to do in the area where you live?
3. What do you like about the area where you live?

Clothes
1. What type of clothes do you like to wear?
2. What kind of clothes do people in your country usually
wear?
3. How important is fashion to you?
4. What kind of clothes do you dislike?
5. Do you think people behave differently in different kinds
of clothes?


Going Out
1. Do you like going out or staying at home?
2. What do you like to do when you go out?
3. How often do you go out?
4. Do people in your country go out a lot?
5. How and where do people in your country usually
socialize?

Celebrations
1. How do you usually celebrate your birthday?
2. How did you celebrate your last birthday?
3. How do you think you will celebrate your next birthday?
4. What is the most important day of the year for you?
(Why?)
Tourism
1. Which places would you recommend to a visitor to your
country?
2. Do a lot of tourists visit your country?
3. What do they usually do there?
4. How has tourism changed your country?



USEFUL EXPRESSIONS TO MAKE COMPARISONS
There are some rules to help you make comparisons in English.

1 If the adjective (describing word) is one syllable, you can add -er.
For example, small – smaller; big – bigger; nice – nicer.

2 If the adjective has two syllables, but ends in -y, you can change the end to -ier.
For example, lucky – luckier; happy – happier.

3 With other English adjectives of two syllables and more, you can't change their endings. Instead, you should use
more + adjective.
For example, handsome – more handsome; beautiful – more beautiful and so on.
4 When you compare two things, use 'than'.
"She's younger than me."

"This exercise is more difficult than the last one."

5 When you want to say something is similar, use 'as – as'.
For example, "She's as tall as her brother" or "It's as nice today as it was yesterday."

6 When you want to say one thing is less than another, you can either use 'less than' or 'not as – as'.
For example, "This programme is less interesting than I thought" or "This programme is not as interesting as I thought."
7 Remember that some adjectives are irregular and change form when you make comparisons.
For example, good – better; bad – worse; far – further.


USING QUALIFYING EXPRESSIONS
You can vary the strength of the comparison by using "qualifying" expressions.

think is the best for him/her?

6. A company is considering three methods of advertising their new product: TV commercials, online advertising, and
leaflets? Which do you think is the best choice?


7. Which do you think is the most beneficial activity for young people: cooking, playing computer games, or joining outdoor
activities?

8. Which of these presents would attract most people to participate in a competition: a smart phone, a camera, or a gift
voucher of the same value?


9. Which of these things would you most like to have in your room: a guitar, a laptop, or a video game console?

10. Which of these things could you happily live without: a guitar, a hair dryer, or an iron?


11. Your foreign friend is considering visiting one of the following places in Vietnam: Ha Noi, Hue and Saigon. Which would
you recommend to him/her?

12. Which of these jobs would you find the most interesting: a tour guide, a cook, or a teacher?


13. A group of high school students are considering the following places to visit: an art gallery, a history museum and a
science musem. Which do you think is the most beneficial for them?

14. You have been asked to give a talk to teenagers about health and safety. Which of these topics is the most important for
teenagers' health: stress, drug addiction or smoking?


I want to visit Andrew as well as Martin.
He is rich and as well as that he’s generous.


EXPRESSIONS OF ADDITION
Besides (adverb, preposition): in addition to; also
Do you play any other sports besides ice-skating and darts?
She told me that she has two other cars besides the one she drives to work.
I’ve had job offers from two firms of international lawyers and plenty more besides.
She won’t mind your being late – besides, it’s hardly your fault.

Furthermore (adverb) FORMAL: in addition; more importantly
I suggest we go to the Italian restaurant – it’s very good and furthermore it’s very cheap.
I don’t know what happened to Rupert Ford and furthermore I don’t care.

In addition: You use in addition when you want to mention another item connected with the subject you are discussing.
The workers have not been paid for two months. In addition, we owe our suppliers £50,000.

Moreover (adverb) FORMAL: (used to add information) also and more importantly
It was a good car, and it was, moreover, a fair price they were asking for it.

On top of (that) : in addition to (esp. something unpleasant)
We missed the train, and on top of that we had to wait for two hours for the next one.
On top of his late arrival, he was drunk!
What’s more: (additionally and more importantly)
He won the race, and what’s more, he broke the world record.


CLARIFYING YOUR OWN IDEA
In other words,


your
own
idea


2. There are good reasons why Olympics games are popular.

Olympic athletes as good
role models for young
people

bring
people
together

Olympics
games

promote
healthy
lifestyles
1. What does hosting the Olympics do for a country?
2. In what way do the Olympic Games keep world peace?
3. Do you think that Olympic athletes are always good role models?

your
own
idea



are
unhealthy

smoking
and
drinking

cause
problems
in society
1. Why do you think it is so difficult for people to give up and quit smoking ?
2. What can we do to stop children smoking?
3. Do you think smoking will ever disappear?

your
own
idea


5. Everybody should learn English.

official language in
more than sixty
countries

more career
and education
choices



your
own
idea