A great way to meet new people and practise your spoken English

LSI conversation club with Alex

A great way to meet new people and practise your spoken English

Finding people to practise your spoken English with isn’t always easy. Many students ask me for suggestions on who they can talk to in order to practise their speaking. Luckily at LSI Portsmouth there is somewhere you can do this!

Once a week after school we run a conversation club where students of all different nationalities come together to chat in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. 

I have been running the club for several months now and no two weeks have been the same. There is always a great mix of students from all over the world who have shared their experiences and told me about parts of the world, cultures and traditions that I had previously had no knowledge of. The topics we have discussed have ranged from Brexit to the most popular flavour of ice cream – there is no topic that can’t be discussed. 

I prepare a loose theme for the week, but the conversation generally moves on quite quickly as people bring in other ideas and interests. If there is anything that you want to talk about, this is the place to do it.

Conversation club is a great way to meet students from other classes and especially from other nationalities. It doesn’t matter what your level of English is, how good you are at speaking or which part of the school you are studying in – it is open to everyone. In fact, the more people that come the better. A few weeks ago we had a group of students from Oman, Spain, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, France, Kuwait and Thailand to mention just a few. As you can imagine, not only did they practise their speaking, they also found out a lot about the culture and history of the other countries. 

Students often tell me how much fun it is and how they enjoy chatting in a relaxed environment. It’s a chance to make new friends and get to know people who you otherwise might not meet.

The most important thing with conversation club is that it is not a lesson. I’m not there to correct you or give you homework! The aim is for a you to practise speaking English with a group of friendly people without any pressure. So don’t be afraid – come and join us, meet some new people, practise your English.

I look forward to seeing you at the next conversation club.

        Alex

(Thanks Alex)