English: Conversation

• 26 hrs exercises

• 60 pts final exam (written part)
• 40 pts mid-term test (written part)

Active participation in classes along with passing a written exam will show that a student is able to: - use a specific and general vocabulary (job/career, business, character traits, graph description, food, leisure time) - apply grammar rules to common situations (present tenses, past tenses, the present perfect tense, the future tense, making questions, making comparatives and superlatives) - communicate fluently and effectively in different contexts with certain error tolerance (job/career, travelling, business,sports, hobbies, social situations) and express his/her opinion, agreement, disagreement - read technical and general articles when using basic reading techniques (skimming, scanning, selection of relevant information, accurate comprehension) - understand English instructions and classes taught in English, and take notes; understand natural spoken English in a certain context - write a formal letter or an informal e-mail, fill in an application form, describe a person and a place

- to involve students effectively and in a stress-free way in discussions so they could feel more confident when engaged in more sophisticated debates. - to include and practise a wide range of speaking skills such as negotiating, persuading, expressing and defending opinions, giving presentations - to work with stress and intonation - to practise and extend constantly vocabulary including slang and idiomatic expressions

• New Headway Intermediate 2 (BAN4)

The student signed up for the class is expected to be able to: - use a basic general vocabulary (job/work, leisure time, food, the environment, graphs, everyday use objects) - apply grammar rules to common situations (making questions, the present tense, the past tense, the future tense, the present perfect tense, modal verbs, conditionals, passive voice) - speak clearly in a given context with error tolerance - read and understand easier general and technical texts - understand classes taught in English and easier spoken English in given contexts - write formal and informal texts with certain error tolerance

TOPICS TO BE COVERED IN THE CONVERSATION CLASS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY – WHERE DO WE GO? What are the main dangers of scientific advances? Will science end the world or save the world? What are the most important inventions / discoveries ever? Will machines rule the world? THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS / RELIGION What is (un)happiness? What makes us feel happy? Does it lie within us or outside us? Do you think some nations are happier than others? What is our attitude to religion? Do we need God? MONEY - THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL? Can you imagine living in a world without money? Would there be no poverty? How would the world be different if all the money was shared out equally among all people? Is money really the root of all evil? Are rich people more attractive? NOBODY NEEDS A GUN Gun massacres in schools. Why do people keep guns? Why do men love guns that much? Would you ever use a gun? CAR - A DANGEROUS WEAPON? Do we make way for cars or cars make way for us? What countries produce the best cars? Do you think the car a person drives is an extension of his/her personality? SPACE EXPLORATION - LIVING ON MARS FOREVER? Is everything perfect in the Universe? Is it worth spending so much money on space research? Is colonizing space essential? TELLING LIES Are we honest? How honest are we? Are we strong enough to face the truth? How to tell the truth? When to hide it? DEATH PENALTY Are you in favour of death penalty? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth? Is capital punishment deterrent to crime? How many innocent people have died from the death penalty? NOT MY TYPE Biting nails, thin legs, bad complexion - what do you avoid in a partner? ADDICTIONS Alcohol, smoking, drugs, chocolate, shopping, football, sex - what are we hooked on? ART What is art? Does art change the way we think or feel? How would the world be different without artists? BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING Do we really care for freedom? Do you think that a surveillance society is a safe society? Do our parents respect our privacy? IMMIGRATION AND RACISM Why are we racists? Will racism ever disappear from the world? What are the benefits of immigration?

TOPICS TO BE COVERED IN THE CONVERSATION CLASS:

• SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - WHERE DO WE GO?
  What are the main dangers of scientific advances? Will science end the world or save the world? What are the most important inventions / discoveries ever? Will machines rule the world?
• THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS / RELIGION
  What is (un)happiness? What makes us feel happy? Does it lie within us or outside us? Do you think some nations are happier than others?
  What is our attitude to religion? Do we need God?
• MONEY - THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL?
  Can you imagine living in a world without money? Would there be no poverty? How would the world be different if all the money was shared out equally among all people? Is money really the root of all evil? Are rich people more attractive?
• NOBODY NEEDS A GUN
  Gun massacres in schools. Why do people keep guns? Why do men love guns that much? Would you ever use a gun?
• CAR - A DANGEROUS WEAPON?
  Do we make way for cars or cars make way for us? What countries produce the best cars? Do you think the car a person drives is an extension of his/her personality?
• SPACE EXPLORATION - LIVING ON MARS FOREVER?
  Is everything perfect in the Universe? Is it worth spending so much money on space research? Is colonizing space essential?
• TELLING LIES
  Are we honest? How honest are we? Are we strong enough to face the truth? How to tell the truth? When to hide it?
• DEATH PENALTY
  Are you in favour of death penalty? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth? Is capital punishment deterrent to crime? How many innocent people have died from the death penalty?
• NOT MY TYPE
  Biting nails, thin legs, bad complexion - what do you avoid in a partner?
• ADDICTIONS
  Alcohol, smoking, drugs, chocolate, shopping, football, sex - what are we hooked on? 
• ART
  What is art? Does art change the way we think or feel? How would the world be different without artists?
• BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING
  Do we really care for freedom? Do you think that a surveillance society is a safe society? Do our parents respect our privacy?
• IMMIGRATION AND RACISM
  Why are we racists? Will racism ever disappear from the world? What are the benefits of immigration?

Semester test (vocabulary) - 40 points Presentation - 60 points

The content and forms of instruction in the evaluated course are specified by a regulation issued by the lecturer responsible for the course and updated for every academic year.