[Témoignage] Are speaking clubs worth taking?

In January of this year, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and attend a session or two at a local English speaking club named Talk Time. As both online teacher and language learner, I tend to be wary of group classes en présentiel.* Are they even worth it? Let’s see!

These “Talk Time” meetings were offered by one of the volunteers of the European Solidarity Corps who came to Montauban to do exactly that. With the idea of promoting intercultural and linguistic exchanges, she presented a range of activities to help young French speakers to communicate more confidently en anglais.*

Bonne ambiance, accents bizarres et conversations intéressantes sont promises !*

Talk Time

As a language teacher, my goal was not to improve my English. However, I still learned a lot. Voici* some effective language activities that I came up with. Feel free to try these to improve your French speaking skills!

Language learning activityHow-to
Randomly switch between topicsPrepare a list of random French words. Pick one and talk about it for 1 minute (examples : un voyage à Marseille*, web surfing, shopping, chocolatines*, JO 2024*)
Mimic accents like actors doRepeat the first exercice, but try doing different accents – in French (typical French, Brummie, American etc.). If you’re fluent, you can also try to imiter les voix* with Superflame Youtube vidéos such as this one.
Create a French atmosphereUne petite tasse de chocolat chaud, quelques croissants – et c’est parti!*

The idea is to have a nice moment while practicing a foreign language. So go for it!

If you are interested in one-on-one French or English lessons, feel free to contact me or book your first online lesson with me on italki.

🥐French vocab used in this article:

  • en présentiel – in person
  • en anglais – in English
  • Bonne ambiance, accents bizarres et conversations intéressantes sont promises ! – Good atmosphere, weird accents and interesting conversations guaranteed!
  • voici – here are
  • un voyage à Marseille – a trip to Marseille
  • chocolatines – or ‘pains au chocolat’, it’s open to debate 🙂
  • JO 2024 – the Paris Olympics 2024
  • imiter les voix – to imitate voices
  • Une petite tasse de chocolat chaud, quelques croissants – et c’est parti! – A cup of hot chocolate, a few croissants – and you’re all set!

This article was written by Lola

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