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

LSI/IH Portsmouth 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/IH 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)