Read the text and decide T (true)/ F (false) for each statement.

Recording yourself is a good way to discover your weak and strong points

Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage.

Language is (1)…… people (2)……… with one another. It is a terrific tool. Language is spoken, but it is also (3)……. down. Sign language used by many people who are (4)…….is the communication with gestures. We do (5)…….. our communication (6)……..speaking.

English is (7)…………international language in the world, but it is not the world’s most (8)…… spoken language. There are more than 1.2 billion people (9)……..Chinese. Arabic is second, and then Hindi, with English in the fourth place. (10)………. languages in the top ten are Spanish, Bengali, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, and German.

Question 1

Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage.

Question 3

Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage.

Question 9

Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage.

Question 7

Read the text and decide T (true)/ F (false) for each statement.

The more clearly you speak the better chance your listener has of understanding you.

Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage.

Question 4

Read the text and decide T (true)/ F (false) for each statement.

Find native English speakers      In certain areas it’s the hardest thing to do, but it’s the best use of your time. Talking to actual native speakers is the most effective way to improve your English skills, speaking or otherwise. So whether you have to Skype them, call them, or beg them to speak to you, do so. Your progress will be faster this way than any other.

Listen to the music of English    No, not English music, the music of English - its lilt, its prosody, the sing-songy-ness of it. The intonation. Even if you speak perfect English technically, if you speak it like a robot you’re not speaking it the way it’s meant to be spoken.

Slow down    Above all, if you want to be understood, slow down. The more clearly you speak, the better chance your listener has of understanding you. It’s tempting to get nervous and want to speed up to get it all over with, but you can’t do that! Clarity is key - for some native English speakers, too!

Record yourself   Though we hear ourselves all the time, we really don’t know quite what we sound like. So record yourself! What are the weak and strong points you hear in your speech? And then you can concentrate on what you need to work on.

Speak English at home    This is the biggest, easiest mistake to make. You go about your day, you’re on the job working partly in English, you go to your English class, and then you go home and revert back to your native tongue. While you may be making slow improvements, you’ll never get past that dreaded lingual plateau. Make a point to speak it at home, too. Have only English at the dinner table. Stick to English TV at home. Make it as 24/7 as possible.

Talking to actual native speakers is the least effective way to improve your English skills