Ideas to practice oral skills

IDEAS TO PRACTICE ORAL SKILLS

After our first experience speaking opposite (in front of) our classmates we all realize that each one of us can't avoid to get nervous and it's an obvious challenge for us.

On (In) one hand it's because we don't feel confident with English yet, what is a matter of practice. It'd be perfect if we could live for a period of time in an Anglo-Saxon country, or at least we could chat in English more often than only 4 hours weekly. Unfortunately I don't think we have many opportunities for that in this moment.

Besides, in my opinion for the majority of us the trouble is due to something else which doesn't have anything to do with (the) language. It's what you feel when you have to speak to many people and you feel uncomfortably observed and analysed.

I like the idea of discussing in a circle about different matters that are less specific and more familiar to everybody. This way the protagonism is shared, we're all at the same level. The rest is up to everyone, we must make an effort and (to) take the initiative to overcome our shyness, laziness, tiredness and fear.

I propose some topics (topycs) that are interesting for me and probably for the rest of the people in class as well. Those are the following:

1- ENVIRONMENT: do we really do everything we can to respect it?, with regard to it, what do you do in your daily life?, do you think there is enough information about what we can do at home, in our (ours) cars, etc?

2- LEISURE TIME: what do you do in your free time? don't you think everybody does the same things and we aren't creative? why do we usually prefer watching tv rather than reading books or other activities?

3- SPORTS: don't you think elite sports are bad for sportpeople's bodies? don't spectators demand them too much, without limits? why? what do you think about sportpeople that take substances to yield more and more?

4- INTEGRATION: do we respect and understand other cultures? do you think we have prejudices? would you get married without minding race, religion, political beliefs...?

5-GENERATIONS: how do you think life has changed since our grandparents' period to nowadays? Marriage, job, studies, information in general, morality, priorities... Do you think we are more individualists or more open-minded? Which values are better in your opinion?

6- SOCIETY: does society demand us to be perfect and competitive in our jobs, studies, as parents, about our physical appearance...? do you think our present society values diferencies and respect people who don't follow the "standards"? do people criticize others who behave differently?

I hope all this is helpful for you, Nuria.