BECOME A GREAT COMMUNICATOR

This year you are at an English advanced level, which

means that you will be expected to have quite a good
command of the English language by the end of this
course.

In order to achieve this goal, we are going to practise

the different language skills – grammar, writing,
listening and speaking - as much as possible.

For this reason, this year I would like you to prepare a

brief oral presentation with a partner about a topic
of your own choice.
The speaking topics we learn at the EOI are the following:

1) Personal identification (family, religion, likes and preferences, physical

appearance, etc.)
2) House and living (types of housing, living in the city/countryside, etc.)
3) The world of work (professions, skills, working conditions, home chores, etc.)
4) Freetime and leisure (hobbies, freetime activities, TV, cinema, music, etc.)
5) Travel (means of transport, types of holiday, common problems, etc.)
6) Human & social relationships: (family, friends, social life, crime & punishment)
7) Health (medical service, personal hygiene, disorders and diseases, healthcare).
8) Education (education system, subjects, types of schools, degrees, etc.)
9) Shopping (types of shops, ways to pay, prices, complaints, online shopping)
10) Food (types of food and drinks, typical dishes,eating habits, recipes, restaurants,
etc.)
11) Transports and other services (hospitals, schools, garages, petrol stations, etc.)
12) Language and communication (ICTs, the media – radio, press, social media, etc.)
13) The weather and the environment. (kinds of weather, enviromental issues,
protection of the environment, etc.).
14) Science and technology: scientific advance and technological resources.
When giving a talk in public you will probably want to make
sure that your audience is able to follow you and
understand you. To this end, you should follow the advice
below:

 Choose a topic you find interesting.

 Structure your talk.
 Keep it simple.
 Explain some relevant vocabulary before you start.
 Visual support.
 Speak loudly, slowly and pronounce clearly.
 Use short sentences and give examples
 Use connectives
 Do not read the presentation
 Choose a topic you find interesting.
It could be something you have read about, a chat
you once heard or simply something you have done
some reasearch on (you can comment on a piece of
news, on an interesting reportage, documentary,
etc).

 Structure your talk.

Devise an introduction, a development (a few
points about some interesting topic) and a
conclusion.

 Keep it simple.
Don’t be too ambitious with the language you use,
otherwise your classmates will not understand you.
 Explain some relevant vocabulary before you start.
Before starting, introduce some relevant vocabulary
which could be useful to understand what you want to
explain in order to make it easier for your hearers.

 Use visual support to help your classmates

understand you.

Keep calm and make an effort to speak loudly, slowly

and pronounce clearly.
This is very important to be understood by your
audience. I would recommend practising at home.

 Give as many examples as you can.

If someone has difficulties to follow you, this will make
it easier for them to understand you.
 Useshort sentences (long sentences are
not typical of the English language)

 Use
as many connectives as you can. This
way you will be much more easily
understood .

 Do not read the whole presentation from

the power point slides or from your notes.
Include pictures and bullet points to help
you remember.

 And last, but not least, enjoy your talk!

SOME RELEVANT WORDS OR PHRASES I
WILL USE:
be diagnosed with cancer
be declared terminally ill
exposition to pollutants
lifestyle
eating habits
lack of exposition
sun rays/direct light,
induction/ceramic hob
Pot
Pan
pressure cooker
counteract/compensate a negative effect
harmful/damaging/detrimental for your health
microwave
Fizzy, sugary drinks
INTRODUCTION:
Some years ago, I went to a talk about anti cancer habits and food. The
speaker was Dr. Odile Fernández.

She told us about a bad experience she had had, which is why she decided to
start giving her talks about
in different places throughout Spain.

When she was a young doctor, married and with one little child, she was
diagnosed with cancer and she was declared terminally ill. She thought she
was going to die. So she said good bye to her family and friends to get ready.

However, after a couple of days, she asked to herself:

“why should I die? Why not fighting?” That’s when she started to react and
decided not to throw in the towel.

As a result, she introduced some changes in her lifestyle – especially in her

eating habits - and miraculously, she survived!

This is what Dr Odile told us about:

- 5 factors which contribute to cancer:

1) eating habits
2) exposition to pollutants
3) stress and lifestyle
4) negative thinking
5) lack of exposition to day light
1) Eating habits

With regard to our eating habits, Dr. Odile said

that…
 Fat, processed or prepacked food
 Burnt food

 Varied diet

 Colourful diet

 Do not cook food for a long time

2) Exposition to pollutants

 Alcohol
 Drugs
 Tobacco, smoke
 Radiation
 Microwave
 induction and ceramic hob
 materials pans and pots are made of, etc.
3) Stress and sedentary lifestyle.
4) Negative thinking
5) Lack of exposition to day light
CONCLUSION:

This is more ore less what I remember from Dr

Odile’s lovely chat. I remember her concluding
her talk with a really emotive quotation:

“What you don’t give as a present goes lost

forever, this is why I decided to share this
knowledge I acquired with as many people as
possible”.

If you are interested in this topic, you can read

her book: “Mis recetas de cocina anticáncer”.
Odile Fernández. Editorial Urano.
Tuesdays and Thursday groups:

DATE and TIME TOPIC NAME(S)

5.15 to 5.30 pm

Tu. 3 Dec
Thu. 5 Dec
Tu. 10 Dec
Thu. 12 Dec
Tu. 17 Dec
Thu. 19 Dec
Thu. 9 Jan
Tu. 14 Jan
Thu. 16 Jan
Tu. 21 Jan
Thu. 23 Jan
Tu. 18 Feb
Thu. 20 Feb
Tu. 25 Feb
Tuesdays and Thursday groups:

DATE and TIME TOPIC NAME(S)

5.15 to 5.30 pm

Tu. 3 March
Thu.5 March
Tu. 10 March
Thu. 12 March
Tu. 17 March
Thu. 19 March
Tu. 24 March
Thu. 26 March
Tu. 31 March
Thu. 2 April
Tu. 7 April
Mondays and Wednesdays groups:

DATE and TIME TOPIC NAME(S)

7.25 to 4.40 pm

Mon. 2 Dec
Wed. 4 Dec
Mon. 9 Dec
Wed. 11 Dec
Mon. 16 Dec
Wed. 18 Dec
Wed. 8 Jan
Mon. 13 Jan
Wed. 15 Jan
Mon. 20 Jan
Wed. 22 Jan
Mon. 17 Feb
Wed. 19 Feb
Mon. 24 Feb
Wed. 26 Feb
Mondays and Wednesdays groups:

DATE and TIME TOPIC NAME(S)

7.25 to 7.35 pm

Wed. 4 March
Fri. 6 March
Mon. 9 March
Wed. 11 March
Mon. 16 March
Wed. 18 March
Mon. 23 March
Wed. 25 March
Mon. 30 March
Wed. 1 April