Practice Listening English Exercises for B1 – Identity

A

1

Interview 1 = placement interview for a language course

Interview 2 = job interview

Interview 3 = interview for college admission

2

Interviewee 2 doesn’t show enthusiasm or give full answers.

B

1   speaking and listening

2   special classes with a special focus like English idioms, conversation, pronunciation

3   games

4   different ages together

5   if it’s possible to take some courses online

6   There’s a lot of reading and writing.

Audioscript

T = Teacher   S = Student

Conversation 1

T:   And what about your expectations of the course?

S:   Well, as I said, I’ve studied English for many years and spent time in U.S., but that was a few years ago. So, for me, the most important thing is to just refresh … and try to remember my English and practice speaking and listening.

T:   OK. You have a very good level of English, so we’d put you in the advanced class. Is there anything else?

S:   Could I ask a question?

T:   Of course.

S:   I can take the morning class from nine to twelve. Is that right?

T:   Yes, that’s right.

S:   And, in the afternoon, there are options? Optional classes?

T:   Yes, these are special classes with a special focus, like English idioms, conversation, pronunciation. We have the full list here.

S:   I see. Thank you.

T:   No problem. OK, well, thank you very much.

I = Interviewer   J = Jade

Conversation 2

I:   There are a couple of things I’d like to ask about, Jade. Your résumé says you have some experience of looking after children?

J:   Yes, I was a counselor at a summer camp last year.

I:   Can I ask you about that? What types of things did you do?

J:   Um, well, I organized games.

I:   Games for?

J:   The children.

I:   OK. And what age were the children?

J:   Um … seven to ten.

I:   OK. And you enjoyed it?

J:   Yes.

I:   What aspect, what part did you enjoy, would you say?

J:   Um … I suppose I’d have to say I liked the games most.

I:   And any problems?

J:   Um, no.

I:   What about the different ages? We often find that different ages together can be difficult.

J:   It depends. In my opinion, you can usually get the older children to help the younger ones.

Conversation 3

I = Interviewer   S = Student

I:   I think that’s about it. Do you have any questions?

S:   Um, yes, actually I do have a question.

I:   Yes, go ahead.

S:   It’s about online classes at the college.

I:   Right.

S:   If I’m accepted, I saw that there are … um, that it’s possible to take some courses online.

I:   That’s right.

S:   So, I wouldn’t need to attend classes?

I:   Not for the online courses. But, mm … well, one thing I’d like to say is that the online courses are, in many ways, more difficult than face-to-face courses. Certainly in terms of reading and writing, they’re really quite demanding.

Question 1: happy, talkative and hardworking

Question 5: She likes the house where she lives, but she doesn’t like that it’s quite small.

Question 6: Her favorite smell is the smell of the ocean.

Question 10: She would bring her grandmother back.

Audioscript

OK, so I’m going to tell you something about myself.

My name is Monica Nielson, and I live in a small town near Bologna, in Italy.

I think three words that describe me would be happy, talkative and hard working.

One of the things I love about my lifestyle is that I love the house where I live.

I live in an apartment with my boyfriend. It’s an old apartment in the historical part of town, so it’s very beautiful.

It’s quite small, so I suppose that’s one thing I don’t like.

My favorite smell is the smell of the ocean.

We live quite far from the ocean here. But in the summer, I love to drive to the coast and breathe the ocean air. It makes me feel good.

And, finally … if I could change one thing about the past, I would bring my grandmother back. She was a nice lady, and I miss her a lot.

A

Maria

Which?   English

How?   In lessons at school

Ahmed

Which?   Dutch

How?   in evening classes (at college in the Netherlands)

Jessie

Which?   Japanese

How?   in day-to-day life informally

B

1   Thailand

2   a translator

3   the Netherlands

4   He spoke English.

5   Because English is commonly used and they don’t feel pressure to learn another language.

6   Japan

Audioscript

Maria

My mom and dad didn’t speak any other languages at home, only German. But, when I started school, they were really eager for me to learn English. My mother said it would give me a lot of job opportunities. Luckily, I think I had a natural talent, and it’s something I was interested in anyway, so I enjoyed my classes. I think my mom encouraged me because she liked traveling so much. We used to visit different countries every year, mostly in Europe. But, one year we went to Thailand, and I absolutely loved it. Everything was so different. It was a culture shock, but in a good way! That’s probably why I became a translator, actually, because of my mom encouraging me to learn other languages and visit other countries. I’m pleased she did. I feel very lucky that I meet people from all around the world.

Ahmed

Well, Lebanon is a beautiful country, and living in Beirut always felt very cosmopolitan. I mean, when you walk down the street you hear Arabic, French, English—all sorts of languages. A lot of the population there speaks more than one language. I like that. It’s a great experience, I think. You understand that the world is full of different people and different cultures. And it’s pretty similar in the Netherlands, too, I guess. When I moved there to work, I couldn’t speak Dutch or Flemish. I mostly communicated in English to start with. To be honest, it didn’t actually cause many problems because people there are usually fluent in English. But I did some part-time Dutch lessons at college in the evenings, and, by the end of the first year, I could get by. I hope I’m pretty fluent nowadays, but you’d have to ask my Dutch friends!

Jessie

I think in the U.S. we aren’t great at learning new languages. I think people would like to learn, but, because English is so common everywhere, people don’t always feel a pressure to speak other languages. And when Americans travel, they can generally use English, which is a shame because practice is so important with that kind of thing. I only learned Japanese because I was living in Japan for a while. I worked for an international company and spent a couple of years in Tokyo. I didn’t take any classes. I picked it up in my day-to-day life. To begin with, I could only use the basics: hello, how are you, that kind of thing. But I gradually built up my knowledge. I wasn’t fluent when I left, but I had basic communication skills, and I could do most day-to-day things, like shopping, arranging to meet people, everyday stuff.